€1,100 Main Event Day 1b | 2022 Unibet Malta

€1,100 Main Event

Day 1b Completed

10-01-2022 03:50 UTC+3

2022 Unibet Open Malta €1,100 Main Event Sets New Attendance Record on the Island

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

It was a busy day in the event center of the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in St. Julians as poker enthusiasts from near and far entered the poker action during the 2022 Unibet Open Malta festival. While the cash games were running in the Casino Malta at the same venue, the return of the popular mid-stakes live poker after a hiatus of more than two and a half years set a new attendance record for the brand in the fifth visit to the Mediterranean island.

Thanks to 152 entries on Day 1b, the tournament was on track to potentially beat the 327 entries of the last edition back in 2019. In the turbo heat 1c, another 87 players took advantage of the single re-entry option after they had been eliminated in either of the previous flights. That boosted the overall field in the 2022 Unibet Open Malta €1,100 Main Event to 359 entries and created a prize pool of €359,000.

With 47 and 39 players respectively punching their ticket for Day 2, there will be 119 contenders to join the list of Unibet Open champions here on Malta. A new overall chip leader was also crowned as local resident Oliver Said stormed to the top of the leaderboard with 288,000 in chips on Day 1b. That was well ahead of French Unibet ambassador Arnaud Enselme, who advanced with a very healthy 212,500, followed by Sweden's Filip Holmqvist (200,000).

Another three players turned their starting stack of 30,000 into at least six times as many chips including Hasmukh Khodiyara (183,000), Lukasz Sadlon (181,500), and Dylan Kirstein (180,500). Day 1c was topped by Finland's Julius Kettunen (162,000) as nearly half of the field made it through in the turbo heat which featured a level duration of 20 minutes each.

Tournament Day	Entries	Survivors	Percentage
Day 1a	120	33	27.50%
Day 1b	152	47	30.92%
Day 1c	87	39	44.83%
Total	359	119	33.15%

Said was among the players showcasing their talents on the live-stream table with cards-up coverage and commentary available on the Unibet Poker Twitch stream. However, he really hit the ground running in the final two levels of the night in which the Malta resident climbed to the top of the leaderboard. Enselme followed the same path and won a large flip to bust Kevin Frame. As far as Holmkvist was concerned, he came out on top of a three-way all-in showdown thanks to making quads as one of the most spectacular hands at the tables.

Besides Enselme, another Unibet ambassador advanced from Day 1b and that happened to be Dara O'Kearney. The Irishman nursed a shorter stack for most of the day and claimed 24,500 to his name.

Notable casualties in the second flight included the likes of Joni Liimatta, Konrad Abela, Aurelie Reard, Angela Jordison, Daniel Stacey, Alex Hendriks, Martin Paap and Sergio Benso. Unibet ambassador Alexandre Reard and two-time Unibet Open champion Mateusz Moolhuizen were unable to advance from Day 1c and Monica Vaka suffered the same fate after she successfully defended her QUEENRULES Ladies Event title.

Unibet Open Malta Stops at a Glance

Year	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner	Country	Top Prize
2011	293	€417,525	Mateusz Moolhuizen	Netherlands	€117,000
2016	292	€292,000	Martin Soukup	Czech Republic	€65,000
2018	273	€273,000	Daniel Jacobsen	Denmark	€60,090
2019	327	€327,000	Alan Carr	United Kingdom	€53,400
2022	359	€359,000

All 119 Day 1 survivors will return at noon local time for level 12, which features blinds of 1,000-2,500 and a big blind ante of 2,500. With an average of more than 90,000, it is expected that the money bubble will burst within the first four levels. The penultimate tournament day is scheduled to try and play down to the nine-handed final table.

Stay tuned right here on PokerNews to find out who makes it one step further to become the next Unibet Open Main Event champion.

Tags: Alex Hendriks Alexandre Reard Angela Jordison Arnaud Enselme Aurelie Reard Dara O'Kearney Dylan Kirstein Filip Holmqvist Joni Liimatta Julius Kettunen Kevin Frame Konrad Abela Lukasz Sadlon Mateusz Moolhuizen Monica Vaka Oliver Said Sergio Benso

10-01-2022 03:20 UTC+3

2022 Unibet Open Malta €1,100 Main Event: Day 2 Seat Draw

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
11	1	Michael Perez	Switzerland	69,000	28
11	2	Alexis Longhe	Belgium	125,500	50
11	3	Rene Kuhlman	Netherlands	155,500	62
11	4	Koen Meutstege	Netherlands	79,000	32
11	5	Guiseppe Grupposo	Malta	148,500	59
11	6	Pierre De Almeida	France	52,500	21
11	7	Oliver Said	Malta	288,000	115
11	8	Serdar Demircan	Sweden	90,000	36

12	1	Bart Van Dijk	Netherlands	141,000	56
12	2	Dara Okearney	Ireland	24,500	10
12	3	Paul Kristoffersson	Sweden	52,500	21
12	4	Gerben Bos	Netherlands	76,500	31
12	5	Lennart Bernett	Germany	78,500	31
12	6	Clement Kerrien	France	60,500	24
12	7	Dmitri Dudakov	Estonia	31,000	12
12	8	Soren Blanner	Denmark	25,000	10

13	1	Jozsef Hegyi	Hungary	45,500	18
13	2	Esa Valliaro	Finland	49,500	20
13	3	Morgan Andersson	Sweden	130,500	52
13	4	Nima Saken Shaft	Germany	36,000	14
13	5	Alfredo Cuti	Italy	114,000	46
13	6	Arnaud Enselme	France	212,500	85
13	7	Peter Kaae	Denmark	48,000	19
13	8	Madis Ormisson	Estonia	63,000	25

14	1	Simon Wilson	Ireland	72,000	29
14	2	Sebastian Lohunko	Poland	68,500	27
14	3	Baard Dahl	Norway	163,000	65
14	4	Daniele Degennaro	Malta	52,500	21
14	5	Cristian Birladeanu	Romania	36,500	15
14	6	Cristiano Blanco	Italy	41,000	16
14	7	Janos Kurtosi	Hungary	67,500	27
14	8	Domenico Gala	Italy	138,000	55

15	1	Dwayne Sluis	Netherlands	65,500	26
15	2	Dany Depret	France	69,500	28
15	3	Lukasz Rzeczkowski	Poland	53,000	21
15	4	Noamane Boukhari	Malta	127,500	51
15	5	Mats Karlsson	Malta	142,000	57
15	6	Tomasz Kozub	Poland	74,500	30
15	8	Szymon Bujok	Poland	226,500	91

16	1	Cosmin Balan	Malta	88,500	35
16	2	Angelo Vietti	Italy	81,000	32
16	3	Malte Hallgren	Denmark	134,500	54
16	4	Jussi Heikela	Finland	66,000	26
16	5	Antti Salmela	Finland	86,500	35
16	6	John Muxlow	England	62,000	25
16	7	Niklas Lindkvist	Sweden	113,500	45
16	8	Ilona Sibold	Estonia	100,000	40

17	1	Lennart Dijkkamp	Netherlands	181,000	72
17	2	Giulio Spampinato	Italy	260,000	104
17	3	Matthias Nachtigal	Germany	24,000	10
17	4	Gabriele Re	Italy	73,000	29
17	5	Shucheng Shen	United Kingdom	60,000	24
17	6	Raymond Wheatley	Ireland	92,000	37
17	7	Erik Lindowist	Malta	25,500	10
17	8	Daragh Davey	Ireland	63,500	25

18	1	David Oberting	Hungary	19,000	8
18	2	Daniel Fantoli	Hungary	32,000	13
18	3	Dehlia De Jong	Netherlands	58,000	23
18	4	Ilkka Heikkila	Finland	37,000	15
18	5	Morten Froland	Norway	44,000	18
18	6	Mark Vella	Malta	147,500	59
18	7	Daniel Illingworth	United States	50,500	20
18	8	Goulven Gauchet	France	87,000	35

19	1	Tony Westby	Norway	181,000	72
19	2	Andreas Moser	Austria	64,000	26
19	3	Henri Juutilainen	Finland	14,000	6
19	4	Tal Sardal	France	153,000	61
19	5	Lukasz Sadlon	Poland	181,500	73
19	6	Louis Le Boisselier	France	100,000	40
19	7	Adrian Ionescu	Romania	76,000	30
19	8	Apostol Beg	Romania	53,500	21

20	1	Juho Santala	Finland	95,500	38
20	2	Egi Adriaans	Belgium	154,500	62
20	3	Hasmukh Khodiyara	England	183,000	73
20	4	Filip Holmqvist	Sweden	200,000	80
20	5	Andrei Tamaduianu	Romania	166,000	66
20	6	Robin Valting	Estonia	66,500	27
20	7	Damir Savio	Malta	20,000	8
20	8	Eric Gorree	Netherlands	50,000	20

21	1	Ian Simpson	England	42,500	17
21	2	Dylan Kirstein	Netherlands	180,500	72
21	3	Mikael Hernström	Sweden	78,000	31
21	4	Pekka Ikonen	Finland	121,500	49
21	5	Alin Constantin Ivan	Romania	152,000	61
21	6	Rain Molderkivi	Estonia	54,500	22
21	7	Jaroslaw Tomasiuk	Poland	55,000	22
21	8	Bas Silvius	Netherlands	126,000	50

22	1	Luka Sorainen	Finland	55,000	22
22	2	Samuele Lo Presti	Italy	61,000	24
22	3	Raoul Van Wersch	Netherlands	116,000	46
22	4	Luca Beretta	Italy	14,000	6
22	5	Nicolae Hotoleanu	Romania	118,000	47
22	6	Kevin Frame	United Kingdom	30,500	12
22	7	Eszter Fabian	Hungary	92,500	37
22	8	Michel Blank	Netherlands	62,500	25

23	1	Kevin Walshe	Ireland	32,000	13
23	2	Damien Gayer	France	19,000	8
23	3	Daniël Pastor	Netherlands	72,500	29
23	4	Kenneth Heinsvig	Denmark	52,500	21
23	5	Andreas Hagen	Norway	76,000	30
23	6	Henrik Juncker	Norway	82,500	33
23	7	Simeon Sundelius	Sweden	171,500	69
23	8	Dan Tolppanen	Finland	142,000	57

24	1	Giancarlo Del Barone	Italy	39,000	16
24	2	Alain Walder	Switzerland	55,000	22
24	3	Christos Xanthopoulos	Greece	49,500	20
24	4	Maciej Toma	Poland	33,500	13
24	5	Garrett Ryan	Ireland	85,000	34
24	6	Tomasz Brzezinski	Poland	137,500	55
24	7	Rens Boerke	Netherlands	108,500	43
24	8	Andrew Dickinson	United Kingdom	101,000	40

25	1	David Lappin	Ireland	29,500	12
25	2	Candido Gabriele Cappiello	Italy	106,000	42
25	3	Bas De Laat	France	76,000	30
25	4	Emil Brunnberg	Sweden	78,500	31
25	5	Emilien Pitavy	France	106,000	42
25	6	David Szabo	Hungary	31,000	12
25	7	Jon Per Persent	Norway	188,000	75
25	8	Julius Kettunen	Finland	162,000	65

10-01-2022 03:14 UTC+3

Day 1c Final Chip Counts

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Julius Kettunen	162,000	162,000
Alin Constantin Ivan	152,000	152,000
Noamane Boukhari	127,500	127,500
Raoul Van Wersch	116,000	116,000
Rens Boerke	108,500	108,500
Emilien Pitavy	106,000	106,000
Candido Gabriele Cappiello	106,000	106,000
Louis Le Boisselier	100,000	100,000
Goulven Gauchet	87,000	87,000
Garrett Ryan	85,000	85,000
Angelo Vietti	81,000	81,000
Emil Brunnberg	78,500	78,500
Gerben Bos	76,500	76,500
Andreas Hagen	76,000	76,000
Simon Wilson	72,000	72,000
Michael Perez	69,000	69,000
Janos Kurtosi	67,500	67,500
Dwayne Sluis	65,500	65,500
Daragh Davey	63,500	63,500
Clement Kerrien	60,500	60,500
Luka Sorainen	55,000	55,000
Rain Molderkivi	54,500	54,500
Lukasz Rzeczkowski	53,000	53,000
Pierre De Almeida	52,500	52,500
Daniele Degennaro	52,500	52,500

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10-01-2022 03:10 UTC+3

Day 1b Final Chip Counts (full)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Oliver Said	288,000	38,000
Arnaud Enselme	212,500	-3,000
Filip Holmqvist	200,000
Hasmukh Khodiyara	183,000	75,500
Lukasz Sadlon	181,500	-3,500
Dylan Kirstein	180,500
Simeon Sundelius	171,500	41,500
Rene Kuhlman	155,500	45,500
Egi Adriaans	154,500	31,000
Tal Sardal	153,000	103,000
Guiseppe Grupposo	148,500	-31,500
Bart van Dijk	141,000	66,000
Bas Silvius	126,000	106,000
Alexis Longhe	125,500	-14,500
Nicolae Hotoleanu	118,000	-62,000
Alfredo Cuti	114,000	76,800
Niklas Lindkvist	113,500	113,500
Andrew Dickinson	101,000	-19,000
Eszter Fabian	92,500	-27,500
Raymond Wheatley	92,000	-28,000
Serdar Demircan	90,000	10,000
Cosmin Balan	88,500	18,500
Henrik Juncker	82,500	-2,500
Lennart Bernett	78,500	-29,000
Adrian Ionescu	76,000	38,000

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10-01-2022 02:32 UTC+3

Day 1b and Day 1c Completed

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The last two starting days concluded at nearly the same time with 47 and 39 survivors respectively. Out of a total field of 359 entries, only 119 hopefuls will return for Day 2 at 12 pm noon local time on Saturday, October 1, 2022.

All chip counts, a recap of today's action and the seat draw for the penultimate tournament day are to follow.

10-01-2022 02:24 UTC+3

Liimatta Eliminated in Final Hand

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Darren Nolan and Joni Liimatta were the final two casualties on Day 1b with the latter falling in the very last hand of the night.

Liimatta defended the big blind against a cutoff raise by Dylan Kirstein and check-called a bet on the flop. He then did so again for 8,000 on the turn to leave himself with around 33,000 behind.

Liimatta checked the river and that's when Kirstein pushed forward a stack of T-5,000 chips worth more than 60,000. The Finn tank-called all-in with the and Kirstein had him pipped by one notch with the .

Player	Chips	Progress
Dylan Kirstein	180,500	35,500
Darren Nolan	Busted
Joni Liimatta	Busted

Tags: Darren Nolan Dylan Kirstein Joni Liimatta

10-01-2022 02:19 UTC+3

Dickinson Flips Well for a Double

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

During the final hands of the night, Andrew Dickinson was all-in for 56,000 with the . Henrik Juncker looked him up with the and fell behind after the flop. The turn changed nothing and the river only improved Dickinson to the nut flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrew Dickinson	120,000	60,000
Henrik Juncker	85,000	48,000
Andrei Zevakin	Busted

Tags: Andrew Dickinson Henrik Juncker

10-01-2022 02:14 UTC+3

Five More Hands on Day 1b As Well

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The last 50 contenders in the Day 1b field will aim to complete the last five hands of the night without any drama. A new big stack has emerged in Oliver Said, while John Hunter on his direct left has been missing. It is even possible that Said may claim the overall lead for Day 2 as he boasts a very nice wall of chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Oliver Said	250,000	60,000

Tags: John Hunter Oliver Said

10-01-2022 02:08 UTC+3

Late Night Eliminations

Christian Zetzsche

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Only 50 players remain as Day 1b is drawing to an end. Simultaneously, Day 1c is already in the final five hands of the night with some 39 players out of 87 entries in contention.

One of the very late all-in showdowns on Day 1c included a three-way contest between Zsolt Kocsis, Emilien Pitavy and Simon Wilson.

Zsolt Kocsis:
Emilien Pitavy:
Simon Wilson:

Board:

Kocsis was eliminated while Pitavy doubled through Wilson for 35,000. One table over, Romain Nardin also departed as well just shy of reaching Day 2.

Player	Chips	Progress
Emilien Pitavy	90,000	90,000
Simon Wilson	60,000	60,000
Jukka Vainio	Busted
Kalle Parkkinen	Busted
John Hunter	Busted
Joona Nyholm	Busted
Romain Nardin	Busted
Zsolt Kocsis	Busted

Tags: Emilien Pitavy Romain Nardin Simon Wilson Zsolt Kocsis