The Opening Event has been a traditional part of the SSOP since its beginning and this year could not be missing from the schedule. The entrance fee of 55€ attracted a huge number of players, not only from the domestic scene, but also from the surrounding countries. They knew that the enormous interest of the players would create a large prize pool, and they were right. Each of the participants turned their eyes to the magic showcase, where card protectors worth of 1,000€ each, unique trophies and two gold bracelets total worth of 6,000€ are waiting for the champions. All as an extra added value for champions who will receive large financial rewards in the upcoming days. After all, it wouldn't be since the prize pool of the entire festival at Banco Casino exceeds 230,000€!

The opening Slovak Series Of Poker tournament at Banco Casino Bratislava recorded a wonderful 127 entries, creating a prize pool of 6,350 Euros. A well-filled tournament had to be reduced to 13 players in order for the rest of the game to take home a minimum of 133€ in the form of a min-cash. This happened after a few hours of play, when the “bubble boy” of the opening tournament became the Finnish player Mikael Niemela, who was eliminated by the home player Lukáš Klimek (AQ <AK). After the "bursting of the bubble", it did not take long and the final table was born.

The quality cast promised exciting play until the very end and this was confirmed. Peter Ralbovský finally made it to the heads-up and beat Greek player Ioannas Ermoiridis, winning prize of  1,644€ and first title of this year's Slovak Series Of Poker champion, including a 1,000€ trophy and unique card protector. Congratulations!

Opening Event Slovak Series Of Poker -  Banco Casino:

• 1. Ralbovský Peter - 1,644€
• 2. Ioannas Ermoiridis  - 1,086€
• 3. Desset Dominik - 784€
• 4. Bobo V. - 543€
• 5. Nedbal Adam - 422€
• 6. Klimek Lukáš - 347€
• 7. Vlado Bednár -  271€
• 8. Lubo Bubo 211€
• 9. Koo Hyunseo  - 163€
• 10. Dušan Vanek - 163€
• 11. SK - 133€
• 12. Vlado Valent - 133€
• 13. Halo Peter - 133€

Last night was not only the "thirty thousand" opening day, but a side event called Win The Button was also played for, where the buy-in was  30€ +  3€, for which participants initially received 20,000 chips and 20-minute blinds. This side event recorded 56 entries, bringing the tournament's prize pool to 1,680 Euros. After several hours of fighting, we met another SSOP champion, Peter Heizer.

Win The Button Slovak Series Of Poker:

• 1. Heizer Peter - 537€
• 2. Richard Rafael  258€
• 3. Hohr Daniel - 207€
• 4. Paska Andrej - 160€
• 5. Trigg David - 144€
• 6. Jenis Michal - 128€
• 7. Takacs Nikolas - 112€
• 8. Brestovansky Patrik - 50€