Shuffle Up & Deal

We're back for the fourth time for the opening day of the €1,100 Belgian Poker Challenge Main Event. Around 40 players are here to kick off Day 1D, on the only ante-free level of the BPC 2024 festival's main tournament. 

The game will take place over 11 50-minute levels, and players have been given 50,000 tokens to express themselves... 

132 players have already qualified for Thursday's 1 p.m. Day 2... registration and re-entries are unlimited until the first hand of Day 2. Over 400 entries have already been received for this tournament guaranteeing a €1 million prizepool... 

80 Entries at the start of the second level

Players are enjoying the fine weather in the Namur region, and they're still arriving at Circus Casino Resort as the 100 - 300 (300) level has begun with 80 players in the running.

No outgoing players in the first 50 minutes, everyone taking their time... Among the players present today is Philippe Bara, who has just come off a TF bule on the PLO side. Xavier Dupuy, Luc Gillard, Rosario Agosta, Abdel Lamrani, Jhonn Lienard, Johan Mertens, Vincent Thys, Quentin Hupliez, Benoit Tombeur or Tobias Peters have already taken their places too...

Slavatore Allatta, Andrea Caizzi and others are also at the coalface on the Belgium 2024 champonnat! 

Checkpoint

The third level of the fourth of seven opening days of the Belgian Poker Challenge 2024 Main Event is underway. With 105 players competing for 110 entrants on Day 1D of the BPC 2024, the tournament's provisional attendance has climbed to almost 530 entrants... still on target to approach the 1,332 entrants of the previous edition won by Omar Lakhdari.

The Emperor of Paris, and of Namur, has also made an appearance and is currently competing in the Super High Roller. A warm-up for the title defense! Back to the main event, where the day's average is 52,000 chips and an Israeli has taken the lead. Ittai Gluska is up to 110,000 chips after 2 hours at poker. 

Chipcount
Itta Gluska 110 000
Mark Roovers 103 000
Xavier Dupuy 88 000
Johan Mertens 85 000
Pietro Amoruso 82 000
Idir Haiche 79 000
Abdel Lamrani 77 000
Salvatore Allatta 70 000
Philippe Bara 70 000
Johnny Nedved 66 000
David Olurebi 65 000
Eile Custinne 64 000
Raphael Canta 60 000
Dalil Masaud 58 000
Quentin Hupliez 58 000
Theo Milioni 55 000
Patrick Aerts 54 000
Jean Gessis 53 000
Luc Gillard 52 000
Joffrey Godet 52 000
Benjamin Celaudoux 52 000
Mathias Moutaoukil 50 000
Mehidi Sahli 50 000
Jorden Verbraeken 48 000
Alain Fleurent 44 000
Andrea Caizzi 36 000
Aurelie Dassi 36 000
Arnaud Danes 36 000

New Players

The crowds are growing as the blinds are increased to 200 - 500 (500). The table now shows 115 players in the running for 129 entrants, with an average of 56,000 chips. 

After another unsuccessful attempt on the Super High-RollerSimon Wiciak tries his luck again in the Main Event. Team Pro PokerStars will be joined by the Alilovic brothers and, of course, Miro. Greg Biermans, Sam Polo Riva, Johnny Nedved, Patrick Aerts, Yann Nasser, Luca Ta and Philippe Riminucci are also in the running at the Circus Casino Resort. 

Like Soner Guzel, Aurélie Dassi is also in the battle of Namur...

"Want a hit?"

A big tour of the room to accompany the photographer and enable him to discover the Namur regulars... and there are plenty of them as the 5th level of Day 1D of the Belgian Poker Challenge gets underway. 124 players are competing for 146 entrants and an average of 59,000 chips... Yann Nasser and Johan Mertens are on top after a good start, chatting quietly like good neighbors.

I ask the fateful question: "Don't you have a story to tell?" Johan Mertens answers in a matter-of-fact tone... "do you want a hit? I had a shot of red, and he had a shot of white," he grins. Now we're off to get a Tripick for the pre-aperitif! 

Mathias Moutaoukil spent the aperitif in pain. The Moroccan lost a pot worth twice his starting stack when he went all-in with the Aces on a dangerous board. He was paid by Ace-King for a flush draw and a belly. The Jack was one of the 10 outs to avoid, and Mathias doubled up twice to get back to 26,000 chips. Dirou Niya khoya!

Another coup at the Circus Casino Resort tables in Namur... a confrontation between Xavier Dupuy and Dalil Masaud. It was a rematch between the two men, Dalil having bluffed the first time. This time he opened on the cutoff and saw Xavier defend in the big blind. No action on the flop Queen Jack Jack with two hearts... no action on the turn 6 of hearts... and finally Xavier comes out to 2,500 chips on a river 2.

Dalil raises to 6,000 chips... and is 3-bet by Xavier to 12,000. Dalil then sends in 26,000 and this provokes a snap-fold face-up from Xavier with Ace 2 of hearts. Nice player Dalil turns over Dame Valet for the flopped full house, Masaud continues to sail above 100,000 while Dupuy keeps 80,000 for himself after this brawl. 

Finally, a word about Stefan Albu, who tanks for a very long time on a King Jack 8 Queen 8 board, where his opponent asks for his all-in while remaining unperturbed. Stefan hesitates again and again before folding face-up the straight and ace-ten. Vilain shows him King 8 of clubs for another Full House. Nice fold buddy! 

Break

There are 4 minutes left to play on 300 - 600 (600) before a half-hour break during which we'll make a big chipcount... 128 players are on track for 154 entries, i.e. almost 600 players on all starting days at the moment.

Level 6 of Day 1D will start just after 6 p.m., so we're going to concentrate on the Super High Roller, where it's all bubbly! 

Reprise

Play resumes at blinds 400 - 800 (800) with an average of 61,000 chips... the table shows 129 players for 158 entrants.

Dutchman Mark Roovers, who has sucked in three stacks since the start, is in the lead for the moment, as you can see from this chipcount made by the Namur staff...

Chipcount
Mark Roovers 190 000
Pietro Amoroso 170 000
Luc Ta 160 000
Rob Hendrikx 142 000
David Olurebi 117 000 (photo)
Jonathan de Schepper 116 000
Tobias Peters 103,000
Fabrizio Quattrocchi 103,000
Raphael Canta 95,000
Christian Alilovic 93,000
Yann Nasser 92,000
Jean Gessis 89,000
Simon Wiciak 88,000
Vincent Thys 85,000
Johnny Nedved 80 000
Johan Mertens 80 000
Kostya Zaks 79 000
Abdel Lamrani 71 000
Julien Duveau 71 000
Miro Alilovic 70 000
Alain Fleurent 70 000
Arnaud Danes 68 000
Francois Gorssmann 62 000
Greg Biermans 55 000
Miguel Coussement 50 000
Rayane Mokhtar 50 000
Christos Triantaphyllou 50 000
Theo Milini 48 000
Jorden Verbraeken 38 000
Mathias, Moutaoukil 32 000
Idir Haiche 30 000
Aurelie Dassi 13 000
Stefan Albu 7 000

New Level

The game goes on, the blinds will climb to 500 - 1000 (1000) imminently and the field has been reduced to 123 players seated at the tables of the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. 

The table shows 167 entries for what is currently the biggest opening day of the Belgian Poker Challenge. Day 1D of the BPC 2024 sees provisional attendance rise to 588 entrants... a decent figure given that registration remains open until Thursday 1pm and the start of Day 2. 

With an average of 68,000 chips, Raphael Canta (110,000) was well positioned. Guy Geussens also capitalized well after chatting up Mathias Moutaoukil at the start of the day. Mathias didn't succeed in his remontada, and has just gone to the cashier for re-entry... 

Dinner break

It's the dinner break on Day 1D of the €1,100 buy-in BPC 2024 Main Event. The return of the players will be on 500 - 1500 (1500)...

Resumption at 8.55 p.m., with 109 players currently in the running and 176 registered for Day 1D. Day 1E kicks off at 9 p.m., with 11 rounds of 25 minutes each... 

Chipcount
Marc Gets 230,000
Xavier Dupuy 225,000 (photo)
Rob Hendrikx 220,000
Mark Roovers 206,000
Pietro Amoroso 163,000
Luc Ta 163,000
Orhan Serbes 150,000
Kostya Zaks 134,000
Jonathan de Schepper 132,000
Dalil Masaud 125,000
Raphael Canta 119,000
Yann Nasser 111,000
Philippe Bara 95,000
Patrick Aerts 85,000
Johnny Nedved 83,000
Christian Ailovic 78,000
Alain Fleurent 75,000
Jorden Verbraeken 75,000
Rafael Lion 75,000
Ingo Croes 70,000
Greg Biermans 68,000
Mathias Moutaoukil 64,000
Francois Grossmann 62,000
Quentin Hupliez 58,000
Idir Haiche 55,000
Simon Wiciak 51,000
Julien Duveau $50,000
Mehdi Violleau 46,000
Mehidi Sahli 45,000
Philippe Riminucci 45,000
Johan MErtens 42,000
Romain Le Dantec 32,000
Miro Alilovic 31,000
Joffrey Godet 30,000
Luc Gillard 23,000

Top 100

Level 9 is underway on the BPC 2024 Main Event, with 95 players remaining on Day 1D. The average is 95,000 with blinds now on 1,000 - 1,500 (1,500).

Ahmed Jirjees has just given away his last 21,000 chips. After an open, Ahmed called with 17,000 behind... in the small blind Luc Ta 3-bet to 21,500 chips and Philippe Bara called in the big blind to provoke the opener's fold. After deliberation with himself, AHmed paid covered.

The dealer then unwrapped a Queen 6 4 flop with no action and when Luc bet 15,000 on the Ace on the turn, Bara bailed. Ahmed turned over Jack 7 of clubs, in the middle of the pampas and shooting dead against the German's Ace King. Ta eliminated Jirjees one brick later, bringing the total back up to 150,000 chips just before this table broke.

Miguel Coussement, Miro Alilovic, Alain Fleurent and David Kahan were all eliminated in the final minutes, and they all headed off to Day 1E Turbo (11 levels of 25 minutes each, editor's note), which started at 9 p.m. and brought together some twenty candidates.

Omar Lakhdari is in the area, and will be making his Main Event debut on Day 1F, starting at 1 p.m. on Wednesday...

Live Stream SHR

Experience the end of the €3300 Super High Roller live with the cards revealed...

Last Break

Play resumes at blinds 1000 - 2000 (2000) for the final two 50-minute levels of Day 1D. 84 players remain in the running for this FLight, which has so far attracted 184 entries. 

The average is 109,000 chips, the same stack as Yann Nasser (photo), while others are looking ahead, such as Mathias Moutaoukil, who just called a nice bluff in a 3-bet pot.

Philippe Bara, Christian Alilovic, Inigo Croes, Joao Faria and Patrick Aerts will have to try again....

Chipcount

Xavier Dupuy 315,000
Lin Yi 228,000
Marc Gets 222,000
Ohran Serbes 213,000
Mark Roovers 206,000
Raphael Canta 186,000
Mathias Moutaoukil 177,000

Luc Ta 170 000
Simon Wiciak 170 000
Pietro Amoroso 163 000
Mehidi Sahli 156 000
Ohran Serbes 150 000
Guy Guessens 150 000
Jonathan de Schepper 121 000
Tobias Peters 115 000
Yann Nasser 111 000
Rafael Lion 111 000
Dalil Masaud 105 000
Maxime Robin 90 000
Jorden Verbraeken 72 000
Idir Haiche 60 000
Salvatore Allatta 57 000
Luc Gillard 16 000

Sprint

There's still a good half-hour to go on Day 1D of the Belgian Poker Challenge... the moment chosen by Finaldais Teemu Autio to register for the tournament. Teemu debuts with 50,000 chips at the table of tournament chipleader Adrian Balatriu. With a good 400,000 in chips, the Romanian is also lucky enough to see this new player arrive just to his right...

With 72 players left out of the 189 entrants on this fourth opening day, the average is 130,000 chips in the blinds 1000 - 2500 (2500) and Guy Guessens will have to try his luck again. A Full vs. Full encounter proved fatal... identical verdict and off to the rail for Kostya Zaks, Luc Gillard and Julien Duveau.

5 Last Hands

With the clock winding down, the last 5 hands proved fatal for several players. Mehidi Sahli was eliminated in-extremis, but it was mainly Yann Nasser's table that put on a show. 

Bubble-boy of the Super High-Roller, Christos Triantaphyllou ended the Main Event with a bang. Christos opens and pays out of position on Filip Oles' 3-bet. Christos check-calls the continuation bet on the King Ten 3 flop and the duo discover a turn 2. Christos checks... then snap cal lwhen Oles goes all-in. Christos turns over three of a kind and finds an ace-valet from the Pole... who hits a miracle queen river! Christos falls into limbo but doubles King 2 against Filip's Dams on the next hand! 

On the last hand, Yann Nasser opens, is 3-bet by his neighbor on the left and Hervé Decker pushes all in. So does Christos and Nasser moves all in. The raiser calls A Ten and strikes Hervé's King Jack and Christos' 8 and 2 merguez... in full tilt! 

Belgium still on top

With 190 entrants, the fourth of the seven starting days of the €1,100 Belgian Poker Challenge Main Event has been the biggest since the tournament began. The BPC, which guarantees a €1 million prizepool, has so far attracted 605 entrants.

A total of 59 players have bagged up chips after 11 50-minute levels on Day 1D... bringing the total number of qualifiers to 191 for Day 2 at 1pm on Thursday. Entries and re-entries are permitted right up to the first hand of Day 2, which will start with 1000 - 2500 (2500) and a doubled level, as these are also the blinds at the end of Day 1...

After two opening days dominated by two French players, Belgium is levelling the playing field with another chipleader from the Flat Country for the second night running. This time it's that devil Xavier Dupuy who has put together the biggest stack. "I almost regret selling so much," laughed the Belgian. "It's the stakers who'll be happy... even if we're going to think about making the ITM first", continued this amateur author of a perfect day. Nice bluffs, nice folds, value, perfect timing, Tobias Peters' delivery, hands that held up - the perfect recipe for 455,500 chips and 9 times the starting stack.

Adrian Balatriu had climbed higher, but the Romanian faltered at the end to bag up just 393,000 chips. He is ahead of Dutchman Rob Hendrikx (314,000). Benoit Mahoux (308,000) also had a solid day, as did Mathias Moutaoukil. The Namur regular has 254,500 chips for Day 2...

Mark Roovers, Marc Gets, Jonathan de Schepper, Quentin Hupliez, Idir Haiche, Johnny Nedved, Vincent Thys, Orhan Serbes, Filip Oles, Yann Nasser, Maxime Robin, Tobias Peters, Kostya Zaks, Aurélie Dassi and Team Pro PokerStars Simon Wiciak (192,500) are also in the running...

Full Chipcount 1D Main Event BPC 2024
Xavier Dupuy 455,500
Adrian Balatriu 393,500
Rob Hendrikx 314,000
Benoit Mahoiux 308,500
Mathias Moutaoukil 254,500
Jhonn Lienard 248,500
Lin Yi 247,000
Pietro Amoruso 238,500
Sebastien Remy 235,000
Mark Roovers 222,000
Marc Gets 221,000
Jonathan de Schepper 202,000

Tobis PEters 198,500
Simon Wiciak 192,500
donato Di Carlo 188,500
Raphael Canta 187,500
Maxime Robin 187,500
abedel Douair 184,000
Anthony Schindfessel 181,500
Dotan Kelijman 180,500

Giovanni Camardella 168,000
Ittai Gluska 165,500
Yann Nasser 155,000
Idir Haiche 146,500
Maik Retter 146,000
Navid Saberin 146,000
Filip Oles 144,000

Gilles Gauyacq 140,000
Orhan Serbes 140,000
Chris Rubini 137,000
Juhani Lehto 136,500
Patrick Rietveld 136,500
Billy Tuaiva 125,000
Salvatore Falco 117,500
Quentin Hupliez 117,000 000
Fatih Aydin 116 000

Johnny Nedved 110 000
Greg Biermans 106 000
Vincent Thys 104 500
Stan van Dijk 102 000
Robert van Strijbos 100 000
Kostya Zaks 69 000
Martin Lenoch 68 000
Tom Hoebrechts 66 000

Luc Ta 55 000
Jorden Verbraeken 54 000
Aurelie Dassi 54 000
Joffrey Godet 46 500

*Some players have banded but are absent from this list because they prefer to remain anonymous...