Pedersen and Pusa Lead the Way After Day 1b of the 2024 Coolbet Open Tallinn Main Event
It was a busy day inside of the Chesterfield Poker Club at the Nordic Hotel Forum in Tallinn. The second final starting day of the 2024 Coolbet Open Tallinn €550 Main Event attracted a bumper field and surpassed the opening flight by a significant margin.
Most of the participants hailed from nearby Scandinavian countries with a few rare exceptions, such as two contenders from as far away as Chile, as a total of 275 entries emerged. Along with the 189 entries of Day 1a, this bumps the field up to 464 entries and that figure will likely increase further as the late registration remains open for the first level on Day 2.
Upon completion of nine levels of 45 minutes each, that figure was cut down to just 123 survivors and a duo claimed the top spots separated by just five big blinds. Norway's Stein Pedersen claimed the bragging rights and biggest tally of 241,800 while local player Taavi Pusa follows close behind with 234,000.
Only three different countries are represented in the overnight top ten for Day 1b including Norway, Estonia and Finland. Monica Klingenberg was the top-placed female contender in the field and advanced with the fourth-biggest stack of 159,500.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stein Pedersen | Norway | 241,800 | 151 |
| 2 | Taavi Pusa | Estonia | 234,000 | 146 |
| 3 | Robert Kallikorm | Estonia | 175,000 | 109 |
| 4 | Monica Klingenberg | Norway | 159,500 | 100 |
| 5 | Runnar Lindepuu | Estonia | 145,200 | 91 |
| 6 | Steven Tool | Estonia | 142,200 | 89 |
| 7 | Joni Väistö | Finland | 141,100 | 88 |
| 8 | Tarjei Forus | Norway | 139,600 | 87 |
| 9 | Henning Stalsberg | Norway | 129,600 | 81 |
| 10 | Mart Tammoja | Estonia | 128,300 | 80 |
Further notables to advance from Day 1b with an above-average stack were Asbjorn Elvevold (122,300), Steinn Karlsson (106,500), Laur Sibold (95,600), Toivo Ojasoo (91,200), as well as Sander Laprik (85,700). The two Coolbet Twitch streamers Christian Arstad (87,800) and Ylva Thorsrud (52,200) both busted and successfully re-entered to make it through as well.
Several notables from Scandinavia were not as fortunate and bowed out during a frantic second starting day such as Joni Liimatta, Dmitri Dudakov, Andreas Hoivold, Karev Tralla, Roar Flotre, Kaur Ajamaa, and Knut Gronli.
The elimination of Liimatta happened during the final hands of the night when his jack-nine suited came up second-best versus seven-trey in a preflop all-in with the "two live cards" hitting a full house.
Hoivold entered late and lost most of his stack right away, then bowed out against eventual big stack Kallikorm. His second bullet was not crowned by success either but he can still give it another shot in the first level of Day 2 as of noon local time on Friday, August 30, 2024.
The penultimate tournament day will see the level duration increase to 60 minutes each and a long day awaits with up to eleven levels being played or down to the final two tables, whichever comes first. Recommencing blinds for level ten will be 800-1,600 with a big blind ante of 1,600, giving all late entrants nearly 20 big blinds at their disposal.
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of the seventh Coolbet Open Main Event here in Tallinn, as the PokerNews team will be on the floor until a winner is crowned in the following two days.