The first of two starting days has concluded for the 2024 Coolbet Open �550 Main Event at the Chesterfield Poker Club and Nordic Hotel Forum in Tallinn. It was a busy day for the flagship tournament of the series in Estonia, which attracted 189 entries in the opening flight. Some 150 players had qualified online on Coolbet, many of which jumped into the action today, and nine levels of 45 minutes each whittled down the field to 68 survivors.
In the final three levels. Norway's Hans Winther seemingly didn't lose any pot he entered and soared to the top of the leaderboard with a stack of 266,300, surpassing the two local players Karl-Julius Kalmus (242,300) and Taago Tamm (239,000) on the overnight summit.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1a
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hans Winther | Norway | 266,300 | 166 |
| 2 | Karl-Julius Kalmus | Estonia | 242,300 | 151 |
| 3 | Taago Tamm | Estonia | 239,000 | 149 |
| 4 | Ott-Kaarli Toome | Estonia | 203,900 | 127 |
| 5 | Madis M����r | Estonia | 199,900 | 125 |
| 6 | Ole Roulund | Norway | 190,200 | 119 |
| 7 | Einar Porolfsson | Iceland | 182,000 | 114 |
| 8 | Sami Natri | Finland | 152,300 | 95 |
| 9 | Laasik Kasso | Estonia | 148,300 | 93 |
| 10 | Anders Bjorkheim | Norway | 141,500 | 88 |
Fourth place on the leaderboard for Day 1a belongs to Ott-Kaarli Toome, who won the Coolbet Open Main Event in November 2019. Back then, he came out on top of a 686-entry strong field in Tallinn and advanced with a healthy stack of 203,900 today in pursuit of a second title.
Further notables in the top ten include Madis M����r (199,900), and Laasik Kasso (148,300). The participant with the longest distance from his home country is very likely Russel Wheatley from South Africa, who advanced with an above-average stack of 137,900. Peter Rees (124,500), Teemu Lepp?lahti (121,400), Meelis Ahman (109,100), and Rob Perelman (81,900) were also among the notables to make it through as well.
One of the most well-known players to enter the fray on Day 1a was certainly Ranno Sootla, who has one WSOP Online bracelet and one WSOP Circuit ring to his name. The Estonian pro, fifth on his country's all-time money list according to The Hendon Mob database, entered in the second half of the day and more than doubled his starting stack to bag up 80,400.
Finnish live poker regular Jari Hurri was more successful after his re-entry and made it through with 69,100 while Paul Koppe advanced with a mere 14,200. Koppe was involved in one of the more memorable hands of the day and came out second-best in a flip against Madis Vill.
Notables from Estonia and other nearby countries who failed to bag up chips include Kaido Koorits, Allan Arjut, Dmitri Dudakov, Steven Tool, Roar Flotre, Acid Nilsen, and Terje Sirnes. They all have one more starting day to join the action on Thursday, August 29, 2024 and the late registration will be also open for the first level of Day 2 thereafter.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor throughout the entire Main Event to provide all of the action until a winner has been crowned on August 31, 2024. The final day will also be live-streamed on the Coolbet social media channels as well.
