“I will never play the Dane” – so goes the classic lament. Luckily, 336 poker players from all around the world can no longer say that, as last week the Unibet Open took its first foray into Denmark, emerging four days later with Kassem Yassine taking the title in a high-octane final table at the Casino Copenhagen. Yassine took home DKK 800,608 (approx. €107,367), becoming the second player from Sweden to wear the Unibet Open crown. See the final table highlights below.
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 :::4d :::6d for a double-belly-buster straight draw on the the turn of a :::Ts :::8s :::2h :::5s board but failing to hit against Rasmus Vogt’s :::As :::8h 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 :::Qd :::Qs and van Wely’s :::Ad :::Kc proved no match for Jimmy Gillot’s :::Ac :::Ah on a :::Jd :::4h :::3s :::5c :::Th 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 :::Qs :::5d on the button and Yassine called with :::Js :::2s. Østbjerg made two pair on the :::Qd :::2h :::2d flop but Yassine made trips; the :::Jd turn, which made Yassine a full house, saw all the chips go in, and with the :::As 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!
