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FINAL DAY BLOG

14:49, July 17th, 2008 by Unibet_Linda

Unibet Open – Live Blog

Welcome to the Unibet Open Live Blog! There will be regular updates throughout the tournament. Stay tuned!

Final Day – Joao Barbosa Wins the Unibet Open in Madrid

06:12 - After three days of exciting poker, we have a winner. The heads-up lasted 30 minutes and eventually Tim van de Riet got the money in with the best hand, but it wasn’t enough. Having AT against K9, there was nothing more he could do when the flop brought a king. No help on turn or river and the tournament was over. Tim received 68,800 euros for his runner-up finish, and Joao Barbosa of Portugal, the Unibet Open winner, won 115,800 euros. We will follow-up with a post tournament article tomorrow, but for now it is over and out from Madrid.
See you in Milano in September!

Final Day – End of the Line for Sjogren

06:05 - After two long days of great poker, the incredible draw-out for a split pot against van der Riet, seemed to be too much for Sjogren. After a raise and a re-raise, Sjogren went all-in against Barbosa who covered the Swede marginally, and the Portuguese poker pro called holding A9 of clubs. Sjogren showed K8 and was behind. The flop came 752 of clubs and the Madrid adventure was over for Sjogren who received 39,000 euros for a good weekend’s work. Obviously disappointed, Sjogren will feel better in a few days. Now we are heads-up between Joao Barbosa from Portugal and Tim van der Riet from Holland.

Final Day – Siiiccckkk things in Madrid

05:38 - With three players left in Madrid, per Sjogren raised to 60k, where the blinds are 15k/30k with a 3k ante. Tim van der Riet goes all-in and Per goes into the tank for several minutes. After what seems like an eternity he says: “Call”, showing the ducks – pocket deuces. The rail is in awe, but the Swede is ahead as the Dutchman shows Q8. The flop comes A52, giving the Swede an almost “impossible-to-beat” trips, but you never know about poker, right. The turn is a three, and the river comes a four, and both players plays the board - A,2,3,4,5 for a wheel. Tim is still in with 400k and Sjogren has 1.2 million.

Final Day – Ville eliminated in 4th place

After a very impressive tournament performance in Madrid by the Finnish Unibet pro, Ville Wahlbeck, he has now reached the end of the line. After several big, lost pots, Ville got his last 180k in with the best hand, K7, against Joao Barbosa’s T9 of spades. The flop came JT9, giving the Portuguese pro two-pair, but at the same time Ville got a double belly-buster, where both an eight and a queen would give him a straight. But unfortunately the turn brought a five and the river brought an ace and it was all over for the Finnish fan favourite. Ville leaves Madrid with a pay check worth 31,200 euros.

Final Day – Sjogren in Big Lead with 4 Players left

Per Sjogren from Sweden has been playing extremely well all the way through the Unibet Open in Madrid. Now he has a commanding lead with four players left in Madrid. Here is the chip count at the moment:

Per Sjogren 1.3M
Joao Barbosa 900k
Tim van der Riet 750k
Ville Wahlbeck 150k

Final Day – Kairit Eliminated in 5th place

Kairit Leibold from Estonia has shown some great poker skills at the Unibet Open in Madrid, but finally she was eliminated in 5th place. She received 26,700 euros and now she is aiming for more. “if I get an invitation I will for sure show up and do my best. I think me and my husband Imre will visit Vegas this summer and I hope to pull of some good results there as well”, says Kairit after the elimination.

Final Day – Ville Doubles Up

After quite a few bad beats, Finnish poker pro Ville Wahlbeck was down to 120k, when he finally found a hand. Ville raised in early position, Per Sjogren put him all-in and got an insta-call. Ville’s aces was far ahead of Per’s K9 of spades, and with an ace on the flop, Ville is now back to 280k.

Final Day – Alex Eliminated in 6th place

Alex Beeckx has been the finest of many good Belgian players at the Unibet Open in Madrid. He raised under the gun with A9, Per Sjogren re-raised to put the Belgian all-in, everyone else folded and Alex decided to call. The Swede showed pocket kings, and with no help on the board, Beeckx was eliminated in 6th place receiving 22,300 euros.

Final Day – Tim Doubles up through Ville

With five players left, Dutch player Tim van der Riet went all-in with A9 and got called by Ville Wahlbeck with A8. The board came K22, 3, 6 and Tim doubled up to 390k.

Final Day – New Chip count

Ville Wahlbeck has taken a firm grip on the final table of the Unibet Open and is now sitting with 1.2 millions. Second in chips is Joao Barbosa with 680k and third is Per Sjogren with 380k.

Here is the complete chip count from the six remaining players:

Ville Wahlbeck 1.2M
Joao Barbosa 680k
Per Sjogren 380k
Kairit Leibold 320k
Alex Beeckx 300k
Tim van der Riet 160k

Final Day – Rasmus Hagman Eliminated in 7th place

Swede Rasmus Hagman has been playing one big live tournament before, but this is by far his greatest performance. He was eliminated from the Unibet Open in 7th place and received 17,800 euros. Rasmus is living in Uppsala in Sweden and qualified to this event through CarlosPoker which is now a part of Unibet.

Final Day – Kairit Doubles Up

Kairit Leibold refuses to give in and was all-in with pocket kings against Ville Wahlbeck’s pocket tens pre-flop. The flop was was 873, but when the turn came a nine, Ville had an open-ended straight-draw and Kairit was holding her breath. The river brought a three and she could breathe again, doubling up to 320k.

Final Day – Marco Laine Eliminated in 8th place

We are down to seven players in the Unibet Open in Madrid since Finnish player Marko Laine was eliminated a few minutes ago. He had pocket sevens against Ville Wahlbeck’s KJ. The board brought a jack and Marko was eliminated receiving 13,400 euros.

Final Day – Joao Over a Million

After the elimination of Jonas Nilsson, we are now down to eight players and Joao Barbosa from Portugal has taken a strong grip over the final table. He is the first player to go over one million in chips. Ville is still second and Marko Laine is still third. This is the complete chipcount at the moment:

Joao Barbosa 1.1M
Ville Wahlbeck 520k
Marko Laine 330k
Alex Beeckx 260k
Per Sjogren 255k
Tim van der Riet 175k
Kairit Leibold 175k
Rasmus Hagman 160k

Final Day – Nilsson Eliminated in 9th place

After the elimination of Arcos from Spain, there was no action for almost 40 minutes, but finally Per Sjogren raised from under the gun to 35k, Jonas Nilsson went all-in in the position behind him for 109k, all other players folded to Per who went into the tank for a couple of minutes before calling with pocket nines. He was up against Jonas’ AK and when the dealer turned over the three cards, there was a nine in the window (first card that you see), and Jonas was more or less drawing dead. He finished ninth and will receive a check worth 9,000 euros. Per is now second in chips with 520k.

Final Day – Ville Eliminates Arcos

German Arcos Pardillo was the last remaining Spanish player in the Unibet Open in Madrid. He was shortstacked and called a raise holding pocket fives against Ville Wahlbecks pocket sevens. When the flop came 346, all the money went in as Arcos had an open-ended straight-draw against Ville’s overpair. The turn and river didn’t help the Spaniard who finished tenth and received 6,700 euros. Ville is back to 480k after losing a couple of pots earlier. We have nine players left on the final table.

Final Day – Multi-National Table in Unibet Open

There are six nationalities represented at the final table of the Unibet Open in Madrid.

Sweden - Per Sjogren, Rasmus Hagman and Jonas Nilsson
Finland - Ville Wahlbeck and Marko Laine
Estonia - Kairit Leibold
Spain - German Arcos Pardillo
Belgium - Alex Beeckx
Holland - Tim van der Riet
Portugal - Joao Barbosa

Final Day – Final Table with chip counts

We have reached the final table and Joao Barbosa is in chip leading position with 600k in front of Ville Wahlbeck on 510k and Marko Laine in third with 300k. Here are all the chip counts for the final table:

Joao Barbosa 600k
Ville Wahlbeck 510k
Marko Laine 300k
Per Sjogren 285k
Rasmus Hagman 270k
Kairit Leibold 220k
Jonas Nilsson 220k
Tim van der Riet 160k
German Arcos Pardillo 155k
Alex Beeckx 140k

Find videos of the players on:

  http://www.youtube.com/pokernewsse

Final Day – Kairit is Hotter than July

Estonian Kairit Leibold was short stacked during the first couple of hours of day 2, but now she runs hotter than ever. Sitting in the small blind, she saw Belgian Laurens de Smet going all in for 93k from UTG, everyone folded and the Estonian girl had an easy call with pocket aces. De Smet is out in 14th, and Leibold is up to 290k.

Final Day – 15 players left

There are now 15 players left in the Unibet Poker Open in Madrid. We have just started level 18 where the blinds are 5k/10k with a 1k ante. Big chip leader is Gregg Delforge with 520k ahead of Ville Wahlbeck with 380k and Per Sjogren with 370k. Since the tournament must finish today, we will be here until late.

Final Day – Another Cruel Ace on the River

Marko Laine raised from late position and Pedro Demeyere from Portugal went all-in with his last 60k holding pocket queens. Finnish Laine called with A6 suited and it was the same story as so many times before. Blank flop, blank turn…and ace on the river. Laine is up to 220k and Demeyere is in the bar, 4,500 euros richer.

Final Day – Sjogren’s Ace on the River hits Linnet in the Face

Nordic Poker Team profile, Brian Linnet of Denmark, was up close to the chip lead a while ago, but had a really bad beat where his AK was beat by an opponent’s AQ where also another player was all-in with AJ. Now he got the final beating when he got his last 70k in with pocket kings where Per Sjlgren called in last position holding A3 of hearts. The flop and turn brought only low cards, but the ace on the river, gave Sjogren the pot and Linnet is out in 17th place. “I can’t complain, but the last hand was grim. I have had a really good time all weekend, and I will fight to be able to stay on the team”, says Linnet.

Final Day – Table 2 chip counts

This is the chip count from the second table in the poker room at the Unibet Open in Madrid:

Kairit Leibold 210k
Joao Barbosa 180k
Oscar Martinez 165k
Marko Laine 150k
Amatos 130k
Pedro Demeyere 65k
Laurens de Smet 60k
Tim van der Riet 55k

Final Day – This is the TV table chip count:

Gregg Delforge 500k
Ville Wahlbeck 380k
Per Sjogren 260k
Rasmus Hagman 230k
Alex Beeckx 200k
David Camara 150k
Jonas Nilsson 90k
Domenico Tresa 63k
Brian Linnet 60k

Final Day – 19 players left

Two of the hottest players in the room at the moment is Per Sjogren and Kairit Leibold. After being down to a very short stack, kairit has now come back by doubling up, then tripling up and then knocking out a few players and is up to 220k. There is only one player with a bigger stack at the moment and that is Per Sjogren of Sweden who has 270k in front of him at the feature table. One of the Nordic Poker Team players, Jan Henriksson, was just eliminated a few minutes ago when his KQ fell short to an opponent’s AJ. Another player that was eliminated a short while ago was brave Helge Pedersen from Norway who has been struggling throughout the day. “This has been a great experience. It is my first real live tournament, and I have to say that I am looking forward to next time I get an opportunity to play live again. My thanks to the Unibet staff and everyone at the casino that has made this a trip to remember”, says Helge. We are now down to 19 players and there is only two tables left in the room.

Final Day – Chip Count

We have a chip count from some of the players that are still in the tournament in Madrid.

Ville Wahlbeck 410k
Gregg Delforge 254k
Alex Beeckx 210k
Juan Barbosa 200k
Per Sjogren 180k
Rasmus Hagman 172k
Victor Escudero 131k
Brian Linnet 130k
Kairit Leibold 95k
Tim van der Riet 91k
Ville Laakkonen 64k
Alexi Majewski 57k
Laurens de Smet 44k

Final Day – Beeckx triples up

Back from the dinner break, the players have now come back to the poker room with renewed strength. Just five minutes in, there was an extreme pot with Spaniard Rafael Lopez going all-in with AJ of clubs, Belgian Alexander Beeckx going over the top all-in with A of hearts and Q of clubs and Brian Linnet calling with AK of diamonds. The pot was 210k, the flop came AT6 with two hearts, turn is king of hearts, giving Brian top-pair, but Beeckx a flush draw. The river is 7 of hearts and Alexander rakes the pot, knocking out Lopez and putting Linnet down to 130k.

Final Day – Per Sjogren plays well in Madrid

We are down to 29 players on three tables where the blinds are 2k/4k with a 400 ante Swedish poker pro Per Sjogren in good position to go far. He is on the toughest table in the poker room, with chip leader Ville Wahlbeck on 410k and Spanish poker profile David Camara on 150k. Per is on 160k where the average is 100k.

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