Karlsson and Demircan Lead the Final Nine in the 2022 Unibet Open Malta €1,100 Main Event
The final table of the largest ever Unibet Open Malta Main Event is set and nine players from eight countries remain in contention for the biggest slice of the €359,000 prize pool. They have all locked up at least €7,200 for their efforts at the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian's after leaving 350 opponents behind in the €1,100 buy-in.
Leading the way is Sweden's Mats Karlsson, who has been calling the island of Malta his home for numerous years. The 2016 EPT Malta Main Event runner-up finished the night with 2,515,000 in chips followed by Serdar Demircan (2,350,000). After the first break of the day, 2019 Unibet Open Malta sixth place finisher Demircan took the spotlight on the live stream table and talked up a storm en route to reaching back-to-back final tables.
Denmark's Henrik Juncker completes the overnight podium with 1,935,000 in chips and there is already y large gap to the remaining hopefuls. Rene Kuhlman (915,000) has 34 big blinds at his disposal with several finalists close behind. Near the bottom of the leaderboard, Raymond Wheatley can be found who is a student of Unibet ambassador Dara O'Kearney and has put the lessons to use with yet another final table experience under his belt.
Final Table Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raymond Wheatley | Ireland | 515,000 | 17 |
| 2 | Tal Sardal | France | 645,000 | 22 |
| 3 | Serdar Demircan | Sweden | 2,350,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Rene Kuhlman | Netherlands | 915,000 | 31 |
| 5 | Samuele Lo Presti | Italy | 775,000 | 26 |
| 6 | Mats Karlsson | Malta | 2,515,000 | 84 |
| 7 | Henrik Juncker | Denmark | 1,935,000 | 65 |
| 8 | Daniel Illingworth | United States | 270,000 | 9 |
| 9 | Rain Molderkivi | Estonia | 870,000 | 29 |
There are 54:27 minutes left in the level, which continues with a duration of 60 minutes. Once there are six contenders in the mix, the duration will be reduced to 45 minutes each and the final three are competing for the victory in 30-minute levels.
Day 2 saw 119 survivors of the three starting flights return to their seats, all with the hopes of reaching the money stages. For O'Kearney and fellow Unibet ambassador David Lappin, that quest ended in the opening stages after both were unable to spin up their short stacks. Other notables outside of the money were Daragh Davey, Tomasz Kozub, Bas de Laat, Baard Dahl, Dehlia de Jong, Eszter Fabian, and Tomasz Brzezinski.
The money bubble turned out to be a tense affair with several severe short stacks awaiting their fate on a nub. Ultimately, it was Dutchman Egi Adriaans who became the last player to leave empty-handed and that triggered a frantic post bubble period in which the field was cut down in rapid fashion.
French Unibet ambassador Arnaud Enselme was cruising through the day but one big clash in a battle of the blinds with Daniel Pastor destroyed all of his hopes of an even deeper run. Enselme was knocked out by Ian Simpson shortly thereafter and Szymon Bujok followed to the payout desk moments later.
For former Irish Open champion Simpson, the tournament ended in 25th place while Pastor went from big stack to busto on the final three tables. Demircan dominated at the top of the leaderboard and self-handedly entertained the commentary team and viewers of the live stream table all night long. It still turned into a lengthy affair to determine the final table, however. Fittingly, it was Demircan who dispatched Andreas Hagen to end the night.
The final day is slated to recommence at 12 pm noon local time on Sunday, October 2, 2022, and the live stream and PokerNews updates are subject to a 30-minute delay. Stay tuned to find out who takes home the top prize of €75,000 and becomes the newest Unibet Open Main Event champion.