The British pro, Daniel Smith, has defeated the Dane Mikael Nielsen in heads-up action to top a field of 457-players in the Unibet Open in Cannes.
Dusk till Dawn (DTD) regular, Daniel Smith, must be doing cartwheels this morning, after he smashed his previous career high score of $5,088, with victory in the Unibet Open Main Event Cannes, for €88,000.
457-players paid €1,100 to create a prize pool of €438,720, and Smith overcame a difficult final table to join Mauri Dorbeck and Frederik Jensen as 2014 Unibet Open champions.
When the final nine sat down to do business it was the Dane Michael Nielsen who had a commanding chip lead with 4m of the things lined up ahead of him. Smith would start as one of the short stacks, but would eventually overcome Nielsen in heads-up action to take the plaudits.
The Frenchman Alain Roy was the headline act. The former Partouche Poker Tour (PPT) Main Event winner is ninth in the all-time French live tournament money list, and he started the day second in chips sitting behind a stack of 1.74m. Roy would go on to finish third after his [Qs] [9s] ran into the dominating [Ks] [Qd] of Nielsen.
There were also two former Unibet Open final tablists in action.
Davor Pavic finished second in the 2011 Unibet Open in Barcelona for $131,739, and was making his sixth cash in Unibet Open Main Events. He may have known his way around a Unibet Open, but would have to settle for fourth in this one. Once again it was Nielsen the conqueror as his pocket tens picked off a speculative shove, holding [Qs] [3c], and Pavic was out.
The only other player at the table with previous Unibet Open Main Event final table experience was Krzysztof Stuchlik, who finished fifth in Troia back in 2013. Stuchlik was holding pocket queens on a [5d] [4d] [3h] flop after Davor Pavic had flopped a wheel. I will leave you to fill in the blanks on that one.
Nielsen waltzed into the heads-up encounter with Smith holding a big chip lead: 11m v 2.5m, but an early double and some impressive play saw Smith take the lead, before the final hand of play saw Nielsen move all-in, over a Smith open, holding [Kh] [Qs], and Smith made the easiest call of his life with pocket kings.
Other notable finishers were the EPT regular Giuseppe Zarbo (9th), and the former EPT & Unibet Open Champion Frederik Jensen (18th).
Final Table Standings
1st. Daniel Smith – €88,000
2nd. Michael Nielsen – €62,000
3rd. Alain Roy – €40,000
4th. Davor Pavic – €30,000
5th. Krzysztof Stuchlik – €22,000
6th. Nicolas Le Floch – €18,270
7th. Vinod Jadav – €14,600
8th. Daniel Johansson – €11,200
9th. Giuseppe Zarbo – €8,800
The next stop for the Unibet Open is London. The event will return to Aspers Casino in Stratford 27-30 Nov with a €1,100 buy-in, 500 player cap, and €250,000 guaranteed prize pool.
