Joining up the action on the turn, Eirik Sorlie in the small blind checked and called a bet of 3,150 by Unibet Poker ambassador David Lappin on the button. Sorlie quickly checked again the on the river and Lappin et 7,525. Sorlie was sent into the think tank and called after more than two minutes.
Lappin turned over the for a straight and that won a decent pot only minutes after Lappin had sat down.
On the tail end of a bigger pot between Michael Dunleavy and Unibet Poker ambassador Espen Uhlen Jorstad, the completed board showed and Dunleavy checked in the hijack. Jorstad bet 2,600 into 4,300 and Dunleavy eventually called to get shown for a missed flush draw by the Norwegian. Dunleavy had that beat with for top two and raked in the pot.
Katie Swift and Pavao Veza were playing for an even bigger pot with some 11,500 in the middle and the turn showed . Swift checked in the hijack and Veza made it 4,500 to go on the button. After spending more than a minute in the think tank, the Grosvenor sponsored Swift sent her cards into the muck.
The £2,200 High Roller attracted a field of 67 entries on Day 1 and 46 players bagged up. They will return at noon local time and the registration closes when cards get back underway. The goal of the day is to play down to a winner and the current chip leader going into Day 2 is Mikko Hirvonen with 110,400. Other notables still in contention include Matt Perrins (74,100), UnibetPoker.fr sponsored pro Alexandre Reard (66,700), Nicolas Cardyn (65,500), 2015 Unibet Open Cannes champion Julien Sitbon (58,500), Jack Sinclair (55,100), Peter Jaksland (36,400) and Preben Stokkan (32,000).
Among those that busted were Mateusz Moolhuizen, Laurent Polito, Unibet Poker ambassador Espen Uhlen Jorstad and Antoine Saout.
There are already some 110 players registered but the vast majority of them are not seated just yet. Among those to already claim their 30,000 starting stack are the Unibet Poker ambassadors Espen Uhlen Jorstad and Dara O'Kearney, Gordon Plomp, Francois Pirault and Pavao Veza. The latter qualified online through the loyalty program for the previous stop in Bucharest and turned that into a payday of €38,965 for his third place finish.
Vincent Gabel raised to 250 on the button and was called by defending Unibet Open London Champion [Removed:158] in the big blind. Both players checked the flop and Van Lancker bet the turn for 325, Gabel called. On the river, Van Lancker bet 500 and his fellow countryman folded.
"Show the bluff, make me look stupid, they are writing it up," Gabel joked but Van Lancker simply sent his cards into the muck. While the hand was taking place, two-time Unibet Open champion Mateusz Moolhuizen sat down and took a seat at the same table.
The Unibet Open kicks off season 11 at the Grosvenor Casino in London in the heart of British capital and the historic poker room is better known as ‘The Vic” among poker enthusiasts from near and far. It is the 7th ever Unibet Open to take place in London and last year's 419 entries have set the record thus far. Belgium's [Removed:158] took home the lion's share of the £377,100 prize pool and claimed the trophy and payday of £71,950.
Van Lancker will be back in action to defend his title along with many familiar faces of the popular tournament series. The Unibet ambassadors such as Fredrik Bergmann, Ian Simpson, Dara O'Kearney, David Lappin, Espen Uhlen Jorstad and Daiva Byrne are all expected to join the action on one of the two starting days. Furthermore, the eSports stars will also take a shot at poker glory at "The Vic" after determining their champion in the eSports Battle Royale VIII SNG last night. Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk emerged victorious and claimed the £5,000 first-place prize, defeating Phil "syrinxx" Schoenebaum in heads-up, who received £3,000 for his efforts. Last but not least, Scott "Sco" McMillan finished third and took home £2,000.
Unibet Open Events in London at a Glance
Year
Buy-In
Entries
Prize Pool
Winner
Country
Prize
Prize in US$
2009
£2,750
266
£665,000
Thanh Doan
Finland
£187,000
$305,326
2010
£1,650
273
£409,500
Paul Valkenburg
Netherlands
£109,550
$171,408
2011
£1,320
315
£378,000
Pratik Ghatge
United Kingdom
£85,050
$136,305
2014
£1,100
399
£319,200
Iaron Lightbourne
United Kingdom
£70,000
$110,163
2016
£825
418
£313,500
Dave Shallow
United Kingdom
£62,000
$86,747
2017
£990
419
£377,100
[Removed:158]
Belgium
£71,950
$89,722
Day 1a of the £990 Main Event kicks off at 11 a.m. local time and each of the two starting days will play a total of 11 levels of 60 minutes each with a break every two levels. There will be a dinner break after the end of level six, and all participants receive 30,000 in chips. The registration for the Freezeout tournament will remain open until the start of level seven and action is scheduled to conclude around midnight local time.
Day 1 Level Structure
Level
Small blind
Big blind
Ante
1
50
100
0
2
100
200
25
3
150
300
25
4
200
400
50
5
300
600
75
6
400
800
100
7
500
1,000
100
8
600
1,200
200
9
800
1,600
200
10
1,000
2,000
300
11
1,200
2,400
400
Follow along right here on PokerNews as the live reporting team will provide all the action until a winner is crowned on Sunday, February 25th 2018.