Alexandru Gavrilut Wins Unibet Open Bucharest High Roller (�38,630)
Romania's Alexandru Gavrilut outlasted a field of 63 entrants to win the 2018 Unibet Open Bucharest �2,200 High Roller for �38,630.
The victory is not only by far the most significant live tournament cash by the Romanian, but also his first major victory to date according to The Hendon Mob.
The second and final day began with 39 hopefuls battling it out for the title. Nine more entrants popped into action before late-registration closed.
Andrei Nodea entered the day as the chip leader with Gavrilut kicking off the action in the middle of the pack in 22nd place. Three Unibet Poker ambassadors were also in the mix to start the day including Ian Simpson, Rauno "Estonian Jesus" Tahvonen, and Dara O'Kearney. None of them found success, and they were all eliminated short of the money.
Also in the mix was esports sensation Nathan "NBK" Schmitt but he was on the rail early in the day after his ace-queen couldn't outgun his opponent's ace-king.
The money bubble broke and the final table began after Romania's Narcis Gabriel Nedelcu was eliminated in tenth place. He limped from the small blind with pocket aces and faced off against Bulgaria's Simeon Spasov in the big blind with deuce-trey. Spasov nailed two pair on the flop and three-bet jammed. Nedelcu, who was more than covered, snap-called and hit the rail emptyhanded after he was unable to get a save on the turn or river.
2018 Unibet Open Bucharest �2,200 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize in � | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandru Gavrilut | Romania | �38,630 | $44,717 |
| 2 | Simeon Spasov | Bulgaria | �23,980 | $27,760 |
| 3 | Petre Laurentiu Chiriac | Romania | �16,540 | $19,148 |
| 4 | Andrei Nodea | Romania | �12,250 | $14,181 |
| 5 | Amir Shomron | Israel | �9,420 | $10,905 |
| 6 | Paraskevas Tsokaridis | Greece | �7,250 | $8,393 |
| 7 | Vladas Tamasauskas | Lithuania | �5,800 | $6,714 |
| 8 | Cosmin Voinea | Romania | �4,640 | $2,371 |
| 9 | Jack Sinclair | United Kingdom | �3,710 | $4,295 |
Spasov began the final table with the chip lead, while Gavrilut started play with the shortest stack in action. A full blind level passed before any players were eliminated.
United Kingdom's Jack Sinclair was the first player eliminated. He collected the ninth-place prize of �3,710 after his pocket queens couldn't hold against the pocket jacks held by Nodea.
The very next hand, Romania's Cosmin Voinea joined Sinclair on the rail. Voinea was eliminated in eighth place for �4,640 after he jammed his short stack with ten-five and couldn't get there against the ace-queen held by Romania's Petre Laurentiu Chiriac.
Lithuania's Vladas Tamasauskas then three-bet jammed pocket nines and was eliminated in seventh place for �5,800 after he didn't improve against the aces held by Spasov.
Not too much later, Greece's Paraskevas Tsokaridis hit the showers in sixth place for �7,250 after his ace-eight couldn't hold against Spasov's king-queen.
After this elimination, Gavrilut eliminated the final four players singlehandedly.
Israel's Amir Shomron day was over in fifth place for �9,420 after his ace-king couldn't out flip Gavrilut's pocket jacks.
Gavrilut then eliminated Day 1 chip leader Nodea in fourth place for �12,250 after his pocket queens held strong against pocket sixes.
Romania's Petre Laurentiu Chiriac was Gavrilut's next victim. Chiriac jammed a short-stack with deuce-trey and was called by Gavrilut with ace-four. He was eliminated in third place for �16,540 after Gavrilut hand held.
Despite all the eliminations, Spasov kept the lead throughout the entire final table and held a 2:1 chip advantage against Gavrilut in heads-up play. Gavrilut snagged the lead for the first time before the chip lead was passed back and forth between the players several times during the almost two-hour heads-up battle.
Eventually, Gavrilut amassed a 7:1 chip advantage. Spasov chipped away and reduced Gavrilut's lead to a 3:1 chip advantage when the final hand of the tournament took place.
Spasov, holding jack-nine, jammed with top pair on the turn and got a call from Gavrilut with a lower pair holding queen-eight. Things looked good for Spasov until an eight spiked the river to give Gavrilut trips and the title.
Spasov didn't walk away emptyhanded as the �23,980 runner-up place represents his biggest cash to date.
Gavrilut was excited about the win and shared: "It is a nice feeling because winning helps you forget about all of the bad beats and bad hands."
Photos by Tambet Kask/Unibet Open