Feenstra Celebrates Christmas with Unibet Riga Victory

Dutch poker player Florens “Rens” Feenstra continued a successful year on the international live poker circuit by winning the Unibet Riga Main Event for €75,000

All poker players are aware that “it is not the cards you are dealt that matter, but what you do with them”, and Rens Feenstra benefitted from his heads-up opponent – compatriot Rick Jansen – being more than a little generous with his betting actions in the climax of the Unibet Riga Main Event.

Of course, you also need an element of skill to be involved in the heads-up conclusion of a major tournament; and Feenstra had taken the chip lead during Day 2, to lead the field through the 24-player bubble, and to be at the head of the chip counts when the nine remaining players took their seats at the final table.

Two Quick Exits Reduce Field to Seven

With just a few hands left in Level 19 (blinds 6,000/12,000 – ante 1,000) when the Unibet Riga final table got underway at the Royal Casino, the mostly likely candidate to be putting his tournament life on the line was Nicolas Storm; however, it was Imro Sendar who was the first player to be bust – getting into a pre-flop raising war with Rens Feenstra, before committing all his chips to the pot with A♣ K♦. Feenstra made the call with 8♦ 8♣, and Sendar was sent to the rail in ninth place when the dealer delivered a Jack-high board.

Nicolas Storm only survived a few hands more. Down to 48,500 chips, he shoved from the cut-off with A♣ 3♠ and was isolated by Damian Mizinski A♥ 7♥. The 7♣ on the flop, and no miracle cards on the Turn or River, signalled the end of Storm´s participation in the Unibet Riga Main Event in eighth place. In other action, Rick Jansen moved up the leaderboard when doubling up against Jarkko Mammela (Q♦ J♥ > J♠ 8♣ on a flop of 8♥ 9♦ 10♣) and Jens Hansen also improved his position when crippling Kristaps Bertulis A♥ A♣ > A♦ K♠.

Queens No Good for Kjellerup – Jansen Delivers Double K.O.

Play continued seven-handed for a considerable period of time with little significant action until, just before the close of Level 21 (blinds 10,000/20,000 – ante 2,000), Anders Kjellerup (Q♣ Q♦) moved all-in during the pre-flop betting and received a call from Damian Mizinski (A♥ 8♠). The flop of 7♥ J♣ A♠ put Mizinski´s hand into the lead and, with no drama on the Turn (3♠) or River (5♥), Kjellerup was eliminated from the Unibet Riga Main Event in seventh place.

It is never a good sign when shove the last of your chips into the middle and get two snap callers, but that was what happened to Kristaps Bertulis when he moved all-in with 10♣ 10♥. Rick Jansen made the call from the Small Blind with A♥ A♦ and then Jarkko Mammela moved over the top with K♥ K♣. Jansen paid the extra to see Mammela, and three sets of cards were on their backs. Jansen´s Aces held, and Bertulis and Mammela were bust from the tournament in sixth and fifth places respectively.

Jansen Moves into Big Chip Lead – with a Little Help from the River

Rick Jansen had led a charmed life in the Unibet Riga Main Event – recovering from having just 14,000 chips when the tournament was ten-handed on Day 2, to entering the final table with a workable chip stack courtesy of two successive double-ups and a triple-up – and his luck continued with the elimination of Damian Mizinski in fourth place 2♥ 2♦ > A♦ 3♣, when the board produced four hearts to thwart Mizinski´s paired Ace. Consequently, as play became three-handed, Jansen had more than half of the chips in play:

A full house against Tens Feenstra extended Jansen´s chip lead further, and although Feenstra doubled-up A♣ J♦ > A♥ 9♠ to get back over one million chips, Rick Jansen took a substantial chip lead into the heads-up when busting out Jens Hansen in third place A♥ 6♠ > 10♥ 10♣ by pairing his Ace on the flop and making trip Aces on the River.

Feenstra Overturns Deficit to Win Unibet Riga Main Event

Rens Feenstra went into the heads-up against Rick Jansen with an almost 3:1 chip disadvantage, but benefitted from some poor/generous play by his opponent – and a little good Christmas fortune – to overturn the deficit and win the tournament.

In one of the pivotal hands of the heads-up, Rens Feenstra (2♥ 2♠) had been the aggressor before and after the flop of 6♠ Q♦ 10♠. Rick Jansen (Q♣ 5♥) had flopped top pair, but allowed Feenstra to lead the betting after the Turn of 3♦. It was only after the River card (2♦) that Jansen decided to act first – raising to 150,000 chips. Feenstra re-raised to 420,000 chips (more than half his remaining stack) and Jansen made the call – only to see that his top pair had been rivered by Feenstra´s set of Deuces.

Rens Feenstra took the chip lead after a pre-flop raising war had seen him shove all-in with K♦ 2♦ against Jansen´s 3♥ 3♦. The flop of 4♦ 9♦ 8♦ was good enough to reverse the chip stacks, and give the chip lead to Rens Feenstra (2.7 million chips -v- 1.5 million chips); and, within twenty minutes, the tournament was over:

With blinds now at 30,000/60,000 (ante 5,000), Rick Jansen (5♠ 5♣) min-raised from the button to 120,000 chips. Feenstra (10♠ 9♥) made the call, and both players saw the flop of 10♦ 2♥ 8♥. Feenstra checked his top pair to Jansen, who raised the pot another 120,000 chips. Feenstra responded by raising to 480,000 chips, and Jansen (knowing Christmas was just around the corner) moved all-in. Feenstra had an easy call to make, and there was no help for Jansen on the Turn (3♣) or River (J♦), gifting the Unibet Riga Main Event to Rens Feenstra.

Unibet Riga Main Event Result

Despite the Unibet Riga Main Event having a €1,650 buy-in, the prizes were paid out in Latvian Lats. One Latvian Lat is worth almost US$2 or £1.20 sterling. The prizes in Lats for the players who reached the final table are listed below with their approximate €uro equivalent.