LONDON, UK – April 18, 2018 – Unibet Poker is delighted to announce that the award-winning Unibet Poker Belgian Championship (UPBC) will be taking place again this summer in the buzzing seaside resort of Blankenberge.
Belgian Poker Award 2018
The Championship won Event of the Year at the Belgian Poker Awards, which were held last weekend at Casino de Spa. In addition, the UPBC’s acclaimed tournament director and 2016 November Niner Kenny Hallaert won a staggering four Belgian Poker Awards.
Hallaert, who enjoyed an incredible year at the tables in 2017 including another deep run at the World Series Of Poker, won Performance of the Year, Online Player of the Year, People’s Champion and GPI Player of the Year. As well as running the Unibet Poker Belgian Championship, Hallaert is also tournament director for the Unibet Open.
Unibet Poker Belgian Championship 2018
Hundreds of players are expected to attend the 2018 edition of the Unibet Poker Belgian Championship, which has been expanded this year and will now run over five days with a total of seven different tournaments. The event will take place from August 29 to September 2 at the popular Casino Blankenberge on the seafront.
Last year’s event, which was won by German-born Heinrich Pauker, attracted 457 entries, generating a total prize pool of €305,500 and first prize of €42,325. The event was up against industry giants PokerStars and WPT at the Belgian Poker Awards.
The Main Event
The €550 buy-in Championship Main Event features unlimited re-entries across three start flights and starts with Day 1a at 1pm on August 29. Day 1b kicks off the following day at the same time and a third turbo Day 1c flight will gets underway later on at 8pm. Players who don’t make it through Day 1a will be allowed to re-enter again on Day 1b, and again on 1c. The tournament boasts a fantastic structure with 45-minute levels for the first two start flights, as well as on Day 2. The blind levels increase to 60 minutes for the third and final day. Online qualifiers are running daily on Unibet Poker at every buy-in level.
Kenny Hallaert will again be running the Championship with a host of famous players set to compete. Last year’s tournament attracted numerous well-known pros including former November Niner Pierre Neuville, top pros Matthias & Christophe de Meulder, poker presenter Gaelle Garcia Diaz, two-time Unibet Open champion Mateusz Moolhuizen, Unibet Ambassadors David Vanderheyden and David Lappin, Charlotte Van Brabander and former Unibet Open Prague winner Filip Verboven.
More side-events
In addition to the €550 buy-in Main Event, this year’s expanded schedule includes two super satellites for the Main Event, a €70 + €10 Ladies Event, a two-day €200 + €20 No Limit Deepstack tournament, a €100 + €10 NL Turbo and €100 + €10 single re-entry Progressive Super Knockout.
The inaugural Unibet Poker Belgian Championship took place in 2016 when Belgium’s Fabrice Lestrade beat a 407-entry field to win the top prize of €40,107. Celebrated pro Christophe De Meulder won the €220 No Limit side event.
Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events and Sponsorship, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that the Unibet Poker Belgian Championship won Event of the Year at the Belgian Poker Awards and of course we are all blown away by Kenny Hallaert’s very well-deserved recognition. To win four awards is really incredible and we are so proud that such an amazing personality is at the helm for our flagship events.
“This year’s Unibet Poker Belgian Championship is set to be even bigger than last year’s award winner. We’ve added two more days to the schedule and now have a third turbo start flight for the Main Event. The Unibet Poker Belgian Championship is going from strength to strength and its success demonstrates just how much enthusiasm there is for great poker events on home soil.“
Unibet Player of the Year
Every player who enters the Unibet Poker Belgian Championship will be awarded points in the new Unibet Player of the Year contest. There will be extra points for all players who make the money as well as additional points awarded based on performance.
The race was launched in London in February and is the first involving both live and online tournaments. Huge prizes are on offer including €2,000 Unibet Open packages as well as dozens of tickets for online satellites. The spectacular Battle of the Champions’ play-off will determine the overall Unibet Player of the Year and will feature the top four live players from 2018, the top four online players and the leaderboard winner from the Unibet Deepstack Open.
Live players can earn leaderboard points by entering any Unibet Open Main Event this year as well as the Main Events during the Unibet Poker Belgian Championship, the Unibet UK Poker Tour and the Unibet Romanian Poker Series.
Forthcoming Unibet events:
Unibet Open Malta
The next Unibet Open is being run in conjunction with Casino Malta and takes place at the Intercontinental Hotel in the buzzing resort of St. Julian’s from May 16-20. The event will see Unibet Open joining forces with the Deepstack Open for the first time and gets under way with the two-day €300 + €30 buy-in Unibet Deepstack Open Cup which starts on May 16.
Unibet Open Bucharest
Unibet Open Bucharest is taking place in August 2-5 at the stunning JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel. Unibet’s third visit to the Romanian capital will include numerous side events as well as the flagship €1,100 Main Event.
