Danish poker player Henrik Juncker has won a record-breaking edition of the Unibet Open in Malta for a first prize of €75,000. The popular tour was celebrating its 15th anniversary when it hit the jackpot with an unrivalled turnout for the Mediterranean island stop. The €1,100 buy-in Main Event attracted 359 entries in total, creating a €359,000 prize pool which was shared out between the top 47 finishers.
Juncker is a Unibet Open regular who is well-known on the tour. He narrowly missed a trophy back in 2015 when he was runner-up to fellow Dane Theis Hennebjerre at Unibet Open Copenhagen. His live tournament winnings now top $200,000 and include cashes from events throughout Europe as well as the World Series.
He started the final day seventh in chips but his elimination of Swedish player Serdar Demircan (in fourth place) gave him a commanding lead in his bid to secure his first ever major tournament title.
After Juncker bust Dutch player Rene Kuhlman in third place, a short but hectic heads-up match ensued with Sweden’s Mats Karlsson. Karlsson – who lives in Malta and was the Day 2 chip leader – had to settle for second place and €46,460. Karlsson now has more than $600k in live tournament winnings, a haul that includes his lucrative runner-up finish at EPT Malta in 2016.
Another well-known contender on the final table was Belgium-based American Daniel Illingworth who has more than $1.3 million in live cashes to his name. He was nursing a severe short stack but managed to ladder up to sixth place for a €14,070 payday. Irish businessman Raymond Wheatley, who has been enjoying coaching from fellow countryman Dara O’Kearney, just made the final table cut, finishing ninth for €7,200.
Maltese player Mark Vella, currently ranked ninth on Malta’s all-time money list, was the highest-placed finisher from the host country, finishing 14th for €4,740. Others who cashed included former Irish Open champion Ian Simpson, EPT Dortmund runner-up Cristiano Blanco and French Unibet Ambassador Arnaud Enselme (who finished 34th for €2,400). Belgian pro Charlotte Van Brabander took down the #QUEENRULES Ladies Event for €670 while fellow Belgian Soner Vanelderen won the first ever Unibet Chip Race Mystery Bounty event for €8,265.
Unibet Open Malta took place at the luxurious 5* Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s from September 28 to October 2. It was the tour’s fifth visit to Malta and followed another record-breaking event there in 2019. Others who competed in the Main Event included Unibet Ambassadors Dara O’Kearney, David Lappin, Monica Vaka and Alexandre Reard. The stop was Unibet Poker’s second record live turnout of the year as last month’s Unibet Poker Belgian Championship also exceeded all expectations.
Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events, was certainly happy with the outcome in Malta, the tour’s first live stop in more than 2.5 years. She said: “It’s great to be back after such a long break. We are delighted that players have found their way back to our tables from all over Europe and beyond. There was an amazing vibe in the tournament area throughout the event – and the attendance numbers speak for themselves: nothing beats the Unibet Open. We are well and truly back!”
