CPS kicks off with the Cup and a half-million euro guarantee

The €550 Cup kicks off at 3pm... players will receive 40,000 chips and 40-minute levels to take on a massive €500,000 guarantee! 



The Cup at a glance (€550 - 40,000 chips - €500,000 GTD)
Final Day Circus Cup, November 26 at 2pm (levels 50 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 2, November 25 at 2pm (levels 40 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 1F from November 24 at 9pm (levels 20 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 1E from November 24 at 3pm (levels 40 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 1D from November 23 at 9pm (levels 20 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 1C from November 23 at 3pm (levels 40 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 1B, November 22 at 3pm (levels 40 minutes)
Circus Cup Day 1A from November 21 at 3pm (levels 40 minutes)

Shuffle up & Deal

Play begins in blinds 100 - 200 (200) with around 40 players on Day 1A of the €550 Circus Cup. 

Players received 40,000 tokens for 12 levels of 40-minute poker and a day that should end just after 1am. 

First break after 2 hours of poker and three levels of play... registrations and re-entries are unlimited for 9 levels, i.e. around 11pm.

Let's go!

They've arrived

The second level has begun, with almost 75 players now in the running... Patrick Prijot was the first to enter the re-entry stage.

Morten Faas, Mihai Stinca, WSOP winner Romain le Dantec and Steven Rottheut, recent winner of the International Poker Open in Dublin, are also in the running. Bryan de Riddere is also on board...

Denis Charlier, Damien Hupe, Taner Ayhan, Daniel Domb and Roger Edain are also in the game...  

Already 100 entries

The 3rd level is already well underway, and the 100-registration mark has been passed. 93 players are battling it out over blinds 200 - 400 (400), with the first half-hour break taking place at the end of this level.

Steven Rottheut goes through the re-entry box, the Belgian sees a new player arrive at his table to open and he 3-bets 2,500 chips to the Hijack. This is paid by a player in position who will fold on GOLD's 4-bet to 10,000 chips. 

Duel on Jack 9 2 without a flush draw, Steven pays the opponent's bet to 9,000 chips before checking-call for his stack with Tens on an opponent's shove on the 3 turn. There are two Aces in front of him, heading for the rail... 

Joli Départ

Players are out in force for the launch of this €550 Circus Cup... the first break of Day 1A is imminent and the counter now shows 115 entrants on this first of 6 starting Flights.

Dylan Grenier, Tony Kiorpes, Yannick Loddo, Theo Milioni and Kevin Pietquin have all entered the €500,000 guaranteed dance!

Break

The first break of Day 1A gets underway with 101 players in contention for 126 entrants at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.

Play will resume in half an hour on blinds 200 - 500 (500) with an average of 49,000 chips...

Some players are off to a good start, as Ricardo Ueberfeldt (118,000) and Arturo Paduano (127,000) have already broken the 6-figure stack barrier...

When play resumes, players will play 3 levels and two hours of poker, leading up to a 75-minute dinner-break between 7:30 and 8:45 p.m...

Chips
Morten Faas 131,000
Arturo Paduano 127,000
Dove Monaco 122,000
Ricardo Ueberfeldt 118,000
Ricky Heinrichs 109,000
Soner Guzel 92,000
Herve Decker 84,000
Mihai Stinca 81,000
Walter van Camberg 80,000
Ekin kandemir 76,000
Bregt Winters 75,000
marc ABousleiman 66 000
Mehdi Maroufi 65 000
Luc Ta 64 000
Ferdinando d'Alessio 63 000
Guillaume Hopchet 62 000
Bryan de Riddere 57 000
Octavian Ripan 51 000
Romain le Dantec 51 000
Dalil Masaud 47 000
Anne Trebitsch 40 000
Gaetano Moreci 39 000
Pierre Neuville 33 000

Live Stream en Approche

Play resumed with 106 players in the running for 131 entries... and a TV table. 

Day 1A of the Circus Cup is available for streaming right here, with the broadcast starting in a few minutes with the cards revealed and a slight delay to ensure the safety of the game... 

The table is international, with Germany's Leonid Poles, Luxembourg's Alexandru Carac, Italy's Francesco Pillitteri and the Belgian trio of Damien Hupé, Greg Lebrun and Andreas Van Deyck... 

2 Hours 30 of poker

There are 10 minutes left to play on blinds 200 - 500 (500), level 5 is well underway and the players present at the start have now played 150 minutes of poker.

The counter shows 113 players in the running for 142 entrants, and it's getting tough for Yves Senterre, who went all-in on the turn with Queen 9 and top pair from a board featuring two spades and a 9... His opponent covered with King Ten of spades to hit a 7 of spades river and drop Yves to 9,000 chips, just under the 20 blinds...

Daniel Domb is also off to a bad start, and finds himself in the red zone when the average is 50,000 chips or 100 blinds.

For Bryan de Riddere, things are going rather well, as the young man has passed the 100,000 mark at the death table. Just to his left is Dang Nguyen, opposite him Pierre Neuville and two notches to his right Taner Ayhan...

At this table Omar Abda is doing quite well, as on this shot where he check-raises to 15,000 river chips on an 8 9 Queen 9 8 board and gets a fold from Pierre Neuville. The November Niner had bet 7,000 counters, and gave his cards back as Omar showed the papers with Ten Jack for the Daddy Straight!

New Players

End of level imminent, blinds 300 - 600 (600) will soon be history... and the players keep coming. 

The table shows 111 players in the running for 155 entries on this first opening day... Salvatore Alessi is here, as are Robin Fore, Raf Ielegems, Constantin Ifrim, Adnan Ekeroglu, Alfred Bacquelaine, Ken Claessens, Miguel Coussement and Arnaud Danes, who are already hard at work on the opening day. 

Dîner en Approche

A quarter of an hour of play remains and the survivors will then reach the effective 4 hours of poker on Day 1A of the Circus Cup.

110 players are in the money on blinds 400 - 800 (800) and the leaderboard now shows 161 entrants, a great start to this €500,000 prizepool tournament.

Registration and re-entries are open until the first hand of level 10, at around 11pm.

The dinner break will last 75 minutes, with play resuming at 8.45pm...

Triple-Up

Just before the break, Pierre Neuville gave himself a breath of fresh air.

Open from Daniel Domb on the hijack, call from the button and defense from the Belgian boss in the small blind. The big blind joins the party and everyone checks the 2 4 9 flop with two spades to the button, which bets 2,000 chips.

Pierre Neuville checks-raises all-in for 8,400 chips. It's paid by the opener and then the button after a big tank. Turn queen of spades, river 4 of clubs and it's check-raise for a showdown...

Pierre announces a 9 and returns 9 and 3 of hearts... to triple up as Daniel shows the 5s and the button the 8s. Back to 31,000 chips just before a 75-minute break for Pierre Neuville! 

No Value

Just before the break, Menno de Velde opens under the gun and gets a call from WSOP winner Romain le Dantec. 

The Frenchman will call 2,400 chips on a 9 6 4 flop with no flush draw, then another 4,000 on a Jack turn opening the clubs. River, on a 5 of clubs, Menno checks and Romain hesitates for a short while before checking back with what he'll say is Jack Ten. 

Menno shows Roi Valet and Romain mucke as a player asks him why he didn't bluff this one. "I was going to value," replies Romain, who finally abstained and left for his dinner break with a stack approaching 6 figures...

The dinner break has begun, with 103 players in the running for 163 entrants. Play will resume on blinds 500 - 1000 (1000) at 8:45pm...

Reprise

The game will resume in less than 5 minutes, with 110 players and 171 entrants at present. 

Back to blinds 500 - 1000 (1000) with an average of 62 blinds. Latecomers arriving with the starting stack have 40 blinds...



Chips
Arturo Peduano 211,000
Morten Faas 210,000
Ricky Heindricks 199,000
Fawad Jafari 157,000
Omar Abda 133,000
Robin Fore 131,000
Walter van Camberg 131,000
Fabrice Somers 125,000
Michael Ender 123,000
Bryan de Riddere 121,000
Alexandru Macsin 108,000
Luc Ta 107,000
Corentin barbosa 98,000
Peter Ruehmer 97,000
Thomas de Kerchove 96,000
Bregt Winters 91,000
Fabrizio Naselli 90,000
Romain le Dantec 78,000
Theo Milioni 61,000
Pierre Neuville 33,000
Miguel Coussement 31,000
Daniel Domb 27,000
Gilles Masaud 27,000

Digestion

Half an hour or so of play on 500 - 1000 (1000) with now 105 players in the running for 179 entrants.

The average has climbed to 69 blinds, with a few players in danger, such as Pierre Neuville. With 7 blinds in front of him, he has no alternative but to go all in.

Pierre tried to snatch the button in a multiway by betting flop and river on Ace Queen 6 (with two diamonds) Ace 7 and Nadjeem Khemouche didn't bite. Nadjeem had open UTG with Queen 9 and didn't let up, Neuville could only show 7 and 5 of diamonds at showdown...

Khemouche climbed to 140,000 chips, and on the next move Bryan de Riddere climbed to 130,000, leaving Neuville in the lurch.

At this table, Daniel Domb (25 blinds) and Gaetano Moreci (20 blinds) were also in survival mode.

At neighboring tables, Sabrina Senden (55,000) and Adnan Ekeroglu (80,000) were more successful from the outset... 

Road To 200

There are 16 minutes left to play in blinds 500 - 1500 (1500) with 90 players in the running for 187 entrants... 

There will be a short break at the end of level 9, before registration closes for the opening day of the Circus Cup. At 11.05 p.m., the €500,000 guarantee will be yours for the taking! 

Mi-Temps to make the diff'

Level 9 is underway, with 25 minutes left to play on blinds 1000 - 1500 (1500) and the end of late registration not far off.

A 20-minute break will take place at the end of this level and the shorts are sending to double up or perish.

The table shows 85 players for 193 entrants, so the 200 mark should fall on this first opening day.

Menno Delvelde and Arturo Paduano have not confirmed their good start, but they may come back in extremis or try their luck again on a starting day until Friday evening!

Salvatore Alessi, Pierre Neuville or Theo Milioni have the same choice to make, as they disappeared in the final minutes...

Break

The game is on break, with 78 of the 197 entrants on break for another big quarter of an hour. Resumption on 1000 - 2000 (2000) with 50 blinds on average.

"He took out five or six players," laughed two dealers at the break. "He hit everything," adds the one who was at the boss's table, Fabice Somers. Fabrice's got it everywhere, and he connects well... enough to own 575,000 chips after 6 hours at poker.

Fabrice has done times 14 since the start, now it's time to bag some chips!

Chips
Fabrice Somers 575,000
Omar Abda 300,000
Ricky Heinrichs 300,000
Adnan Ekeroglu 280,000
Soner Guzel 240,000
Morten Faas 207,000
Mikael Amar 200,000
Mehdi Maroufi 180,000
Dove Monaco 180,000
Roger Edain 175,000
Bryan de Riddere 175,000
Yassine Romain 170,000
Romain le Dantec 120,000

199 entries on Day 1A of the Circus Cup 

Half an hour of play since the close of registration and re-entries on the opening flight of the CPS €550 Cup. With 199 entries and still 5 days to go, the €750,000 guarantee looks set to be reached or even exceeded!

With 71 players remaining and 90 minutes to go, the average is 56 blinds for another ten minutes or so. 

It's all over on 1A for Mallory Frere, Damien Hupé, Andres Van Deyck, Daniel Domb, Loic de Doncker, Alexandru Macsim, Guillaue Hopchet and Nadjeem Khemouche. 

Last Straight

70 minutes to go on Day 1a of the Circus Cup, with 63 players still on the course. Gilles Masaud has just given up as the game is played over 1000 - 2500 (2500). 

Gilles sends 24,000 chips under the gun and Yassine Romain pays just to his left. Reshove from Samuel Tebege in the big blind for 113,000, call from Yassine with the tens. 

Gilles won't find a miracle with the deuces, while Samuel passes to 250,000 pawns with the kings at the end of an 8 7 4 4 Jack board. 

As Gilles joins the rail in this penultimate level of the evening, the floor breaks the table. "I'm not going to be able to get them back," slips Yacine as he leaves with 170,000. 

Fabrice Somers leaves this table with 583,000 chips, arriving just to the left of Bryan de Riddere (240,000). "Don't take his picture, I'll take it all," laughs Bryan, while Soner Guzel (280,000), the other big stack at this new table, also welcomes the virtual chipleader. 

Well-endowed with chips, Adnan Ekeroglu (350,000) and Dove Monaco (220,000) are well away from the boss at nearby tables. Will Somers keep up the pace until the end of level 12? 

Miguel Coussement, Hervé Decker, Robin Fore or Johan Mertens will have to try their luck again if they want to compete on Saturday 2pm, that's for sure! 

No Woman

With nothing much going on for the last fifteen minutes, the last two women in the field on Day 1 a gave up in a matter of seconds.

After an open under the gun paid for by the cutoff, Ekin Kandemir sent in 66,000 pawns and a small blind stack with ace-queen. There were 5 minutes left to play before the cutoff to 1500 - 3000 (3000) and the start of the final level.

In the big blind, it doesn't take long for Tony Bitto to shove 110,000 chips to get everyone out of the way. His kings will enable him to take out the player after a table of Ladies 3 4 Jacks Ten.

At the next table, Sabrina Senden joins the rail after going all-in with a color draw. She was paid by an inferior color draw with Ten and 4 of hearts, a black 4 ended her run!

With 58 players remaining and an average of 139,000 chips, the final level of the first of six opening days is about to begin... 

Top 50

There are 49 players and 20 minutes left on the clock before the end of Day 1A of the €550 Circus Cup, which has attracted 199 entries. 

The survivors battle it out on 1500 - 3000 (3000) for a few more minutes, heading for Day 2. Fabrice Somers still firmly in control...

5 Last Hands

Romain le Dantec, Dove Monaco, Bart van Heugten, Samuel Tebege and Martial Mertens have all fallen, leaving just 47 players in the running as the last 5 hands of Day 1a are announced.

Ricky Heinrichs has closed in on Fabrice Somers, who will bag up the most chips? Answer in a few minutes...

42 Qualifiers on the opening day, Fabrice Somers first Cup boss

The first of six opening days of the €550 Circus Cup (40,000 chips - 40 minutes) attracted 199 entrants, kicking off the highlight of the €500,000 CPS prizepool. 

After 12 levels lasting 40 minutes, 42 players packed in the chips. Pierre Neuville and Samuel Tebeg jumped a few minutes before the gong, as did Lander Dejonghe, victim of the Fabrice Somers vacuum cleaner. 



At his peak, Somers was up to 600,000 pawns, and finished with 515,000 chips - 13 times the starting stack or close to it. A good pace in 8 hours of poker, and a big stack for Saturday's Day 1 which starts at 2pm on blinds 2000 - 4000 (4000)...

The same goes for Ricky Heinrichs, Sven Collaerts, Bryan de Riddere, Soner Guzel, Daniel Dodet, Simon Nickmans, Morten Faas, Omar Abda and Denis Charlier. 

The competition continues on Wednesday at 3 p.m. with Day 1B, featuring 12 40-minute levels. Qualifiers from this first session will then have the chance to take part in the two-day €330 Freezout, starting at 6 p.m.! 

Chipcount partial 1a
Fabrice Somers 515,000
Ricky Heinrichs 396,000
Daniel Dodet 377,000
Omar Abda 357,000
Yassine Romain 248,000
Sven Collaerts 244,000
Soner Guzel 234,000
Denis Charlier 227,000
Rainer Ende 227,000
Ken Claessens 221,000

Menno de Velde 216,000
Angelo Mancuso 212,000
Corentin Barbosa 204,000
Luc Ta 201,000
Simon Nickmans 199,000
Bryan de Riddere 187,000
Stefan Klaet 161,000
Michael Ender 159,000
Bregt Winters 147,000
Tony Bitto 146,000

Roger Edain 145,000
Thomas de Kerchove 138,000
Morten Faas 129,000
Marc Abousleiman $125,000


c

Complete Chipcount 1a in the document below