1,783 entries and €516,000 prize pool

See you at 2pm on Saturday March 2 in blinds 2000 - 5000 (5000) for Day 2 qualifiers for the €350 Carnival Main Event. 

Top 20

Here are the top 20 players in the overall rankings at the end of the 8 starting days... A little over 400 players are expected to return for Day 2, which will be played over 40-minute levels from 2pm on Saturday March 2. 

75,118€ to win, 255 paid seats

403 players are expected to return for Day 2, Saturday from 2pm at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.

On Sunday, at the end of a streamed final table with cards revealed, the champion will transfer €350 into a €75,118.4 banknote. The last 7 players in the tournament will pocket a 5-figure payout, while the Top 96 will need to be reached to cash for more than €1,000...

The last 6 players in the running will also take a €2,200 CPS 2024 Main Event ticket...

Event #1 Carnival Festival €350 Main Event (1,783 entries - €516,713 prizepool - 255 ITM)
Champion - 75 118,4€
Runner Up - 48 320€
3rd - 34 515€
4th - 26 550€
5th - 20 425€
6th - 15 710€
7th - 12 085€
8th - 9 295€
9th - 7,150€

10th and 11th - 5,530€
12th and 13th - 4,580€
14th and 15th - 3,815€
16th and 17th - 3,180€
18th to 20th - 2,765€
21st to 23rd - 2,400€
24 to 27e - 2,090€
28 to 31e - 1,820€
32 to 39e - 1,580€
40 to 55e - 1,375€
56 to 71e - 1,195€
72 to 95e - 1,035€
96e to 119e - 910€
120 to 143e - 800€
144 to 183e - 700€
184 to 223e - 610€
224 to 255e - 530€

Redraw Day 2


By Tables below

Redraw Day 2

By Stacks below

Redraw Day 2

By Names below

One Busto per Minute

The pace is intense with 50 tables and 403 players at the start... there's been a casualty every 60 seconds since the shuffle up & deal on Day 2, Saturday at 2pm on blinds 2000 - 5000 (5000).

The aim of the day is to get the field down to 4 or 5 tables... but first there's the race for ITM and 255 paid seats. Min-cash at €530!

For Fred Blehaut, Abdel Lamrani, Paul Gresel, Nikolas Wicquart, Yassine Nabih, Tijmen Corporaal or Damien Di Pasquale, this will be an empty-handed exit... Identical verdict for Fred Simon, Nicolas Bardoux or Miroslav Blagojevic and Marco Silva...

In La Moyenne

The blinds have gone up a notch and 357 players are now battling it out over the blinds. Big average of outs and it's keeping pace!

There were 46 outs in the first 45 minutes of play... no time in Namur. The average is still 249,000 chips out of 3000 - 6000 (6000).

Finito for Gaetano Morecci, Somsong Intharanop, Anraud Servais, Aziz Kendel, Romain Becker, Phitchatorn Gosselin (below), Andreas Gondrom, Frank Debusschere and many others.

It's also over for Pascal Honai, Djamal Boutaleb and Steve Berdoyes... next up is the €600 High Roller.

Event #12 Carnival Festival takes place over two days, with 30-minute levels. Registration is open until the end of the first level of Day 2, at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday. 

Ca Tombe à l'Eau

Second increase in blinds and third level of Day 2 underway. The game is now running at 4000 - 8000 (8000) with an average of 280,000 chips, which is still quite deep. 

Well, not for everyone, as only 318 players remain in the running for this Main Event. 85 players have jumped since the start, and the pace is still one elimination per minute...

The list of bustos has grown even longer... no money for Olivier Carosella, Evert Rosseel, Mike Niegho, Patrick Schuhl, Ekin Kandemir or Thierry Aqua and Mickael Busche. 

Servane Barrault, Lukas Trzcinski, Jean Cruccas and Jesus Castro are no longer treading water either, having also joined the rail in the final minutes... 

Pause en Approche

100 outs since the start and 303 players in the running for 255 paid seats with 20 minutes left to play on blinds 4,000 - 8,000 (8,000). On to the first break of Day 2. 

This will be without Isabelle Romon, Thierry Penders, Jimmy Ortega, Glenn Ruts, Valentin Bury or Adam Salamov, Gunther Thys and Duco Ueberfeldt...

Break

First break of Day 2 reached with 280 players for 255 paid seats. Play resumes in blinds 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000) with an average of 32 blinds... so there were 123 outs in the first 120 minutes of play!

In the minutes leading up to the break, Luc Ta, Kader Slila, Peggy Gambetti, Tanguy Coupe, Jorge Brito, Thomas van Dorp, Reda Haidar (below), Abdel Chenoufi, Anne Trebitsch, Roy Peeters and Douglas Weymeersch gave up. 

Just before the break, Dalil Masaud put the pressure on Daniel Pirlot. Raphael Muller kept his 20 blinds when he got 3-bet shove on the gong... his opponent showed him the Kings.

Alix Desse didn't fold and went all in with Ace Valet to impale himself in the Queens. The Frenchman from Saint Pierre & Miquelon finished in a four-way tie for 27 blinds on the restart.

The only millionaire of the tournament at the start of Day 2, Dino Marsani has barely moved, just under the 7-figure stack. As a result, a few players have overtaken him, including Jelle Jonckheere. The Day 1D chipleader is the only player in the tournament with 100 blinds at the resumption, with 1,100,000 in chips.

Resume at 4:30 pm


Chipcount
Jelle Jonckheere 1,100,000
Badre El Ghouch 990,000
Harrie Snijders 965,000
Dino Marsani 945,000
Rens buijs 880 000
Giovanni Ventura 860 000
Dario Sorrenti 860 000
Vincent de Neve 740 000
Francesco Pillitteri 740 000
Rayane Mokhtavarium 740 000
Cyril Olivier (below)below) 730 000
Braulio Branchetti 685 000
Eddy Sebastianutti 670 000
Ludovic Ruperto 660 000
Tony Monnet 645 000
David Olurebi 620 000
Guy Goossens 610 000
Pierre Neuville 580 000
Daniel Domb 570 000
Mathias Moutaoukil 520 000
Dalil Masaud 520 000
Niklas Schmitz 515 000
Dove Monaco 500 000
Farukh Tach 500 000
Nicolas Kojovic 500 000
Andrea Caizzi 470 000
Simon Bouaksa 450 000
Jorden Verbraeken 440 000
Arnaud Danes 420 000
Mitch Vulperhorst 400 000
Daniel Pirlot 400 000
Rico Chevalot 310 000
Thomas Daix Daix 300 000
Sam Hilger 275 000
Alix Desse 271 000
Raphael Canta 250 000
Quentin Destoky 250 000
Aliosha Staes 190 000
Walter van Camberg 160 000
JS Denissa 110 000

The approaching bubble

17 minutes of play on 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000) and the field has already slipped to 261 players! Fouad Serrar, Samy Barka and Quentin Destoky have jumped just short of the 255 paid places. 

Finito also for Nicolas Laselva, Daniel Rosario or Ferat Uysal... As for Tony Monnet (photo), he has no intention of jumping before he's ready, as he's got half a million or so in front of him. 

Power Poker

Ten minutes left to play on 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000) and 259 players for 255 paid seats. The margin is shrinking for the shorts... it's a fight at the top.

Huge move between Harrie Snijders and Badre Al Ghouch. Sam Hilger comes in with 10 blinds and the pot is already huge between the two Dutchmen.

Harrie check-raises Badre's 73,000 second barrel to 200,000 chips on 6 5 Ten Queen with a club draw on the flop. It's paid and there's 600,000 in the middle when a river 7 of diamonds arrives. There, from small blind, Harrie sends the couscous for 606,000 chips.

Under the gun, Badre Al Ghouch thinks for almost 6 minutes before giving up his cards, leaving himself 800,000 behind. Snijders turned over Jack 9 of clubs for the big bluff that took him up to 1.2 million, leading the tournament.

Alain Fleurent, Cees van de Griendt (photo), Adrien Rami and David Duquesne jumped in the final minutes. 

Behind the scenes at

There are 7 minutes left to play on 5000 - 10 000 (10 000) when the floor stops the clock and reminds the 257 players present of the rules of the bubble.

There are 255 paid seats for a €530 min-cash... Yusayi Movsisyan (258th), Dimitri Marichal (259th), Ingo Paulus (262nd) and Gregory Biermans (261st) just missed out. 

As for Mitch Vulpenhorst, he's going to back off just before the start of Hand For Hand. The Dutchman opened and 3-bet to 222,000 chips after a raise from Chan Beckschebe (above) in the big blind. Chan responds by going all-in for 600,000 and Vulpenhorst hesitates for a long time before keeping his 500,000 and continuing his massage...

The hand by hand begins with 4 players all-in and getting paid! First showdown with Michel Dinand (above) who sends in 27,000 jtons from the hijack... and is called in the dark by Cédric Glineur in the big blind. Michel returns Ace-Queen and stays in front of the opponent's Queen-3 at the end of a King 5 6 4 Jack board...

Over to the next table with Rens Buijs who opened on the button and turbo-called when Alexis de Meeus shoved 21 blinds in the big blind. Alexis is dominated with 7s against Aces but the dealer unlocks an all-keen 7 6 4 flop!

No one has diamonds and the shorts double up two bricks later. Buijs is down to 1.2 million chips...

Then it was François-Louis Vlassis' turn to 3-bet shove 8 blinds after an open from Braulio Bianchetti. The Brazilian pays 9 and 4 mismatched and cracks François-Louis's ace-queen all the way to the river on a 4 queen 7 8 ace board! But still no outsider. 

Chris Rubini (above) was to have less success. The Luxembourger 3-bet shove 8 blinds at the end of the hand after Yann Truchot had opened with 8's. The short-stacked player had ace-king, but the 4-8-jack flop doomed him. Two cards later, there are only 256 players left for 255 paid seats!

It was on the next hand that the dam broke. François-Louis Vlassis sent his 14 blinds from the cutoff straight to Bianchetti's blind and asked him to pay when the Brazilian flopped 9 and 5 mismatched. Vlassis flashed ace-queen to get back to 17 blinds...

The next showdown will be the one between Dovidio Monaco and Gerhard Brimers (above). The German hasn't seen the Belgian's raise and must call in position. 

At the beginning of the game, Dovidio Monaco sends a continuation bet on King Queen 8 with two diamonds... Brimers responds by going all-in for 400,000 chips. With a total of 426,000 pawns in front of him, Monaco makes the call with Ace Jack of diamonds... to discover the Aces at Brimers. 

The 7 of diamonds ends the hand-to-hand, and the popcorn can begin. The players arrive at 6000 - 12,000 (12,000), a level that's almost over by the time I tell you about the bubble...

They collect 530€.

The 8,000 - 16,000 (16,000) level is underway with 191 players still in the running, and we're about to start writing the pantheon of this Carnival Main Event, which brought together 1,783 entrants. 

A PDF will be available at the end of the day with all the in-the-money players who have not qualified for Day 3... before that it will be a selection.

Rico Chevalot gave up the fight after falling to 4 blinds following a KK vs TT confrontation for 50 blinds preflop... no plateau for the Frenchman! 



224th - Fabrizio Quattrocchi
225th - Rico Chevalot
231st - Milan Vasic
234th - Abdel Zoufri
236th - Raphael Lemaire
237th - Kristof Everaerts 
238th - Gianni Lodi
241st - Taner Ayhan 
243rd - Bernard Jensen
246th - Robin Cornet (photo)
247th - Kristof Verhoeven
249th - Robert Seelen 
251st - Heinz Peters
254th - Marcellus van der Wolf
255th - Frank Fliegner

605€ in the Pockets

Still on the 8,000 - 16,000 (16,000) level, these players surrendered their weapons for 605€... They bowed out between 184th and 223rd place.

With 15 minutes to go before a 20-minute break, the 180 players in the field are guaranteed a €690 payout with a tournament average of 31 blinds...

184th - Wilhelmina van Vegchel
186th - Ruben Steenhuis
193rd- Fathi Khalfaoui
196th - Mohamed Taabouni
198th - Moumou Ouhabi
199th - Raphael Muller
200th - Denneth Rodgers
201st - Jeroen Leuver (above)
203rd - Giovanni Camardella
204th - Stephane Minkov
205th - Christophe Devaux
209th - Fabien Perrot
210th - Leonardo Armino
211th - Michel Dinand
212th - Sam Hilger (below)
214th - Michele Galatola
215th - Andrea Caizzi
219th - Bennardo Gattuso
222nd - François-Louis Vlassis
223rd - Johann Compagnon

Heading for the big money

Play resumed in blinds 10,000 - 20,000 (20,000) with 167 players and an average of 533,000 chips. The survivors will play two 40-minute levels before taking a dinner break at 8.35pm...

Big stacks began to form in the hour following the bubble... Anthony Bui Ngoc returns with 5 blinds and already the desire to double up and start a remontada! 

Chipcount
Braulio Bianchetti 1,700,000
Gil Thierry 1,600,000
Pierre Neuville $1,600,000
Rens Buijs 1,500,000
Vincent de Neve 1,400,000
Cyril Olivier 1,400,000
Laroussi Nazoume 1,350,000
Harrie Snijders 1,350,000
Thomas Daix $1,215,000
Dragan Burden 1,200,000
Mathias Moutaoukil 1,130,000 
Heni Mokni 1,100,000
Hossein Barati 1,000,000
Dino Marsani 980,000
Badre Al Ghouch 900,000
Giovanni Ventura 900,000
Tanguy Petitjean 850,000
Myne Gysbrecht 800,000
Michael Berhane 800,000
Dovidio Monaco 700,000
yann Truchot 700,000
Nicolas Kojovic 680,000
Joel Rodrigues 680,000
Farukh Tach 650,000
Julien Monfort 650,000
Rayane Mokhtavarium 600,000
Bregt Winters 600,000
Niklas Schmitz 550,000
Tony Monnet 550,000
Anthony Bui Ngoc 110,000

They cashed in €690

This selection of players is no longer in the running for the €75,010.40 grand prize. The outgoing players fell between 144th and 183rd place.

There are 128 players left in the early stages of the 10,000 - 25,000 (25,000) level, with an average of 690,000 chips...

144th - Octavian Ripan 
146th - Cem Muhtar (above)
147th - Daniel Pirlot
148th - Michael Berhane
149th - Philippe Riminucci
151st - David Olurebi
157th - Alain Caliber
158th - Mehidi Sahli
159th - Salvatore Alessi
162nd - Karim Ryadi 
163rd - Mitch Vulperhorst
165th - Edwige Lesage
168th - Alix Desse
170th - Cédric Glineur
171st - Eric Boge
173rd - David Kahan 
174th - Philippe Henry
181st - Raphael Canta
183rd - Jérome Larchet (below)

795 Dans les Poches

Finito for this selection of players eliminated between 120th and 143rd place. The dream is over for these players... Jorden Verbraeken won't double down on the high-roller, time to party!

With 20 minutes to go before the dinner break, 118 players are in the running for an average of 754,000 chips. The game is still running on 10,000 - 25,000 (25,000)...

120th - Sabri Philipps
122nd - Freddy Claverie
124th - Sandro Gangi
126th - Denis Schneider
128th - Daniel Domb
130th - Guy Goossens
132nd - Jean Yip (above)
135th - Arnaud Koopmans
136th - Anthony Bui Ngoc
138th - Jonas Smet
139th - Simon Bouaksa (below)
140th - Jorden Verbraeken
142nd - Tony Kiorpes
143rd - Eddy Sebastianutti

Dinner break

105 players with €910 in prize money left for refreshments until 9.50pm. Play will resume on blinds 15,000 - 30,000 (30,000) for at least 3 levels and 2 hours of poker. Pierre Neuville has been on a roll since the bubble burst, and is now in control of the tournament! 

Just before the break, Walter van Camberg and Laura Wautelet surrendered their weapons to their neighbors. Walter put everything under the gun with King Ten for 9 blinds, with 6 blinds Laura went all-in just to his left with Ace 5 of clubs... for a strike as a German player woke up in the small blind with Queens. Heading for an above-average stack of 850,000 chips for Leon Fischer...

Arnaud Danes is still here, having been the biggest financial winner of the 2023 edition, pocketing €49,600 for his €250 buy-in. He'll be back with 13 blinds!

Chipcount
Pierre Neuville $2,300,000
Jelle Jonckheere 2,100,000
Dragan Buden 2,100,000
Cyril Olivier 1,700,000
Braulio Bianchetti 1,700,000
Rens Buijs 1,700,000
Chan Beckschebe 1,600,000
Francesco Pillitteri 1,500,000
Thomas Jansen 1,500,000
Djamal Rabat 1,500,000
Sem Peeters 1,300,000
Vardan Nersisyan 1,300,000
Fabien Ayadi 1,200,000
Leon Fischer 1,200,000
Heni Mokni 1,200,000
Thomas Daix 1,200,000
Yann Truchot 1,100,000
Bregt Winters 1,100,000
Rachid Oufaska 1,100,000
Dalil Masaud 1,085,000
Tony Monnet 1,000,000
Guillaume Pannier (photo) $1,000,000
Angelo Aliberto 950,000
Joel Rodrigues 950,000
Dino Marsani 950,000
Tony Bitto 920,000
Bjorn Frings 900,000
Gertjans Alberts 800,000
Farukh Tach 800,000
Dovidio Monaco 750,000
Tim Verheyen 750,000
Rayane Mokhtavarium 680,000
Mohamed Razab Sekh 630,000
Vincent Gabel 600,000
Clyde Tjaw Foe 550,000
Giovanni Ventura 500,000
Vincent Verdickt 400,000
Alio Staes 400,000

Reprise

There were 1,783 players on the starting line of this €350 Carnival Main Event... The final 255 players began to share a prizepool of almost €515,000. 

10 minutes to play on 15,000 - 30,000 (30,000) and only 100 players remain out of the 403 present at the start of Day 2 on Saturday at 2pm. Cristian Bogdan, Vincent Verdickt and Ludovic Ruperto have joined the rail... 

They collect €910

There are 14 minutes left to play on 15,000 - 30,000 (30,000) with 94 players and an average of 32 blinds. Giovanni Ventura (left below with Heni Mokni still in) has just bowed out after going all in with Ace 6... Guillaume Pannier woke up with Ace-Queen on the button to climb to 1.6 million chips one 7 5 7 Jack 7 board later.

Dario Sorrenti doubled up with Jacks against 8s to get back to 900,000 chips. A shove-winning 3-bet from the small blind against UTG...

Arnaud Danes is still in survival mode (400,000), while Adnan Ekeroglu and Nicolas Kojovic are just below the average with 800,000. Bregt Winters continues on his way with 2.1 million, while just to his right Vincent de Neve (1.5 million) continues to do the job...Last woman standing, Natascha Siepmann holds out with 280,000 pawns or just under 10 blinds. 

Selection of players eliminated between 96th and 119th place in this Carnival 2024 Main Event. Survivors secured a 4-figure payout of €1,030. 

96th - Giovanni Ventura
97th - Maurice Cohen
100th - Salim Boumedine 
103rd - Vincent Verdickt
104th - Ludovic Ruperto
105th - Cristian Bogdan
107th - Alexis De Meeus
109th - Benjamin Menut
111th - Rui Da Costa (above)
112th - Badre Al Ghouch (below)
113th - Walter van Camberg
114th - Laura Wautelet 
117th - Zoran Marinkovic
118th - Raymond Gelebiowski
119th - Johannes Maas

In Bulk

Another 35 minutes to play on blinds 20,000 - 40,000 (40,000), with 82 players now in contention and an average of 1 million chips. The all-in shots keep coming. Some end up in the rail.

Aliosha Staes has given himself some breathing space and now stands at 700,000 chips, while Bryan de Riddere has completed his deep-run. 

The PokerOne player 3-bet shove 7 blinds with Ace 8 of diamonds... and the opener paid with 9 and 7 mismatched to eliminate him after a 3 2 9 6 King board with two diamonds on the flop. 

Identical verdict for Clyde Tjaw Faw who jumped on a flip with Jacks against Ace-Kings for a pot of 1 million, his opponent finished in four Aces! Pierre Neuville continued to crush the table with his 3.2 million stack. Chan Beckschebe defeated, Bregt Winters also hovers in the upper echelons with 2.8 million chips. 

The boss of the tournament is probably Fabien Ayadi with 3.9 million... enough to open early and fold to a 9-blind 3-bet shove from Antonius Roberts in bb. At the chipleader's table are Dalil Masaud (1.1 million) and Thomas Jansen (1.6 million).

They collect €1,030


Thomas Daix does well to climb to 1.4 million, doubling up with Ace Valet against the Jacks at Pierre Neuville 's, who falls back to 3.3 million. Always discreet, Jelle Jonckheere talks with his chips and is just behind WSOP Main Event finalist Fabien Ayadi with 2.9 million.

Vincent Gabel recovered to average 1.1 million by winning the survival flip against Brandon Leetz, eliminated in 74th place just before the cut-off. It's also going very well for Gil Thierry, who passed Ace King against Queens at Vardan Nersisyan to add a few blinds to his bankroll, heading for a 3.5 million stack and the likely chiplead.

Another one fighting for the chiplead is Guillaume Pannier. By eliminating Steven Leempoels, the Frenchman climbs to 2.7 million, again at the top of the leaderboard.

The last woman in the running, Natascha Siepmann, has given herself some breathing space and now stands at 850,000 pawns, not so far off the average. Mischa Wietten is right on track with 1.2 million, while Rens Buijs (1.9 million) and Harrie Snijders (2.1 million) continue to cruise around Namur...

There are still 70 players in the running and 35 minutes to play on 25,000 - 50,000 (50,000). The average is 1.271 million with a break at the end of this level. The aim when the break returns will be to get down to 32 or 40 players, or 4 or 5 tables...

Selection of players eliminated between 72nd and 95th place. Survivors are guaranteed a €1,190 prize.

 

72nd - Niklas Schmitz
73rd - Steven Leempoels 
74th - Brandon Leetz 
77th - Stephane Croes 
82nd - Rayane Mokhtavarium
83rd - Nicolas Kojovic
85th - Fabio Percio
86th - Wim Verhaegen 
87th - Chan Beckschebe (above)
89th - Bryan de Riddere 
90th - Braulio Bianchetti (below)
91st - Fu Tao Huang 
93rd - Clyde Tjauw Foe
95th - Luc Boeckx

Speed Poker

It's going fast as there are 20 minutes left to play on 25,000 - 50,000 (50,000) with only 62 players left. The break at the end of this level will be well deserved for the survivors, who are guaranteed a €1,190 prize. 

Tanguy Petitjean has just repositioned himself with a strike. He's up to 2.1 million after eliminating Yann Tronchet and Rachid Oufaska on the same hand in 64th and 65th position. 

Natascha Siepmann tripled up again. The German player found herself in a 3-shot on a 6-Aces-Ten flop with a pair of 6s! The richer player was in position and bet to check-raise all-in for 300,000 to the shorts then Natascha put her 660,000 chips in the middle.

Dragan Buden paid with 8s to fall back to 1.5 million, while the last woman in the race climbed back to 2 million by taking out Joshua Rabe, who could return no better than As 2.

Gil Thierry is firmly in the driving seat. He reached 4.6 million after taking out Gertjans Alberts (69th). Alberts opened in the small blind and the chipleader simply paid with Ace Ten. Alberts sent 3-barrels all-in with a last-raise to 750,000 on an As 2 3 2 3 board... and could only show King-Queen at showdown.

Dovidio Monaco had joined the rail just before Alberts in 70th place under unknown circumstances... No details either for Dario Sorrenti's busto (67th).

Last Longer

It's the end of the break, and play resumes on 30,000 - 60,000 (60,000) with 61 players and an average of 1.451 million chips. This will be the penultimate level of Day 2...

Just before the break Vincent Gabel doubled up again, this time on Tanguy Petitjean to come back to 1.7 million against 2 million for his victim. Nicolas Destercq (62nd) jumped just before the final break of the day... 

Chipcount
Fabien Ayadi 4,150,000
Gil Thierry 4,100,000
Dino Marsani 3,300,000
Jelle Jonckheere 3,100,000
Guillaume Pannier $2,900,000
Bregt Winters 2,500,000
Natascha Spiermann 2,500,000
Dragan Buden 2,400,000
Pierre Neuville $2,300,000
Abedin Omerovic $2,300,000
Mathias Moutaoukil $2,100,000
Francesco Pillitteri 2,000,000
Harrie Snijders 2,000,000
Leon Fischer 1,900,000
Robin Fore 1,800,000
Tony Bitto 1,800,000
Farukh Tach 1,700,000
Cyril Olivier 1,700,000
Boris Bing 1,500,000
Andreas Peschel 1,450,000
Dalil Masaud 1,400,000
Ricardo de Rubeis 1,400,000
Christophe Chalons 1,200,000
Vincent de Neve 1,150,000
Mihai Stinca 1,100,000
Heni Mokni 1,100,000
Tony Monnet 750,000
Claudio Guadagnino 700,000
Bjorn Frings 550,000
Julien Monfort 500,000
Arnaud Danes 400,000

The Last Hour

There are 60 minutes left to play, and 20 minutes to go before the final blind raise of the day... There are still 57 players in the running, with an average of 1.5 million chips in the 30,000 - 60,000 blinds (60,000). 

Tony Bitto (60th) just jumped after 3-bet shove 1.1 million small blind. Francesco Pillitteri had opened with ace-king and made the call to beat his opponent's queens in a board where he hit a king and two clubs on the flop. Heading for a 3 million stack for Francesco...

Sem Peeters also continues to stack, opening 8s and calling Wilian van Woerkum's 3-bet shove with 4s. Nothing on the board and a new stack of 2.7 million for the Dutchman... van Woerkum finishes 58th. 

Collecting €1,190

Down to 55 players after Heni Mokni's exit, the survivors are guaranteed a €1,370 payout.

There are 6 minutes left before the cut to 40,000 - 80,000 (80,000) with an average of 1.6 million chips. This will be the final level of Day 2, a day which will have lasted 13 levels of 40 minutes (plus the bubble)...

Selection of players eliminated between 71st and 56th position....

56th - Heni Mokni
60th - Tony Bitto
61st - Tim Verheyen
62nd - Nicolas Destercq
65th - Rachid Oufaska
67th - Dario Sorrenti
70th - Dove Monaco
71st - Daniel Lemiere (below)

Final Straight

20 minutes to go before Day 2 closes, with 44 players left and an average of 2.1 million...

Aliosha Staes bet 11 blinds from the button with Ace 8 and impaled himself in the 9s of the big blind, heading for the rail for a win of €1,370.

Game over for Dalil Masaud who goes all-in for a small million with King-Queen after an open of Fabien Ayadi in the small blind. The latter snaps with Ace-King and climbs to 4.7 million chips one board later. 

No miracle for Mohamed Razab Sekh who sent out his micro-stack of 4 blinds with King 7... and lost to Queen 2 at Pierre Neuville's, who took the opportunity to move up to 2.2 million. Mohamed showed who's boss at home, as his son Damiaan (106th) made the money but had joined the rail early in the evening... 

An unpleasant surprise for Rens Buijs who made a straight and saw Cyril Olivier (below) do Full House runner-runner to double to 3.5 million. Rens still has 1.2 million in front of him as he approaches the money time on Day 2...

WHO will qualify for Day 3?

Ending in Carnival

The room is empty and only 39 people are left in the running, all guaranteed €1,575 for their participation on Day 3. 

There were 4 deals to finish the day, and the final hand changed the complexion of the tournament. The action took place on two tables within seconds of each other. 

First, Laroussi Nazoume (below) hesitated for a long time with the Jacks, he finally paid Robin Fore's 3-bet shove which could return no better than Ace 7. One board later Robin Fore was in the rail in 41st position... Nazoume took the tournament lead in extremis with 5,035,000 chips. 



But there was still one hand left on the table for the leader going into Day 2 and the tournament's only millionaire, Dino Marsani. With 3 million in front of him, Dino opened on the button to 300,000 chips. 

In the big blind Mihai Stinca defends with Ace 6 of spades to find a Queen 6 3 flop with two spades. Mihai check-raises all-in straight away for a ton when Dino sends 500,000 in continuation.

Snap call to form a pot of 6,555,000 chips! Dino flips King-Queen and blows a little when a Queen brings him trips on the turn... but the spade river eliminates Dino in 40th place for a win of €1,370. Mihai Stinca packs the chiplead!

They Earn €1,370
40th - Dino Marsani
41st - Robin Fore
42nd - Adnan Ekeroglu
43rd - Vincent de Neve
44th - Djamal Rabah
45th - Aliosha Staes
46th - Dalil Masaud
47th - Julien Monfort
48th - Mohamed Razab Sekh
49th - Mustafa Ozcan
50th - Steve Lacomblez
51st - Bjorn Frings
52nd - Franklin Nurmohamed
53rd - Arnaud Danes
54th - Alaatin Sulan
55th - Angelo Aliberto

39 survivors and a great crowd at Final Day

There were 403 players at the start of Day 2 on Saturday at 2pm, but only 39 have booked a ticket for Sunday's Day 3, which begins at 2pm in blinds 50,000 - 100,000 (100,000). Pierre Neuville, Vincent Gabel, Gil Thierry and Mathias Moutaoukil all made it to the Final Day.! 

It took 13 40-minute levels to skim this field of 1,783 entrants. After 3 hours of poker, the last 255 players in the field began to share a prizepool of almost €515,000. 39 Final Day qualifiers secured €1,575On Sunday, they'll be battling it out for the €75,010 first prize, 6 CPS Main Event tickets worth €2,200 and glory, as the final will be televised as usual at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. 

Mihai Stinca returns with the Yellow Jersey and 65 blinds to work with. His closest pursuer, Laroussi Nazoumi, will have 50 blinds to continue his deep-run. He is ahead of two other Belgians who have impressed since the start of the tournament, if Jelle Jonckheere (46bb) and Bregt Winters (39bb). With 39 blinds, Fabien Ayadi (below) is not bad either. 



Note the good position of Gil Thierry (38bb - below) and Mathias Moutaoukil (32bb)... but with an average of 23 blinds there's not much room for error in preflop moves. 

Regulars Abedin Omerovic (35bb), Francesco Pillitteri (27bb) have chips and are still on target for the €75,010 first prize, a ticket that has motivated Farukh Tach (22b) and legend Pierre Neuville (21bb) to hang on. 

Rens Buijs (19bb) and Sam Gelle (19bb) have not said their last word in a tournament where Harrie Snijders (17bb) and Vincent Gabel (16bb) are hoping to come from behind. The last woman in the running, Natascha Siepmann, has demonstrated her shortstacking skills to make it through to Day 3... watch out for the remontada!  

With 9 players under 11 blinds and the big money still to come, things should be moving fast at the start of Day 3. Watch out for Mischa Wietten if he manages to get out of the red zone... Don't miss the start of our coverage on Sunday at 2pm. 

For players, the Sunday Special starts at 3.30pm, and registration is also open until 2.30pm for the €600 High Roller...



Chipcount complete Day 3
Mihai Stinca 6,555,000
Laroussi Nazoume 5,030,000
Jelle Jonckheere 4,665,000
Bregt Winters 3,920,000
Fabien Ayadi 3,910,000
Gil Thierry 3,785,000
Fernando Pedrosa 3,775,000
Abedin Omerovic 3,540,000
Mathias Moutaoukil 3,275,000
Boris Dino 3,200,000

Guillaume Pannier 3,000,070
Cyril Olivier $2,870,000
Francesco Pillitteri $2,670,000
Dragan Buden 2,640,000
Tanguy Petitjean $2,550,000
Timm Slowinski $2,440,000
Farukh Tach 2,185,000
Pierre Neuville $2,140,000
Rens Buijs 1,935,000
Sam Gelle 1,875,000

Sem Peeters 1,855,000
Leon Fischer 1,810,000
Michiho Onizuka 1,780,000
Andreas Peschel 1,770,000
Buke 1,700,000
Harrie Snijders 1,685,000
Natascha Siepmann 1,600,000
Vincent Gabel 1,580,000
Christopher Charneux 1,500,000
Christophe Chalons $1,150,000

Jeff Kirsch 1,000,040
Mischa Wietten 965,000
Tony Monnet 955,000
Jan Teunis 925,000
Thomas Jansen 880,000
Riccardo Rubeis 680,000
gael Peres 675,000
Antonius Roberts 600,000
Thomas Daix 400,000

Day 2 started with 403 players, and for two hours the average was one outgoing player per minute. This pace proved fatal to Anne Trebitsch, Pascal Honai, Gaetano Moreci, Dominique Sertin, Romain Becker, Djamal Boutaleb, Gregory Biermans and Ingo Paulus. 

The bubble stretched out over half an hour, despite the fact that it only took two deals per hand for Gerhard Brimmers to jump to the worst place with the Aces, eliminated by Dovidio Monaco. 

It took 4 hours of poker for the field to drop to 170 players, with 105 still in the running at the dinner break. Three hours and 20 minutes later, only 39 players were left...

For seatdraw, chipcount and tournament standings, please see the document below...