Launched in 2007, the Unibet Open is the marquee live tour for Unibet Poker. Featuring up to five stops per year, the tour has visited destinations across the world including London, Las Vegas Tallinn, Copenhagen, and more.
PokerNews began reporting from the Unibet Open in 2015 and has been a live-reporting partner for the tour ever since.
The Unibet Open has a reputation as one of the most friendly and welcoming poker tours. Festivals are known for having a Welcome Drinks on day 1A and the Saturday night Players�� Party.
With plenty of opportunities for players to satellite into online through Unibet Poker, there are plenty of stories of satellite winners turning a few dollars into life-changing money at one of their many live events.
The 'ShuffleUpAndSki' festival in Sinaia made its debut for Season 13, with Martin Soukup becoming a two-time champion after winning �71,000 in the Unibet Open Sinaia Main Event.
Omar Lakhdari's victory over 480 entries in Paris to round out 2019 was the largest Unibet Open Main Event field ever, beatin gthe 457 set in London earlier in the year.
After Martin Olali won the Unibet Open Dublin Main Event in early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of all live tournaments, including Unibet Open Tallinn. In April 2020, Unibet announced that they would be moving all live events online.
As a result, 2020 saw three Unibet Open Online champions, including Padraig "John_smith2" O'Neill winning back-to-back Unibet Open Main Events to become the fourth player to do so.
For 2021, the Unibet Open continued running online with another high-profile winner. Dominik Nitsche won the first online Main Event of the year, winning �68,527.
The Unibet Open returned to the live poker scene following the pandemic with a stop in St Julian's, Malta. Denmark's Henrik Junker topped the 359-entry field to capture the title.
Dutchman Dwayne Sluis was the winner of the sole Unibet Open Main Event in 2023. Sluis qualified for the Main Event through bagging an online package and turned that into a �65,830 payday.
There have been four two-time winners of Unibet Open Main Events. Dan Murariu became the first after winning Unibet Open Saint Martin in Season 6, just two years after winning Unibet Open Golden Sands in Bulgaria. He took home over $300,000 from these two wins combined and is now a Unibet Poker Ambassador.
Mateusz Moolhuizen took slightly longer between his two victories, winning in Malta and Antwerp four years apart. The third two-time Unibet Open Main Event winner is Martin Soukup who won in Malta in 2016, and then on the Unibet Open's first trip to Sinaia in 2019.
In 2020, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the Unibet Open to move online, Padraig O'Neill sensationally won back-to-back events to become the fourth two-time Unibet Open Main Event champion.
Dan Murariu: Golden Sands (Season 4) and Saint Martin (Season 6)
Mateusz Moolhuizen: Malta (Season 5) and Antwerp (Season 9)
Martin Soukup: Malta (Season 10) and Sinaia (Season 13)
Padraig O'Neill: Online (Season 15) and Online (Season 15)
Largest Unibet Open Main Event First Prizes
Season 3 of the Unibet Open saw some of the largest prize pools, with the buy-in for most tournaments set at around �1,650. As a result, the Main Events held in London, Prague and Warsaw hold the top three spots.
Since 2014, the buy-in for Unibet Open Main Events has been reduced to approx. �1,100, and therefore the first prizes hover between $80,000 and $100,000.
Year
Event
Buy-In
Entries
Winner
Prize in US$
2009
London
��2,750
266
Thanh Doan
$305,326
2009
Prague
� 1,650
451
Fuat Can
$245,983
2009
Warsaw
z?7,000
401
Jimmy Jonsson
$239,778
2010
Budapest
� 1,650
460
Anthon-Pieter Wink
$235,665
2011
Barcelona
� 1,650
387
Rub��n S��nchez Cebollada
$212,246
Biggest Unibet Open Main Event Fields
Three of the five largest Unibet Open Main Event fields of all time came in consecutive years in the Romanian capital Bucharest. Only two Main Events have surpassed 600 entries, with the 2017 European Open closing in on 700 entries when it was held in Las Vegas.
Year
Event
Buy-In
Entries
Winner
Prize in US$
2017
Las Vegas
$1,100
673
Joe Serock
$113,059
2016
Bucharest
� 1,100
603
Traian Bostan
$106,273
2018
Bucharest
� 1,100
592
Anton Vinokurov
$120,346
2017
Bucharest
� 1,100
502
Marius Pertea
$107,754
2010
Budapest
� 1,650
460
Anthon-Pieter Wink
$235,665
Unibet Open Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the Unibet Open?
The Unibet Open is a major international poker tour run by Unibet since 2007.
What was the largest Unibet Open Main Event?
The largest-ever Unibet Open Main event took place in Las Vegas in 2017 with 673 entries. It was won by Joe Serock for $113,059
What was the biggest Unibet Open Main Event first prize?
The biggest-ever Unibet Open Main Event first prize was at Unibet Open London in 2009. Thanh Doan defeated a 266-player field to win $305,326.