Daniel Chutrov has won the Unibet Open Main Event in Glasgow after beating Chen Wenbin in heads-up action to take the £43,000 first prize in Celtic Park.
I know it’s difficult to believe, but there are poker players in existence that don’t come to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Some of these crazy folks headed to Celtic Park for the inaugural Unibet Open Glasgow, and a Bulgarian
It was a €1,100 Freezeout (remember them?), and Chutrov went wire-to-wire beating 211 entrants to capture the first prize of £43,000. 24 people got paid.
With only 10-players remaining the Bulgarian held 2,024,000 chips. His nearest competitor, Estonia’s Heins Kalde held just 903,000. But that would change five hands into the final table in one of those hands that only come around once in a blue moon.
Kalde opened to 45,000 holding pocket aces, Chutrov flatted with pocket kings, and James McAuley moved all-in for 186,000 holding ace-king. Kalde called the shove, Chutrov moved all-in, and Kalde called off the last of his 355,000 stack. The board stayed clean for the aces, McAuley was out, and Kalde had closed the gap on the runaway chip leader.
Unfortunately for Kalde he couldn’t turn those chips into winning chips after busting in fifth spot. When the action folded around to Chen Wenbin in the small blind, he moved all-in holding ace-queen, and Kalde made the call with ace-eight. The stronger kicker held, and Kalde was out. It was a fantastic run for a player enjoying his first-ever live tournament, after qualifying for a mere €2.
Wenbin would go all the way before Chutrov defeated him in heads-up action. The pair exchanged the chip lead on numerous occasions before Wenbin moved all-in on a [Jd] [3c] [2d] flop, in a three-bet pot. Wenbin was holding [Qs] [Js] for top pair, and Chutrov called with [Ah] [Kd] for the over pair. Wenbin was in great shape, until the dealer pushed the [Kc] out of the deck, on the turn, and Chutrov was declared the winner.
Final Table Results
1st. Daniel Chutrov – £43,000
2nd. Chen Wenbin – £30,000
3rd. Anders Ostrowski – £19,200
4th. Arne Bjorsmo – £14,200
5th. Heins Klade – £10,700
6th. Ninib Messo – £8,550
7th. Niklas Degn – £7,100
8th. Ramunas Granskas – £5,700
9th. James McAulay – £4,240
