The inaugural Unibet Open in Golden Sands, Bulgaria, has been won by Dan Murariu, of Romania, who takes home a cheque for €150,705, the trophy, and a triumphant poker story from the beachside resort. With a breakneck speed start to this final table, the rail (which grew steadily over the day) had plenty to entertain them as the winner emerged from this starting lineup:
Dan Murariu (Romania) – 1,053,000
Lasse Nielsen (Denmark) – 756,000
Bjaerke Hansen (Denmark) – 605,000
Simeon Naydenov (Bulgaria) – 556,000
Alexandr Sharov (Russia) – 296,000
Mosjin el Yakoubi (Holland) – 249,000
Twan Bakens (Holland) – 176,000
Pedro Fanzeres (Portugal) – 169,000
Nicolas Dervaux (France) – 98,000
Murariu began in the lead, and ended up with all the chips in the tournament – but between these two points there was a fast-paced final played out with plenty of reversals of fortune, with more than one other player taking the lead. Of the short stacks starting the final, it was Pedro Fanzeres eliminated first after racing his big slick against the pocket Tens of Simeon Naydenov. Nicolas Dervaux had spent much of the previous day short stacked, and seemed unfazed by starting with five figures when the leader was over seven – he outlasted Mosjin el Yakoubi (8th) but then took a stab at a triple up, all in with AQ against the 99 of Alexandr Sharov and the 55 of Twan Bakens. In this most exciting hand of the first half, Dervaux spiked an Ace on the flop, but a five popped out tripling up the young Dutchman instead, and sending him to the rail in 7th.
The period immediately preceding Dervaux’s elimination had been dominated by the quiet aggression of Lasse Nielsen, who briefly held the chip lead before doubling up a lucky Sharov whose dominated Qh9h hit a flush against his AQ, and then doing it again with Sixes against Sharov’s Aces. Nielsen stopped raising every hand after this, and it was the turn of Bjaerke Hansen to shift to high gear after getting crippled by Simeon Naydenov. He moved in preflop three hands in a row (with the blinds getting big by this point that gave him a real boost) and then called all-in on the fourth hand with A9. This stayed in front of Naydenov’s A6 and he sent the lone Bulgarian finalist to the rail in 6th.
After this rather eyebrow-raising comeback, he shot way past his previous stack when a nonbelieving Twan Bakens shipped all his chips in with Sevens preflop, only to find Hansen with Queens. His enthusiastic rail had to content themselves with their man taking fifth and €36,938 – not too bad for a weekend’s work. The overnight chip leader was noticeably quiet while this carnage was wreaked on the rest of the table, the patient Murariu biding his time and seemingly unwilling to generate life-threatening pots with the other big stacks. Out of all of them, he was the only one not to dice with elimination in the first four levels, starting with a million, and holding onto it with a vice-like grip, unfazed, it appeared, by the rise and rise of Bjaerke Hansen.
Hansen, meanwhile, busted Simeon Naydenov in dramatic style, calling his threebet preflop with Aces and letting him bluff off his stack with Q8 on an AJT flop. The slim hope of a straight fading, Naydenov hit the rail and collected €47,280 for 4th.
Three handed, Hansen applied pressure to the two shorter stacks, and it was Lasse Nielsen who finally succumbed, after dropping to around the 10bb mark and making the necessary shoves to try to get back into contention. In the end he called when Dan Murariu moved in on him with pocket Fours – Murariu held T6 which was still a couple of live overcards. Sure enough, the Six came on the flop to bust Nielsen and get to the heads up stage.
With over €50k difference in prize money between first and second, it was no wonder it took several levels for Murariu 
and Hansen to fight it out to the end. Long periods of back-and-forth small pots meant that for several hours they were pretty much even in chips. A key hand for Murariu, however, saw him turn the nut flush while Hansen rivered the second nuts, and a chunky 460k changed hands on the river alone. With the momentum once more, Murariu still didn’t have an easy ride to the title. Comfortable with setting his opponent all-in to pile on the pressure, Hansen gave it a good shot, but finally doubled Murariu up when he made this move with A6 and ran into Murariu’s pocket Sevens.
After that it was a matter of minutes before another all-in preflop confrontation finished Hansen off (his Q8 suited running into Murariu’s Queens) and he settles for second, while the Unibet Open Ambassador for Romania gets the giant cardboard cheque and the winner’s interview. He’d previously finished fifth at both the Vilamoura Unibet Open and the London leg (for £38,500) back in 2009, but this win represents his largest so far. The trick seems to be to keep making final tables, and eventually you take one down… We’ll probably see him at the next Unibet Open event in Prague this August, but for now, thanks to the Grand Casino, Golden Sands for hosting a spectacular week of poker, and to all the staff, TV crew and players who make the tour what it is.
Final Results:
1st – €150,705 – Dan Murariu
2nd – €97,515 – Bjaerke Hansen
3rd – €65,010 – Lasse Nielsen
4th – €47,280 – Simeon Naydenov
5th – €36,938 – Twan Bakens
6th – €25,118 – Alexandr Sharov
7th – €18,617 – Nicolas Dervaux
8th – €13,298 – Mosjin el Yakoubi
9th – €10,638 – Pedro Fanzeres
