LIVE FROM PRAGUE

Prague has long been one of the Unibet Open’s favourite destinations. Fuat Can claimed the title there on the Unibet Open’s first Czech outing back in 2009; a year later it would Henri Ojala who hoisted the trophy. Thus it was with delight that the Unibet Open returned to the Hilton Prague for a third time in February 2012 in anticipation of a great weekend packed with parties and poker. Four days later, Filip Verboven became the third Unibet Open Prague champion and the first Belgian to lift a Unibet Open trophy, battling through a field of 254 players to claim the title and a first prize of €100,000.

By the time registration closed on Day 1a, 117 players had taken their seats. Among their number were Unibet Open Malta champion Matteusz Moolhuizen, last season’s Leaderboard winner Tim Verbon, Unibet Open Riga winner Peter Harkes and Alex “Pickleman” Rousso. Of those, only Rousso would make it as far as the end of the day. The chip leader at the end of the first nine-level starting day was Filip Verboven’s countryman, Jonas Mols.

The Day 1b field was rather larger than Day 1a’s, comprising 137 players by the close of registration. Among their ranks were Unibet Open Golden Sands winner Dan Murariu, EPT Copenhagen finalist Magnus Hansen, EPT Barcelona finalist Mihai Manole, two-time EPT finalist Artur Wasek and his brother Lukasz, EPT High Roller winner Martin Kabrhel, Unibet Ambassador Paul Valkenburg and Swedish former footballer Tomas Brolin.

One of the most popular players taking to the Day 1b felt was Dutch model Ancilla Tilia. The lovely Ancilla had a good start to the day and was third in chips at the first break, but ultimately she couldn’t go the distance. She busted out towards the end of Day 1b when her Q-T failed to spike against Przemyslaw Wolowiec’s pocket nines, and the field and live stream alike were robbed of their best eye candy for the rest of the weekend.

The chip leader at the end of Day 1b was Petr Jelinek, representing the host nation. Curiously, his stack at the end of the second start day was exactly the same as Jonas Mols’ stack at the end of Day 1a. On 159,800 apiece, Jelinek and Mols went into Day 2 as joint chip leaders – but neither of them would survive to make Day 3.

The Day 2 action was fast and furious despite the addition of a 1,200/2,400/200 level, in a slight change to last season’s Main Event structure. Among those who crashed out before the money were Paul Valkenburg, Ramin Hajiyev and Unibet.fr sponsored player Basil Yaiche.

Down to 28 players with only 27 places paying out, it took just three hands of hand-for-hand play on the bubble for Swedish player Karl Rudwall to succumb in the unluckiest position. The Irish Open finalist got the last of his chips in with but was dominated by Day 1b chip leader Petr Jelinek’s . With no help from the board Rudwall took his leave, the round of applause from the 27 players now in the money probably offering him little consolation as he left with nothing.

With Rudwall gone, play loosened up further, and players began to drop like flies. The first in-the-money finisher was Day 1a chip leader Jonas Mols – and Day 1b chip leader Petr Jelinek followed him a few places later in 17th. Other notable in-the-money finishers on Day 2 included Alex Rousso in 19th place, Unibet Open Online winner Henrik Hecklen in 12th place and Day 1a big stack Dariusz Paszkiewicz who improved on his 16th place at Prague in 2010 – he finished in 10th place this time around, just short of the final table.

Exciting stuff. But by far the most exciting day was had by Dan Murariu. The Unibet Open Golden Sands winner had already had a pretty wild ride on Day 1 – he’d come back from just five big blinds at the 400/800 level to finish on over 36,000 at the end of the day. He had a second close shave on Day 2, dropping to just one and a half big blinds at the 4k/8k level; but again, he recovered. And when he was only just inside the money, Murariu found himself all in with pocket tens against pocket aces. A min-cash seemed likely – until a ten dropped on the river, doubling him up and saving his tournament life.

Still, there was more excitement to come for Murariu. With 21 players remaining, Murariu found aces against Tobias Peters’ kings to send the latter to the rail and increase his own stack to 450,000. A few minutes later it looked as though Murariu was on another downturn as he found aces again, only for the all-in Flavien Guenan to turn a set of nines, dropping Murariu back down to 250,000. But the very next hand, Murariu and Guenan got the lot in a second time. Murariu was dominating again – A-K against A-Q – and this time the best hand held. Murariu doubled back up to 500,000 – but the roller coaster ride wasn’t over. Murariu’s stack was once again bisected when he took on Hans Sybrandi’s pocket queens with pocket jacks. Sybrandi’s queens held for the double up, and it was back down to a quarter of a million chips for Murariu. But Murariu soon found A-Q to knock out Alexey Polozhentsev holding A-9 in 11th place, and, following the exit of Dariusz Paszkiewicz in 10th place, Murariu’s place on the final table was assured. His nerves might have taken a beating though.

Filip Verboven’s tournament run had been relatively unremarkable on Day 1, but he proved to be a dark horse – by the time the field had shrunk to 17 players on Day 2, Verboven had snatched the lead. He knocked out Jens Neumann in 15th place and then knocked out Henrik Hecklen in 12th; and by the time a final table was reached, signalling the end of Day 2, Verboven had a massive chip lead on 1,367,000. His nearest rival, the Netherlands’ Stieven Razab-Sekh, was the only other player to breach the million-chip mark, on 1,039,000.

It must have been a terrible sacrifice for the nine finalists not to attend the legendary Unibet Open Players’ Party on Saturday night, but the thought of the €100,000 on offer for first place must have consoled them somewhat as they got an early night in preparation for the final table.

Particularly enjoying the Saturday night Prague party scene were our three newly crowned Unibet Live Final winners. Following the success of our first ever Live Blackjack Final last year in Riga in conjunction with the Unibet casino, we ran it again. This time the happy winner was Kevin van der Hulst, who took home €8,000 for first place. Meanwhile, Prague was the backdrop for two more brand new Live Finals – Andreas Karlsson from Sweden became the first Live Betting Champion, winning €5,000, and Alex Harbatsevich from Belarus won the Poker Million Sit & Go, earning himself the right to take part in the One Million Draw and taking home €5,000.

Down to business, and it didn’t take long for the final table to lose its first player. Though not the shortest stack going into the final table, Unibet.fr’s own Flavien Guenan was the first player to leave it. He shoved with K-T to a raise from Filip Verboven, but unluckily for him Verboven had picked up aces and made the obvious call. Guenan took home €9,400 for ninth place in his first Unibet Open, and we reckon we’ll be seeing him again on his home turf at Unibet Open Paris in May.

One might been forgiven for thinking that Dan Murariu was invincible, after a roller coaster ride that would have put Blackpool’s Big One to shame. But it was not to be. Having recovered from the very brink more than once already over the course of the previous two days to make his fourth Unibet Open final, Murariu didn’t appear to worry too much when he doubled up Stieven Razab-Sekh with sixes against Razab-Sekh’s kings. But just a few hands later, Murariu pushed all in to a raise from Hans Sybrandi, only for Filip Verboven to cold-four-bet shove over the top. Sybrandi folded, and Murariu once again found himself up against pocket kings. He himself could only muster Q-T, and failed to hit anything at all on the board. Murariu’s extraordinary run was finally over, and he departed in eighth place for €13,200. Verboven meanwhile was now in possession of over a third of the chips in play.

Dutchman Hans Sybrandi was next to bust out, eliminated not by Verboven but by the other Belgian at the final table, Gerret Van Lancker. Sybrandi shoved under the gun with , Van Lancker reshoved with , and Sybrandi left with €17,000 for seventh place.

Down almost to the felt after doubling up Jan Grajzel, Tomasz Kozub soon exited in sixth, running A-9 into Ruggiero Scommegna’s pocket jacks. The only Pole to make the final table duly busted out and received €20,700 for sixth place.

Jan Grajzel doubled up again (this time through Ruggiero Scommegna) meaning that when Gerret Van Lancker made an opening raise, Grajzel was able to set him in. Van Lancker called all in, but found that his was dominated by Grajzel’s and a few moments later he was gone in fifth place, taking €24,500 home to Belgium.

Down to four players, Jan Grajzel raised and then four-bet all in from the button holding pocket sevens. Scommegna, who had reraised him from the big blind, naturally called with his pocket aces. Scommegna doubled up to around 1.5 million, and Grajzel was left with 250,000 – around eight big blinds. When Filip Verboven raised to 65,000 a hand or two later, Grajzel curiously just called. They saw a flop and Grajzel now went all in with ; Verboven shrugged and called with . No queen appeared on the turn or river, and Grajzel was eliminated in fourth place, winning €30,200.

The last hope for the Netherlands, Stieven Razab-Sekh, was next to hit the rail. Chip leader at one point on Day 2, Razab-Sekh made his final stand holding K-9 on a nine high flop, but he came a cropper to Ruggiero Scommegna’s A-9. The last Dutchman standing out of the 39 who competed at Unibet Open Prague took home €37,700 for third place.

Ruggiero Scommegna had been chipping up for some time, and the acquisition of Razab-Sekh’s former stack nudged him into a slight lead – 2.6 million to Filip Verboven’s 2.5 million when they went heads up. However, just a few hands into the match, the chip lead was back in Verboven’s hands – Verboven turned a flush with and Scommegna called a big river bet, only to muck when Verboven’s hand was revealed. Verboven was now in control of 3 million of the 5 million chips in play.

Scommegna would take the lead again as the three-hour heads up match progressed. Verboven continued to win a series of small pots against the Italian, but Scommegna soon doubled back up to the chip lead, his flush draw coming in against Verboven’s trips on a flop. The turn brought in the flush, the river was overkill, and now it was Scommegna who was in control of 60% of the chips in play.

Verboven took this setback in his stride and resumed gently chipping away at Scommegna’s stack. This approach soon had Verboven back in the lead without him having to show a hand. Finally, Verboven raised from the button and Scommegna called. The Italian check-raised the flop, and then went all in on the turn. Verboven called, and turned over for second pair and a flush draw. Scommegna could only manage for bottom pair, needing a lot of help. The was not what he needed though, and Scommegna was finally out in second place for €56,600. All that was left was for Verboven to hoist the trophy and claim his €100,000 first prize – his first major live tournament win.

Verboven and his loyal railers cracked open the champagne as Belgium claimed its first Unibet Open title and headed off into the Prague night. We suspect though that we’ll be seeing more of Verboven soon – and, indeed, our other finalists. After all, Unibet Open Paris is only a couple months away…

Ladies and gentlemen, after an epic final table battle, we are crowning ourselves a brand new Unibet Open champion!

Filip Verboven came into the final table as chip leader, and although he dropped it to eventual runner up Ruggiero Scommegna right as they went heads up, his continual whittling down of his opponent meant that he had the upper hand where stacks were concerned for the vast majority of this final.

Within seconds of the final card hitting the felt, the strong Belgian contingent at the rail had cracked open the champagne and were showing every signs of just getting started for the night. And why not? Verboven has become the first ever Belgian winner of a Unibet Open – though many have come close, Verboven is the only one who’s ever hoisted the hardware.

As Verboven’s loyal railers swarm around him while he poses with his new trophy, we would like to thank everyone at Unibet and the Hilton Prague for making our third outing here as enjoyable and memorable as past events. The Belgians are about to hit the town, and we reckon we might join them.

The Unibet Open will be back in May, making our first ever outing to Paris. Qualifiers are running now on Unibet; until then, we are Czech-ing out.

Filip Verboven made it 160,000 to go and Ruggiero Scommegna called before check-raising the Belgian’s 150,000 continuation bet to 340,000 on a board of .

Verboven made the call and they saw the   come on the turn, Scommegna moved all in and Verboven thought for a moment and then called!

Verboven: for a flush draw and second pair…

Scommegna: for bottom pair and needing to improve…

The river was the and that was enough for Scommegna who was eliminated in second place.

The Italian will take home €56,600 by way of compensation after a truly grueling heads up battle.

Our tireless heads-uponauts saw a flop. Ruggiero Scommegna checked, and Filip Verboven bet 100,000 from the button. Call.

The turn was the and Scommegna checked again. Verboven now bet 200,000 – and Scommegna responded by going all in for 1.6 million. Verboven gave it up, and Scommegna’s 2.1 million is playing Verboven’s 2.9 million or so.

Ruggiero Scommegna made a rare raise from the button to 130,000 and Filip Verboven called to see a flop of flop which both players checked. Verboven led for 125,000 on the turn and Scommegna made a fairly quick call before the Belgian then fired 275,000 on the river.

Scommegna thought for a minute and folded.

We’re seeing very few showdowns here.

Once again, Ruggiero Scommegna limped in on the button and faced a raise from Filip Verboven in the big blind. And once again, Scommegna responded by going all in, this time for 2.1 million. Verboven tanked up for a little while, but again he opted to fold. Verboven retains the chip lead, but it’s narrowing.

With the board reading , Filip Verboven fired out a bet of 135,000 and Ruggiero Scommegna made the call to see the on the river. Verboven now checked and Scommegna bet a hefty looking 300,000.

The Belgian player did not fold instantly but eventually gave the hand up to the Italian after a good two minutes of contemplation.

Now this is something we haven’t seen before during this heads up match.

Ruggiero Scommegna limped in on the button and Filip Verboven raised to 160,000. But Scommegna now announced all in for 1.7 million, putting Verboven to what looked like a very serious decision. Eventually he folded, and Scommegna is back up to 1.9 million against Verboven’s 3 million or so.

Ruggiero Scommegna limped for 60,000 and then called Filip Verboven’s raise to 160,000 to see a flop of . Verboven bet 140,000 and Scommegna flat-called to see the on the turn.

Verboven fired out 360,000 now, Scommegna rechecked his cards and folded.

The Belgian has about 3.5 million to Scommegna’s 1.5 million

Following some more of the same back-and-forth that we’ve seen for the past hour or two, finally a moment of excitement!

Filip Verboven min-raised from the button, but instead of calling, Ruggiero Scommegna now announced all in for 1.8 million – at 30 big blinds, a pretty big shove. Verboven looked as though he was expecting it about as little as we were, and quickly folded. Could it be a sign of more action to come?

Filip Verboven made it 120,000 and this time Ruggiero Scommegna found the fold button.

Scommegna limped on the button and Verboven checked his option to see a flop which both checked. The on the turn saw Verboven check/fold to an 80,000 bet from his Italian foe.

Verboven raised to 120,000 and Scommegna once again called, the flop was and Scommegna led out for 65,000, a very small bet indeed. Verboven made it 200,000 and Scommegna rechecked his cards before folding.

After finding themselves roughly even at the break, Filip Verboven is beginning to pull away again – he’s now at around 3 million to Ruggiero Scommegna’s 1.9 million.

The hand that did the most damage to Scommegna’s stack was this one. Verboven min-raised from the button and Scommegna called to see a flop. He checked it, before calling a 100,000 bet from Verboven.

Both players checked the turn and proceeded to a river. Scommegna now bet out 190,000, but Verboven made the call, tabling K-5 for two pair, queens and fives. Scommegna could only boast K-2 for just the pair of queens on the board, and Verboven is now firmly back in the lead.

Like Johann Sebastian, we’re bach here in Prague, the blinds are now 30,000/60,000 with a 5,000 ante.

Barring a preflop three-bet (from Scommegna in the big blind to Verboven’s button min-raise; Verboven folded) the action is now rather slow, and the still sizeable rail seems to be falling asleep. Good thing the players have gone on a 15 minute break. Get the coffees in. Or the beers.

Back soon.