La Cour des Grands

After a great week of tournaments at this year's Circus Poker Series (CPS), it's time today for the big event of the festival, the long-awaited €2,200 Main Event, a tournament whose entry fee is rather rare in Namur, and usually reserved for the BPC High-Roller.

This is a big gamble for the Circus Casino Resort in Namur, where the guarantee has been set at €750,000. If you're good at maths, you'll know that a minimum of 400 players is needed to reach the guarantee.

To achieve this, the organizers have decided to offer players 4 ways to register for the tournament, starting today with Day 1A (starting at 1:00 p.m.) and running through Thursday with Day 1C and the 1D Turbo.

In exchange for €2,200, players receive 50,000 chips and are entitled to 60-minute levels to try and accumulate chips and position themselves in the best possible conditions for Day 2, which takes place this Friday. If things don't work out, they can always go through the re-entry process, ad infinitum.

Main Event program:

Day 1A: Tuesday, November 28, 1:00 p.m.

Day 1B: Wednesday, November 29 at 1:00 p.m.

Day 1C: Thursday, November 30, 1:00 p.m.

Day 1D Turbo: Thursday, November 30, 8:00 p.m.

Day 2: Friday, December 1, 12:00 noon

Day 3: Saturday, December 2, 12:00 noon

Final day: Sunday, December 3, 12:00 p.m.

Overview of the field

After two hours of play on the Main Event, there are already 54 players on Day 1A of the Main Event, a figure which might seem "modest". And yet, when you listen to the organizers, the bets were "around 60 players on this Day 1A" to be able to reach the guarantee.

When you consider that this figure is set to rise throughout the day, it bodes well for this €2,200 Main Event.

For the moment, a glance at the field reveals a few familiar faces from Circus Casino Resort de Namur: Bryan de Riddere, Fabrice Somers, Anne Trebitsch, Patrick Prijot, Mathieu Alciato, Quentin Destoky and Sandro Pitzanti.

It's raining CPS tickets in Namur

Organizing a €2,200 Main Event takes preparation! Since the beginning of the year, the entire poker team at Circus Casino Resort de Namur has been hard at work to make this year-end event a success - and not to miss out on that big €750,000 guarantee promised on the €2,200 Main Event.

To this end, €2,200 CPS tickets were distributed at events throughout the year, both to encourage players to add the CPS date to their calendar and, above all, to give players access to the biggest tournament of the year here in Namur.

As a result, almost 140 Main Event tickets have already been allocated since last January, starting with the Winter Festival. "We've been handing out an average of 6 tickets per festival," explains Mich, one of poker 's managers here in Namur, "3 for the Top 3 in the Main Event, 1 on the Mystery and 1 or 2 on the High-Roller."

Some tickets - 25 to be precise - have already been used up at the WaSOP High-Roller, the only other tournament of the year with the same buy-in.

In the 7-handed Festival Main Event at the beginning of November, which generated a slight overlay, all finalists were awarded a €2,200 CPS ticket.

In the same way, the 9 finalists in the CPS Cup won by Iulian Calagiu two days ago also all won a €2,200 CPS ticket.

On Day 1A of the Main Event taking place this Tuesday, 27 players (out of the 60 registered so far) have registered using a CPS ticket.

For the record, Antonius Krijn, winner of the €600 Havana Festival High-Roller, then the WaSOP High-Roller, and qualified two days ago on a Satellite, has 3 tickets for the €2,200 Main Event, giving him the opportunity to put 3 bullets in the deal.

More than 5 more chances to qualify for the Main Event

Qualifying for the CPS Main Event is still possible until the last satellite on Thursday at 3pm, when you can enter Day 1C late or play the 1D Turbo that evening.

Final satellites for the Main Event:

Tuesday 28 22h00 : 220 € Satellite (15 000 / 10 min) - 1 guaranteed seat
Wednesday 29 19h00 : 330 € Satellite (20 000 / 20 min) - 5 guaranteed seats
Wednesday 29 22h00 : 220 € Satellite (15 000 / 10 min) - 1 guaranteed seat
Thursday 30 12h00 : 400 € Satellite (20 000 / 10 min) - Seat at 120 000 chips - 2 guaranteed seats
Thursday 30 15h00 : 330 € Satellite (15 000 / 15 min) - Seat at 105 000 chips - 5 guaranteed seats

4 tickets for the High-Roller on the last big satellite

In addition to these satellites for the Main Event, a large satellite for the €4,400 High-Roller is currently taking place at the Circis Casino Resort in Namur, with over 40 players and 4 tickets for the High-Roller.

It's not (always) about the cards

Samy Barka

Winner of the BPC here in 2022, Samy Barka likes it here in Namur, so much so that all his last Hendon Mob lines, apart from a foray to Cyprus, were completed in this Casino.

At the second break of Day 1A, he could have had a huge stack, had his neighbor Cédric Glineur not been amused by the saying "It's not the cards that matter".

From the small blind, Cédric Glineur completes at 500. Samy Barka just checks.

On the 7h-6h-3s flop, Cedric Glineur checks/raises to 2,000 after Samy Barka's 800 bet. The BPC winner replies with a 3-bet to 6,800. It's paid within a second.

The turn brings a 2c that pushes Samy Barka to bet 14,200, a nice big salvo that doesn't scare his opponent away.

The river Th is checked by both players. Cedric Glineur returns his beautiful 7d-2d, which is passed by Samy Barka's pair of 8s.

At the break, Samy Barka tells me that it was this same player who helped him take a very big pot a few minutes earlier, when he paid three big barrels on a Q-4-6-J-X board when Samy was holding Q-J. Disgusted, his opponent said he had flopped two pair on the flop after defending from the big blind.

Despite the loss of 20,000 chips, Samy Barka still has over 100,000 in the 300/600 blinds.

Slowroll aborted

On Day 1A of the Main, which now has 71 entrants, Guy Goosens has just invented the miss-slowroll.

After a Lojack open from Serafim Kovalevskiy, Guy Goosens pays at the cutoff. The Belgian player will pay three barrels throughout a 6h-3h-Tc-Td-Js board, 2,000 flop, 4,000 turn and 17,000 on the river.

While paying his opponent on the river, Guy "Cadeau" Goosens simply shows a 7h, hiding his second card.

Serafim Kovalevskiy serenely returns his Th-8h for a flush kicker 8.

Guy Goosens, no doubt thinking his hidden Ts would win the hand, reveals his second card, but his three of a kind turns out to be beaten on the kicker.

If I understood correctly what Serafim Kovalevskiy was saying to a compatriot at his table, the EPT finalist (in Sochi in 2019) was only moderately appreciative of this rather borderline card unveiling.

After this move, Serafim Kovalevskiy passed the 100,000-chip mark, among the biggest stacks of the moment with 59 players remaining. 

You'll have to pay again

So far, 73 players have taken part in the Day 1A Main Event, and 15 of them have already fallen in battle.

Among the first victims of Day 1A was Djamal Boutaleb, a player who has been shining in Namur for the past two years. To take Djamal down so early in the tournament, his opponent with a pair of queens had to find four of a kind on the flop when Djamal had a pair of aces in his hand.

Knowing Djamal Boutaleb's run here in Namur, we could see the dealer unpacking an Ace on the turn and another on the river, but no, the player who had earned his ticket to this Main Event thanks to his victory in the High-Roller of the Namur French Open. will have to pay again.

We'll see Damal Boutaleb again on the Main Event. "But not today".

The list of early bustos on Day 1A includes Bryan de Riddere, Nadjeem Khemouche, Louis Gabriel, Petrus Swinkels, Rachid Oufaska, Romain le Dantec, Jan Van Der Stroom, Stéphane Nicot, Iulian Calagiu, Patrick Prijot, Ivan Vasilev, Kai Lehto, Sandro Pitzanti and François Jardinet.

Allez, caDuc!

Erwin Vu Duc

In general, when a player announces "He's the boss of the table", pointing to his neighbor with chips in front of him, it makes you want to stay and see what happens.

So, being a good soldier, I stay at this table, watching Erwin Vu Duc bet 6,000 on the button in a pot that's already 14,000 on a 3s-5h-Jd flop.

Adnan Ekeroglu, who had to open UTG and then pay the 3-bet out of position, just checks/calls.

Both players check on the Jc turn.

On the 7 o'clock river, Adnan Ekeroglu bets 11,500. Erwin Vu Duc looks annoyed but ends up calling and saying "Come on, gift!

Adnan Ekeroglu didn't ask for much, revealing his Ah-Jh, for some nice papers in good standing. Erwin Vu Duc confessed to paying with a pair in hand.

Despite this small donation, Erwin Vu Duc is still one of the big stacks on Day 1A, with 105,000 chips in front of him.

Taabouni subscriber

Winner of the 7-Handed Festival High-Roller at the end of October, Mohamed Taabouni is off to a fine start in this CPS Main Event, with 130,000 in chips just a few minutes before the dinner break.

From the big blind, he decides to defend following a 2,000 open from Jensen Bernard on the button.

On the Ts-5d-9h flop, he checks/calls the initial raiser's 1,600 bet.

Both players agree to check on the Js turn.

It's on the river Ace that Mohamed Taabouni comes out of the woodwork and sends a beautiful praline at 7,700.

A little disoriented, his opponent takes a good fifteen seconds before paying.

Serene, Mohamed Taabouni reveals 7d-8s for a straight found on the turn and his opponent can only muck what looks like an Ace.

Dinner-break

At the dinner break, only 47 players remained from the 76 entries counted on Day 1A of the Main Event.

In the chipleader's chair, Samy Barka has built up a huge stack of 221,500, 221 blinds to the tune of 500/1000 (BB Ante 1000).

We also find Anne Trebitsch at the top of the leaderboard, the Namur Casino regular finding a magnificent match to pocket a big pot, in a 4-bet pot with a pair of Aces in hand, against the opposing As-King.

All the money is gone on the turn of an Ax-8d-2d-Qd board and the player goes into dinner-break with 193,000 in front of her.

Selective chip-counting :

Samy Barka 221,500
Mohamed Taabouni 183,000
Mihai Stinca 170,000
Anne Trebitsch 193,000
Jan Van Der Stroom 131,000
Erwin Vu Duc 130,000
Benny Kneepkens 120,000
Mohamed Razab Sekh 112 000
Jensen Bernard 109 000
Franck Fellous 80 000
Ferdinand Janssen 77 000
Mike Niegho 66 000
Ugo Faggioli 64 000
Romain le Dantec 50 000 (back)

Ali on the verge of a knockout

Ali Zarrab would probably have preferred to arrive late after his dinner break. Barely seated, he decided to open at the Hijack with Ah-9c in hand.

He is paid by Anthony Rabene at the button and by the blinds.

On the flop 9s-9d-Kh, he placed a continuation bet of 2,500 and was quickly raised by Anthony Rabene. After the two players in the blinds had passed their hands, Ali Zarrab gave us a little tanking worthy of the greatest Hollywood actors before simply paying the raise.

I admit, I'm saying "Hollywood" when I hadn't seen his hand, but it still smelled like a big game from my vantage point. 

On the turn Qs, Anthony Rabene continues his aggression by placing a 15,000 bet in front of him. Ali Zarrab pays again very quickly.

On the 6d river, we clearly expect both players to go all-in given what they have left. Anthony Rabene doesn't disappoint, sending his stack of 31,500 into the middle.

Ali Zarrab takes five seconds to pay with his triple of 9, kicker Ace, but is unpleasantly surprised to discover Qd-9h for a full house. Ouch!

Ali drops to 16,000 after this move, quite disgusted after this little setup against Alexandre Rabene, who rises to 140,000 after this move.

130,000, that's pretty!

Winner of the Namur Classics Mystery Bounty last April, Ugo Faggioli is now a regular visitor to Namur, and never misses an opportunity to come to one of the big festivals offered by the Circus Casino Resort.

The Parisian reg spent a rather quiet Day 1A and reached 130,000 at the start of the final level of the day, after hitting a straight which earned him valuable chips at the expense of Norway's Martin Lunde.

UTG+1, Ugo Faggioli open at 2,500, gets paid by his neighbor on the left and by Martin Lunde in the big blind.

All three players check on the Qc-2s-5s flop.

On the Tc turn, Martin Lunde initiates a bet of 6,500, which only Ugo Faggioli quickly accepts.

Martin Lunde continues to make history on the 9s river, this time sending in 15,000. Ugo Faggioli doesn't dither too much and just pays with Kh-Jh for straight.

His opponent reveals his 5d-2c for two flopped pairs and finds himself with only about fifteen blinds in front of him after the move.

A heavy table

With just forty players remaining at the start of the eighth and final level of the day, one table is attracting all the attention - well, mostly my attention, the table featuring Namur's grand dame Anne Trebitsch, Kader Slila and young Julien Wasilewski, who we discovered during his deep run in the WaSOP Main Event where he finished in 9th place.

These three players have a combined stack of 530,000 chips, divided as follows:

190,000 for Julien Wasilewski

180,000 for Anne Trebitsch

160,000 for Kader Slila

Julien Wasilewski

Quiet for most of the day, Julien Wasilewski switched on the second on level 7. He had to get into everyone's hands during an orbit, so much so that the players began to rebel.

First it was Kader Slila who squeezed from the big blind after Julien Wasilewski's umpteenth raise at the cutoff. Julien paid twice, first preflop, then on the 8h-Js-Ks flop, before settling for a pot-high bet on the turn.

The next hand, Julien 3-bet to 7,500 following a 2,500 open from Guy Goosens early in the hand. A newcomer at the cold table 4-bets to 25,000 big blind. Julien Wasilewski shyly asks him how much he's playing. No answer, the player shows his stack, with an air of "Go ahead, count it!".

Barely enough time to count out his opponent's 80,000 when Julien Wasilewski announces "all-in". Turbo fold to Ivan Vasilev and Julien Wasilewski continues his demolition of the final hand of Day 1A.

What if the chipleader at the end of the day emerges on table 19? The suspense is at its height.

Women at the top

As is often the case, especially on the big buy-ins, women are poorly represented in the poker world. And that's a shame.

Today, the two women in the running on Day 1A have been riding high. While Anne Trebitsch is holding on to her nest egg with 180,000 chips still in her possession, Linda Van de Ree has just caught up with her, taking the scalp of Octavian Ripan.

It all starts with an open at 3,500 at the beginning of the floor. Octavian Ripan pays at the cutoff and Linda Van de Ree decides to raise to 14,000 from the big blind. Only the player in between pays in position.

On the flop 6d-2c-4d, the Dutch player sends a first salvo to 14,000, which Octavian pays fairly quickly.

On the 9c turn, Linda Van de Ree pushed all in, claiming the remaining 55,000 from her opponent, who took a good thirty seconds to pay with 6c-5c for a big draw. None of her 15 outs came in on the river to get ahead of the player's pair of jacks, who climbed to 180,000 on the final level of the day.

80 entries on Day 1A of the Main Event, Mihai Stinca chipleader

While the organizers had counted on 60 players for this Day 1A, 80 entries were finally counted today for the first day of the €2,200 Circus Poker Series Main Event, the biggest Main Event ever held in Namur, whose guarantee has been set at €750,000.

At the end of the 8 levels of 60 minutes played on Day 1A, regular Mihai Stinca inherited the chipleader's seat, while 34 players qualified for Friday's Day 2, which will resume at blinds 1,000/1,500 (BB Ante 1,500).

Ugo Faggioli

Among the players who made a name for themselves today and built up impressive stacks for Day 2 were Michael-David Passy (223,500), Kader Slila (209,000), Julien Wasilewski (205,000), Ugo Faggioli (197,500) and Erwin Vu Duc (189,500).

After dropping three bullets on Day 3, Romain le Dantec will be present on Day 2 with 153,000 chips, in the Top 10 at the end of the day, as will BPC 2022 winner Samy Barka, who was well ahead at dinner-break, and who had a more complicated end to the day, finishing at 151,000.

Tomorrow, we're back at it again with Day 1B starting at 1:00 pm, with many regs arriving during the day, some playing the €4,400 High-Roller, others warming up in cash-game before getting down to business tomorrow.

Chip-count complete at the end of the day:

Place	First name	Name	Stack	Country
1	MIHAI	STINCA	246.000	Belgium
2	FLORIS	POP	225.000	Netherlands
3	MICHAEL-DAVID	PASSY	223.500	Belgium
4	KADER	SLILA	209.000	Algeria
5	JULIEN	WASILEWSKI	205.000	France
6	UGO	FAGGIOLI	197.500	France
7	ERWIN	VU DUC	189.500	Belgium
8	LINDA	VAN DE REE	181.500	Netherlands
9	ROMAIN	LE DANTEC	153.500	France
10	SAMY	BARKA	151.000	France
11	JAN	VAN DER STROOM	146.500	Netherlands
12	BENNY	KNEEPKENS	142.000	Netherlands
13	AXEL	BEVERS	139.500	Belgium
14	ARAM	ALI	130.000	Germany
15	ANTHONY	RABENE	128.000	Belgium
16	YACINE	BEZTOUT	122.500	Belgium
17	MOHAMED	TAABOUNI	122.500	Netherlands
18	FERDINAND	JANSSEN	122.000	Netherlands
19	MAXIM	BEVERS	114.500	Belgium
20	ANNE	TREBITSCH	112.500	Belgium
21	GAETAN	CACCIAGUERRA	108.000	France
22	ALI	ZARRAB	78.500	Belgium
23	BJORN JOHANNES WOUTHERUS	VERBAKEL	77.000	Netherlands
24	LOUIS	GABRIEL	69.000	Belgium
25	JELLE	JONCKHEERE	66.000	Belgium
26	MOHAMED	RAZAB SEKH	66.000	Netherlands
27	IVAN	VASILEV	61.500	Russia
28	MIKE	NIEGHO	45.000	Belgium
29	FATHI	KHAZAMI	43.500	France
30	IVAN	KUZIV	43.500	Ukraine
31	MIHAITA	GEORGITA	40.500	Belgium
32	ALEXANDER	SOKOLOVSKY	39.000	Serbia
33	BADRE	AL GHOUCH	32.500	Netherlands
34	FABIO	D ANNOLFO	30.500	Belgium