London To Welcome The 2019 Unibet Open Later This Month

The city of London will once again play host to the 2019 Unibet Open which is scheduled to take place from May 20 to 26.

This year marks the eighth time that the tournament will be held in the British capital. The action takes place at The Poker Room, located above the iconic Grosvenor Victoria Casino.

The main highlight of the four-day festival is the Unibet Open £990 Main Event which kicks off on May 23, running through May 25. The event is a deep-stacked affair featuring three opening flights. Players begin with 30,000 in chips, played in one-hour blind levels during the first two flights.

As Day 1C starts, the action progresses to 20-minute blinds. Only one re-entry is allowed, with the surviving players battling it out for the crown on May 25-26.

Among other events on the schedule that will definitely attract attention is the £2,200 High Roller event happening on May 22-23, as well as the Unibet DSO Cup on May 25-26, which features a buy-in of £500.

There will also be a £110 buy-in #QUEENRULES Ladies Event and a £220 buy-in Turbo Bounty, both taking place on May 25. Closing the Unibet Open tournament is the £110 buy-in NLH Turbo on May 26.

This year, players can once again take part in plenty of side events and satellites, plus two invitation-only events: the Unibet Battle Royale and the Unibet Tag Team Championship, both happening on May 22.

Main Event History

Since it started in 2009, the Unibet Open London Main Event has had different price points. The inaugural event, which featured the highest buy-in of £2,750, was won by Thanh Doan from Finland who topped a field of 266 players for £187,000 – the biggest single prize ever won in the history of the Unibet Open Main Event.

The subsequent editions saw the Main Event buy-in being progressively reduced to attract more players. The Unibet Open Main Event in 2016 featured the lowest buy-in of just £825. Dave Shallow of England took home the £62,000 top prize. Since 2017, the Main Event buy-in has remained at £990.

Unibet Open

Previous Champs

Some of the poker players who triumphed at the Unibet Open London Main Event include Paul Valkenburg (2010), winning £109,550; Pratik Ghatge (2012) besting a field of 315 entries for £85,050; Iaron Lightbourne (2014) taking home £70,000; Gerret Van Lancker (2017) winning the £71,950 top prize; and the defending champion Andreas Wiborg who won the 2018 Unibet Open London Main Event for £56,807.