Towards the end of level one, two players were eliminated on different tables at almost the same time. Torleiv Gronbech was the first to fall followed by Gudjon Einarsson.
The latter jammed a 6♣5♣3♠ flop for 23,100 and was called by Kaido Mikk.
Gudjon Einarsson: A♥Q♦
Kaido Mikk: K♥K♦
No ace came on the J♠ turn and 10♦ river to knock out Einarsson.
Anitta Pietarsaari had won a big pot off Rolf Nordbjorn and then took on Simo Ikäheimo. They created a pot of around 11,000 to the 9♦9♥7♥6♦4♣ river on which Ikäheimo checked. Pietarsaari bet 12,000 and was called after half a minute of consideration to reveal the 7♦7♠ for a flopped full house, scooping another big pot.
it is another sunny day here in Tallinn and poker enthusiasts from Scandinavia are expected to make their way to the Chesterfield Poker Club inside the Nordic Hotel Forum in Tallinn to compete in Day 1b of the 2024 Coolbet Open Tallinn €550 Main Event. Some 150 players mostly from Norway, Finland, and Iceland qualified through Coolbet for the flagship tournament by scooping €1,600 packages and will enter the fray as of noon local time for the second and final starting day.
The opening flight attracted a field of 189 entries and 68 players advanced to Day 2 already. Leading the way so far is Norway's Hans Winther, who turned his starting stack of 30,000 into 266,300. Whether or not anyone will be able to surpass that figure today remains to be seen.
A total of nine levels of 45 minutes each are scheduled for today with two 15-minute breaks after level three and six. With Day 1b wrapping up in the early evening, a lavish buffet awaits thereafter or perhaps a walk through the nearby historic old town of Tallinn.
Unlimited re-entries are available all day long and the late registration will remain open for the first level on the following day as well. With 30,000 in starting chips and opening blinds of 100-100 with a big blind ante of 100, everyone seated in level one will have 300 big blinds worth at their disposal but plenty of action right away is guaranteed.
This is the seventh edition of the Coolbet Open Main Event, with all but one of them so far taking place here in Tallinn. The only exception was the most recent stop at the Banco Casino in Bratislava this past September, which produced a field of 620 entries. Finland's Ville Hakala claimed the top prize of €60,000 and was the third winner from Finland in six editions.
History of the Coolbet Open Main Events
Year
Location
Entries
Prize Pool
Winner
Country
Top Prize
2018
Tallinn
425
€ 205,525
Sebastian Wahl
Finland
€50,100
2018
Tallinn
589
€ 285,665
Mats Albertsen
Norway
€60,510
2019
Tallinn
531
€ 252,685
Mathias Siljander
Finland
€60,100
2019
Tallinn
686
€ 332,710
Ott-Kaarli Toome
Estonia
€71,700
2022
Tallinn
652
€ 312,960
Kaido Mikk
Estonia
€65,700
2023
Bratislava
620
€ 300,000
Ville Hakala
Finland
€60,000
Besides the Main Event, the schedule from August 26 until September 1, 2024, includes several satellites and Side Events for as little as €25 and up to an entry fee of €1,100. There are a total of 28 events scheduled with a solid mixture of NLHE, PLO and other poker games such as popular Scandinavian variant Sviten Special, for example.
Usually quite popular among the Coolbet Open regulars are the €220 Coolbet Open Warm-Up and the €330 Coolbet Open Deepstack Championships, the former of which was won by Mateusz Jablonski from Norway.
Coolbet’s team of Twitch streamers will also be present at the Coolbet Open and they will be in charge of hosting the late evening hyper turbo tournaments. Norway's Christian “Sycksbe” Arstad last year managed to win his own tournament and he finished as the runner-up in another event this year already.
Coolbet Streamer Christian Arstad
During the live poker series in Tallinn, select few events will also be live-streamed until their conclusion throughout the next few days. This includes the final day of the €550 Main Event on August 31, 2024, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor until a winner is crowned.
