The CPS Main Event final table is now open!

Circus Poker Series Main Event final table

555 entries into the €2,200 buy-in Circus Poker Series Main Event, and there are now just 9 players left in the tournament, destined for a fine televised final table starting this Sunday at 12:00 (12:20 on Streaming Live), starting with blinds 30,000 / 60,000 (60,000) for an average of 3 million.

Max Wind

After running like never before on Day 3, Dutchman Max Wind will enter the final table in the chipleader's position with 6,830,000 chips.

On his roll was a certain Tobias Peters, whom Max Wind managed to spew in 12th position, gobbling up his 38 blinds with As-King against the As-Dix of the player with the biggest record in the room.

He was also responsible for the elimination of final-table bubble-boy Yoan Argence, after he limped/call with two Jacks against the suit Dame-9 of a 7-handed Festival winner. 

Cyril Richard

In second place was the surprise of the Main Event, Frenchman Cyril Richard, who is enjoying a fairytale run in what is simply his 5th live tournament to date. Having qualified the day before the Main Event on a €330 Satellite, Cyril Richard had already doubled his stack within the first ten minutes of play on Day 1C, full against full.

" Rather than rejoicing at the time," Cyril told me, "I thought I was going to be jinxed for having chatted so quickly. After a long period without cards, the move that really launched his tournament came when he 5-bet shove Romain le Dantec with 7-5o, making As-Valet to the WSOP-Europe Main Event winner. A real "trigger" , Cyril told me, and from then on he felt no pressure at all on the tournament, even when he was short-stacked, although he clearly thought that would be the case on a much more expensive tournament than he'd ever played.

Let's be clear: this is a big one-time game for Cyril Richard, who has been playing poker for a long time (he even started with the closed poker ), but has always been content to play the famous " poker plaisir", playing games with his buddies, small tournaments in his club AS Troyes Poker or a few online sessions when the mood takes him, in tournaments between €10 and €50.

A big fan of streams poker, Cyril admits to having learned a lot from watching Benny & Yu comment on the EPTs. Under the spotlight today at a televised table, Cyril enjoyed his moment. " I warned the guys, and they kind of spoiled the chat," confides the man known as "Cacyna" in the poker Twitch community.

Very busy with his work at his trading company, Cyril even has to manage his company's affairs during his deep run, making phone calls during breaks or answering administrative questions on WhatsApp.

Tomorrow, I promise, the phone will be turned off and put away in a box, while he plays at the first big final table of his life, with €200,000 up for grabs. It would be really satisfying to win a tournament like that over 4 days (or 5, for me)," he says, "I see it as a bit like my own mini-EPT .

When I ask him about the player who scares him most at the table, he half-heartedly utters the name Gary Hasson, but seems fairly confident. " I get the feeling he respects me, so I don't think he's going to overplay me either," he tells me.

Tomorrow, Cyril Richard will have more than 100 blinds when he resumes play, and dreams of victory will be on his mind. Opposite him, 8 players we'll get to know better, with Gary Hasson the scarecrow in 3rd place on the chip-count.

Théo Milioni

We'll also be keeping an eye on Théo Milioni, who was very impressive throughout Day 3 and who, after the bubble at this year's BPC final table, didn't make the same mistakes and this time reached his first big target with the 4th stack, playing a diligent and terribly effective poker on this Namur field, having made his name mainly online in tournaments with buy-ins of between €10 and €50.

Maxence Melin

But let's not forget the other title contenders either, such as Dutch runner-up Mattheus Von Donselaar, French enigma Mickael Arcidiaco, crazy tankeur Mathias Van Der Perre, local Ngoc Nguyen or experienced Maxence Melin in the short-stack position with 11 blinds to go.

The final table starts tomorrow at 12:00 on blinds 30,000 / 60,000 (60,000) for an average of 3 million. There are 30 minutes left in this level before we move on to 40,000 / 80,000 (80,000).

Of course, you can follow all this on Streaming Live with a 30-minute delay.

Composition of the final table :

Headquarters	First name	Name	Country	Stack	Armor
1	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	2 595 000	43
2	MAXENCE	MELIN	France	630 000	11
3	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	6 265 000	104
4	MICKAEL	ARCIDIACO	France	2 405 000	40
5	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	1 655 000	28
6	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6 830 000	114
7	GARY	HASSON	Belgium	3 125 000	52
8	THEO	MILIONI	France	2 715 000	45
9	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	1 535 000	26

 The scale of remaining earnings to be distributed :

Place	Prize
1	200 000 €
2	123 300 €
3	88 130 €
4	67 740 €
5	52 025 €
6	€40,010
7	€30,760
8	€23,660
9	€19,720

 The day's results :

10	Yoan Argence	Belgium	16 435 €
11	Ali Aram	Germany	16 435 €
12	Tobias Peters	Netherlands	13 685 €
13	Grigori Liklikadze	Georgia	13 685 €
14	Harrie Snijders	Netherlands	€11,900
15	Abdelhakim Zoufri	Netherlands	€11,900
16	Yann Nasser	Luxembourg	10 350 €
17	Jean-Marie Vandeborne	Belgium	10 350 €
18	Dang Nguyen	Netherlands	9 020 €
19	Bjorn Verbakel	Netherlands	9 020 €
20	Billy Tuaiva	Polynesia	9 020 €
21	Sergiu Covrig	Romania	7 840 €
22	Philippe Riminucci	Belgium	7 840 €
23	Martin Sedlak	Germany	7 840 €
24	Cornelis van Gent	Netherlands	6 820 €
25	Johnny Nedved	Belgium	6 820 €
26	Alexander Sokolovsky	Russia	6 820 €
27	Bas Van Marwijk	Netherlands	6 820 €
28	Damien Hupé	Belgium	5 910 €
29	Miroslav Alilovic	France	5 910 €
30	Marco Silva Valente	Luxembourg	5 910 €
31	Hamza Rochdi	Morocco	5 910 €
32	Advokat	Germany	5 140 €
33	Fabian Bartuschk	Germany	5 140 €
34	Maxim Bevers	Belgium	5 140 €
35	Stephan Kribben	Germany	5 140 €
36	Eric Geraume	France	5 140 €
37	Florin Bilan	Romania	5 140 €
38	Wim Robyns	Belgium	5 140 €
39	Iurii Brechalov	Russia	5 140 €
40	Gilles Frere	France	4 460 €
41	Jeroen Leuver	Netherlands	4 460 €
42	Idir Haiche	France	4 460 €
43	Linda Van De Ree	Netherlands	4 460 €
44	Andreas Gondrom	Germany	4 460 €
45	Julien Wasilewski	France	4 460 €
46	Arthur Thiriart	Belgium	4 460 €
47	Yves Kupfermunz	Belgium	4 460 €
48	Wim Verhaegen	Belgium	4 460 €
49	Ismail Kalkan	Germany	4 460 €
50	Michael Dick	Germany	4 460 €
51	Ferdinand Janssen	Netherlands	4 460 €
52	Benjamin Celaudoux	France	4 460 €
53	Michael -David Passy	Belgium	4 460 €
54	Gilles Gauyacq	France	4 460 €
55	Benoiit Mahoux	Belgium	4 460 €
56	Charly Mouline	France	3 880 €
57	Grégory Fournier	France	3 880 €
58	Stefan Raschbauer	Austria	3 880 €

Maxence's patience

After a good thirty minutes of observation, during which we saw Matthias van Der Perre try to raise a full house against Gary Hasson, and Ngoc Nguyen take a spot by squeezing his 22 blinds with As-Dix off (passing Théo Milioni's pair of 8s), we're holding the first paid stack of the final table.

And it's a double-up for Maxence Melin.

Short-stacked at the table with 480,000 chips, Maxence Melin pushes all-in with Ad-Kd to the lojack. At the cutoff, Mickael Arcidiaco is happy to pay him off with Qs-Qh.

It's the classic coin flip, a flip that turns to Maxence Melin's advantage at the end of a 9c-8d-Kh-5d-Jd board where he even finds the max flush to confirm his top pair hit on the flop.

Maxence Melin moves up to 1.1 million after this move and could well become dangerous again on this final table.

Maxence Melin first out of the final table

After his quick double-up, we could legitimately expect Maxence Melin to be back in the game, but unfortunately he's just been the victim of a big setup, leading to his elimination in 9th place in this Main Event.

The action starts with a 160,000 open from Théo Milioni with Ac-Kc on the lojack. On the button, Maxence Melin discovers As-Qs on the button and logically pushes his 910,000 stack (11 blinds) into the middle. This is snapped by Théo Milioni, who is pleasantly surprised to see that he dominates his opponent's hand.

Maxence Melin goes ahead on the Ah-Qc-Tc flop, but Theo has a million outs with even a nice royal flush draw.

A Ks falls on the turn to give him the win. Maxence Melin can still hope to get back in front on the river, but an 8h brings him to a premature halt.

Discovered last year in Namur when he made back-to-back final tables in the BPC High-Roller and WaSOP, Maxence Melin's performance here is the biggest of his young live career, leaving Namur with €19,720 for this 9th place finish after finishing 11th in the Mystery Bounty for €4,870 a few days ago.

Mickael Arcidiaco, 8th in the Main Event for €23,660

Very serene since the start of this final table, Cyril Richard has just become the large chipleader of this final table after eliminating his neighbor Mickael Arcidiaco on a move that could have gone differently if Dutchman Mattheus Van Donselaar hadn't wanted to play it trappish.

It all starts with a 200,000 open from Mickael Arcidiaco with Th-Tc UTG. Mattheus Van Donselaar hesitates between shove and call with Jh-Jd in the small blind and a stack of 2.2 million (28 blinds). He finally decides to call, allowing Cyril Richard to enter the big blind with Ts-9s.

As soon as the dealer returns a 5s-8d-7s flop, we know there's going to be some damage. Mickael Arcidiaco proposes a continuation bet of 275,000, which Mattheus Van Donselaar pays. On the strength of his huge combo-draw, Cyril Richard decides to check/raise to 700,000, a bet that doesn't scare away Mickael Arcidiaco, who sends in his stack for 1.9 million with his overpair.

Mattheus Van Donselaar folds his Jacks and Cyril Richard snap-calls.

The Frenchman found one of his 15 outs on the river in the form of a Ks and thus eliminated Mickael Arcidiaco, climbing to 9.6 million after this move.

Mickael Arcidiaco ended his adventure in 8th place in the Circus Poker Series Main Event, earning €23,660, by far his biggest result to date on the live circuit.

Richard a little less rich

Cyril Richard has just lost all the chips he won in his confrontation with Mickael Arcidiaco a few minutes later.

On the hijack, he discovers Ac-Jh and opens to 200,000. He is paid by Matthias Van Der Perre with Ad-Ks at the cutoff. Gary Hasson also enters the hand with 2h-2d from the small blind.

On the 3h-Ah-8c flop, Cyril Richard made a continuation bet of 275,000 but was raised to 725,000 by Mathias Van Der Perre who found top pair top kicker.

Cyril Richard opts for a call with his top pair. On the Kd turn, which gives him two pairs max, Mathias Van Der Perre shoves for 1.5 million. 

The Frenchman thinks for a good minute before calling. Unfortunately, he's drawn dead against his opponent's hand, and drops to 6.7 million after this encounter.

It's Mathias Van Der Perre who does the trick, propelled to 5.1 million, in third place in the chip-count just a few minutes before the first break of the day.

First break of the day

At the first break of the day, seven players are still dreaming of the Circus Poker Series Main Event title. Cyril Richard lost yet another feather in his cap when he tried to pull off a blinds battle against Mattheus Van Donselaar.

In a battle of the blinds, on the Ac-Qd-Qs-Jd-Ad river, after Mattheus Van Donselaar's 150,000 bet, Cyril Richard raises to 400,000 with Jc-3c and is paid 8d-6d by the Dutch player who found his backdoor flush and didn't believe his opponent.

The game resumes at blinds 50,000 / 100,000 (100,000) for an average of 4 million, with the next loser pocketing €30,760.

The state of the troops at half-time:

Pos	First name	Name	Country	TF start	Now	Armor	Evolution
1	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6 830 000	6 330 000	63	-500 000
2	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	6 265 000	6 075 000	61	-190 000
3	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	1 655 000	4 770 000	48	3 115 000
4	THEO	MILIONI	France	2 715 000	3 330 000	33	615 000
5	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	2 595 000	3 325 000	33	730 000
6	GARY	HASSON	Belgium	3 125 000	2 600 000	26	-525 000
7	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	1 535 000	1 325 000	13	-210 000

Slower action

Matthias Van Der Perre

There are no big confrontations to be found in the final minutes of the game, where the players play their cards with little imagination.

Two hands could have gone wrong for Matthias Van Der Perre and Cyril Richard, but they managed to lose the minimum.

First it was Matthias Van Der Perre' s turn to 3-bet with Ad-Kh, then to pay Gary Hasson's 4-bet in possession of As-Ac. On a 6s-Qc-2d flop, Matthias Van Der Perre manages to get out of this quagmire by folding straight to his opponent's c-bet, losing just 10 blinds in the process.

Then it was Cyril Richard' s turn to attempt a bet with Ad-4h on a 2s-Js-2h-Qh turn when Max Wind found square with 2d-2c in his hand. The river Qs is checked by both players and Cyril Richard only drops three blinds in the end.

A not-so-silly 4-bet

Very active at the table, Cyril Richard has just surrendered a large part of his stack, after a 4-bet/fold against Matthias Van Der Perre in a battle of the blinds.

With 6d-3s in his hand, Cyril opens to 250,000 and is 3-bet to 650,000 by Matthias Van Der Perre with Qs-Qc in his hand. You'd think he'd fold his hand, but then he 4-bet to 1,400,000.

Matthias Van Der Perre went all-in in the second for 5 million and quickly folded the Frenchman, who dropped to 4 million, his lowest point of the final table.

Fortunately, he regained some chips a few minutes later, by underplaying a pair of queens against Théo Milioni. After defending and paying Théo Milioni's c-bet, Cyril Richard won the pot with a bet on the river of a Ts-4d-6s-8c-2s board, folding Théo Milioni's Ad-9d.

Max Wind comfortably in the lead at the second break

At the second break of the day, there are still 7 players at the final table, so no elimination has taken place during the 90 minutes of this level.

As has been the case for some time, it's Belgian Ngoc Nguyen who's in the most danger, with 15 blinds to the 60,000/120,000 blinds (120,000).

Update at the break:

Pos.	First name	Name	Country	TF start	Now	Armor	Evolution
1	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6 830 000	7 555 000	63	725 000
2	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	1 655 000	4 870 000	41	3 215 000
3	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	6 265 000	4 450 000	37	-1 815 000
4	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	2 595 000	3 400 000	28	805 000
5	GARY	HASSON	Belgium	3 125 000	3 025 000	25	-100 000
6	THEO	MILIONI	France	2 715 000	2 655 000	22	-60 000
7	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	1 535 000	1 800 000	15	265 000

A new sheriff in town

Has Matthias found the formula for run good?

With a win over Cyril Richard, Matthias Van Der Perre has moved up to chipleader of this final table for the first time, with 6 million chips in front of him.

Following a 240,000 open from Cyril Richard at the hijack with 9h-9c, Matthias Van Der Perre was content to pay at the cutoff with Ad-Jc.

On flop Ts-4h-Jh, Cyril Richard declines the continuation bet and Matthias Van Der Perre quickly checks back his top pair.

The turn is a 4s, and Cyril Richard checks/calls Matthias Van Der Perre's 200,000 bet.

On the 4c river, which gave him a full house, Matthias Van Der Perre managed to get his 680,000 bet paid. Cyril Richard was dismayed to discover his opponent's hand and turned over his pair of 9s, dropping to 5.1 million after this move.

ICM makes a mess of things

Max Wind

At the third break of the day, there are still 7 at the final table, after almost 5 hours with no eliminations to report.

The ICM is seriously starting to make itself felt as the big money approaches, as witnessed by this raise/fold from Max Wind with pair of 9s on the shove for 16 blinds from Gary Hasson in possession of As-King.

Gary Hasson's discipline is also worthy of note, as he managed to fold As-Queen on a 3-bet from Théo Milioni, who held As-King in a UTG vs UTG+1 confrontation.

Matthias Van Der Perre is still chipleader at the break, and the structure has just taken a hit as the average is now 26 blinds.

Troop strength at half-time :

Pos	First name	Name	Country	TF start	Now	Armor	Evolution
1	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	1 655 000	6 275 000	42	4 620 000
2	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6 830 000	5 675 000	38	-1 155 000
3	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	6 265 000	4 600 000	31	-1 665 000
4	THEO	MILIONI	France	2 715 000	3 800 000	25	1 085 000
5	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	2 595 000	2 850 000	19	255 000
6	GARY	HASSON	Belgium	3 125 000	2 525 000	17	-600 000
7	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	1 535 000	2 025 000	14	490 000

Until the end of the night

Matthias Van Der Perre

Money continues to turn players' heads at this final table, and Matthias Van Der Perre won't deny it, having just 3-bet/folded the Jacks against a 4-bet shove from Theo Milioni.

It all starts with a 300,000 raise from Théo Milion UTG+1 with As-Ks. From the small blind, Matthias Van Der Perre 3-bets to 850,000 with Jd-Jc. Théo Milioni shoves for 3.8 million (25 blinds).

Matthias Van Der Perre, who is playing for 5.4 million, seems to be in a lot of trouble. It will take him a good 4 minutes before he resolves to fold his jacks, not yet willing to take the risk of becoming the table's short-stack.

Let's take a look at the sums to be won by these 7 players, to understand why each decision is carefully considered.

The earnings scale :

Place	Prize
1	200 000 €
2	123 300 €
3	88 130 €
4	67 740 €
5	52 025 €
6	€40,010
7	€30,760

Theo on top

Thanks to a magnificent bluff, Théo Milioni has just moved up to chipleader of the final table, with 6.4 million now in front of him.

In the blind battle, Gary Hasson opens to 375,000 from the small blind with Ah-2d. Théo Milioni defends with 9h-5h.

Gary Hasson finds a straight on the 3s-5s-4s flop and sends a continuation bet to 400,000. Theo Milionio, who hit top pair on this single-card flop, decides to pay up.

On 8s, which brings a fourth spade on the board, both players check.

Gary Hasson sends a small bet of 325,000 on the Jh river (with 1.2 million behind).

Theo Milioni takes several minutes to think, before turning his hand into a bluff and announcing "I'm all-in!"

Gary Hasson folds at the speed of light, preferring to hold on to his 8 blinds rather than be shown a spade to send him into the rail.

Without showing anything, Théo Milioni becomes chipleader, and must be thrilled to have pocketed this shot which, on the face of it, was not for him.

Gone with the Wind

Gary Hasson, 7th in the Main Event

After almost 6 hours without elimination, we've just lost the scarecrow of this final table, the Belgian Gary Hasson.

Down to 6 blinds a few hands after his blind battle fold, Gary Hasson 's fate was no longer in his own hands.

Following a 300,000 opening from Max Wind with Ah-2h UTG+1, Gary Hasson thinks for a while with 4s-4c to the Hi-Jack. He asks the floor if he's allowed to leave himself a single chip after a raise. He's told it's possible. He sends 725,000 to the middle, leaving himself a 25,000 chip. Cyril Richard hesitates for a long minute with 8h-8d in his hand and wisely decides to fold. Max Wind logically pays Gary Hasson's bet.

Gary's last chip obviously flies on the Td-Ac-5d flop and he discovers that he's behind on the flop. The rest of the board confirms Max Wind's victory.

The biggest winner of this final table, Gary Hasson is now approaching the million-dollar mark in prize money after his 7th-place finish in the Circus Poker Series Main Event, pocketing €30,760 in the process.

Thanks to this elimination, Max Wind moves back into chiplead with 6.8 million ahead of him, just ahead of Théo Milioni with 6.5 million ahead of him.

Short-stack rebels

Ngoc Nguyen

Having just recovered from Gary Hasson's elimination, we almost saw official short-stack Ngoc Nguyen leave the final table. And yet...

It all starts with a 300,000 opening from Theo Milioni with Ac-Qd on the hijack. Ngoc Nguyen sends his 1.7 million stack to the cutoff with Kh-Qh.

Théo Milioni pays quickly and has the chance to eliminate his neighbor, who has resisted for many hours with a small stack on this final table.

At the end of a rocky Kd-Th-Ad-2h-5h table, Ngoc Nguyen found the color of a lifetime to get back on track at this final table, climbing back up to 3.8 million, his tournament peak.

"I've been waiting 6 hours for this double-up spot," Ngoc Nguyen said at the table after this confrontation.

The bad beat dropped Théo Milioni to 4.8 million and the table's short-stack is now Mattheus Van Donselaar.

Theo, you were high

Théo Milioni, 6th in the Main Event

A dazzling chipleader just thirty minutes ago, Théo Milioni finds himself out in 6th place in this Main Event following a huge setup against Cyril Richard, which turned into a missed hero call.

It all starts with a limp from Théo Milioni with Qd-Jd on the cutoff. Cyril Richard discovers big blind Qs-Qc and raises the stakes to 450,000. It's paid by Théo Milioni.

The killer flop Qh-8s-Jh hits the felt at this final table and it looks like it's going to be a tough one for our young Frenchman.

Cyril Richard sends a continuation bet to 600,000 with his max flush, which Théo Milioni quickly pays with his two flopped pairs.

The turn is an Ah that offers -perhaps- a way out for Théo Milioni. But faced with Cyril Richard's all-in bet, claiming his remaining 2.9 million, Théo Milioni took a good five minutes to think things over, without managing to fold his hand.

He finally convinces himself that his opponent's bet doesn't make sense and makes a losing call, drawing dead.

After bubbling his way to the final table of the BPC Main Event last May, Théo Milioni put in another fine performance in this Circus Poker Series Main Event, pocketing €40,010 for a fine but frustrating 6th place.

The last 5 players have just gone dinner-break for an hour and will return at 8.45pm to the 100,000 / 200,000 blinds (200,000).

State of the troops at the dinner break :

Pos	First name	Name	Country	TF start	Now	Armor	Evolution
1	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	6 265 000	10 100 000	51	3 835 000
2	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6 830 000	7 025 000	35	195 000
3	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	1 535 000	5 050 000	25	3 515 000
4	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	1 655 000	3 775 000	19	2 120 000
5	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	2 595 000	1 700 000	9	-895 000

Mattheus Van Donselaar back on track

Thanks to two double-ups in a row, the official short-stack of this 5-left Mattheus Van Donselaar has repositioned himself at the back of the pack, but very close to the others.

Down to 4 blinds, he doubled up first with Kd-Qs against Qh-Th at Ngoc Nguyen's, UTG against BB.

One orbit later, Mattheus Van Donselaar shoves UTG again with Kh-7h, this time for 1.4 million (7 blinds). Ngoc Nguyen thinks a little longer this time, but pays again with As-4d.

He finds a 7 on the flop to go ahead and rises to 3.1 million, while Ngoc Nguyen, once close to the chiplead, falls back to 5.7 million.

Between these two moves, Matthias Van Der Perre also found a way to double, at the expense of Cyril Richard, his pair of 7s remaining in front of Cyril's A-6 offsuit, which had open shove on his Belgian opponent's blind.

Back from dinner-break, the last 5 players in this Main Event discussed the possibility of smoothing out the payout, and looking at the numbers, but no agreement was reached between the players, with one of them claiming €3,000 more than the ICM.

A deal is in the works

The last 5 players in this Main Event are currently considering a deal.

Cyril Richard lost several important moves, including a bloody blind battle where the action heated up on the river of a 3s-2h-6d-Td-Ad board when Cyril found two pair with big blind Ac-3d and Mattheus Von Donselaar hit the max backdoor flush with Kd-4d in hand.

Mattheus Von Donselaar sends in 750,000 on the river, which Cyril Richard raises to 1,500,000. The Dutchman goes all-in for 2,700,000 and Cyril Richard snap calls to discover the bad news.

Long the chipleader, Cyril Richard enters the deal in the short-stack position with only fifteen blinds to his name.

Chip-count at time of deal :

Pos	First name	Name	Country	Chips
1	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	7,925,000
2	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6,400,000
3	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	5,625,000
4	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	4,375,000
5	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	3,425,000

Five men and a deal

The last five players in the Circus Poker Series Main Event have just agreed a deal at the ICM, leaving €20,000 + the trophy + the ticket to the EPT Prague to the winner of the event.

All five players have secured at least the prize money originally promised to 3rd place, and current chipleader Mattheus Van Donselaar has secured the money originally promised for 2nd place.

That's a far cry from the hefty €200,000 prize promised to the event's winner in the original payout.

The game continues until a winner is declared.

Deal figures:

MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	€125,384
MAX	WIND	Netherlands	€109,083
NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	€101,777
MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	€89,172
CYRIL	RICHARD	France	€85,779

This deal was concluded on the basis of the following chip-counts:

Pos	First name	Name	Country	Chips
1	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	7,925,000
2	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6,400,000
3	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	5,625,000
4	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	4,375,000
5	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	3,425,000

Cyril Richard's one-time stop in 5th place

After concluding a deal in short-stack position, securing him €85,779, Cyril Richard has just left the Main Event in fifth place, the victim of what looks like a great setup against Matthias Van Der Perre in a blinds battle.

Cyril Richard completes the small blind at 250,000 with Td-8s. This is checked by Matthias Van Der Perre with Th-3h. On flop 4h-Kh-8c, Cyril sends a first barrel to 250,000, which Matthias pays with his flush-draw. The Belgian player finds his flush on the 8h turn and pays the Frenchman's 400,000 second barrel.

On the river 2c, Cyril checks and then faces an all-in bet from his opponent, claiming his remaining 1,500,000. Cyril smells trouble but can't fold his set of 8s and has to give up his last chips in this CPS Main Event.

With great dignity, Cyril greets his opponents and leaves the set.

I catch up with him as he comes to collect his reward, in the form of plaques and chips, as is traditional in Belgian casinos. He explains that he's a little disappointed with his run, as he was chipleader with over 10 million at the time of the dinner-break.

A deal was then envisaged, with a big jackpot for Cyril given his position, but the short-stack at the time, Mattheus Van Donselaar, had little interest in accepting the deal.

We know what happened next: a succession of bad moves brought down our Frenchman, in particular his two pairs against color max at Mattheus Van Donselaar's, which immediately brought up the Dutchman, who was much more ready to deal.

Having qualified for the Main Event via a €330 satellite, Cyril Richard experienced what is commonly referred to as a big "one time" on this Main Event, even if he doesn't really like this expression. "It's a bit like saying you'll never have such a great time again," he confides.

Cyril Richard quickly shook off the stress of the final table. Supported from afar by his buddies and a large community on Twitch chat, on which he is active during EPT streams, he lived the dream of deep running a tournament he described yesterday as a mini-EPT."I'm especially happy to have been able to let my buddies experience a deep run like that vicariously, and I think the next step is to do this kind of festival as a team. Come with 3 or 4 people and share these moments, support each other in bad times, help each other out."

Cyril also spoke at length about his game against Théo Milioni, which propelled him to the top of the final table. " I feel like I can only play him like this to take everything away from him, " he said. He confirmed that Theo had replayed the move in his head several times, without managing to put Cyril on a hand. And that his shove was meant to be an attempt to make it look like a flush-draw. The plan worked perfectly, even against a player who had shown great skill with his cards in hand.

Not too disappointed not to have scratched the EPT ticket promised to the winner, "Cacyna" will be present on his sofa to follow Prague. "I never miss an EPT, I learn a lot from watching Benny & Yu's streams and I imagine that one day I might be able to play one."

Cyril also talks about his desire to discover Vegas one day, to do a few events so he can have the experience of playing against the best, because it's by imitating the best that you become better. Very humble, he savors the moment above all, and revels in his incredible stats on live tournaments. "I've made 3 ITMs out of 5 tournaments, and a 5th place finish for 85K on the biggest of them. "

A more than satisfactory result for this all-round amateur who lived the dream all week long.

Mathias Van Der Perre, 4th for €89,172

After the exit of Frenchman Cyril Richard, Belgian Mathias Van Der Perre left us in 4th place in this Main Event, victim of a bad beat against Max Wind.

On the button, he opens to 500,000 with Qs-Qh and is 3-bet shove for 6 million by Max Wind with Ad-8d . He snap-calls and has the unpleasant surprise of seeing the dealer return an Ac-7c-8h-Ah-6h board after which he finds himself with only 2 blinds.

Mattheus Van Donselaar finished him off the next hand with 7s-6h against 5c-4c all-in preflop, finding a 6d on the flop to eliminate the Belgian player.

A disappointed participant in GGPoker's Boss 9, Mathias Van Der Perre made up for it well by finishing 4th in the biggest Main Event of the year on Belgian territory, cashing in €89,172 on the occasion.

Mattheus Von Donselaar, 3rd for €125,384

Mattheus Von Donselaar ended his fine Main Event run on the third step of the podium. After taking the lion's share of the cash on the deal, due to his chipleader status at the time, Mattheus Van Donselaar surrendered his last chips in two stages, against compatriot Max Wind.

First, he loses a small part of his bankroll in a blinds battle, on a move that was check/check on the flop, and on which he put down a blind on the turn, without scaring off his opponent.

On the river of a 9h-Jc-2h-5h-Jd board, Mattheus Van Donselaar draws a 900,000 bet with 9d-6s but is raised to 2,000,000 by Max Wind, in possession of Jh-3s. He takes a good two minutes before choosing to make a losing call against the opponent's three of a kind.

A few minutes later, Mattheus Van Donselaar 3-bet shove his small 2.4 million rug (9bb) with Ac-Qc followed by an open on the button from Max Wind with Ks-Td.

At the end of a Qd-2s-Kc-7s-Jd table, Mattheus Van Donselaar left the tournament in 3rd place for €125,384, by far his biggest live tournament win, having previously won a Side Event at the EPT Malaga last September. It's worth remembering that the Dutch player was offered €65,000 on his first attempt at a deal, which he entered as a short-stack. He can clearly congratulate himself on declining the offer.

Ngoc Nguyen, runner-up for €101,777

After a 20-minute heads-up in which Max Wind quickly gained the upper hand, it was finally a bad beat for the Dutchman, who eliminated Ngoc Nguyen to take 2nd place in the Main Event.

On the last hand, Ngoc Nguyen pushes his 6.2 million rug (21 blinds) with Ac-9c and is paid by As-8d at Max Wind.

At the end of an 8h-Ah-5s-Tc-8c table, Ngoc Nguyen understands that he has just come close to victory and greets his opponent, with great respect.

Ngoc Nguyen can savor this 2nd place acquired at the time of the deal, for €101,777 in winnings, a monumental result for this player accustomed to playing buy-ins between €60 and €330 and who is more used to grinder 2-2 than to playing under the spotlight.

Short-stacked at the final table for hours on end on Sunday, Ngoc Nguyen never gave up, always finding the right spots to scratch the blinds and keep himself afloat with free orbits.

The move that got him back in the game and perfectly positioned for the deal came when he chatted against Theo Milioni after 3-bet shove King-Queen against the Frenchman's As-Queen.

Rather than dwell on a final table move, Ngoc Nguyen prefers to tell me about one of the key moves of his tournament, which took place yesterday with 3 tables remaining against the same Théo Milioni.

" UTG+2, Theo Milioni opens. I pay with a pair of 2s in late position. The big blind also pays. Flop 974 rainbow. Check from the big blind, check from Theo, I make 115k, the big blind passes and Theo checks/raises me to 335k, almost commit. I go all-in for like 600k. He tanks for 4 minutes and ends up folding his hand. I was sure he had nothing here, it's really a read-based move, and it's one of the most important moves of my tournament ". 

Apart from a win for €10k on a €250 6-Max at the WaSOP in 2018, Ngoc Nguyen had previously been content with small 3-figure lines between Namur and Brussels. He hit back hard on this WaSOP Main Event and confirmed that this really was the final table of the big One Times.

Complete Main Event results

Position	First name	Name	Country	Winnings
1	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	€129,083
2	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	€101,777
3	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	€125,384
4	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	€89,172
5	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	€85,779
6	THEO	MILIONI	France	€40,010
7	GARY	HASSON	Belgium	€30,760
8	MICKAEL	ARCIDIACO	France	€23,660
9	MAXENCE	MELIN	France	€19,720
10	YOAN	ARGENCE	France	16 435 €
11	ARAM	ALI	Germany	16 435 €
12	TOBIAS	PETERS	Netherlands	13 685 €
13	GRIGOLI	LIKLIKADZE	Georgia	13 685 €
14	HARRIE	SNIJDERS	Netherlands	€11,900
15	ABDELHAKIM	ZOUFRI	Netherlands	€11,900
16	YANN	NASSER	Luxembourg	10 350 €
17	JEAN MARIE	VANDEBORNE	Belgium	10 350 €
18	DANG	NGUYEN	Netherlands	9 020 €
19	BJORN	VERBAKEL	Netherlands	9 020 €
20	BILLY	TUAIVA	French Polynesia	9 020 €
21	SERGIU	COVRIG	Romania	7 840 €
22	PHILIPPE	RIMINUCCI	Belgium	7 840 €
23	MARTIN MICHAEL	SEDLAK	Germany	7 840 €
24	CORNELIS	VAN GENT	Netherlands	6 820 €
25	JOHNNY	NEDVED	Belgium	6 820 €
26	ALEXANDER	SOKOLOVSKY	Serbia	6 820 €
27	BAS	VAN MARWIJK	Netherlands	6 820 €
28	POKER ONE	POKER ONE	Belgium	5 910 €
29	MIROSLAV	ALILOVIC	France	5 910 €
30	MARCO	SILVA VALENTE	Luxembourg	5 910 €
31	HAMZA	ROCHDI	Morocco	5 910 €
32	Advokat	Advokat	Germany	5 140 €
33	FABIAN	BARTUSCHK	Germany	5 140 €
34	MAXIM	BEVERS	Belgium	5 140 €
35	STEPHAN	KRIBBEN	Germany	5 140 €
36	ERIC	GERAUME	France	5 140 €
37	FLORIN	BALANCE SHEET	Romania	5 140 €
38	WIM	ROBYNS	Belgium	5 140 €
39	IURII	BRECHALOV	Russia	5 140 €
40	GILLES	FRERE	France	4 460 €
41	JEROEN	LEUVER	Netherlands	4 460 €
42	IDIR	HAICHE	France	4 460 €
43	LINDA	VAN DE REE	Netherlands	4 460 €
44	ANDREAS	GONDROM	Germany	4 460 €
45	JULIEN	WASILEWSKI	France	4 460 €
46	ARTHUR	THIRIART	Belgium	4 460 €
47	YVES	KUPFERMUNZ	Belgium	4 460 €
48	WIM	VERHAEGEN	Belgium	4 460 €
49	Easy Go	Easy Go	Germany	4 460 €
50	MICHAEL	DICK	Germany	4 460 €
51	FERDINAND	JANSSEN	Netherlands	4 460 €
52	BENJAMIN	CELAUDOUX	France	4 460 €
53	MICHAEL-DAVID	PASSY	Belgium	4 460 €
54	GILLES	GAUYACQ	France	4 460 €
55	BENOIT	MAHOUX	Belgium	4 460 €
56	CHARLY	MOULINE	Luxembourg	3 880 €
57	GREGORY	FOURNIER	France	3 880 €
58	STEFAN	RASCHBAUER	Austria	3 880 €
59	JOSE	DELIEGE	Belgium	3 880 €
60	IVAN	VASILEV	Russia	3 880 €
61	KADER	SLILA	Algeria	3 880 €
62	MOHAMED	TAABOUNI	Netherlands	3 880 €
63	HAROLD	VILLERS	Belgium	3 880 €
64	IULIAN	CALAGIU BLEAU	Romania	3 880 €
65	MARK	BONGAERTS	Netherlands	3 880 €
66	PAUL	TEDESCHI	France	3 880 €
67	Anonymous	Anonymous	Belgium	3 880 €
68	PIERRE	TILMANT	Belgium	3 880 €
69	HOA	NGUYEN	Netherlands	3 880 €
70	PIOTR	NURZYNSKI	Poland	3 880 €
71	FREDERIC	BLEHAUT	Belgium	3 880 €
72	ANTOINE	VRANKEN	Netherlands	3 475 €
73	UGO	FAGGIOLI	France	3 475 €
74	ANTOINE	STACKOWIAK	France	3 475 €
75	SHAMEEN	IBRAHIM	Netherlands	3 475 €
76	EGEMEN	ORHAN	France	3 475 €
77	ERWIN	VU DUC	Belgium	3 475 €
78	FABIEN	PERROT	France	3 475 €
79	TOM	DE BOOM	Belgium	3 475 €

Max Wind wins CPS Main Event for €129,083

The €2,200 Main Event drew 555 entries and a prize pool of €1,053,945, making it the second-largest tournament held at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur in terms of prize pool. This unusual tournament in Namur attracted many new, seasoned players not found at other festivals, and provided the perfect warm-up for the EPT Prague.

After a final table where he was never in danger, Max Wind is the triumphant winner of the first Circus Poker Series Main Event. After a 5-way deal in which he secured €109,083 from a split at the ICM where he was 2nd in stack, Max Wind finally pocketed €129,083 for his victory, as well as a ticket to the EPT Prague Main Event.

At the top of the leaderboard since the 3-table left redraw, Max Wind took Tobias Peters' scalp to go huge, and has hardly shaken since, playing a diligent poker and surfing on the good run.

After his victory, he spoke to us about the magical week he has just spent in Namur:

"I don't know what happened! An incredible, great week... I don't know where I'm at but I'm very happy. "

"I played a lot when I was 18 and for two years it was an obsession, then I got away from the game a bit, I'm an actor and playwright, in fact I'm writing a play at the moment... but during Covid, I didn't have a job anymore so I got back into online poker. There was a little spark that pushed me to play live again, but nothing more... and then this summer I'm going to Valkenburg for a SPA trip. The casino wasn't far away and I went there to play cash-game. I took €1,600 and the feeling was there, the poker feeling was back... I told myself I was going to play a few tournaments".

"I got back in touch with my coach and then I came back from the MCOP in Amsterdam, a few final tables and in good spirits, so I had to keep playing. I'm looking for festivals not too far away so I can get back home between events, and I've heard about the renovation of Namur. I came here 4-5 years ago to the Hotel Beauregard, which has changed a lot... my friends told me that there were big fields and the CPS program was good. It wasn't far, there are big guarantees, I had a good feeling about this week".

"The start of the week was bad and one evening I'm sitting in cash-game and I get a message from a friend who tells me there's a guy who looks like me in Namur. I hadn't seen him for a year, turned around and our eyes met - it was Michael Ender. We're in the same coaching group, we fall into each other's arms... that was the pivotal moment of the week. From then on, the signs were everywhere. Frankly, I went into the Main Event feeling very confident, even though I hadn't planned to play it. The last 5 days have been incredible".

Max Wind with his buddy Michael Ender

"So I convinced him to play the Mystery Bounty and we had a little agreement... he was confident and he went and got a €30,000 envelope (the maximum bonus, editor's note) so I used what he gave me to play the Main Event. It's my second-biggest buy-in, along with the €3,000 MCOP Main Event. What a run! He'll get his money back (laughs). Now I've got to keep the planets aligned and find a hotel in Prague".

"You have to keep the spirit of the run good, find that particular rhythm and use it, I'm very happy despite the fatigue. I'm quite happy with my game, even if I think I made a few mistakes at the end, but 'c'est la vie'."

Final table standings

Place	Name	Country	Prize	Bonus
1	Max Wind	Netherlands	€129,083	EPT Prague ticket
2	Ngoc Nguyen	Belgium	€101,777
3	Mattheus Van Donselaar	Netherlands	€125,384
4	Mathias Van Der Perre	Belgium	€89,172
5	Cyril Richard	France	85 779 €
6	Théo Milioni	France	€40,010
7	Gary Hasson	Belgium	€30,760
8	Mickael Arcidiaco	France	€23,660
9	Maxence Melin	France	€19,720

Final table recap

Official short-stack at the start of the final table, Maxence Melin thought he'd be back in the game after winning the most classic of coin flips against Mickaëk Arcidiaco. But a few minutes later, his reshove with Ace-Queen came up against Ace-King from young Théo Milioni, to finish in 9th place in the event. After finishing 11th in the Mystery Bounty, Maxence Melin ended the festival on a high note, pocketing €19,720.

Then it was Mickaël Arcidiaco's turn. Going all-in with an overpair against a huge combo-draw from Cyril Richard, Mickaël Arcidiaco saw his opponent find one of his 15 outs on the river to send him into the rail. Mickaël finished his big one-two in 8th place in the Main Event, with a prize of €23,660.

It's 13:30 and you'd think that the final table of the Circus Poker Series Main Event wouldn't last long. And yet it took almost 6 hours for the next elimination to arrive. In the meantime, Matthias Van Der Perre found a way not to lose everything with Ace-King against Gary Hasson's Aces, then went chipleader by taking a nice shot at Cyril Richard with full against full, before gracing us with a strange 3-bet/fold with Jacks against Théo Milioni's Ace-King.

It was clearly Théo Milioni who was attracting all the limelight at this point, managing to fold the winner in a battle of the blinds against Gary Hasson, the Belgian player making a small blocking-bet with straight on a board showing 4 spades. With third pair, Théo Milioni managed to pass Gary Hasson by turning his hand into a bluff. The man with the biggest record at the final table never recovered. He busts a few minutes later with a pair of 4s against Max Wind's Ace-2 suiter, ending his fine run in 7th place for €30,760 in winnings.

We thought Théo Milioni was well on his way to a big performance, so diligent and successful did he seem at this final table. And yet, he first doubled Ngoc Nguyen with Ace-Queen against King-Queen suited, then found himself in a terrible spot against Cyril Richard. After limping/calling with Queen-Jack of diamonds, he found a Queen-Jack-8 flop with 2 hearts, on which Cyril sent a first nugget, then an all-in bet on the Ace of hearts on the turn. After a good five minutes' reflection, Theo Milioni convinces himself that his opponent may have quite a few bluffs, and ends up calling drawing dead against the chipleader's Queens. After his 10th place in the BPC Main Event, Théo Milioni confirms his superb 6th place in this CPS Main Event, for a substantial win of €40,010.

At dinner-break, there are still 5 players at the final table. A first deal is discussed between the players, but short-stack Mattheus Van Donselaar, who is then offered €65,000, decides to refuse the deal, demanding more money than the ICM has promised him and scuppering the deal attempt. Play continued until... the same Mattheus Van Donselaar became chipleader and Cyril Richard officially became the short-stack. This time, the deal was accepted by everyone and Mattheus Van Donselaar took the biggest slice of the cake, securing €125,384 and the chance to win a further €20,000 + an EPT Prague ticket in the event of victory.

Deal figures:

MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	€125,384
MAX	WIND	Netherlands	€109,083
NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	€101,777
MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	€89,172
CYRIL	RICHARD	France	€85,779

This deal was concluded on the basis of the following chip-counts:

Pos	First name	Name	Country	Chips
1	MATTHEUS	VAN DONSELAAR	Netherlands	7,925,000
2	MAX	WIND	Netherlands	6,400,000
3	NGOC	NGUYEN	Belgium	5,625,000
4	MATTHIAS	VAN DER PERRE	Belgium	4,375,000
5	CYRIL	RICHARD	France	3,425,000

Shortly after the deal, it was Cyril Richard who ended his magnificent run in this Main Event in 5th place for a win of €85,779, on a shot where he failed to fold a set against the flush found by Mathias Van Der Perre.

It was the same Mathias Van Der Perre who went out in 4th place, the victim of a bad beat inflicted by Max Wind Ace-8 against the Belgian player's Queens. The finalist in GG Poker's Boss9 promotion left Namur with €89,172.

Mattheus Van Donselaar then fell to the inevitable Max Wind, following a bad beat with As-Queens against King-Ten. He turned in the biggest performance of his live career, winning €125,384, a big improvement on the €65,000 he was offered in his first deal attempt.

Heads-up play then lasted just a few minutes, with Max Wind inflicting yet another bad beat on local Ngoc Nguyen. All-in with Ace-8 against Ace-9 on the final hand of the tournament, he found a full house to conclude his magnificent week in Namur and pocket the title, the accompanying €129,083 check and the ticket to the EPT Prague Main Event offered by PokerStars.