06:12 – After three days of exciting poker, we have a winner. The heads-up lasted 30 minutes and eventually Tim van de Riet got the money in with the best hand, but it wasn’t enough. Having AT against K9, there was nothing more he could do when the flop brought a king. No help on turn or river and the tournament was over. Tim received 68,800 euros for his runner-up finish, and Joao Barbosa of Portugal, the Unibet Open winner, won 115,800 euros. We will follow-up with a post tournament article tomorrow, but for now it is over and out from Madrid.
See you in Milano in September!

06:05 – After two long days of great poker, the incredible draw-out for a split pot against van der Riet, seemed to be too much for Sjogren. After a raise and a re-raise, Sjogren went all-in against Barbosa who covered the Swede marginally, and the Portuguese poker pro called holding A9 of clubs. Sjogren showed K8 and was behind. The flop came 752 of clubs and the Madrid adventure was over for Sjogren who received 39,000 euros for a good weekend’s work. Obviously disappointed, Sjogren will feel better in a few days. Now we are heads-up between Joao Barbosa from Portugal and Tim van der Riet from Holland.

05:38 – With three players left in Madrid, per Sjogren raised to 60k, where the blinds are 15k/30k with a 3k ante. Tim van der Riet goes all-in and Per goes into the tank for several minutes. After what seems like an eternity he says: “Call”, showing the ducks – pocket deuces. The rail is in awe, but the Swede is ahead as the Dutchman shows Q8. The flop comes A52, giving the Swede an almost “impossible-to-beat” trips, but you never know about poker, right. The turn is a three, and the river comes a four, and both players plays the board – A,2,3,4,5 for a wheel. Tim is still in with 400k and Sjogren has 1.2 million.

After a very impressive tournament performance in Madrid by the Finnish Unibet pro, Ville Wahlbeck, he has now reached the end of the line. After several big, lost pots, Ville got his last 180k in with the best hand, K7, against Joao Barbosa’s T9 of spades. The flop came JT9, giving the Portuguese pro two-pair, but at the same time Ville got a double belly-buster, where both an eight and a queen would give him a straight. But unfortunately the turn brought a five and the river brought an ace and it was all over for the Finnish fan favourite. Ville leaves Madrid with a pay check worth 31,200 euros.

Per Sjogren from Sweden has been playing extremely well all the way through the Unibet Open in Madrid. Now he has a commanding lead with four players left in Madrid. Here is the chip count at the moment:

Per Sjogren 1.3M
Joao Barbosa 900k
Tim van der Riet 750k
Ville Wahlbeck 150k

Kairit Leibold from Estonia has shown some great poker skills at the Unibet Open in Madrid, but finally she was eliminated in 5th place. She received 26,700 euros and now she is aiming for more. “if I get an invitation I will for sure show up and do my best. I think me and my husband Imre will visit Vegas this summer and I hope to pull of some good results there as well”, says Kairit after the elimination.

After quite a few bad beats, Finnish poker pro Ville Wahlbeck was down to 120k, when he finally found a hand. Ville raised in early position, Per Sjogren put him all-in and got an insta-call. Ville’s aces was far ahead of Per’s K9 of spades, and with an ace on the flop, Ville is now back to 280k.

Alex Beeckx has been the finest of many good Belgian players at the Unibet Open in Madrid. He raised under the gun with A9, Per Sjogren re-raised to put the Belgian all-in, everyone else folded and Alex decided to call. The Swede showed pocket kings, and with no help on the board, Beeckx was eliminated in 6th place receiving 22,300 euros.

With five players left, Dutch player Tim van der Riet went all-in with A9 and got called by Ville Wahlbeck with A8. The board came K22, 3, 6 and Tim doubled up to 390k.

Ville Wahlbeck has taken a firm grip on the final table of the Unibet Open and is now sitting with 1.2 millions. Second in chips is Joao Barbosa with 680k and third is Per Sjogren with 380k.

Here is the complete chip count from the six remaining players:

Ville Wahlbeck 1.2M
Joao Barbosa 680k
Per Sjogren 380k
Kairit Leibold 320k
Alex Beeckx 300k
Tim van der Riet 160k