Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2018 Unibet Open Malta
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 Unibet Open Malta
Buy-in
€1,100
Entries
273
Level
27
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
15,000
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The second of two starting days at the 2018 Unibet Open Malta Main Event in the InterContinental Hotel in St. Julians attracted a total of 185 players. Together with the 88 that showed up on Day 1a, a field of 273 created atotal prize pool of €273,000. The top 39 spots will be paid, with the minimum cash worth €1,920. The first place prize of €60,090 will be awarded on Sunday, May 20, along with the coveted Unibet Open trophy.
After 10 levels of 60 minutes each, the Day 1b field was diminished from 185 to just 54. It was Daniel Jacobsen of Denmark who claimed the end of day chip lead with 321,800 in chips. Jacobsen held just 16,000 at the end of level 7 and went on a monstrous tear through the final three levels of the day.
When asked about the key hands of his run, Jacobsen said: "The Romanian Unibet Pro [Dan Murariu] raised, I three-bet 
, he four-bet to 27,000 and I just call. The flop was ten-nine-six, the turn was an eight and he got it in with jacks," the Dane explained about the hand that ended it for Murariu.
"There was another hand: guy comes to my table with 100k. I raise in middle position, he three-bets, I call. Flop is jack-six-deuce, three spades, I have pocket nines with the nine of spades. He bets pretty big and I call. The turn was the nine of clubs, he overbet shoved and I snap-called. He had pocket queens without a spade," Jacobson said about the hand that launched him even further.
Jacobson is followed by Jamie Munro (227,200), Thomas Eychenne (226,400), Kristof Segers (198,200) and Toby Locke (196,600). 2017 WSOP Main Event final tablist Jack Sinclair sits in 7th place with 176,400 and is playing on home turf as he resides in Malta.
The Unibet army was out in full force today and four ambassadors, one Unibet.fr pro and one Esporter made it through. Ian Simpson (135,100) had the best showing of all the ambassadors, helped with a bit of good fortune along the way. Holding pocket kings, Simpson was all in against pocket aces and pocket queens, but a king on the river provided a miracle escape. Other ambassadors that will be back on Day 2 are Fredrik Bergmann (117,800), Rauno Tahvonen (76,700) and Dara O'Kearney (42,600), while Quentin Lecomte (45,000) comes back for Unibet.fr. Kevin "Papaplatte" Teller is the sole survivor of the Unibet Esports team and will return with 131,400.
A lot of familiar faces fell along the wayside on the second starting day, including Mateusz Moolhuizen, Andreas Klatt, Matthias De Meulder, Egi Adriaans, Kaarel Lepik and Rauno Kiviloo. Unibet representatives such as David Lappin, Alan "hotted89" Widmann, Lisa "STPeach" Vannatta, Jordy "MojoOnPC" Janssens, Alexandre Reard, Scott "Sco" McMillan and Rafael "VeniCraft" Eisler also ran out of chips in the first ten levels.
Together with the 28 that survived Day 1a, 82 players in total will return on Saturday, May 19 at noon to start level 11 with blinds of 1,200/2,400 and a running ante of 400. PokerNews will be on the floor as the Unibet Open Malta progresses towards the final table.
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
321,800
11,800
|
11,800 |
|
||
|
227,200
77,200
|
77,200 |
|
226,400
-8,600
|
-8,600 |
|
198,200
-51,800
|
-51,800 |
|
196,600
16,600
|
16,600 |
|
188,500
103,500
|
103,500 |
|
176,400
-13,600
|
-13,600 |
|
||
|
167,800 | |
|
157,800
157,800
|
157,800 |
|
150,400
400
|
400 |
|
146,300
71,300
|
71,300 |
|
135,100
-9,900
|
-9,900 |
|
||
![Profile photo of [Removed:155]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
|
132,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
||
|
131,400
46,400
|
46,400 |
|
|
||
|
130,200 | |
|
128,600 | |
|
|
127,300
87,300
|
87,300 |
|
122,600 | |
|
117,800
52,800
|
52,800 |
|
|
||
|
117,300 | |
|
110,600 | |
|
109,000 | |
|
105,600 | |
|
|
100,200
200
|
200 |
|
93,600
41,600
|
41,600 |
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
54 out of 185 players have survived Day 1b, with Daniel Jacobsen claiming the end of day and overall chiplead with 321,800. Chip counts and an extensive end of day recap follow later.
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Like yesterday, the clock has been paused with 15 minutes remaining and three more hands will be played.
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Jack Sinclair has been stacking in the last two levels and just dragged another pot to move up to 190,000. The board read 
and Gabriel Stoica bet 9,000. Sinclair raised to 26,000 and the Romanian folded his hand.
The Brit showed one card, the 
, and raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000
99,000
|
99,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
60,000
-28,000
|
-28,000 |
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Thomas Levene raised to 5,000, [Removed:155] three-bet to 14,000 and Levene called out of position. On the 
flop, Levene front-shoved around 35,000 and Brand called it off after some thought.
Thomas Levene: 
[Removed:155]: 
Brand was way ahead and remained safe after the 
turn and 
river. Levene knocked the table in a complimentary way before bowing out of the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
110,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
At the feature table, Dara O'Kearney was all in for his last 26,000 and Jamie Munro, one of the biggest stacks in the room, looked him up.
Dara O'Kearney: 
Jamie Munro: 
The 
was as safe as it'd get for the recent Triple Crown winner and he doubled up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
150,000
96,000
|
96,000 |
|
60,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Dan Murariu and Rafael "VeniCraft" Eisler have been eliminated in the penultimate level of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
310,000
225,000
|
225,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
235,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
180,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
|
150,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
|
|
145,000
-25,000
|
-25,000 |
|
|
||