2022 Coolbet Open Day 1b

Espen Ringstad was on the grind in more than one way on Day 1b of the Coolbet Open €550 Main Event at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park.

The Norwegian not only bagged the Day 1b chip lead with 420,500 in chips but he is well ahead of the Day 1a chip leader Ranno Sootla who bagged 350,000. Ringstad was on a hardcore drinking grind since the moment cards were in the air and even asked the reporting team to track his drink intake against his chip count increase before the first break. Unfortunately, our calculators were unable to handle his major surge in chips compared to an almost equally impressive amount of beers.

Ringstad was not only joking around and showing timely bluffs all day long at his table but he also called claimed to the reporting team early on to have 1.5 million in chips from his 30,000 starting stack when he had about 80,000. This steadily increased every time until he claimed to be a chip billionaire. While accumulating a billion chips isn’t something that is possible at the Coolbet Open, he has the next best thing as he will be in the driver’s seat to start Day 2 on Friday at noon EEST.

While Ringstad was easily the hero on Day 1b, two other Norwegians rounded out the top three in chip counts including Jacob Reinholt (256,300) and Sverre Rydning (250,500). Two Finnish players in Termo Palmroos (247,500) and Verneri Sivula (190,000) round out the top five for the day.

Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

After a 2 1/2 year break due to the pandemic, the Coolbet Open has been a massive success. Day 1b attracted 390 entries by itself to bring the total field size up to 583 entries when taking into account the 193 entries on Day 1a. The field will continue to grow with late registration open until the conclusion of the first blind level of tomorrow’s Day 2. Although it isn’t likely that this Coolbet Open will surpass the record 686 entries attracted during the last Coolbet Open, it is still something on the radar.

A total of 167 players survived Day 1a, meaning that there will be 232 players bagged chips into Day 2 thus far.

The action will resume on Friday, May 27 at noon EEST for Day 2 with blinds at 800/1,600 with a big blind ante of 1,600. PokerListings will be on the floor from the time cards are in the air until players have bagged chips into Saturday’s final day. Stay tuned to see who will win the 2022 Coolbet Open Main Event.

• Follow the 2022 Coolbet Open on our Live Blog Page
• All Images from Day 1B

Those are the final counts for Day 1b:

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)

Entries: 171 / 390

The final three hands for the night are played. After that players will bag and tag their chips and return tomorrow at noon.

Chip counts and recap will up in about an hour.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)

Entries: 180 / 389

Inigo Martin from Spain was down to a couple of big blinds which he shoved an the middle from UTG. It was folded to Reeti Polon in the big blind who called. Showdown:

Inigo Martin: J J
Reeti Polon: A J

Martin was in front, but the board ran out 4 4 2 Q 9 giving Polon the flush, sending Martin to the rails.

Inigo Martin – 0

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)

Entries: 169/388

Quang Doan checked the 5 10 9 J board after the turn before Christian Steinbo bet 11,000 into a pot of a bit more. Doan raised to 26,000 and Steinbo jammed. Doan called off his stack of 62,000 and players turned over their cards.

Quang Doan: Q 8

Christian Steinbo: 10 9

Doan was far ahead with a straight by Steinbo still had a little bit of hope with four outs alive for the full house. The blank 6 completed the board on the river for Steinbo to double Doan.

Quang Doan – 135,000

Christian Steinbo – 30,000

Level 9 – 500/1,000 (1,000)

Entries: 192 / 387

Over at table 17 Espen Ringstad is enjoying a beer and is running almost god like. We just saw him take out Sturla Flataker in a huge preflop confrontation.

It all began with a player in middle position raising to 2,100. Sturla Flataker reraised behind him to 7,500. Ringstad moved forward a stack of blue 5k chips worth roughly 50k. After doing so he jokingly said “Oh no, I meant to use the 500 chips not the 5k chips”. Flataker asked him, what he had. Ringstad looked at the dealer and then said: “Some Kings”.

Flataker was not deterred and moved all-in for a total of 65k. Ringstad paid the remaining chips and the showdown proved he was truthful:

Sturla Flataker: A Q
Espen Ringstad: K K

Ringsted, who was active most of the day found the perfect hand in the perfect situation and just needed it to hold. He asked: “Wait, wait, can we run it twice?” They could not, but he also did not have to. The board ran out K 7 4 2 10 , sending this 130k pot his way.

Sturla Flataker – 0
Espen Ringstad – well over 250,000

With that hand we move into the last level of the day: 600 / 1,200

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)

Entries: 194/383

Kristen Engli limped from under the gun before Jon Kyte raised to 4,500 from the hijack. Kai Gjelten called from the button as did Masse Mirza from the big blind and Engli.

The action checked around to Kyte on the 9 J 10 flop and he bet 7,500. Gjelten jammed for 33,800 and both Mirza and Engli folded. Kyte tanked for more than a minute before he found a call.

Kai Gjelten: 10 10

Jon Kyte: J 9

Kyte flopped two pair but was behind the set of Gjelten. The 8 turn opened up some potential chop outs for Kyte as he openly rooted for a queen or seven to complete a straight on the board. The 9 paired the board on the river giving both players a full house. Gjelten’s tens-full was better than Kyte’s nines-full to win the pot and double his stack.

Kai Gjelten: 87,000

Jon Kyte – 60,000

Level 9 – 500/1,000 (1,000)

Entries: 203/377

Aleksandr Kuperman jammed for about 11 big blinds from middle position and was called by Vu Vuong from the button.

Aleksandr Kuperman: A 9

Vu Vuong: K Q

Kuperman paired up his nine on the 9 10 4 flop but this wasn’t enough because Vuong paired up his queen on the Q turn. The blank 8 completed the board on the river to send Kuperman to the rail.

Vu Vuong – 50,000

Aleksandr Kuperman – 0

After Kert Hallik tripled up at table just before the break, he just won another huge pot in a blind vs. blind battle against young gun Max Avela.

We’re not sure about the preflop action, but when we arrived at the table there were 6k in the middle and the flop read A 10 5 (an educated guess about the action before the flop is that Avela raised the small blind and Hallik called).

The flop went check / check. Turn: 9 . Now Avela bet 3k and Hallik called.

The river brought the K which completed several possible draws. Avela checked and Hallik bet 7k. Seemingly out of nowhere Avela racked up chips for a raise and moved a bit over 40k over the betting line. Hallik almost instantly made the call.

Showdown:

Max Avela: J J
Kert Hallik: A Q

Avela turned his third pair into a bluff on this river and Hallik managed to turn a thin value bet into a bluff catcher.

Kert Hallik – 130,000
Max Avela – 15,000

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)

Entries: 216/376

Espen Ringstad has been joking with PokerListings since the beginning of the day about how he has more than 1 million in chips. He isn’t quite there yet but has been building his stack throughout Day 1b. He also asked whether we could track the number of beers and correlate that to his chip stack, but we have failed to keep up after half a dozen drinks or so.

It goes without saying Ringstad has been enjoying his time at the Coolbet Open. This also applies to his play on the table.

In a recent hand, Ringstad bet 12,500 into a pot of a bit more with the A 2 9 on the flop and was called by Antti Pietarinen. Ringstad then fired out for 25,300 on a blank turn. Pietarinen tanked for a minute before he folded. Ringstad decided to show the table his bluff and turned over king-jack.

“Another bluff gets through,” Ringstad said as he was piling up more chips into his already big stack.

Espen Ringstad – 150,000

Antti Pieterinen – 30,000

With 219 / 371 remaining players we entered the last break of the night. Right now it looks like the players from Norway are dominating the tables. Our (roughly) eyeballed chip counts see four Norwegians in the top spots right now.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)

Entries: 219 / 369

An unusual three-way-all-in on table 9 saw Kert Hallik triple up with tens. In a single raised flop the board read 8 6 2 with roughly 7k in the middle.

Kert Hallik moved bet 5,200 and behind him Vu Vuong (who had Hallik covered) moved all-in for 25k. Then Mart Rinken behind him also moved all-in for 19,100. Hallik called the double all-in. Showdown:

Mart Rinken 9 7
Vu Vuong 8 3
Kert Hallik 10 10

Hallik had to avoid straights, flushes, eights and threes. He somehow managed as turn and river fell 7 and 4 .

This hand saw Rinken eliminated, Hallik almost triple up and Vuong lose most of his stack.

Kert Hallik – 55,000
Vu Vuong – 5,000
Mart Rinken – 0

Level 8: 400/800 (800)

Entries: 226 / 360

Brynjar Barkarson from Iceland was massaging a small stack for most of the previous levels. Just now he got managed to get his last 10k chips in good against Antti Tuomi, but could not win the 70/30 he needed to win.

All the chips went in preflop with Barkarson holding A-K and Tuomi with A-5. The board ran out 8-5-4-7-8, giving Tuomi two pair and sending Barkarson to the rails.

Antti Tuomi – 20,000
Brynjar Barkarson – 0

Level 8: 400/800 (800)

Entries: 228/356

We caught up to Table 19 with four players all in. It seemed like it could have been five with Phenporn Laatikainen already having 10,000 in the pot. After a minute of tanking, she opted to fold.

Kristian Aksnes (8K) – 7 5

Jari Porkka (9K) – A A

Monica Thingbo (10K) – 10 10

Janis Vasiljevs (90K) – Q Q

Piller by far had all the players covered and quickly got ahead of Porkka’s aces and stayed ahead of his other two opponents after he nailed a set on the Q 8 5 flop. The 4 turn nor the 7 kept Piller ahead to scoop up the pot and send three players to the rail in a single hand.

Janis Vasiljevs – 135,000

Kristian Aksnes – 0

Jari Porkka – 0

Monica Thingbo – 0

Level 8: 400/800

Entries: 233 / 354

A rather brutal bad beat saw Pyry Kekäläinen lose almost all of his stack in an intense hand against Stian Knutsen.

It all began with Olli Vahala open-raising from UTG. Kekäläinen called in the cut-off and in the big blind Stian Knutsen reraised to 7,800.

Only Kekäläinen called and they saw a 7 5 4 Flop. Knutsen bet 4,600 into the 18,000 pot. Kekäläinen made it 10,000 to go and Knutsen eventually called.

The turn fell 2 and Knutsen checked to the raiser. Kekäläinen quickly moved all-in for effectively 20k. Knutsen called the all-in after some deliberation. Showdown:

Stian Knutsen: A K
Pyry Kekäläinen: Q Q

With just two overcards and a gutshot Knutsen was a decisive underdog, but he had some outs. The river brought one of those outs as it fell K , giving Knutsen an unlikely double-up and reducing Kekäläinen to just a few big blinds.

Stian Knutsen – 70,000
Pyry Kekäläinen – 6,500

Level 8: 400/800

Entries: 236/354

Daniel Thorsteinsson three-bet jammed for 33,000 from the small blind and was called by Thomas Hansen from the cutoff.

Daniel Thorsteinsson: J J

Thomas Hansen: A A

Hansen’s rockets held strong to take all of Thorsteinsson’s stack after the 7 Q 8 3 3 ran out on the board and has one of the biggest stacks in the room.

Thomas Hansen – 135,000

Daniel Thorsteinsson – 0

It is always more fun at the table when Silje Nilsen is at the table. Nilsen, however, is having a bit of her own fun on the side as she won 100 free slot spins at Coolbet during her social media contest.

Nilsen couldn’t wait to play and is attempting to spin up her free spins online at Coolbet via her mobile phone while also sitting on an above-average stack of around 45,000 in chips.

Best of luck to Nilsen both with the slots and the Main Event!

Level 7: 300/600 (600)

Entries: 248/340

Markus Puisto opened for 2,000 from early position. Steffen Andersen called from the button before Age Spets, who was on his second Day 1b bullet, three-bet shoved for 20,800. Puisto called and Andersen folded.

Age Spets: A Q

Markus Puisto: J J

“That’s what I was hoping for,” said Spets when he saw he was flipping.

Unfortunately for Spets, and fortunately for Puisto, Spets bricked the 2 K 8 6 6 board.

Markus Puisto – 50,000

Age Spets – 0

Elisabeth Hille jammed for 10,500 from the cutoff before Jarno Jokiniemi three-bet shoved for about 24,000 from the small blind. Gunnleiv Fossaskaret called off his short stack of around 2,000 from the big blind and two players were at risk.

Gunnleiv Fossaskaret: J 9

Elisabeth Hille: A J

Jarno Jokiniemi: A Q

Jokiniemi was ahead and if his hand held he would have eliminated two players. Instead, Hille improved to a flush after the K 8 9 5 7 ran out on the board to eliminate Fossakaret and double through Jokiniemi.

Gunnleiv Fossaskaret – 0

Jarno Jokiniemi – 13,000

Elisabeth Hille – 23,000

The 2nd break of the day gave us the option to count some more chips. Those are the players whose stacks look the largest right now:

Level 6: 200/400 (400)

Entries: 248/307

Thomas Hansen and Jani Lehto both checked the 7 J K 10 board after the turn with less than 20,000 in the pot when Petur Hardarson bet 16,000. Hansen folded before the action paused on Lehto. Eventually, Lehto jammed for 17,100 and was called by Hardarson.

Jani Lehto: J J

Petur Hardarson: A Q

Lehto flopped a set of jacks but looked stunned like a deer in the headlights when he saw that Hardarson improved to Broadway on the turn. Lehto still had some hope to survive but none of his outs came with the 4 river completing the board.

Petur Hardarson – 75,000

Jani Lehto – 0

Level 6: 200 / 400 (400)

Entries: 249 / 307

Igor Pihela Jr. arrived at a river with the board reading J 10 2 –Q –6 against Roger Bredesen. With more than 30k in the middle, Philea Jr. moved all-in for roughly 20k more. Roger Bredesen who had him covered, asked him whether he had the straight and eventually called.

Philea Jr. did not have the straight, but in fact turned over J J for a flopped set. Bredesen was forced to show his hand: Q 10 for two pair.

Igor Pihela Jr. – 70,000
Roger Bredesen – 15,000

Level 6: 200/400 (400)

Entries: 249/302

Espen Hoel bet 5,500 into a pot of about double this with the 5 3 9 8 on the board after the turn. Christian Arstad effectively jammed tossing out a decent-sized stack of blue 5,000 chips. Hoel went into the tank for a couple of minutes before he folded.

Arstad decided to show his hand to the table and turned over 3 3 for a set of treys on a draw-heavy board.

Christian Arstad – 80,000

Espen Hoel – 24,000

Level 5: 150 / 300 (300)

Entries: 252 / 299

Ismo Vahala from Finland shoved his last 3k chips in the middle and his shove was picked up by Steffen Andersen who had more than 15 times Vahala’s stack.

Showdown:

Ismo Vahala – K-Q
Steffen Andersen – A-Q

Board: A-7-3-A-3

With a full house, Andersen sent Vahala to the rails and increased his chips to twice the starting stack.

Steffen Andersen – 60k
Ismo Vahala – 0

Level 5: 150/300 (300)

Entries: 256 / 296

The Norwegian Stian Knutsen was almost down to his last lifeline (i.e. 7,500 chips, i.e. 25 big blinds) when he found 8-8 in the blinds against an op-raise from Einarsson Egill. Knutsen shoved all-in to which Einarsson, who had him covered also announced all-in. Einarsson showed A-K – a coinflip.

The board ran out K-8-4-2-9 and despite the scary King in the door, Knutsen managed to more than double up.

Stian Knutsen – 16,500
Einarsson Egill – 34,000

Level 5: 150/300 (300)

Entries: 253/283

Ant Gokcek bet 2,000 into a pot of around 12,000 after the 5 6 10 came on the flop. Markus Kornfeld called before Thomas Erikkson jammed. Gokcek quickly folded and Kornfeld asked for a count. The dealer confirmed the jam was for 17,125.

“I think you are bluffing,” Kornfeld said just before he called.

Thomas Erikkson: Q 10

Markus Kornfeld: A K

Erikkson had top pair but he got out of his seat looking ready to go anyway. Kornfeld bricked both the 3 turn and 8 river to double up Erikkson, who sat back down in his seat.

“Finally!” Erikkson said loudly. “Something goes my way and I wasn’t sucked out on.”

Level 5: 150 / 300 (300)

Entries: 253 / 283

At table 8 we just witnessed the end of an immense clash with more than 95k chips in the middle.

We came to the table on the river and the board read 7 Q 5 –Q –9 with roughly 30k in the middle. The two players involved in this hand were Justus Kursi and Kaido Mikk.

After Mikk checked, Kursi elected to shove all-in for a bit more than 30k. Mikk, who had him barely covered, quickly called. Kursi immediately mucked his cards and got up to leave. The dealter turned the mucked cards over: A 10 for a huge bluff.

Mikk tabled his K K and collected the 95k pot.

Kaido Mikk – 95,000
Justus Kursi – 0

Level 5: 150/300 (300)

Entries: 253/281

Jussi Mattila bet 8,000 into a pot of around 12,000 with four spades and a straight on the 5 2 A 3 4 board.

Artjom Kovalevski went into the tank for a couple of minutes before he called off his stack for nearly the same size as his bet.

“I knew it,” said Kovalevski after Mattila turned over K K for the nut-straight. Kovalevski showed his Q Q for the second-nuts before shortly after heading to the rail.

Jussi Mattila – 40,000

Artjom Kovalevski – 0

Level 4: 100 / 200 (200)

Entries: 253 / 275

At table 2 Brynjar Barkarson from Iceland was getting a massage and appeared to be the most comfortable player in the tournament.

After the hand we just witnessed, he might feel slightly less comfortable, though. On a 9 7 6 –A –5 river with roughly 16k in the middle his lone opponent, Trond Sundby fired an almost tiny 3k bet. Barkarson raised to 10k and this raise was called almost instantly. Showdown:

Brynjar Barkarson: 10 10
Trond Sundby: J 8

Sundby, who was having a straight flush draw on the flop, backed into a straight and raked in this pot.

Brynjar Barkarson – 12,000
Trond Sundby – 50,000

Level 4: 100/200 (200)

Entries: 253/274

Silje Nilsen checked with about 11,000 in the pot with the 4 A 10 J 7 on the board. Terje Sirnes bet 6,000 and Nilsen went into the tank for about two minutes before she called.

Sirnes had an open-ended straight draw which didn’t complete with Q 9 . Nilsen then showed A Q for top pair to win the hand.

Silje Nilsen – 50,000

Terje Sirnes – 50,000

Level 4: 200 / 200 (200)

Entries: 251 / 269

Over at table 18 Roy Sorknes was getting critically short, but managed to find a double up against Mart Tammoja.

On a 7 7 3 with already a couple thousand in the middle, Sorknes bet 5k – half his remaining stack and Tammoja moved all-in. Sorknes called instantly. Showdown:

Roy Sorknes – 9 9
Mart Tammoja – A K

Turn and River fell 3 and 10 – no help for Tammoja and he had to pay off Sorknes. Booth have almost the same amount if chips now.

Roy Sorknes – 26k
Mart Tammoja – 27k

Level 4: 100/200 (200)

Entries: 249/266

Kyoti Isberg had a rough go on Day 1a as he fired seven bullets yet didn’t find a bag. His first bullet on Day 1b is going better as he just doubled up through Sander Laprik as follows.

Isberg jammed for 20,225 into a pot of around 15,000 with the 2 6 7 10 after the turn. Justus Kursi folded and Laprik tossed in a single chip to call for most of his stack.

Kyoti Isberg: 10 9

Sander Laprik: 9 9

Isberg’s top pair held after the Q river completed the board to double his stack. Meanwhile, Laprik was left with crumbs, which he dusted off moments later.

Justus Kursi – 70,000

Kyoti Isberg – 55,000

Sander Laprik – 0

Level 4: 100 / 200 (200)

Entries: 248 / 264

Almost in front of us at table 14 Silje Nilsen is sitting and sipping a beer. While sipping she managed to win a decent sized pot against Gudni Carrico.

On a 6-5-5-8-3-Board she managed to get several streets of value with T-T against Carrico’s 7-7. After she fired 3,500 on the river and Carrico called she collected a 12k pot and has almost double the starting stack.

Silje Nilsen – 55,000
Gudni Carrico – 20,000

PokerListings caught up with Ant Gokcek on the break and he shared with us that he is on his second bullet.

He shared with us that he lost a good amount of his first bullet with king-queen after calling bets on the ace-king-ten flop and a blank turn. He folded to a shove on the river and then lost the rest on a flip as follows.

Gokcek with ace-eight suited flopped a flush draw on an ace-high board and got his chips in against ace-king. No love came for Gokcek on the turn and river to temporarily hit the rail.

Gokcek’s family is in Tallinn with him, and he got to see his wife and baby during the break. Perhaps this will also lead to some love for Gokcek as well for his second bullet on Day 1b.

The players are at the first break of the day. We tried to eyeball the biggest stacks in the room:

Overbets can work, especially in smaller pots. Over at table 4 we just witnessed a hand where with roughly 2,500 in the middle the board read 10 6 3 –K –Q on the river.

Arnar Siguedsson checked to Heikki Koskinen who in turn slid out a 3,500 bet. Siguedsson didn’t take long to call. Showdown:

Siguedsson: K 9
Koskinen: A J

With his runnner-runner-straight the Fin raked in a pot worth almost 10k and is up to roughly 40k now.

Level 3: 75/150

Entries: 220/227

Halvor Dahlberg bet 1,600 into a pot of around 3,000 after the 10 9 7 came on the flop. Simon Forendal raised to 5,100 before he snap-called a jam by Dahlberg for 19,300.

Halvor Dahlberg: A K

Simon Forendal: 10 10

Forendal flopped top pair but needed to fade Dahlberg’s flush draw. The 5 turn was a safe card for Forendal but Dahlberg celebrated after he completed his flush with the 2 river completing the board.

Halvor Dahlberg – 43,000

Simon Forendal – 2,200

Level 3: 75/150

Entries: 214/222

Armend Sahiti checked with about 25,000 in the pot and the 2 2 4 J 10 on the board. Peter Bergman bet 10,000 and Sahiti went into the tank for more than a minute before he made the call.

Bergman immediately turned over 9 3 and his bluff didn’t work with Sahiti calling down with 9 9 to win the pot.

Armend Sahiti – 50,000

Peter Bergman – 10,000

With more than 200 players in the field, we did some counting.

Currently we have 15 women playing – 7% of the field. That’s more than yesterday, for sure!

As yesterday, the number of beers is exceeding the number of coffees and energy drinks being consumed – we saw 14 beer glasses at the tables vs. 11 coffees and cokes.

The most important stat: 0 Cool Bears in the field. Too bad the mascot is not showing at the tables yet. He has many levels to late reg, though.

Day 1b has already attracted 209 entries with 205 players still in their seats. This is already more than the 192 entries attracted during the entirety of Day 1a.

Level 2: 50/100

Entries: 191/195

It is always nice to have a hot start to any event and Shiyan Fang is on the top of the world as she is sitting on a stack of nearly 100,000 chips. She explained a wild hand involving both Espen Ringstad and Arni Arnason near the end of Level 1 where she got it in preflop with kings against big slick and trey-deuce offsuit. Some of the other players at the table chuckled as she recalled the trey-deuce getting involved.

It all worked out for Fang as her cowboys held strong on a queen-high board.

Level 1: 25/50

Entries: 181/185

Jon Persent checked with about 4,000 in the pot and the 8 Q K 8 7 on the board. The action paused on Aklilu Laitinen, who eventually bet 2,300. Persent paused for a moment before he called.

Laitinen turned over A J for an ace-high flush and won the pot after his opponent mucked.

Meanwhile, the blinds increased shortly after this hand. Espen Ringstad and Arni Arnason won’t be joining them unless they re-enter as they lost their stacks during the opening blind level of Day 1b.

Aklilu Laininen – 35,000

Jon Persent – 20,000

Level 1: 25/50

Entries: 166/168

Svein Nordbotten checked on the river with about 4,000 in the pot and the K 3 A 9 K on the board. Einar Omarsson fired out for 3,500. Nordbotten made the call and players showed their hands. Omarsson didn’t have much with J 10 and the pot went over to Nordbotten who turned over A 10 for two pair (aces over kings).

Meanwhile, at another table, Maksim Petrov, who fired two bullets on Day 1a, lost his first bullet on Day 1b and has already re-entered with hopes that his second bullet will be the one.

Svein Nordbotten – 35,000

Einar Omarsson – 25,000

Level 1: 25/50

Entries: 148/149

Fireworks already erupted on Table 3 just a few minutes into play. Steinar Lindberg bet 2,000 into a pot of a bit more with the 9 10 8 9 already on the board after the turn. Gisli Helgason jammed and Lindberg quickly called.

Gisli Helgason: 6 5

Steinar Lindberg: K J

“Oh shit,” Helgason said when he saw he was drawing dead despite flopping a flush.

The J river completed the board and Lindberg doubled his stack while sending Helgason packing as the first casualty of Day 1b.

Steinar Lindberg – 60,000

Gisli Helgason – 0

After the floor made some preliminary announcements, cards are in the air for Day 1b.

The field is already at 148 entries and will grow in a huge way with late registration open not only open throughout the day but also until the end of the first blind level of tomorrow’s Day 2. This figure is already near the 192 entries attracted during yesterday’s Day 1a.

Anders Auset, the runner-up in May 2019 of the Coolbet Open Main Event is among the players already in the Day 1b field are Ant Gokcek, Stig Moen, Carina Wald, and Andreas Hagen.

Welcome to the PokerListings coverage of the 2022 Coolbet Open Main Event taking place at the fantastic Olympic Casino and adjoining Hilton Park Tallinn in the majestic Estonian capital of Tallinn.

It’s almost summer in Estonia and live poker is back in a huge way in Tallinn. The Coolbet Open features dozens of poker events highlighted by the Main Event with a buy-in of €550. All the Main Event satellites are over and done already but players can register and re-enter the entire day today and tomorrow – even the day after tomorrow before day 2 starts.

The Main Event has two starting flights and allows unlimited re-entries. Players start with 30,000 chips at 100/100 blinds (with a 100 big blind ante) and 45 minutes per level. The starting flights will play from 12:00 until roughly 20:30 and will end well before the money ranks have been reached.

Players will have plenty of opportunities to build a monster stack with late registration not only open throughout both opening flights but also can re-enter on Day 2 until late registration closes after the first blind level of the penultimate day.

Whether it will be larger than the last record-breaking Coolbet Open when Ott Kaarli Toome defeated a field of 686 entries to win the €71,700 top prize in November 2019 will be known by the end of today.

We already know that yesterday’s Day 1a had 193 runners – 11 more than Day 1a of the biggest Coolbet Open in 2019 had and Ranno Sootla is in the lead with 350,000 chips.

The Coolbet Open also features an illustrious selection of side events, including a €220 PLO event, a €330 5-Card-PLO event, a €165 8-Game event and a €1,100 Big Classic NLH Highroller. On Saturday there will also be a Coolbet Golf & Poker Championship at 9:00 in the morning.

Follow along with the action when the cards are in the air at 12 pm EEST.

Coolbet Open 2022 Schedule