Mark Muldoon and Max Silver Lead 24 Players Through Day 1a, Andy Black Bags Top 10 Stack
After 10 full levels of play, 24 of the original 83 entries still had chips in front of them. The player with the biggest stack at the end of the night was local Irish player Mark Muldoon who bagged up a massive stack of 246,000. The other person to bag more than 200k was the United Kingdom's Max Silver, who ended the day with 213,000.
Action kicked off at noon on Thursday for the first chance at Unibet Open glory, and entries were brisk right from the start. By the time the first break rolled around after two levels of play, there were already more than 60 entries on the board, including the poker monk himself, Andy Black. Black was in action from the start of the day, and managed to finish the day with a top 10 stack of 143,000.
Black and Silver weren't the only "big names" in action on Day 1a. Viktor Blom is a special guest to this series, and kicked his weekend off well with a win in the opening Battle Royale. He wasn't quite as lucky in Day 1a however, ending his run early. No doubt he'll be back to take a second crack at the prizes in the Day 1c turbo heat late on Friday.
By the time registration closed, a total of 83 players had taken their shot, but fewer than 50 were still playing a stack. Mark Muldoon, who finished the day top in chips, got there through a late day surge. He was in action from the start of the day, and flirted with the top 10 stacks for much of the day post-dinner, but it wasn't till the final couple of levels that he made his move to the top of the list.
Silver took a similar route, though he spent much of the first few levels across the room on the High Roller final table. He finished fourth in that event, and immediately jumped into the Main during level 5. He slowly build his stack through the day and wasn't even in the top ten when the final break began, but over the next two levels built his stack to second place.
Andy Black was in action right from the start of the day as well, and spent most of the day in the top 10 for chips. He was typically active and vocal throughout the day, joking with table mates while he amassed the seventh place stack of 143,000. Among the other notables to make it through the first Day 1 were Dex de Jong (160,500), John Gough (122,500), and Unibet Ambassador Espen Jorstad (77,500). Among the notables who couldn't make it through the day were Alexandre Reard, who was the last player to bust on Day 1a, as well as Mateusz Moolhuizen, Aurelie Reard and online qualifier Henrik Tellving.
The second chance to get into Day 2 of the 2020 Unibet Open Dublin runs starting at noon Friday. Its only open to new entries as players who tried and failed in Day 1a will have to wait for Day 1c to take a second shot at the prizes. Expected in Friday's action will be Unibet Ambassadors David Lappin, Dara O'Kearney, and Monica Waka. Tune in to PokerNews for action from the floor all day long.