Moolhuizen Looking for Third Unibet Open Title After Solid Day 1a in Malta Main Event
Day 1b of the 2016 Unibet Open Malta Main Event is currently underway. To skip to the current day's coverage, click here, or continue reading below for the Day 1a recap.
On Thursday, the Unibet Open made its return to the beautiful island of Malta after a five-year hiatus. Back in 2011, it was newcomer Mateusz Moolhuizen winning the event, making for his first-ever cash and the start of a career full of highs, including another Unibet Open title just last year.
Moolhuizen was back this year, as the Unibet Open tour shifted to the brand new Casino Malta in the five-star InterContinental hotel. Despite the amazing weather, beautiful beach, and welcoming pool, 147 players opted to play cards inside on Thursday. The upside for them was that all of them would be able to enjoy the sun and pool on Friday, unless they choose to play one of the side events.
A total of 50 players made it through to Day 2, which will be played on Saturday. Moolhuizen was one of them, and he finished with 156,800 in chips after a succesful day on the feature table.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irena Macesovic | 232,800 |
| 2 | Dejan Vogrin | 204,200 |
| 3 | Clint Sammut | 165,000 |
| 4 | Nicolay Langfeldt | 163,800 |
| 5 | Tuukka Meklin | 163,800 |
| 6 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | 156,800 |
| 7 | Sami Pulliainen | 148,300 |
| 8 | Daniel Thaller | 139,400 |
| 9 | Arne Coulier | 123,300 |
Charlotte Van Brabander, a Unibet-sponsored player and two-time winner of the Unibet eSports Challenge, was one of the first to bust. She first was victim of a flush-over-flush confrontation, followed by an even more unfortunate situation where a player thought he had not put in his ante and was forced to limp when it turned out his ante chip was already in. Van Brabander raised and the mistaken limper called. Van Brabander got it all in on the turn with the board looking harmless for Van Brabander's aces. Unfortunately for her, her opponent had flopped two pair with six-deuce and Van Brabander hit the rail.
Van brabander's eSports colleague Melissa Posada also busted early, but not before owning one of the most experienced players in the field. Hometown player Pim de Goede told us himself he was getting owned and with a reddish face told us some remarkable hands where Posada had gotten the better of him. Posada went broke when she flopped top pair against an over pair, though.
Friday it's time for Day 1b and another 10 levels are on the schedule. Play starts at noon local time again, and PokerNews.com will again be on site for live coverage, including a live stream with hole cards up.
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