DAN MURARIU WINS INAGURUAL UNIBET OPEN GOLDEN SANDS EVENT

Romanian Unibet Open Ambassador Dan Murariu has outlasted a field of 394 competitors to lift the trophy in Golden Sands, Bulgaria. His prize of €150,705 represents a top achievement for the experienced tournament player, and his four days spent avoiding the blazing Varna sunshine were well worth the effort. Two start days brought together tough competitors like Pieter de Korver, Mats Rahmn, Claus Nielsen and Joachim Buch, along with the usual heady mix of live and online qualifiers to generate the sort of action players have come to expect from the Unibet Open.

With the chip lead changing hands repeatedly as the second day’s play combined the field, early frontrunners like Peter Pedersen, Fotilas Aristotelis, Daniel Pena and Pavel Trutnev fell by the wayside, leaving nine players to compete on the Feature Table for the final. Throughout the tournament, one table was streamed online giving a taste of TV stardom to the players and a real time update for railbirds, and support for all nations streamed in.
Having started today as the chip leader, all the pressure was on Dan Murariu as he began the day with almost double the chips of anyone else on the final table. He’d previously come 5th in two earlier Unibet Open events, and was looking to secure his first title. With the players gradually whittled down to just three, it was a crucial flip in the Romanian’s favour that made a big difference. When his T-6 overcame Lasse Nielsen’s 4-4, it meant that Murariu would challenge Bjaerke Hansen – who’d taken over the lead in spectacularly aggressive fashion – on almost an even footing.
The chip lead changed several times but Murariu’s pocket Sevens holding against Hansen’s A-6 proved decisive as he picked up the biggest pot of the entire tournament heads up. Soon after it was all over and Murariu took the big cheque, the trophy, and the applause of the audience, while the €97,515 second place fell to the hard-fighting Dane.
Final Results:

1.		Dan Murariu	€ 150,705
2.		Bjarke Hansen	€ 97,515
3.		Lasse Nielsen	€ 65,010
4.		Simeon Naydenov	€ 47,280
5.		Twan Bakens	€ 36,938
6.		Alexandr Sharov	€ 25,118
7.		Nicolas Dervaux	€ 18,617
8.		Mosjin el Yakoubi	€ 13,298
9.		Pedro Fanzeres	€ 10,638