Unibet would like to thank all the players, dealers, poker partners, media and Unibet team members who have made 2023 such an action-packed and hugely successful year. With the Unibet Deepstack Open hosting more than a dozen events plus the Unibet Open in Bucharest held earlier this month and the Unibet-sponsored International Poker Open in Dublin in October, it really has been a great year. Hundreds of players have qualified online on Unibet Poker to take part in these live events, giving themselves a fantastic experience for a fraction of the normal buy-in cost.
Satellites are ongoing for a wide selection of live events on the Unibet client, starting from just 40 cents. Currently the finals include packages for Deepstack Open events on Thursdays and London Poker Festival packages on Sundays. Just look for “Unibet Live” in the tournament section.
Unibet Deepstack Open 2023
The Unibet Deepstack Open (UDSO) held a total of 13 events in 2023 with an average of 600 entries for every Main Event. More than 500 players qualified on unibet.fr and .com to win their way into events held all over France as well as in Malta, Morocco, Sanremo in Italy and Rozvadov. The biggest event was the €550 UDSO-powered Main Event at the Malta Poker Festival in October which attracted 1,444 entries creating a massive prize pool of nearly €700,000. France’s Arthur Navellou was the champion, winning €115,000 after defeating his rivals on a marathon final day that lasted nearly 16 hours. UDSO Paris last May was also another huge event with French player Eric Geraume outlasting an 838-strong field to win €65,000 while French player Alexandre Le Vaillant beat a 752-strong field at UDSO Marrakech to win a prize of more than €55,000. The UDSO will be back in action next month with the first event of Season XV at Casino Portomaso in Malta; satellites are up and running already on unibet.fr and .com.
International Poker Open 2023
There were 794 entries in this year’s Unibet Poker-sponsored International Poker Open Main Event with players competing across five single re-entry starting flights. Dozens of players won their entry into the event online on Unibet Poker and many of them cashed. The festival, which ran from October 25-30, featured more than 20 different tournaments at the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin including the €350 Main Event and €25,000 guaranteed Luxon Pay Super High Roller. Belgian player Steven Rothheut took down the Main Event for a career-best cash of €45,240 after battling his way through the huge field. Ireland’s Barry Moore, who started the final day as chip leader, had to settle for second place, winning €27,810. The International Poker Open has been held annually since 2008 and Unibet Poker has sponsored the event for the last six years – including hosting an online version during the pandemic.
A total of 103 players took a share of the €239,986 prize pool including Barry Carter, Paul Fox, Noel Murphy, Andrew Dooley, Martin Olali, Simon Williams, Luke Boynton, Unibet Ambassador Dara O’Kearney, Annette O’Carroll and Peter Wigglesworth.
Unibet Open Bucharest 2023
The Unibet Open also celebrated a brand new champion after Dutch player Dwayne Sluis, who qualified online on Unibet Poker, took down the €1,100 Main Event for a career-best prize of €65,830. Sluis defeated home hero Ivan Alin Constantin heads-up to secure his massive prize and the coveted Unibet Open trophy. The Main Event attracted 360 entries in total, creating a €338,400 prize pool shared out between the top 47 finishers. Sluis has been a professional Pot Limit Omaha player for the past ten years and was runner-up in the 2019 Master of Classics €1k PLO event but his win in Romania gave him by far his biggest live cash.
Unibet Ambassador Dara O’Kearney said: “It was great to see so many familiar faces in Bucharest which was our first stop for Unibet back in 2016. David Lappin was particularly happy his favourite chicken joint just across the road from the venue was still open. It was also great to bring along Gary Clarke, my oldest friend in poker, after he won our Chip Race contest. Gary was runner-up to me in my first Hendon Mob result – the European Deepstack in 2008. After the Unibet Open, Gary told us the experience had reminded him of his love for poker – he hadn’t played since 2017!” (Check out Dara’s blog about Gary Clarke and Bucharest here.)
Unibet Open Bucharest, which was run in conjunction with PokerFest Romania, took place at the luxurious JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel from November 29 to December 3. It was the tour’s fourth visit to Romania and followed a sensational event there in 2019. Among those who competed in the Main Event were Unibet Ambassadors Dara O’Kearney, David Lappin and Monica Vaka plus two-time champion Mateusz Moolhuizen. Other notable names included six-time #QUEENRULES finalist Dehlia de Jong, Tudor Purice, Darah Davey, Herli Olop, Danut Chisu, Cristian Rajala, Patrick Bueno, Mihai Manole and Gabriel Gavrila.
Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events, said: “What a fabulous year it’s been for Unibet and congrats to all our winners at our live events all over Europe. So many players won their way into these live events online at Unibet Poker and we hope that they – and indeed everyone who participated in Unibet live events in 2023 – had a fantastic time. Many thanks to all our team, our colleagues, media and poker partners for helping us host some truly great poker festivals this year. We look forward to 2024 which will get underway very soon with the Unibet Deepstack Open in Malta next month.”
