The tournament had completely sold out its 300 cap before dawn had even broken on Day 1a; alternates were accepted through the first two levels of both start days, bringing the overall field to 336 by the time registration officially closed on Day 1b, paying out 36 places and generating a prize pool of DKK 3,604,608 (approx. €483,315).

The action from the feature table was broadcast live over all four days of the tournament on a high-definition live stream with continuous commentary from Graeme Morl and a cast of former Unibet champions and experts – and the final table was broadcast live on March 10th with hole cards visible on a slight delay. Familiar faces who graced the feature table on the business end of the felt over the four days included Unibet Ambassador Dan Glimne, Unibet Open winner Mateusz Moolhuizen and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jan Sørensen.

The two start days roughly bisected the field; among those who did not make Day 2 were WSOPE finalist Rifat Palevic, Unibet Open Paris winner Jaroslaw Barglik and two-time Unibet Open champion Dan Murariu. Murariu, who has become the de facto face of the Unibet Open after winning Unibet Open St Maarten last year – his  second win and his sixth Unibet Open final table – and finishing the season top of the Leaderboard to win full packages to every event in 2013.

The chip leader headine 146 players into Day 2 was Denmark’s own Rasmus Biehl on 168,300, head and shoulders above the rest of the field, but he wasn’t able to maintain his position and crashed out short of the money. Joining Biehl at the rail before the money were EPT Copenhagen finalist Nicolas Dervaux, Finnish poker journalist and Unibet Open regular Ilkka Heikkila and former Unibet Open champions Mateusz Moolhuizen and Paul Valkenburg.

Down to the bubble following the elimination of Daniel Camus, it took almost an hour of hand-for-hand play before Johnny Mehl succumbed in the unluckiest position, moving in with for a double-belly-buster straight draw on the the turn of a board but failing to hit against Rasmus Vogt’s for a pair of eights.

With all 36 players now guaranteed a minimum of DKK 24,000 (approx. €3,218), the pace picked up once more and the exits came thick and fast. Those who made it into the money but fell short of the final table included Peter Varga, Mikael Johansson and Rasmus Vogt.

Amsterdam Master Classics winner Jan Sorensen and Unibet Open Riga finalist Loek van Wely hit the rail in a double elimination, taking 12th and 11th places respectively (DKK 57,000). Sorensen’s and van Wely’s proved no match for Jimmy Gillot’s on a board, and the Frenchman moved into the ranks of the chip leaders. A family tragedy would follow, though – his little brother Alexis Gillot, who had spent much of the day as big chip leader, succumbed next in 10th place for DKK 57,000 and Jimmy was the sole representative of the Gillot clan on the final table. The final nine bagged up their chips for the last time with Danish player Johnny Østbjerg in the lead on 1,860,000.

There was no messing about when the players reconvened on the final day – Henri Schalin went all in on the first hand. However, it would be Ambjorn Hedblom who would become the first casualty of the day, his A-T no good against Kassem Yassine’s A-K. The Swede took home DKK 80,000 (€10,727) for ninth place.

Peter Myrvig followed moments later in eighth place (DKK 105,000), but it was a while before Henri Schalin exited in seventh. The official short stack coming into the final, he had doubled up first hand but ultimately came unstuck when his pocket jacks were outdrawn by Kassem Yassine’s A-8. Schalin won DKK 130,000 (€17,434).

Marek Niedzwiedz, the last Polish player in the field, became the victim of Johnny Østbjerg and took sixth place for DKK 160,000. Jens Eisner followed in fifth place for DKK 200,000 (€26,821), and the last Finnish player standing, Petri Rossi, succumbed in fourth place for DKK 265,000 – another victim of Kassem Yassine, who was by now close to the chip lead.

Third place was soon occupied by Jimmy Gillot. The French Unibet pro made a stand with pocket nines but ran into Kassem Yassine’s pocket jacks and took home DKK 370,000 (€49,612). Yassine and Johhny Østbjerg were now heads up, Yassine with a 2:1 chip lead.

Only a few minutes into the heads-up match, Østbjerg raised with on the button and Yassine called with . Østbjerg made two pair on the flop but Yassine made trips; the turn, which made Yassine a full house, saw all the chips go in, and with the completing the board, Johnny Østbjerg was eliminated in second place for DKK 570,000 (€76,427).

Kassem Yassine, only the second Swedish player to take down a Unibet Open title, took home DKK 800,608 (€107,367) for battling through an incredibly tough field of Scandinavian and international players. He knocked out four of the final table players in a lightning-speed final to be crowned the Unibet Open Copenhagen champion.

The Unibet Open will be back this summer when we return to Portugal, this time descending on the beach paradise of Tróia, June 6-9. Qualifiers are running now on Unibet from freeroll up, so play now for a chance to soak up the sun while enjoying the legendary Unibet Open poker, parties and games!

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Ladies and gentlemen, this high-speed final table is officially over, and we are crowning a brand new Unibet Open champion!

Our winner Kassem Yassine battled through an incredibly tough field of 336 players over three days, finally going into the final table with an above-average stack and quickly bumped it up by eliminating his fellow Swede Ambjorn Hedblom in ninth place. Not long after, Yassine busted Henri Schalin in seventh place as well to increase his stack to within a few hundred thousand of Johnny Østbjerg’s chip lead. Yassine was also responsible for the elimination of Petri Rossi in fourth place and Jimmy Gillot’s exit in third, and by the time Østbjerg and Yassine went heads up, Yassine had a more than 2:1 chip lead over the Dane.

Yassine becomes the fourth Swedish Unibet Open champion, following in the footsteps of Simon Johansson, Fuat Can and Jimmy Jonsson. The host nation Denmark will have to wait at least until June to bag their second Unibet Open title, when we return to Portugal with an all-new idyllic beach venue.

As all the finalists and media head to the bar for our last night in Denmark, we’d like to thank everyone at the Casino Copenhagen for showing us all a good time.

Qualifiers are running now on Unibet for that event in June – Unibet Open Tróia runs from June 6-9 and promises to be our best event ever! Until then, it’s tak and godnat from Unibet Open Copenhagen.

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On the turn Yassine decided to check and now Ostbjerg fired out 200,000. Yassine grabbed some more chips and raised it up to 600,000. Ostbjerg went into the tank for a while and then made the call.

The river brought the and Yassine’s full house was the winning hand. He bet a cool million and then the unexpected happened. Ostbjerg moved all in for 1,200,000 and Yassine snap called with his full house! The tournament was over and Ostbjerg was eliminated in second place!

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Showdown:
Jimmy Gillot:
Kassem Yassine:

The board ran out and Gillot was eliminated!  Yassine is now up to 4.7 million chips and he has a clear lead going into heads up play!

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Yassine made it 70,000 from the button with and Østbjerg called in the small blind with before checking the flop. Yassine continuation-bet 102,000 and it was enough to push Østbjerg off.

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The flop brought out and Rossi checked to Yassine who bet out 220,000. Rossi was confident and moved all in quickly for a total of 704,000 chips. Yassine went into the tank for quite a while but eventually he made the call.

Showdown
Petri Rossi:
Kassem Yassine:

The turn brought the and the river the knocking out Rossi in fourth place! Just three players remain fighting for the Unibet Open Copenhagen title! 

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