The highly anticipated Unibet Open festival in Romania’s capital in Bucharest kicks off in two hours from now with Day 1a of the €1,100 Main Event as of 12 p.m. local time. Some 200 players qualified through Unibet and at least another 400 players are expected via the Romanian Pokerfest to make it the biggest event in terms of participation and smash the guarantee of €500,000 over the course of the next four days.
Unibet is heading to Romania for the first time, however, one particular Romanian has already made history on the tour as Dan Murariu was the first player to win two Unibet Open Main Events after emerging victorious in Bulgaria in 2010 as well as in Saint Martin in 2012.
Dutchman Mateusz Moolhuizen followed suit in 2015 – he first defeated a 293-entry strong field in Malta in 2011 and claimed the second title one year ago in Antwerp. Both two-time champions are expected among the contenders here at the stunning JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel.
Day 1a and tomorrow’s Day 1b will feature 11 levels of 60 minutes each with a break every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break. All participants will receive 30,000 in chips and the tournament is played as Freezeout, late registration for both starting days remains open until the end of level four. December 1st provides two other milestones here in Bucharest as well: Great Union Day is the national holiday of Romania and Unibet launches a new version of their innovative software.
Unibet Open history
| Year | Event | Buy-In | Entries | Winner | Country | Original Prize | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Warsaw | €1,650 | 120 | Stale Lokse | Norway | zł159,900 | $65,090 |
| 2008 | Madrid | €1,650 | 297 | Joao Barbosa | Portugal | €115,800 | $179,240 |
| Milan | €1,650 | 320 | Domenico Tinnirello | Italy | €121,000 | $173,953 | |
| Warsaw | zł5,500 | 270 | Simon Johansson | Sweden | zł464,805 | $152,355 | |
| 2009 | Budapest | €1,650 | 360 | Alvaro Aspas | Spain | €135,000 | $170,104 |
| Algarve | €1,650 | 409 | Andre Dias | Portugal | €151,000 | $207,104 | |
| London | £2,750 | 266 | Thanh Doan | Finland | £187,000 | $305,326 | |
| Prague | €1,650 | 451 | Fuat Can | Sweden | €167,500 | $245,983 | |
| Warsaw | zł7,000 | 401 | Jimmy Jonsson | Sweden | zł654,430 | $239,778 | |
| 2010 | Budapest | €1,650 | 460 | Anthon-Pieter Wink | Netherlands | €172,500 | $235,665 |
| Golden Sands | €1,650 | 394 | Dan Murariu | Romania | €150,705 | $184,182 | |
| Prague | €1,650 | 424 | Henri Ojala | Finland | €157,000 | $207,037 | |
| Valencia | €1,650 | 361 | Thomas Thang | Denmark | €138,080 | $191,626 | |
| London | £1,650 | 273 | Paul Valkenburg | Netherlands | £109,550 | $171,408 | |
| 2011 | Malta | €1,650 | 293 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | Netherlands | €117,000 | $163,075 |
| Barcelona | €1,650 | 387 | Rubén Sánchez Cebollada | Spain | €145,000 | $212,246 | |
| Dublin | €1,650 | 260 | Paul Vas Nunes | United Kingdom | €105,300 | $151,742 | |
| Riga | Ls1,650 | 308 | Peter Harkes | Netherlands | Ls62,829 | $119,878 | |
| 2012 | Prague | €1,650 | 254 | Filip Verboven | Belgium | €100,000 | $131,574 |
| Paris | €1,650 | 439 | Jaroslaw Barglik | Poland | €140,539 | $185,310 | |
| London | £1,320 | 315 | Pratik Ghatge | United Kingdom | £85,050 | $136,305 | |
| Saint Martin | €1,650 | 238 | Dan Murariu | Romania | €110,000 | $142,590 | |
| 2013 | Copenhagen | €1,650 | 336 | Kassem Yassine | Sweden | €107,367 | $126,744 |
| Tróia | €1,650 | 242 | Dmitry Varlamov | Russia | €80,187 | $104,811 | |
| Cannes | €1,650 | 313 | Quentin Lecomte | France | €100,000 | $132,918 | |
| Riga | Ls2271 | 208 | Rens Feenstra | Netherlands | Ls52,800 | $101,652 | |
| 2014 | Copenhagen | DKr8,250 | 406 | Frederik Jensen | Denmark | DKr625,000 | $116,168 |
| Tallinn | €1,100 | 262 | Mauri Dorbek | Estonia | €55,500 | $75,574 | |
| Cannes | €1,100 | 457 | Daniel Smith | United Kingdom | €88,000 | $114,059 | |
| London | £1,100 | 399 | Iaron Lightbourne | United Kingdom | £70,000 | $110,163 | |
| 2015 | Copenhagen | DKr8,250 | 404 | Theis Vad Hennebjerre | Denmark | DKr620,000 | $94,288 |
| Glasgow | £880 | 221 | Daniel Chutrov | Bulgaria | £43,000 | $66,030 | |
| Cannes | €1,100 | 411 | Julien Sitbon | France | €80,000 | $90,194 | |
| Antwerp | €1,100 | 321 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | Netherlands | €71,000 | $75,487 | |
| 2016 | London | £825 | 418 | Dave Shallow | United Kingdom | £62,000 | $86,747 |
| Malta | €1,100 | 292 | Martin Soukup | Czech Republic | €65,000 | $72,461 | |
| Copenhagen | DKr8,100 | 376 | Joni Liimatta | Finland | DKr525,000 | $79,571 |
Besides the €1,100 Main Event, several other Side Events including a €2,750 High Roller on December 3rd and 4th will take place during the festival. The PokerNews live reporting team will be there to cover all the action until the Main Event champion is crowned, so make sure to tune back in regularly.
