Christopher Heidelbacher Tops Day 1b of Unibet Open Malta �1,100 Main Event
Another flight is in the books as Day 1b of the Unibet Open Malta �1,100 Main Event has concluded after ten levels of poker. Another 165 players walked through the doors of the InterContinental Hotel and Casino Malta but only 66 moved on to Day 2 once the dust had settled. That brings the total number of entries to 327, the largest Unibet Open Malta to date.
There were a few players who made a late charge for the chip lead in the closing hands of the evening but it was Christopher Heidelbacher from Romania who topped them all with 243,000 in chips. Heidelbacher was trading with Angelo Tarallo who finished not far behind with 223,500 chips. In one of the last hands of the night, Tarallo scooped a pot well north of 120,000 chips from Peter Kaae with pocket aces - one of the only times they held up in the last level.
While it remains to be seen what happens in flight 1c, Heidelbacher will most likely hold the overall chip lead after the three starting flights. With over $30,000 in career tournament winnings in the last couple of years, all but one of his cashes have come from his home country. Heidelbacher will also be looking to top his largest score of over $16,000.
A couple of other big stacks who had successful days were Petter Kaarstad (188,500) and [Removed:402] (187,500).
The action got underway for Day 1b at noon local time and tournament organizers were expecting a larger field than Day 1a which attracted 113 runners. It was clear that more players were in the building and the total entries quickly grew throughout the first few levels. Late registration remained open until after the dinner break but there was also Day 1c (a turbo flight) taking place for any of those wishing to re-enter.
Many more Unibet Ambassadors took to the felt today including Alexandre Reard (113,500), David Lappin (46,000), Espen Jorstad, Dara O'Kearney, and Monica Vaka. Unfortunately, the latter three failed to move on through this flight.
Day 1b was also the day that the Unibet Poker Twitch streamers tested their luck at the live format and a couple of them were able to make it through. Phil 'syrinxx' Schonebaum (106,000), and Yoan 'ToD' Merlo (61,500) will return with chips on Day 2.
All of those that advanced from the starting flights will return to the tables Saturday, Sept 14 for Day 2 which begins at 12 pm local time. The blinds will resume at 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. The next goal for everyone will be to reach the money. The blinds will continue at 60 minutes in length and the scheduled plan is to play down until the final table. Check out the Unibet Open Malta live reporting in the Live Reporting section.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team for all of the action straight from the tournament floor.
