2022 Coolbet Open Day 2

Mikko Ylamaki put the pedal to the metal near the end of Day 2 to bag a chip leading stack over the 18 remaining players in the Coolbet Open at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park with 2,300,000 in chips.

Ylamaki is no stranger to deep runs at the Coolbet Open as the last time the Coolbet Open took place in November 2019, Ylamaki secured 14th place for €15,809 for his largest career live tournament cash according to The Hendon Mob. Although anything can happen in tournament poker, it is likely that he will finish a bit better this time around thanks to his massive stack entering the final day.

Also bagging top five stacks were Vegard Andreassen (1,840,000), David Berggren (1,815,000), Paulius Kostickis (1,645,000), and Kalle Mikkonen (1,565,000). Berggren in particular had a hot end of the day as he doubled up twice against Jon Persent (who was eliminated in 24th place for €2,100) before also eliminating Toni Hamalainen in 28th place.

Behind this batch are a pair of local heroes in Kaido Mikk and Ranno Sootla. Sootla was on a rollercoaster ride with both very big highs and huge lows in the second half of the penultimate day.

Two women also advanced to the final day in Norwegians Ylva Thorsrud (1,080,000) and Marthe Lyngvar (660,000).

Final Day Seat Draw

Final Day Payouts

The Coolbet Open Main Event has been a massive success with 648 runners generating a prize pool of €311,040. This makes it the second-largest Coolbet Open Main Event in the tour’s five event history only behind the last Coolbet Open in November 2019 which attracted 686 entries for a €331,740 prize pool. All returning players are guaranteed at least a €2,100 payout with the eventual winner slated to walk away with a huge top prize of €65,700.

The tournament was scheduled to pay out the top 79 players at least a €1,020 payout. However, with both Line Lindsholm at the feature table and Henning Stalsberg at a side table hitting the rail on the same hand on the money bubble, the prize was split to €510 each for these two players and allowed 80 players to go home with a payout.

Here is a look at the payouts for the 18 remaining players:

PokerListings will be back on the floor as soon as cards are in the air on Saturday, May 28 at noon PST. Stay tuned to see who wins the Coolbet Open Main Event.

Chip Counts

Full official chip counts after Day 2:

Final Day Seat Draw

Level 23: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)

Entries: 18/648

Reeti Polon recently doubled his stack but his chips went over to Kaido Mikk. Mikk jammed from the small blind with seven-four suited and was called by Polon from the big blind. It was almost looking like another double-up for Polon after the king-king-six flop and a queen on the turn. But Mikk connected with his four on the river to eliminate Mikk and his stack grew to 1.5 million.

Shortly after, Olav Snidel hit the rail in 19th place and the remaining 18 players are now bagging up their stacks into Day 3.

Level 23: 10k / 25k (25k)

Entries: 21 / 648

After losing most of his chips Eetu Sepponen just managed to triple up in a three-way-all-in preflop.

Eetu Sepponen: 2 2

Tanel Evert: A Q

Raymond Vilnes: A J

Board: Q 2 J 6 A

With his set, Sepponen took the main pot and Evert took the side pot against Vilnes.

Eetu Sepponen – 750,000

Tanel Evert – 300,000

Raymond Vilnes – 500,000

Update: Right before the end of the night Sepponen lost most of his stack with two pair against Paulius Kostickis’ flush.

Level 23: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)

Entries: 20/648

Reeti Polon jammed for about 10 big blinds from late position with 7 7 and was called by Ranno Sootla from the blinds with 4 4 .

Polon flopped quads on the 10 7 7 flop. The table erupted as Sootla was drawing dead. The double was official for Polon after the 2 turn and 3 river completed the board.

Meanwhile, Keimo Suominen lost his short stack shortly before leaving just 20 players remaining with just minutes remaining on Level 23.

Ranno Sootla – 1,500,000

Reeti Polon – 600,000

Level 23: 10k / 25k (25k)

Entries: 21 / 648

Eetu Sepponen was in multiple confrontations with his neighbor Vegard Andreassen in the past orbits. Now he found himself losing a huge hand with a bluff against his nemesis.

With 635k in the middle on the turn, the board showed J 10 4 2 and Sepponen, who was in the cut-off checked. Andreassen checked behind. River: J . Now Sepponen slid out 350k, leaving him with 350k behind. Andreassen called and Sepponen instantly mucked his hand.

Andreassen looked ad him: “So weak?”. “So weak!” Sepponen replied and handed his opponent a full shot glass that he had ordered earlier. “Drink Up!”

Eetu Sepponen – 350k

Vegard Andreassen – 1,700k

Level 23: 10,000/25,000

Entries: 21/648

Enri Orav limped from the small blind before he three-bet jammed over the raise by David Berggren from the big blind.

Enri Orav: A K

David Berggren: 9 9

Orav whiffed the 10 2 4 6 9 board while Berggren improved to unnecessary trips to win the hand.

David Berggren – 1.7 million

Enri Orav – 0

Level 23: 10k / 25k (25k)

Entries: 22 / 648

At table 13 Quang Doan was moved directly before chip leader Kalle Mikkonen. Doan just managed to win more than 500k chips from Mikkonen.

Everyone folded to Doan in the small blind and he limped in. Mikkonen checked his option. Flop: A 8 4 . Doan bet 75k and Mikkonen called. Turn: 3 . Doan bet 150k and was called again. River: J . Now Doan bet 300k and Mikkonen called a third time. Doan tabled A 3 and Mikkonen could only shrug and muck.

Quang Doan – 1.2 million

Kalle Mikkonen – 1.9 million

Level 23: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)

Entries: 22/648

Tarmo Tammel opened for 50,000 from under the gun. Erik Roe got his last 55,000 in from the small blind. David Berggren and Tammel both called for an extra 5,000 chips to see a jack-high flop.

Tammel bet Berggren off the flop then turned over ace-jack which was miles ahead of Roe’s ace-nine. Blanks came on the turn and river and Roe was eliminated in 23rd place.

Tarmo Tammel – 500,000

Erik Roe – 0

Level 23: 10k / 25k (25k)

Entries: 22 / 648

After the Redraw Kaido Mikk found himself at the same table as Kalle Ly. Mikk only had 12 big blinds and got all of those in the middle against Ly before the flop. Showdown:

Kaido Mikk: A-9

Kalle Ly: A-Q

Ly had the better kicker to his ace, but Mikk had luck on his side as the board ran out 6-4-2-6-9, giving him a pair on the river.

“Now I’m going to win the tournament”, he explained after the hand. We’re not certain about that, but he has an average stack now and a fighting chance.

Kaid Mikk – 800k

Kalle Ly – 900k

Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Entries: 23 / 648

After Jon Percent was left with only a handful of chips he managed to somehow double his stack back to slightly over 100k, but this was not enough. He moved all-in from the button with K-8 and in the big blind David Berggren called with K-9.

The Flop gave Percent hope as it fell T-8-4, but turn and river fell A-9, giving the Swede the better pair.

With this hand, Persent was sent to the rails in 24th place just seconds after Beizaks was eliminated.

Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Entries: 24/648

Edgars Beizaks with 6 6 was up against Vegard Andreassen with A K in a 600,000 chip pot. The A 7 K Q 10 board gave Andreassen two-pair to eliminate Beizaks and catapult his stack to 1 million in chips.

Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Entries: 25/648

Jon Persent has had a rough go recently as he just lost his third big flip. This time he opened for 50,000 from under the gun before he called a small blind jam by Ylva Thorsrud for 405,000 from the small blind.

Ylva Thorsrud: 10 10

Jon Persent: A J

Thorsrud’s tens held on the 5 3 4 6 5 board to double her stack and leave Persent on fumes.

Ylva Thorsrud – 855,000

Jon Persent – 60,000

Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Entries: 26/648

David Berggren has been on a roll this break with now at least two doubles and one elimination. Toni Hamalainen lost all his chips to Berggren when his ace-queen didn’t win a flip against jacks in a 1 million chip pot.

Meanwhile, Kim Ofverstrom and David Land were ousted around the same time to leave just 26 hopefuls remaining in the field.

David Berggren – 1.4 million

Toni Hamalainen – 0

Level 21: 10k / 20k (20k)

Entries: 28 / 648

At table 13 David Land just lost 98% of his stack against Mikko Ylämäki. Land opened from the CO to 40k and behind him Ylämäki made it 140k to go. Land called after the blinds folded.

Flop: 8 7 7 . Land checked to Ylämäki who in turn bet 140k. Land now moved all-in after which Ylämäki asked him: “Do you flat aces?”. He eventually called. Showdown:

David Land: 10 10

Mikko Ylämäki: Q Q

Land did not flat aces, but tens. Turn and river did not help him and he lost all but 20k chips.

Mikko Ylämäki – 1,200k

David Land – 20k

Update: Two hands later Land lost his last chips and was eliminated in position #27.

Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Entries: 29/648

It’s Groundhog’s Day once again as David Berggren doubled through Jon Persent for the second time in the past 15 minutes.

Persent jammed from the small blind and Berggren called off for 500,000 from the big blind.

David Berggren: A K

Jon Persent: J J

Berggren won the flip to catapult his stack north of 1 million in chips after his king paired up on the 6 2 K 10 5 board.

David Berggren – 1,010,000

Jon Persent – 450,000

Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Entries: 29/648

Jon Persent opened for 50,000 from under the gun before he called a three-bet jam by David Berggren to 235,000 from one seat over.

David Berggren: 6 6

Jon Persent: K Q

Berggren’s sixes won the flip for him to double his stack after Persent was unable to connect with the A 3 6 2 3 board.

Jon Persent – 800,000

David Berggren – 520,000

Level 21: 10k / 20k (20k)

Entries: 29 / 648

Kenneth Olaisen went into the last break with an average chip stack, but quickly lost all his chips due to some bad luck. First hand, right after the break, he was all-in with A-K against Eetu Sepponen with 6-6. Sepponen hit a 6 on the flop and doubled through Olaisen who was left with 150k chips (or 7.5 big blinds).

Two hands later Olaisen found 8-8 and was all-in again. This time his opponent was David Land who had A-Q. The board came down K-T-4-J-8 and despite hitting a set on the river, Olaison lost against Land’s straight.

Eetu Sepponen – 900k

David Land – 800k

Kenneth Olaisen – 0k

The Players are at a break and we eye-balled all the chips. Kalle Mikkonen is the lone leader with almost 2m chips.

Please note, chip counts from the TV table might be a few minutes behind.

Level 21: 8,000 / 16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 30 / 648

Ranno Sootla certainly is one of the more active players in the field, probably the most active. We just caught him bluffing in a big(ish) pot against Enri Orav. After Sootla raised from the button, Orav called from the big blind and both players checked until the river. The board read J 10 5 –7 –10 and Orav, led out with a 33k bet. Sootla quickly raised to 145k. Orav thought for a few seconds and then made the call with 7 6 . His small pair was good enough as Sootla could only muster A 6 for ace-high.

Ranno Sootla – Over 1,200,000

Enri Orav – 600,000

Level 21: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 30/648

Petur Hardarson jammed for about three big blinds from the cutoff and was called by Toni Hamalainen from the big blind.

Petur Hardarson: A K

Toni Hamalainen: Q 5

Hamalainen nailed two pair on the 5 Q 7 flop. Hardarson got up out of his chair after the 10 turn but some at his table to stick around in case the river improved him to Broadway. Unfortunately for Hardarson, that wasn’t meant to be and he was out the door in 31st place once the 6 river completed the board.

Toni Hamalainen – 600,000

Petur Hardarson – 0

Level 21: 8,000 / 16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 34 / 648

Keimo Suominen opened from early position to 35k (a bit more than 2 big blinds) and got no less than 3 callers including Ylva Thorsrud in the big blind. Flop: 9 6 2 . Suominen fired a 55k c-bet into this 155k pot. It was folded to Ylva who in turn moved all-in for a total of 147k. It took Suominen only a few seconds to fold his hand despite the fantastic pot odds.

Ylva Thorsrud – 370,000

Keimo Suominen – 520,000

Level 21: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 34/648

Enri Orav three-bet jammed for 193,000 with ace-jack suited and was called by Renta Eline Kris Gatos with pocket nines.

Orav fell behind in the flip after the queen-deuce-try flop and further behind after a seven on the turn. However, a jack spiked the river to give Orav a better pair to stay alive and double his stack.

Renta Eline Kris Gatos – 660,000

Enri Orav – 420,000

Level 21: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 37/648

Thomas Hansen four-bet jammed for 417,000 and was called by Ranno Sootla.

Thomas Hansen: K K

Ranno Sootla: 10 10

Hansen doubled through Sootla after the 9 A 9 9 Q board gave him a better full house.

Thomas Hansen – 860,000

Ranno Sootla – 700,000

Level 21: 8,000 / 16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 37 / 648

With Mariann Berg Olufsen we just lost the next woman in the field. She was moved to table 13 where she found herself short and with K J on a J 2 3 6 Turn against Eetu Sepponen. Sepponen had her crushed with Q Q . The river brought her no help and she had to take her leave in position 38.

Eetu Sepponen – 450,000 chips (and 7 beer)

Mariann Berg Olufsen – 0

Level 21: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 40/648

Mikko Ylamaki three-bet jammed for about 425,000 from middle position and was called by Vegard Andreassen from early position.

Mikko Ylamaki: 10 10

Vegard Andreassen: Q Q

It was looking like showers for Ylamaki who got no love from the 4 J 8 flop. However, the 10 spiked the turn to give him a set and he doubled up after the K completed the board on the river.

Miko Ylamaki – 900,000

Vegard Andreassen – 500,000

Level 21: 8,000 / 16,000 (16,000)

Entries: 39 / 648

After reaching a low of less than 15 big blinds, Ranno Sootla’s luck apparently turned around. After two double-ups, he just now eliminated the Spaniard Alex Lianes. Lianes was all-in with 3-3 and Sootla called with A-A. Board: J-9-2-2-5 and Sootla added 250k chips to his stack.

Ranno Sootla – 1,200,000

Alex Lianes – 0

The floor just announced the plan for the end of the day. Day 2 will end the sooner of when the action is down to 16 players or 1 a.m.

Level 20: 6,000 / 12,000 (12,000)

Entries: 44 / 648

We just lost Yuri Ishida. She lost her last flip with J-J against Marthe Lyngvar who held A-K. The board gave Lyngvar Trips: K-T-8-7-K.

After Ishida’s bust only three women remain: Ylva Thorsrud, Mariann Berg Olufsen and Marthe Lyngvar.

Level 20: 6,000 / 12,000 (12,000)

Entries: 47/ 648

Ranno Sootla simply cannot catch a break. He just lost an all-in against Ray Sorknes: A-K vs 8-8. The board fell Q-T-T-4-2 – no help for Sootla and he’s on his last lifeline.

Roy Sorknes – 400,000

Ranno Sootla – 200,000

Level 20: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)

Entries: 49/648

Espen Ringstad was the chip leader at the start of day and during Day 1b joked around with the reporters and table mates about how he was a chip millionaire and then a chip billionaire to end things off.

“I am not a billionaire,” said Ringstad with a small smile after he was just eliminated as follows.

Ringstad three-bet jammed the button for less than 10 big blinds and was called by Atli Thrastarson from the cutoff.

Espen Ringstad: 2 2

Atli Thrastarson: 9 7

Ringstad’s ducks failed to win the flip and he was eliminated after Thrastarson improved to a full house on the J 4 9 9 4 runout.

Atli Thrastarson – 1,000,000

Espen Ringstad – 0

Level 20: 6,000 / 12,000 (12,000)

Entries: 50 / 648

It looks like Ranno Sootla’s luck has run dry after the bubble. After he lost a large chunk of his stack against Kalle Mikkonen, he now was (apparently) rivered by Jon Persent.

Sootla raised from MP and Persent called in the big blind. Flop: K 9 6 . The action went check / bet (40k) / call. Turn: 5 . Now, a 90k bet was check-called. The 7 on the river was checked by both.

Persent tabled J 9 and Sootla mucked his hand in disgust. He is below average now.

Jon Persent – 850,000
Ranno Sootla – 320,000

Level 20: 6,000 / 12,000 (12,000)

Entries: 52 / 648

Igor Pihela Sr. was all-in with A-4 and his last chips against Mariann Berg Olufsen who had him dominated with A-T.

The board brought A-7-7-9-3 – not enough help for Pihela and Olufsen took him out.

Mariann Berg Olufsen – 430,000
Igor Pihela – 0

On another note: four sponsored players that were initially included in the player count did not show up which is why the total number of players displayed dropped from 652 to 648.

Level 19: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)

Entries: 54/648

Roy Sorknes jammed for about 130,000 from the cutoff. Andri Hilmarsson called off for about 100,000 from the button and the rest of the table folded.

Andri Hilmarsson: Q 9

Roy Sorknes: A 5

The 4 7 4 4 K runout put trips on the board and Sorknes’ ace-high was good enough to win the hand and eliminated Himarsson.

Roy Sorknes – 250,000

Andri Hilmarsson – 0

Level 19 – 5,000/10,000 (10,000)

Entries: 54 / 652

On table 19 Keimo Suominen raised from the cut-off and behind him, Benjamins Fonarjovs reraised from the button to 65k. After the small blind folded Suominen assumed it was his turn again and folded his hand. He was informed that the big blind was still deliberating his move. While folding out of turn Suominen also accidentally exposed the A .

Toni Hämäläinen in the big blind thought for a long while before moving all-in for effetively 320k. Fonarjovs instantly called. Showdown:

Benjamins Fonarjovs: Q-Q
Toni Hämäläinen: A-K

Fonarjovs was a considerable favorite as one of the outs of Hämäläinen was already gone but the board fell K-9-8-8-9 – giving the Fin the better pair and sending Fonarjovs to the rails.

Toni Hämäläinen – 750,000
Benjamins Fonarjovs – 0

Level 19: 5,000/10,000

Entries: 58/562

Fireworks erupted on Table 16 between former chip leader Ranno Sootla and current chip leader Kalle Mikkonen.

Mikkonen four-bet preflop and Sootla called to create a pot of around 350,000. Sootla called a bet of 100,000 on the 4 J 8 flop before both players checked the 7 turn. Sootla checked again after the A river completed the board. A short while later, Mikkonen jammed for 501,000.

Sootla went into the tank for about 10 minutes even at one point telling his tablemates it would be fair if they called the floor. Several more minutes passed before Joel Salmirinne did call the floor.

“That’s fair,” said Sootla.

The floor told Sootla he had just 30 seconds to act. With just seconds remaining, he opted to make the call. Mikkonen turned over A J for two pair and Sootla nearly tossed his hand in the muck before the dealer asked him to show his A Q . After the hand, the lead change was exchanged between the two players.

Kalle Mikkonen – 1.6 million

Ranno Sootla – 1.1 million

We went for a round after dinner and took a look at the biggest stacks at the tables:

The following players have hit the rail since the break:

Level 19 – 5,000/10,000 (10,000)

Entries: 64/652

Ilari Sahamies jammed from the hijack for eight big blinds and was called by Benjamins Fonarjovs from the big blind.

Ilari Sahamies: A 9

Benjamins Fonarjovs: 4 4

Sahamies was at risk but connected his nine on the river to survive and double up with the 10 3 Q 3 9 board.

Benjamins Fonarjovs – 330,000

Ilari Sahamies – 200,000

Players were sent on a dinner break midway through Level 19. The action will resume at 8:45 p.m. EEST.

Level 19: 5k / 10k (10k)

Entries: 67 / 652

With the bubble broken all hell just broke loose in the main event area. There were almost a dozen short stacks around and all of them now freely move all-in having guaranteed a min-cash.

One of those players was Alf Jacobsen who only had 2 big blinds left and called an all-in with J-5 against Kaido Mikks open-raise with A-T.

The flop gave Jacobsen hope as it fell Q-6-5, but turn and river fell T-4, giving Mikk the better pair.

Meanwhile, we lost more than 10 players in the first 10 minutes after the bubble burst.

Level 19: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)

Entries: 78/562

Two players were eliminated during the 11th hand of hand-for-hand play on the money bubble including Line Linsholm on the t.v. table and Henning Stalsberg on an outer table as follows.

Vegard Andreassen opened from early position before Stalsberg called off for his stack of 25,000 from the cutoff Benjamins Fonarjovs also came in for the ride from the big blind.

Both Andreassen and Fonarjovs checked down the 3 8 10 Q 5 board. Stalsberg had A K and would have lost to either of his opponents with Fonarjovs holding 9 8 for a pair of eights and Andreassen holding K 8 for the same better eights with a better kicker to win the hand.

Both bubble players will not walk away empty-handed as they will split a €1,020 min-cash for €510.

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Entries: 80 / 652

Kalle Mikkonen showed a strong bluff during the bubble. In a blind vs blind situation against Kaido Mikk. He raised the small blind and checked the 9 4 7 Flop. Mikk in the big blind called preflop and checked the flop behind.

Mikkonen bet 60k on the 5 turn and Mikk called. The 8 fell on the river and now Mikkonen slid out 150k. Mikk was flabbergasted and proclaimed: “No bluff! There is no bluff in that range!” Eventually, he folded.

Mikkonen turned over K J which – in our opinion – looks like a pretty ballsy bluff in that situation.

Kalle Mikkonen – 600k
Kaido Mikk – 120k

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Entries: 80/562

On the eighth hand of hand-for-hand play, Tuomas Kalvinmaki jammed for 63,000 from early position and was called by Reeti Polon from the small blind.

Polon just doubled up one opponent during the money bubble and while he was waiting he laughed with the table as he said: “I have plenty to punt.”

Eventually, the other tables played their hands and the cards were turned over.

Tuomas Kalvinmaki: J J

Reeti Polon: A Q

Kalvinmaki won the flip to double his stack on the bubble with Polon bricking the 4 3 10 5 4 board.

Reeti Polon – 230,000

Tuomas Kalvinmaki – 146,000

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

There was an all-in and call on Table 19 during the fourth hand of hand-for-hand play after Keimo Suominen jammed for 156,000 and was called by Reeti Polon.

Keimo Suominen: K K

Reeti Polon: 10 10

Suominen earned a double on the bubble after the 5 4 A 5 2 board ran safely for his cowboys.

Keimo Suominen – 340,000

Reeti Polon – 300,000

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Entries: 80 / 652

Marthe Lyngvar just doubled up one spot off the money on table 8. With 100k in the middle on the turn, the board read 8 4 4 2 and she bet 50k leaving only 70k behind. Directly behind her, Sverre Rydning moved all-in for more than 200k. After some deliberation, Lyngvar called being at risk of elimination on the bubble.

Marthe Lyngvar: J J
Sverre Rydning: Q K

Lyngvar had the to avoid a spade, a King and Queen on the river to survive. And she did as the dealer opened a 3 on the river.

Marthe Lyngvar – 270,000
Sverre Rydning – 140,000

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Entries: 81/652

Jarmo Salonen jammed for about six big blinds from the small blind and was called by Yuri Ishida from the big blind.

Jarmo Salonen: A A

Yuri Ishida: J 10

It was smooth sailing all the way for Salonen as he doubled up after the 7 K 4 4 6 rolled out on the board.

Yuri Ishida – 300,000

Jarmo Salonen – 100,000

Level 17: 4,000 / 8,000 (8,000)

Entries: 81 /652

Saku Turtia busted in 82nd position against Kert Hallik. He moved all-in with K-T and Hallik called with A-J.

The board fell Q-T-6-7-K and Hallik took down the pot with a straight bringing us in touching distance to the bubble. Only 2 players will leave without money.

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Entries: 83/562

Ylva Thorsrud jammed from middle position for 82,000 and was called by Jaanus Veste from the cutoff.

Ylva Thorsrud: A 10

Jaanus Veste: 9 9

Thorsrud won the flip after her ace connected on the Q A 8 8 J board to give her a better two pair than Veste.

Ylva Thorsrud – 184,000

Jaanus Veste – 160,000

We went into the next break with 83 / 652 players. With 79 players being paid, we only need 4 players to bust before the min cash will be reached.

While the focus will be on the short stacks in a little while, we – once again – took a look at the biggest stacks:

Level 17: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)

Entries: 87/652

Pyry Kekalainen jammed for about 10 big blinds from early position. Quang Doan three-bet shoved for a lot more from one seat over and the rest of the table folded.

Pyry Kekalainen: 7 7

Quang Doan: K K

The 5 6 J 8 6 board didn’t give Kekalainen the boost he needed to beat Doan’s cowboys and he was eliminated 88th place or nine spots short of the money.

Quang Doan – 450,000

Pyry Kekalainen – 0

Level 17: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)

Entries: 87 / 652

One player we have missed in our big stack watch is Akseli Valaja. We just saw him win a hand that can only be described as a family pot.

It began with Tuomas Kälvinmäki raising under the gun to 15k. Behind him Quang Doan called on the button, Akseli Valaja called in the small blind and behind him, Kristian Aitio called in the big blind as well.

With more than 60k in the middle they all saw a flop: A Q J . It was checked around. Turn: 8 . Now Valaja fired an 8k bet. All players called. River: 3 . Again everyone checked.

Akseli Valaja tabled A 10 for top pair and this hand was good enough to win a pot worth almost 100k.

Akseli Valaja – 500,000

With 89 players and 10 spots off the money, we counted the biggest stacks in the field (minus the TV table):

Level 17: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)

Entries: 90/652

Marko Harkonen three-bet jammed for 80,500 and was called by Alex Lianes.

Marko Harkonen: 8 8

Alex Lianes: K K

Harkonen was in jeopardy of hitting the rail before the money and things didn’t get any better after the Q J 6 came on the flop.

“Yes!” shouted Harkonen after the 8 followed on the turn to improve him to set.

The blank 10 completed the board on the river and instead of hitting the rail Harkonen doubled through Lianes.

Alex Lianes – 450,000

Marko Harkonen – 170,000

Level 17: 3,000 / 6,000 (6,000)

Entries: 90 / 652

At Yuri Ishida’s table Jarmo Salonen just eliminated Jani Hongisto after a preflop clash.

Hongisto moved all-in with A-Q from the cut-off and on the button Salonen had an easy call with K-K.

The board came down K-Q-T-6-9 – a set for Salonen and only a pair and a useless gut-shot for Hongisto.

Jarmo Salonen – 170,000
Jani Hongisto – 0

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)

Jussi Mattila shared with us recently that he was ready to go to the bar when he had a short stack. He doubled that stack up but was still a bit short when he got his chips in with ten-deuce of spades on a ten-five-three-four board after the turn with two spades on the board.

Tanel Evert looked Mattila up with two red sevens. Both players completed a straight after a non-spade six completed the board. Evert’s straight was better and Mattila can now go to the bar.

Tanel Evert – 220,000

Jussi Mattila – 0

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)

Entries: 98 / 652

Right in front of us at table 13 we just witnessed the demise of Van Le. It all began with Andres Lõiv opening from UTG to 11k. Le moved all-in from middle position for 55k. Directly behind him, Alberto Jimenez called the all-in and Lõiv folded. Showdown:

Van Le: Q J
Alberto Jimenez: A Q

Board: 10 7 2 Q 4

The dealer provided no help for Le and he had to take his leave a bit over 20 positions before the money.

Alberto Jimenez – 350,000
Van Le – 0

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)

Entries: 103/652

Mariann Berg Olufsen opened for 12,000 from the hijack before Antti Marttinen jammed for about 80,000 from the big blind. Olufsen went into the tank for a couple of minutes before she called.

Antti Marttinen: A 8

Mariann Berg Olufsen: A 4

Olufsen nailed two pair on the A 4 2 flop. Marttinen needed help and had a flush draw after the 7 landed on the turn.

“Gimme a spade,” asked Marttinen to the poker gods.

No spade came with the 4 river completing the board and Marttinen was eliminated on a bad beat short of the money to Olufsen’s full house.

Mariann Berg Olufsen – 450,000

Antti Marttinen -0

Those are the payouts for the 2022 Coolbet Open:

Level 15: 2,000 / 4,000 (3,000)

Entries: 122 / 652

In a button vs blind confrontation, Jarmo Salonen raised and Yuri Ishida defended in the small blind. Flop: A J 4 . The action went check / bet / call and the dealer turned over the 2 . Now both players checked. When the 5 hit the river Ishida slid out a 30k bet which was quickly called.

She showed down A 3 for a straight and raked in the 100k+ pot.

Yuri Ishida – 300,000
Jarmo Salonen – 170,000

Level 15: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)

Entries: 122/652

Jussi Mattila has been at many final tables in Tallinn but had different plans for tonight. He was sitting on a stack of less than 30,000 when shared with PokerListings that he would go out next hand and then go out to the bar.

Things didn’t go as planned for Mattila as the next hand the entire table folded to Mattila in the big blind. The hand after that, Mattila woke up with cowboys from the small blind and got it in for 35,500 against Halldor Jonsson from the cutoff with fives. The cowboys held and Mattila was sitting on 79,000 after doubling his stack.

Level 15: 2,000 / 4,000 (4,000)

Entries: 129 / 652

At table 16 the action was folded to Davy Wathne in the small blind who opened with a raise. Behind him Eero Ihaksi defended. Flop: A 3 3 . After a bet and raise both players were all in with Wathne at risk:

Davy Wathne: Q K
Eero Ihaksi: 8 3

Ihaksi was ahead with his trips but Wathne had outs. The dealer turned over 4 and 10 and Wathne rivered his flush to beat Ihaksi.

Davy Wathne – 220,000
Eero Ihaksi – 105,000

Level 15: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)

Entries: 136/652

Tapio Aaltonen had about 40 big blinds but is now on the rail. He shared with us he lost a bulk of his stack when a player jammed 18 big blinds with kings and he called with jacks.

Aaltonen then jammed nine big blinds shortly after with fours. Taago Tamm called with sevens and flopped a full house sevens over fives. No runner-runner quads or straight flush came. Aaltonen is now chatting with friends on the rail and he is now thinking of entering the two-day $440 NLHE event scheduled to start in about an hour.

Taago Tamm – 100,000

Tapio Aaltonen – 0

With the second break of the day, we took a look at all the big stacks in the room. Right now Kalle Ly is ahead in front of Mariann Olufsen. Both are the only player with more than 100 big blinds going into the next level. We have 143 players remaining.

Level 14: 1,500 / 3,000 (3,000)

Entries: 148 / 652

Let’s stay at Kalle Ly’s table for a while: We just saw him open from UTG to 6k and behind him Amend Sahiti called. Now it was up to Kjell Lovaas in the Hijack seat. He moved all-in for 61k. After one fold Kristo Tiits looked down and moved all-in as well.

Ly and Sahiti folded and we got a showdown:

Kjell Lovaas: 9 9
Kristo Tiits: A Q

The board fell 4 3 2 10 8 – no help for Tiits who had to let go of some of his (still impressively big) stack while Lovaas more than doubled up.

Kristo Tiits – 250,000
Kjell Lovaas – 140,000

Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)

Entries: 151/652

Kalle Ly is sitting on a massive stack of chips of around 420,000. He discussed with the reporting team how he accumulated so many chips.

Ly limped with eight-six suited and three other players came along including another player who limped behind with fives. Ly flopped top two pair on the eight-six-five flop and his opponent who flopped bottom set with his fives called.

Ly continued for 40,000 on the king turn and was called again. A six completed the board on the river giving both players a full house. Ly checked with the better full house but he shared that his opponent tanked for a bit before he jammed for about 100,000. Ly made the quick call to eliminate his opponent and catapult his stack to among the chip leaders.

Level 14: 1,500 / 3,000 (3,000)

Entries: 153 / 652

After he raised preflop, Verneri Sivula saw himself heads-up against Jarmo Salonen. The flop fell Q 7 3 . Salonen, Sivula moved all-in and Salonen eventually called. Showdown:

Verneri Sivula: A 7
Jarmo Salonen: Q 10

Turn and river came J and 6 – no help for Sivula who had to take his leave.

Jarmo Salonen – 170,000
Verneri Sivula – 0

Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)

Entries: 157/652

Pasi Sallinen jammed about a dozen big blinds from the cutoff and was called by Boris Smolianskii from the big blind.

Pasi Sallinen: 8 8

Boris Smolianskii: 9 9

Sallinen’s snowmen got no help from the 10 3 5 2 9 board and Smolianskii took all of his chips with a set of nines.

Boris Smolianskii – 140,000

Pasi Sallinen – 0

Level 14: 1,500 / 3,000 (3,000)

Entries: 159 / 652

Olli-Pekka Huuskonen was left with only a couple of big blinds and moved all-in with A-4. Behind him, Shiyan Fang – who also was rather short – called the all-in with A-A.

Huuskonen was way behind and the board did not help him catch up.

Shiyan Fang – 50,000
Olli-Pekka Huuskonen – 0

Level 13: 1,200/2,400 (2,400)

Entries: 169 / 652

Alex Lianes who spent the first hours of the day at the same table as our former chip leader Espen Ringstad was moved to another table where he quickly donated some of his stack Andrey Koks.

On a river with roughly 35k in the middle the board read Q 8 7 –3 –9 and Lianes bet 25k. Koks thought for a while and then proclaimed: “I want to see that.” And he saw:

Alex Lianes: A 2
Andrey Koks: Q 10

Top pair was good enough for the Estonian and he raked in an 85k pot.

Andrey Koks – 125,000
Alex Lianes – 250,000

Level 13: 1,200/2,400 (2,400)

Entries: 171/652

Kristian Aitio jammed for 32,500 from early position. Joel Haapio called off for less than 10 big blinds from late position and the rest of the table folded.

Joel Haapio: A J

Kristian Aitio: A K

Haapio was on the rail after not connecting with the 3 Q Q K 3 double-paired board as Aitio held a higher two-pair to win the hand.

Kristian Aitio – 60,000

Joel Haapio – 0

Level 13: 1,200/2,400 (2,400)

Entries: 180/652

It is a debate about who traveled the longest to the Coolbet Open. As we already mentioned, Yuri Ishida came to the Coolbet Open from Japan. Meanwhile, Francisco Valdes, who is sitting on about 10 big blinds, made the trek from Chile just to attend the festival.

David Land, however, may have traveled the furthest as he came in from Australia. It might not be fair to say that he came specially for the Coolbet Open as he shared that he is here visiting family as his wife is Estonian. That being said, he is having a blast and just doubled up his stack as follows:

Land jammed for about 30,000 with ace-king and was up against the queens held by Niko Lauriala. Land won the flip and now has about 60,000 in chips for a 25 big blind stack.

Level 13: 1,200 / 2,400 (2,000)

Entries: 188 / 652

A slightly annoying bad beat sent Masse Mirza to the rails. The local was in a hand against Christian Arstad and on an A-Q-4-6-turn Mirza moved all-in over Arstads bet.

Arstad felt pot committed and called. Showdown:

Masse Mirza: 6-4 for two pair
Christian Arstad: A-K for top pair

Mirza was ahead, but Arstad had some outs. One of those outs fell on the river as the dealer turned over another Ace.

Christian Arstad – 120,000
Masse Mirza – 0

Level 13: 1,200/2,400 (2,400)

Entries 193/652

Mariann Berg Olufsen began Day 2 with less than a starting stack. The Norwegian has been off to a hot start on Day 2 as her stack is now near 300,000 in chips.

Olufsen shared and her tablemate Peter Bergman, who also began the day with less than a starting stack but now has 50,000 in chips, confirmed with PokerListings that Olufsen won a big pot recently with ace-four after flopping trips before improving to quads. She got paid off and now has plenty of chips to work with.

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Entries: 199 / 652

Over at table 4, Jon Persent is working his way to the top of the count. We just witnessed him take out Thanh Vu in a simple preflop flop with 6-6 against Vu’s A-J. The board ran out T-8-4-3-2 – no help for Vu who leaves in 200th place.

Jon Persent – 290,000
Thanh Vu – 0

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Entries: 201/652

Stian Knutsen opened for 4,000 from the small blind. Thomas Eriksson three-bet to 10,000 from the big blind and Knutsen jammed for 109,000. Eriksson made the call to set up a massive pot.

Stian Knutsen: 3 3

Thomas Eriksson: Q Q

The chips would have likely gone into the pot at some point during the hand if they didn’t go in preflop with both players improving to a set on the 5 3 Q flop. Knutsen needed the case three to improve to quads to survive and double up. No miracle came as the 2 turn and 9 river completed the board to eliminate Knutsen.

Thomas Eriksson – 260,000

Stian Knutsen – 0

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Entries: 211 / 652

Over at Yuri’s table, we witnessed a short stack battle between Viktor Wennersten and Ville Laasanen. Wennersten was all-in with A-4 against Laasanen’s A-K. The better ace held as the board ran out A-J-3-6-2. Laasanen doubled up to roughly 40k and Wennersten was left with 300 chips.

He managed to win the next hand with Tens but was eliminated the hand after when he was caught with A-J in a battle between Queens and Kings (between Pasi Sallinen and Raymond Vilnes which Sallinen won with his Kings.

Ville Laasanen – 40,000
Viktor Wennersten – 0

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Entries: 220/652

David Tennbaeck is one of the early casualties after the late registration window closed. He got his last 15 big blinds or so with A K and was up against the J J held by Zahid Bhuiyan.

Tennbaeck was unable to connect his big slick with the 9 4 Q 2 10 runout and was on the rail.

“Good game,” Tennbaeck said to the table in a sporting manner.

Zahid Bhuiyan – 100,000

David Tennbaeck – 0

Players came from near and far to attend the first Coolbet Open in 2 1/2 years. One player that traveled more than most is Japan’s Yuri Ishida, who is sitting on a healthy stack of 120,000 after the first break.

Ishida has never been to Estonia but she shared with PokerListings before Day 2 began that this was on her bucket list and found a good opportunity to visit with the Coolbet Open known for not only a good schedule but also tons of friendly players and a fun vibe.

“One of my friends told me about the Coolbet Open that lives in Estonia,” Ishida explained. “I have always wanted to come to Estonia. I have had an interest since I was young and love traveling.”

It is great that Ishida loves traveling considering she shared that her journey took 16 hours to come to Estonia for a fun week of poker.

Ishida does love to play poker and even does so on a recreational basis with no money involved in her local country of Japan, which at this point in time doesn’t have a casino. However, she does play for real money on the road as can be evidenced not only by her confident demeanor on the tables but also by her almost $600,000 in cashes as tracked by The Hendon Mob.

Perhaps this won’t be the last time we see Ishida as she is not only enjoying the poker but the friendly attitude of most of the players.

“Everyone is very friendly,” Ishida said with a smile.

Best of luck to Ishida and a shout-out to all the poker players in Japan.

Level 12: 1000 / 2,000 (2,000)

Entries: 234 / 652

A lousy pair of threes was enough to eliminate Kalju Kratovits. He was rather short, shoved all-in with K-Q and Enri Orav called with 3-3. The board brought plenty of low cards, no help for Kratovits and the Estonian had to leave while Orav is up to more than 180k now.

Enri Orav – 185,000
Kalju Kratovits – 0

Late registration is now closed for the 2022 Coolbet Open Main Event. The field attracted a total of 648 entries with 248 players remaining in their seats after the break. The prize pool grew to a whopping €311,040 making it the second biggest Coolbet Open Main Event only behind the last one in November 2019 which attracted 686 entries for a €331,740 prize pool.

We will announce the payouts as soon as they are made official by the Coolbet Open tournament staff. What we do know at this time is that the Main Event will pay out 72 places.

During the break, we tried to count some of the biggest stacks. Ringstad has lost his lead as many of his former chips are now in front of Alex Lianes, who’s also seated at his table.

We have reached the end of level 11. The dealers have been advised to deal the last three re-entry hands after which the players have a 15-minute break. After this break, the re-entry period is over and we will have our final player numbers.

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Entries: 252 / 642

Poker is easy. Just flop the nuts and get paid. That’s what Kevin Karenius managed at one of the outer tables against Silje Nielsen.

He opened from the Button with A 4 and got three streets of value on a Q 6 2 –3 –J board with his nut flush draw.

Nilsen paid the bets and mucked her hand after Karenius tabled the flush.

Kevin Karenius – 50,000
Silje Nilsen – 20,000

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Entries: 254/638

Mohammed Halafi opened for 3,300 from early position. Antti Tuomi three-bet shoved for 30,200 from one seat over and Halafi called.

Antti Tuomi: K Q

Mohammed Halafi: 5 5

Tuomi was flipping for his tournament life. Instead of hitting the rail, he doubled his stack after his king connected with the 10 K 8 6 6 board.

Antti Tuomi – 65,000

Mohammed Halafi – 60,000

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Entries: 253 / 632

Niklas Jerjomin from Finland entered this day, started with 30,000 chips (less than 20 big blinds) and couldn’t get much going for him. In his final hand, he was all-in with K-Q against Marko West who had him dominated with A-K. The board ran out K-T-T-A-7, eliminating the Fin.

Marko Vest – 75,000
Niklas Jerjomin – 0

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Entries: 252 / 624

Currently table 12 is where the action is as this table is home to the chip leader Espen Ringstad and several big stacks including the Spaniard Alex Lianes.

We just saw Lianes take a substantial chunk of Ringstad’s stack. We’re not sure about the action but we arrived at a river with 60k in the middle and the board reading 7 6 3 2 3 .

After a check Ringstad bet 31k and it took Lianes a minute to call with A 2 . His bottom pair was good as Ringstad mucked his hand.

Espen Ringstad – 350,000
Aley Lianes – 240,000

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Entries: 254/624

Jarkko Suokas four-bet jammed for around 40,000 and was called by Alexander Steffansson.

Jarkko Suokas: 9 9

Alexander Steffansson: Q Q

The 6 10 4 7 10 runout didn’t help nines get ahead of queens and Suokas was another early casualty of Day 2.

Alexander Steffansson – 140,000

Jarkko Suokas – 0

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Entries: 253/609

Mati Pirn opened for 3,500 from the cutoff. Toni Hamalainen three-bet jammed for 19,200 from the button and Pirn went into the tank for close to a minute before he called.

Toni Hamalainen: A 5

Mati Pirn: J J

It was looking like a good spot for Pirn to chip up and a bad spot for Hamalainen to get called. The poker gods had something else in mind with Hamalainen improving to top pair on the 4 Q A flop. The 5 turn improved Hamalainen to two pair and Pirn was down to just two outs. A jack didn’t come as instead the 2 completed the board on the river for Hamalainen to double through Pirn.

Toni Hamalainen – 42,000

Mati Pirn – 30,000

Level 11: 700/ 1,600
254 / 604 Entries

With the first hands and we already have several all-ins and calls. One of those happened at table 10 when Kasper Mellanen was all-in with J-J against Stian Knutsens A-Q.

The board ran out T-9-7-5-J and gave Mellanen a double-up.

Kasper Mellanen – 70,000
Stian Knutsens – 95,000

Players are still busy registering and re-entering for the Main Event and the field has grown to 601 entries with 254 players remaining. The Coolbear tried to sit down at a seat to play, but unfortunately, he failed to buy his ticket and will have to watch on the sidelines. Maybe Coolbear can make an appearance at the next Coolbet Open.

The tournament director recently announced that the plan for today is to play down to 2-3 tables. This means, that play should end around midnight with a dinner break also being inserted into today’s schedule at a later point in time.

Day 2 is underway with Level 11 with blinds at 800/1,600 along with a big blind ante at 1,600. Expect some mayhem early on with late registration closing at the conclusion of Level 11.

Welcome back to the coverage of the Coolbet Open Main Event A total of 227 players survived the two starting flights. The field was already at 583 after Day 1a attracted 193 entries and Day 1b brought in twice as much with 390 entries to bring the total to 583 entries and a prize pool of more than €270k.

Today late-reg and re-entries are possible during the first level of play and we expect mayhem during this first hour as the last players will try to run up their stacks for this event. The final entry number and prize pool will be announced shortly after late registration closes.

Today’s goal is to reach the money ranks and play down to the last three or four tables. However, this might not be the case as play is scheduled to end in time for players to hop into Day 2 of the €330 Omaha event that kicked off last night.

Norway’s Espen Ringstad is in the lead for now. Yesterday’s self-proclaimed “Chip Billionaire” is the only player with more than 400k chips , followed by Estonia’s Ranno Sootla with 350k chips.

You can follow the action at our live blog and we expect the cards to be in the air shortly past noon local time today.

This is the seat draw for day 2. Re-Entries are still allowed for the first level of the day.

With 318 players surviving Day 1a and Day 1b those are the combined chip counts before Day 2: