Hansalu, Souminen, & Mortensen Win Titles as Coolbet Open Main Event Heads Into Final Day

Three new winners were crowned on Friday’s Day 5 of the 2024 Coolbet Open at the Chesterfield Poker Club and the Nordic Hotel Forum including Estonia's Priit Hansalu, Finland’s Erno Souminen, and Norway’s Stig Mortensen.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Coolbet Open €550 Main Event witnessed another 40 entries getting into the mix at the start of Friday’s Day 2 to bring the field up to 504 entries for a tasty €244,440 prize pool.

The action played deep into the money with the top 63 players earning at least a €1,000 min-cash and 27 players advancing to Day 2.

The start of the day chip leader Hans Winther squeaked in a min-cash with a 62nd-place performance, while several other notable players advanced further despite missing out on Saturday’s final live-streamed day including the likes of Norway’s Ingvill Nilsen (28th - €1,375), Estonia’s Ave Lepik (29th - €1,375), Finland’s Kare Hallamaa (38th - €1,225), 2019 Coolbet Open Main Event champion from Estonia Ott-Kaarli Toome (39th - €1,225), and Norway’s Oystein Stai (48th - €1,100).

Meanwhile, Estonians are dominating the top part of the leaderboard heading into the final day with Vadim Guk leading the way followed by Steven Tool. Iceland’s Daniel Axelsson is sandwiched in the middle in third place with Estonians Laasik Kasso and Madis Muur rounding out the top five.

The final day will be live-streamed on a 30-minute delay at The Coolbet Open website and The Coolbet Open Facebook and YouTube channels. You can also follow along with the action on the live blog powered by PokerNews, where you can check out the complete chip counts and the seat draw to start the day.

Three Trophies Hoisted on Friday

The two-day €330 Pot-Limit 4 & 5 Cards had its second and final day. The event attracted 51 entries on its opening day on Thursday to create a €14,841 prizepool. The action played down to the money where the seven final table players already locked up €1,000 with their eyes on the €4,500 top prize.

The Estonian flag was guaranteed to be represented in the winner's circle after Norway's Joakim Fjaer exited on the podium in third place for €2,200, leaving Estonia's Priit Hansalu and Finland's Riku Maatta heads-up for the title. Hansalu earned the trophy and the €4,500 awaiting the winner, while Maatta took home a healthy €2,950 for finishing one player shy of Coolbet Open glory.

Mixed games are growing in popularity in Norway with the help of Coolbet streamer Ylva Thorsrud and Norwegian Poker Association president Tobias Leknes among others. The efforts to grow mixed games was evident with a banner field of 77 entries creating a €10,083 prize pool with the top 13 players including Coolbet’s Danny Hobo going home with at least a €250 min-cash.

Tthe 8-Game then followed a similar pattern to the €330 Pot Limit Omaha, this time ending with two Finns and one Norwegian in the mix. The title was guaranteed to go home to Finland after the formidable Norwegian Tarjei Forus bowed out in third place for €1,300. Finland’s Erno Souminen defeated countrymate Outi Reinila heads-up to win the €2,600 top prize and the trophy, leaving Reinila to settle for the healthy runner-up prize of €1,800.

We mentioned Thorsrud’s help in growing the popularity of games outside of no-limit hold’em through her stream and her network. However, she also enjoys two-card action and had her own event late in the evening: the €150 Jevakim’s Friday Fun Hyper Turbo. While Thorsrud was unable to cash, another Norwegian was able to take down the title in Stig Mortensen for €2,830 after agreeing to a three-way deal with Pekka Ikonen (second - €2,440) and Norway’s Asgeir Lund (third - €2,825).

Saturday Schedule at the Coolbet Open

The weekend is here and the 2024 Coolbet Open schedule boasts more events on Saturday than ever at the Chesterfield Poker Club.

The day begins with the conclusion of the €550 Main Event at noon with the live stream kicking off streamed across various channels, including The Coolbet Open website and The Coolbet Open Facebook and YouTube channels, 30 minutes later with hole cards exposed.

The excitement isn’t contained to the feature table and side tables of the Main Event; elsewhere, there will be a tremendous buzz as players begin to open mystery bounty envelopes with the help of the Coolbear. The second and final day of the €440 Mystery Bounty will also start at the same time as the Main Event at noon.

The two-day €220 Sviten Special will also crown a winner with the action starting one hour later at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, women can enjoy competing against each other in the €150 Coolbet Open Ladies Event at 3 p.m. This event boasts tons of value with a freeroll satellite taking place at 12:30 p.m. for this event guaranteeing three seats as well as The Festival Series adding a package to The Festival Ladies valued at €1,250.

Expect some big names and tons of excitement in the highest buy-in event of the festival in the €1,500 Coolbet NLH Masterclass 6-Max at 3 p.m. followed by the €150 Coolbet Live Special which has added value with a The Festival Series €550 Main Event added to the winner’s prize.

Those looking for something different will enjoy the €150 Open Face Chinese Pineapple at 7 p.m. followed by the €150 Pot Limit Omaha Hyper Turbo Freezeout at 8 p.m.

Thorsrud isn’t the only one with an honorary event today as we may see the Coolbear in action for its own event in the €60 Coolbear Thrill Ride. To add to the fun, an extra stack is added to the pot during the very first hand at every table.

The Coolbet Open Social Media raffle takes place at 10 p.m. followed by the final event of the day in the €150 Coolbet Farewell Hyper Turbo at 11 p.m.

While the Hyper Turbo might be a farewell for many players, others will stick around on Sunday for the final event of the festival in the €150 Hyper Turbo Version of the Coolbet Open Main Event.

Best of luck on Saturday to all of the Coolbet Open players and don’t forget to enjoy the moments.