Toujours du Monde in Namur

70 players were seated at the tables on the opening day of the 5th Havana Mystry Bounty Main Event... and the total is set to rise rapidly given the queue at the entrance to the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. 

Participants again receive a stack of 50,000 chips and will play 8 levels of 30 minutes followed by 4 levels of 40 minutes before aiming to join the 185 qualifiers from the first four sessions for Day 2 at 2pm on Saturday. 

Play begins at blinds 100 - 200 for the tournament's only no-ante level. Mystery Bounty tokens (€125 of the buy-in goes into this prize pool, ed. note) will be put into play from the money entry, at approximately 15% of the remaining field. 

On the program for a busy day, Pot Limit Omaha at 8pm, and Day 1F Turbo from 10pm (with 15 and 20 minute levels, editor's note)...

Shuffle up & deal



Havana Mystery Bounty at a glance 
Day 1A: 243 entrants - 63 qualifiers 
Day 1B: 123 entrants - 41 qualifiers 
Day 1C: 130 entrants - 36 qualifiers
Day 1D: 163 entrants - 45 qualifiers
Total (provisional): 659 entries - 185 qualified after Day 1D

Au Calme

A full 15 minutes of play on the first level of Day 1E and the players are still arriving. There are now 95 players in the running for zero exits.

Franck Cartigny, Bartan van Heugten, Zeco Bibujica, Benjamin Alalouf, Salvatore Alessi, Taner Ayhan, Stephan Buzzo, Paul Chum and Greg Dewinne are already seated at the tables, as are Eric Denizart, Michael Ender, Manu Gilbart and Ismael Joly. 

The 100 barrier

The first level ends with 102 players in the running and 102 entrants. No outs in 30 minutes, no big flights at the Circus Casino Resort de Namur tables...

Players continue to arrive and take advantage of the depth, with a 50,000 chip stack offering 167 blinds in these 100 - 300 blinds (300). The appearance of the antes should make it possible to see a little more action...

Patrick Prijot, Dominique Potenza, Philippe Riminucci, Yves Seghers, David Verbrugge, Morgan Poisson or Rudi Mulders are in the field... 

All-in & call


Mischa Wieten opens with 1,000 chips in the cutoff, is paid twice... and Franck Cartigny raises to 3,000 in the big blind. Wieten immediately chips in his stack of 11,700 and, after a little hesitation because even though he's just lost a big pot there are 40 blinds in front of him, Cartigny pays for a head's up.

Wieten was rather carnival-like with King Ten and is slightly behind the Frenchman's Ace 9. An amateur player, Franck has one live victory to his name, here in Namur in 2009, but unfortunately for him he's going to fall behind at the end of a 3 Ten 4 5 8 table

We'll have to wait for the first outgoing player on Day 1E. Wieten reraises to 24,000 chips, and Cartigny slips to around the same stack on the next move.

Cartigny makes a straight with the tens but runs into a top straight... not the best start! 

New Level

The third level of Day 1E kicks off with 115 players in the running... for 115 entrants. The blinds are now 200 - 400 (400), so it shouldn't be long before the action gets underway.

Marco Silva, Andreas van Deyck and Jonas Viaene have arrived...

Two Kings, Two Aces

The counter now reads 118 players in the running... for 120 entrants. Farid Azarkan was the first to give up the ghost on Day 1E of the Havana Mystery Bounty.

His tormentor tells us all about it. "I 3-bet to 4,000 with the Aces, he bet 15,000, I paid and he went all-in on Queen 2 5 out of position. He's got the Kings," details Mathieu Alciato, whose premium will hold up to offer him the first scalp of the day and a stack of 89,000 chips.

Three minutes later, Nicolas Mathis joined the rail under unknown circumstances...

With 14 minutes remaining before the switch to blinds 200 - 500 (500), a break will take place after these two hours of poker. 

Level 4

Pierre Neuville has arrived at the start of Level 4. The blinds are now 200 - 500 (500) with 125 players in contention for 130 entrants.

Wesley Peinen, Yves Minkhorst, Edy Meyfroot have also taken their seats... as have Jean Gessis and former footballer Guillaume Gillet. 

Break

The first break of Day 1E got underway with 128 players in contention for 143 entries. Play resumed at 6.30pm in blinds 300 - 600 (600) with an average of 56,000 chips. 

Resuming

Play resumes on 300 - 600 (600) with 133 players for 148 entrants and an average of 56,000 chips. The prize pool is now approaching €227,000, with the €250,000 guarantee already almost wiped out, while Friday, as is often the case, will be the day most players flock to the table.

Chips
Jean Vieilletoile 167 000
Mathieu Alciato 136 000
Sandu Dimitri 127 000
Benjamin Alalouf 124 000
Guillaume Kindt 114 000
Pierre Neuville 111 000
Steven de Braeckenier 104 000
Philippe Riminucci 101 000
Emric Gilmont 100 000
Aziz Kendel 98 000
Taner Ayhan 94 000
Patrick Prijot 90 000
gregory Dewinne 90 000
Arnaud Danes 83 000
Canio Pietropertosa 81 000
Tim Verheyen 67 000
Stéphane Meo 65 000
Jean-Yves Lestrade 62 000
Manu Gilbart 52 000
Ali Kaya 51 000
Jonas Viaene 49 000
Ismael Joly 49 000
David Verbrugge 41 000
Franck Cartigny 15 000
Fred Blehaut 15 000

Still Growing

Almost 2 hours 30 poker, Level 5 is drawing to a close and the players are still coming in.

There are currently 143 players in the running for 169 entries and an average of 59,000 chips. Robin Fore, Dimitri d'Ortona, Nicolas Destercq, Danny Covyn and Vincent Denizart are now in the field...

The blinds will soon rise to 400 - 800 (800), and registration and re-entries are available until the first hand of level 9, after the dinner break at around 9.45pm.

The Bubble has popped on SIngle Re-entry Event #7

With Day 1E of the Havana Mystery Main Event in full swing, the bubble has popped after 70 minutes of hand-by-hand action. Find out the name of the bubble-boy by clicking HERE.

On the Main Event, 142 players are in contention with 176 entrants and an average of 62,000 chips on blinds 400 - 800 (800). 

Toujours du Monde à Namur

There's still a quarter of an hour to go on the blinds 500 - 1000 (1000) with 144 players in the running for 193 entrants. The average is 67 blinds and Dominique Potenza has been moved up to take the seat of Patrick Cartigny, who has disappeared under unknown circumstances.

Carlos Lopes and Djamal Boutaleb arrived a few minutes ago, while Yves Minkhorst has just launched his tournament.

At the end of the hand, on a board of 8 3 2 2, Yves goes all-in and is paid after a hesitation by the player in the blinds. The latter finds a call with the 6s but needs help as Yves turns over the tens. The best play holds after a brick river, heading for 75,000 chips for Yves. 

The 200 Bar

There are 20 minutes left to play on blinds 600 - 1200 (1200) and the dinner break will begin at the end of this level 8.

The table now shows 136 players in the running for 201 entrants, with an average of 74,000 chips (62 blinds)...

With €241,000 in the prize pool, the €250,000 guarantee is not far from being wiped out... ahead of what should be a full house on Friday.

Havana Mystery Bounty at a glance
Day 1A: 243 entrants - 63 qualifiers
Day 1B: 123 entrants - 41 qualifiers
Day 1C: 130 entrants - 36 qualifiers
Day 1D: 163 entrants - 45 qualifiers
Day 1E : 201 entrants (provisional, registrations and re-entries until 9.45pm)
Day 1F: Start at 10pm, registrations and re-entries available until around midnight 40
Total (provisional): 860 entrants (level 8 in progress on 1E) - 185 qualifiers after Day 1D

Dinner-break

Play is paused, and will resume at 9:45 p.m. on blinds 1000 - 1500 (1500).

The table shows 1276 survivors for 205 entrants, with registration still open for the entire 75-minute dinner-break...

We meet again at the restart with a review of the forces at play. 

Reprise

Play resumes in blinds 1,000 - 2,500 (2,500) with 132 players in the running for 212 entrants and an average of 81,000 chips.

Chips
Jean Vieilletoile 280,000
Johnny Feron 246,000
Mischa Wieten 197,000
Schayan Aghajan 175,000
Mark Aelmans 160,000
Segio Maniscalvo 160 000
Bartjan van Heugten 156 000
Guillaume Gillet 153 000
Yeghishe Avetisyan 146 000
Jean Gessis 144 000
Luis Dias 139 000
Vincent Gendronneau 134 000
Guillaume Kindt 129 000
Fabrice Lebreton 128 000
Vincent Vinet 125 000
Gregory Dewinne 122 000
Arnaud Danes 110 000
Yves Minkhorst 110 000
Pierre Neuville 85 000
Aziz Kendel 81 000
Gigap Jo 91 000
Carlos Lopes 50 000
Philippe Riminucci 45 000
Renaud Hennes 40 000
Dominique Potenza 31 000

212 entrants on Day 1E, the guarantee almost reached

Nearly 900 players registered before the start of the 1F Turbo in a few minutes' time, another 4-figure turnout to come at Circus Casino Resort de Namur!

Havana Mystery Bounty at a glance (€250,000 Guaranteed)
Day 1A: 243 entrants - 63 qualified
Day 1B: 123 entrants - 41 qualified
Day 1C: 130 entrants - 36 qualified
Day 1D: 163 entrants - 45 qualified
Day 1E : 212 entrants - ongoing
Day 1F Turbo: Start 10 pm, late reg until midnight 45
Day 1G & 1H Turbo: from 4 pm and 10 pm, Friday June 23
Total (provisional): 871 entrants after Day 1E (prizepool 237.000€) - 185 qualifiers after Day 1D

Triplette de Namur

No outs for 10 minutes when play resumed, then the elimination of Maxime Crahay and Marcus Bonna before a huge hit for Zeco Bibujica. A quarter of an hour after the restart, he hears "all in, all in, all in" and wakes up with Kings.

It's paid and Zeco covers everyone. He also has the best hand and will hold! Bye-bye Ten, Ace-King and Ace-Queen, bye-bye Andreas van Deycke, Franck Marche, Canio Pietrapertosa! 

Double-ups

The shorts are back on table 40, with Dominique Potenza going all-in for 24,000 chips at the end of the hand. It's paid by Ibrahim in the big blind with Queen 7... and there's going to be suspense against Potenza's King Jack.

The dealer unloads a King 7 4 flop which gives everyone a bit of a run for their money, and the Queen on the turn makes Dominique twitch, who goes ahead again on the Valet river! Potenza just exceeds the starting stack...


At this table Heinz Peters also doubled up, a few minutes later on a flip against Bartjan van Heugten. His Ace Ten hit twice to finish with trips and overtake Dutchman van Heugten's pair of 9s. Peters climbs to the starting stack, Bartjan falls to 161,000.

There are 8 minutes left before the blinds are raised to 1000 - 2000 (2000). 122 players are still in the running, averaging 87,000 chips. 

Ca Joue à Namur

111 players have been battling it out on blinds 1000 - 2000 (2000) for the last 5 minutes. Aziz Kendel and Patrick Prijot have just left the game, while Manu Gilbart has just got creative to keep himself in the game.

Manu opens on the button and pays the 3-bet to 12,000 chips from the big blind. Gilbart calls with 30,000 behind and soon goes all-in on an Ace 6 9 flop with two clubs when his opponent tries a 5,000-chip continuation bet.

It's a snap fold and Manu reraises to 60,000 chips while revealing Jack 8 with a single club for a nice moove. 

A snag for Gillet

Guillaume Gillet opens to Hijack for 4,500 chips and calls the 13,000-chip 3-bet from his neighbor on the left, Jean-Yves Lestrade. The footballer checks-calls 7,000 chips on Queen 3 4 before checking-calls again for 17,000 chips on the Jack turn. No action on a river brick and the former canary must bow out with Ace 6 suit against Ace 4 suit.

Gillet falls to 120,000 chips, while Jean-Yves climbs to 190,000. All this under the eyes of Bryan de Riddere, already ejected from a €150 PLO Hunter which has already attracted some 75 players but qualified for Saturday with 250,000 chips, and Gigap Jo with 110,000.

At the table behind, Yves Seghers has passed the second round with a stack of almost 200,000 chips... There are 20 minutes left to play on 1000 - 2000 (2000) with 107 players in contention for an average of 50 blinds. 

Top 100

With 10 minutes to go before the final break of the day, Arnaud Collignon has just doubled up on Jean Vieilletoile, who is gradually losing ground after being yellow jersey.

After an open from his neighbor on the right to Hijack for 6,000, Jean pays and takes the button. In the small blind, Arnaud sends in 36,000 and goes all-in to make the opener fold.

Jean asks for a count and goes all-in, causing his neighbor on the button to snap fold. Vieilletoile turns over the 5s for a flip since there's an Ace-Queen in front.

The dealer unloads an Ace-King-Ten flop which leaves John almost dead, but the turn 5 gives him 10 outs for the win. Now a Queen lands river.

Collignon leaves with almost 90,000 chips, while Vieilletoile drops to 180,000.

With 93 players still in the running, Mary Bay, Dimitri D'Ortona, Manu Gilbart, Weisley Peinen, Heinz Peters and Adrien Arnould will have to try their luck again.

Registrations are still open on Turbo 1F, where four tables are currently running... 

Last Break

A final break has just ended, and play resumes on blinds 1000 - 2500 (2500) for the penultimate level of Day 1E. 85 players remain in the running for Day 2.

Bubble-boy of the Event #7 Single Re-Entry Final Table, Stefaan Skippers jumped with a straight flush... against Nicolas Mathis' royal flush. The table missed out on a 5-figure jackpot as Skippers only used one card... The latter ran off to play Turbo 1F after being eliminated.

The average is 124,000 chips or 49 blinds.

Chips
Zeco Bibujica 290,000
Aksel Aygun 275,000
Andre Rueskamp 262,000
Tim Verheyen 260,000
Loic Copus 248,000
Sergio Maniscalcco 245,000
Mischa Wieten 237,000
Djamal Boutaleb 235,000
Stephan Buzzo 225,000
Jean-Yves Lestrade 220 000
Johnny Feron 215 000
Gregory Dewinne 195 000
Vincent Vinet 190 000
Martin Remacle 182 000
Benjamin Alalouf 172 000
Ahyan Taner 161 000
Wouter de Graaf 152 000
Mathieu Alciato 148 000
Gigap Jo 144 000
Dominique Potenza 138 000
Igor Brcar 133 000
Guillaume Gillet 123 000
Pierre Neuville 106 000
Danny Covyn 100 000
Arnaud Danes 83 000
Bart van Heugten 60 000
Yves Sergeant 30 000

Turbo Havana... the guarantee has been exceeded

Day 1F Turbo has begun and 34 players are currently competing in the opening round of level 7, including Mary Bay, Stefan Skippers, Aziz Kendel, Aliosha Staes and Salvatore Alessi.

Registrations/re-entries are open until midnight 25 for this tournament, which currently has 40 entrants.

With these players, the guarantee has been exceeded for this €250,000 Havana Main Event. There's now €258,075 in the pot to be shared... and Friday promises to be a busy day with two starting sessions!

At a slower pace

There's just under an hour left to play on Day 1E and 80 players are still in the running. 5 players have jumped over the last 20 minutes of play, leaving 80 contenders for Saturday's 2pm Day 2.

The average is 134,000 chips (54 blinds) and Moh Ishak, Ludovic Klein, Mathieu Alciato, Marco Silva, Renaud Hennes and Fred Blehaut will have to try their luck again in another starting session. 

Last Straight

Level 12 started 10 minutes ago, and only 70 players remain in the running on Day 1E of the €330 Havana Mystery Bounty.

Yves Sergeant, Farid Azarkan, Yves Minkhorst, Tony Joan and Jonas Viaene have all jumped in the last few minutes...

The game ends on blinds 1500 - 3000 (3000) with an average of 50 blinds. 

Three Last Hands

The clock is stopped and the floor has just announced the last three hands of the day with 65 players in contention... without Ali Kaya or Sebastien Semal or Chris Blumer...

Havana Mystery Bounty at a glance (€250,000 Guaranteed)
Day 1A: 243 entrants - 63 qualifiers
Day 1B: 123 entrants - 41 qualifiers
Day 1C: 130 entrants - 36 qualifiers
Day 1D: 163 entrants - 45 qualifiers
Day 1E : 212 entrants - ongoing
Day 1F Turbo: 45 entrants - ongoing
Day 1G & 1H Turbo: from 4 pm and 10 pm, Friday June 23
Total (provisional): 926 entrants after Day 1F (prizepool 257.000€) - 185 qualifiers after Day 1D

59 more qualifiers, Jean-Yves Lestrade chipleader

Jean-Yves Lestrade dominated the 12 levels of Day 1E to bag up 391,000 chips - almost eight times the starting stack. A fine day of 6 hours 40 of poker action for the man with $250,000 in earnings and a WSOP Circuit ring. The Frenchman is coming off a victory in a €250 tournament in Aix-en-provence at the end of April for €9,000... so keep an eye on him for the rest of the tournament.



In the Buzzo family, I ask for the father. After Steven and Christopher, it's time for dad Stephan. Mr Buzzo almost dominated the day's 12 levels to finish hot on Lestrade's heels. With 381,000 in chips, it was a near-perfect round for the man who looks forward to reuniting with his offspring on Day 2, starting at 2pm on Saturday. 



With the participation of 212 entries on this fifth of the eight start days, and the 45 entries recorded on the Turbo 1Fthe 250,000 tournament guarantee has been wiped outThere are already 916 entries ahead of Friday's big day, when two starting sessions are scheduled (at 4pm and 10pm, editor's note). 

59 players bagged chips to join the 185 qualifiers from previous days, but there aren't 243 players on Day 2 since the tournament is held in the stack choice format, and Pierre Neuville has been bagging up chips again. The Belgian legend did better than yesterday, this time bagging 140,000 chips or more than 30 blinds... 

There's also a nice carpet for Gigap Jo, Yves Seghers, Djamal Boutaleb, Guillaue Gillet and Danny Covyn...

See you on Friday at 4 p.m. for the final days of the Havan Mystery Bounty... tokens will be put into play from the moment you enter the money, at approximately 15% of the remaining field. 



Partial Chipcount for Day 1E
Jean-Yves Lestrade 391,000
Stephan Buzzo 381,000
Martin Remacle 364,000
Andre Rueskamp 315,000
Arnaud Collignon 312,000
Ruben Steenhuis 303,000
Mischa Wieten 294,000
Bouabdellah Karoui 290,000
Yves Seghers 280,000
Vincent Gendronneau 277,000
Djamal Boutaleb 272,000
Gigap Jo 270,000
Aksel Aygun 235,000
Greg Dewinne 213,000
Loic Copus 206,000 
Bartjan van Heugten 187,000
Guillaume Gillet 176,000
Nicolas Mathis 176,000
johnny Feron 175,000
mark Aelmans 173,000
Billy Tuivala 165,000
Arnaud Danes 165,000
Jean Gessis 138,000
Dominique Potenza 127,000
Carlos Lopes 98,000
Zeco Bibujica 94,000
David Verbrugge 43,000