Seat-Draw from Day 3

315 players on Day 2 of the Main Event

Chipleader Steven Wright

Welcome to the big gathering on Day 2 of the €350 buy-in Namur Classics Main Event. Finally, 1,270 entries have been counted since the start of Day 1 on Monday, and today there will be 315 players back in the blinds 2,500 / 5,000 (5,000) for an average of 200,000.

183 players will be paid a minimum of €535 and the winner of the event will walk away with a handsome €60,000 cheque. The top 4 players will also earn a ticket to the €2,200 Circus Poker Series Main Event next December.

The Top 10 at the start of the new season :

Dashboard :

DAY 1A - 189 entries, 43 qualifiers - Chipleader : Steven Wright 652,500
DAY 1B - 191 entries, 43 qualifiers - Chipleader: Yoan Argence 577,000
DAY 1C - 143 entries, 31 qualifiers - Chipleader: Maradona Abaz 556,000
DAY 1D - 216 entries, 47 qualifiers - Chipleader: Derya Apuhan 588,500
JOUR 1E - 55 entries, 19 qualifiers - Chipleader: Vincent Vinet 405,500
JOUR 1F - 361 entries, 95 qualifiers - Chipleader: Ronny Bouwmans 600,000
JOUR 1G - 115 entries, 39 qualifiers - Chipleader: Hervé Decker 390,000

60,000 for the Main Event winner

183 players will be paid on this €350 Namur Classics Main Event, with a minimum of €535.

The winner of this 2024 edition will walk away with a handsome cheque for €60,000, and the top four finishers will also have the additional right to a €2,200 ticket to the CPS Main Event next December.

Damamme in Vandamme mode

Fabrice Damamme gets off to an incredible start. Starting with 98,000, or just 20 blinds, he reached 480,000 20 minutes later.

The reason, among others? A huge setup that allowed him to make a strike... or almost, and triple his stack.

Sandro Moutoussamy opens at 12,000. He is paid by Abdelhafid Ghendouz at the cut-off and Fabrice Damamme on the button.

It's on the Th-Jd-Kh flop that all hell breaks loose between the three men. Continuation bet to 25,000 from the initial raiser, paid by the cut-off. Put yourself in Fabrice Damamme's shoes at this point. You check your cards, yes, you didn't dream, the dealer gave you Jh-Jc.

Fabrice decides to raise the stakes to 65,000. In response, he gets two successive all-ins. He pays and is in a very good position against Kd-Js from the initial raise and Tc-Td from the interposed player, for a big family setup.

If Sandro Moutoussamy is out of the running on this one, Abdelhafid Ghendouz still has a bundle to his name. Will he be able to recover?

A chip and a chair... or not

On a table with Damien Hupé, Aliosha Staes and Adrien Fraiture, a Dutch player has just left the tournament in a most brutal fashion.

On the button, he's pleasantly surprised to discover As-Kd on the button with a stack of 22 blinds. He opens to 12,000 (out of 3,000/6,000) and is paid by small blind Adrien Fraiture before Andreas Boelling decides to put his 129,500 stack in the middle with Kh-9d.

It's paid in the second by Jasmin Sertovic, who sees the dealer unpack a 9 of clubs to send him packing out of the tournament.

Well, no, not really, he drops to 500 chips. A chip and a chair? Hope will have lasted a minute, as Adrien Fraiture finishes him off the next hand.

Andreas Boelling

Fallen in action

Samuel Bovy, among the first victims of the day

Not surprisingly, the first level of the day, which was extended to 50 minutes from today, proved to be a killer, with 42 victims falling with chips in hand.

Among them, let's pay a heartfelt tribute to Cédric Schumacher, Tino de Zutter, Thierry Penders, Dimitry Marichal, Eddy Veillard, Roger Edain, Yassine Baqal, Jordan Levy, Samuel Bovy, Gilles Masaud and Kevin Pietquin, all of whom must have imagined a different ending.

Fortunately, for those disappointed with the Main Event, the organizers have thought of everything. At 3:30pm, a satellite for the €800 High-Roller kicks off at the Circus Casino Resort. The High-Roller kicks off at 6:00 pm, and is sure to attract some big regs at poker.

Mission to Mars-ani

Djeremy Marsani

Stefan Aerts was eliminated in the second level of the day.

In Hi-Jack, Stefan Aerts opens at 12,000 and is paid only by Djeremy Marsani from the small blind.

On the 3s-Qh-As flop, Stefan Aerts makes a classic continuation bet to 15,000. Djeremy Marsani just checks/calls.

It's on the 9h turn that the action begins. And if you knew the hands of our two protagonists, you'd understand the logic.

Check to Djeremy, 18,000 from Stefan, check/raise to 40,000 from Djeremy, 3-bet to 105,000 from Stefan and all-in for 200,000 effective from Djeremy. It's paid!

The games :

Ac-Ad for Djeremy Marsani for brelan max

9c-9s for Stefan Aerts for third flush

No 9 on the river and Djeremy Marsani is up to 490,000 chips, while Stefan Aerts has to fold.

225 players in the hunt for paid places

Like the previous level, Level 14 (3,000 / 6,000 - 6,000) was a bloody affair. There are already only 225 players left in the Main Event after more than 50 eliminations in the last level. 

Tetiana Kovalchuk

Among the victims were Tetiana Kovalchuk, Jasmin Sertovic, Jean-Claude Anquetil, Aliosha Staes, Mohamed Razab, Vincent Verdickt, François Heine, Pascal Honai, Francis Agusti, Brice Moulin, Marc Hansens, Guy Goosens, Raphael Canta, Benoît Mahoux, Stefan Aerts, Jean-Luc Fournier, Julien Poulain, Wesley Peinen and Gaël Fauconnier.

The bubble is getting dangerously close and could well burst at the next level. It would take another 42 eliminations to get into the paid places.

Magny court

At Yoan Argence's table, dazzling with nearly 600,000 chips in front of him, his neighbor on the left had a glimpse of the exit door... before once again believing in his chances at this Namur Classics Main Event.

Under the gun, Gilles Magny opens at 16,000 (with a stack of around 90,000), only to be 3-bet to 43,000 by Marius Nistor at the cut-off. German Thomas Jaeger takes the opportunity to try his luck with a 30,000 micro-bet on the button. Gilles Magny takes the floor and sends in his stack, only to be snapped up by Marius Nistor.

The games :

Jc-Jd for Gilles Magny

Kh-Qh for Thomas Jaeger

Ac-As for Marius Nistor

At the end of a sensational Qc-8h-Qs-9h-Ts board, Gilles Magny rescued himself from a bad situation to re-enter the tournament with 225,000 now in front of him, while Marius Nistor dropped to 170,000.

Thomas Jaeger glimpsed the hope of a triple-up, but hope was short-lived with this backdoor straight hit by Gilles Magny with his pair of Jacks.

First millionaire

With 197 players left, I've just bumped into what looks to me like the first millionaire of this Namur Classics Main Event, the only guy in the room who has put together 20 starting stacks in 15 levels of play.

In a few hours' time, the millionaires will be numerous, but for the time being, let's take advantage of this nice stack of 1,030,000 from Dutch player Ruben Steenhuis, a regular at the poker festivals at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.

The bubble should burst after the first break of the day, on blinds 5,000 / 10,000 (10,000). Among the latest withdrawals arePatrick Prijot, Daniel Domb, Malcolm Franchi, Emmanuel Legat, Corentin Barbosa, Guillaume Navaro, Rachid Sekkaï, Xavier James, Rachid Oufaska, Alain Buisson, Yves Senterre, Jean-Pierre Kocks, Martin "Fleix" Schneiders, Ruben Tack, Aziz Kendel, Antoine Vranken and Olivier Ledouble.

The bubble is close to the first break

Ronny Bouwmans, still one of the Main Event's big stacks

At the first break of the day, only 191 players remained in the Namur Classics Main Event, returning to the 5,000 / 10,000 blinds (10,000) for an average of 331,463.

The bubble is very close and should burst during this level.

Let's take a look at the big stacks before the poker tournament.

Selective chip-counting :

Ruben Steenhuis 1 000 000
Calvin Steiner 963 000
Robert Hanoch 898 000
Harun Karakus 865 000
Gianni Lodi 800 000
Carmine Giordano 780 000
Carpe Diem 730 000
Ronny Bouwmans 710 000
Michele Galatola 700 000
Jeroen Reiber 670 000
Tonio Ruggiu 645 000
Jimmy Hierso 635 000
Andreas Kaschubeck 620 000
Taras Nimylovych 573 000
Rainer Emde 570 000
Santi Sungkapas 565 000
Dimitri Loge 564 000
Derya Apuyan 563 000
Dieu Lam 550 000
Michel Verboven 530 000
Christophe Boutter 520 000
Ercan Mandrake 520 000
Tom Flamang 515 000
Maurice Rustveld 507 000
Jérémy Baldisseri 500 000
Farukh Tach 492 000
Pierre Neuville 462 000
Jean Vieilletoile 440 000
Jérôme Sgorrano 425 000
Yannick Ansenne 370 000
Eric Chevalot 303 000
David Kahan 220 000
Djamal Boutaleb 173 000
Damien Hupé 110 000

Busy as ever

Damien Hupé can usually hold out for hours with a small stack, especially when the paid seats are approaching. This time, however, he decided to send in his 12 blinds with As-Queens of diamonds at the end of the hand.

The only hitch is that the table chipleader reshoves right behind him with As-King.

Damien Hupé thinks he's chatting up an unexpected double-up when he finds a Q-J-4 flop and another Q on the turn. But a killer T hits the river and deprives him of yet another ITM on a Namur event.

He finished 186th in the Main Event.

Yannick Ansenne bubble-boy of the Namur Classics Main Event

It took 4 hands of hand-for-hand action to reduce the field from 185 to 183 players and reveal the name of the bubble-boy of this Namur Classics Main Event... and it's a familiar face, unfortunately, ex-Team Poker One representative Yannick Ansenne.

We quickly lost the 185th player in this Main Event, in a twist of fate. With 80,000 in front of him, Patrick Hutsch found an ideal hand to send his 8 blinds into the middle, Ah-Ks.

He is paid by Patrick Wulf with Kc-Qc from the big blind.

Well favored to double up, he was disappointed when a board of Jc-7s-7h-9c-Ts gave his opponent a straight, and he had to leave the tournament just short of the paid seats.

Patrick Hutsch, 185th in the Main Event

On the same hand, Mathias Henin could well have become the bubble-boy of this Main Event. From the small blind, he sent out his 15-blind stack with As-6 diamonds and found a payer in Mischa Wieten from the big blind with a pair of 9's. Mathias found two pair on the flop to survive.

Then, at Jerome Sgorrano's table, a player has the brilliant idea of just paying on the river with a pair of 7s in hand on a 4-5-7-J-4 board when his opponent holds a pair of Jacks. He falls to 80,000 after the move but preserves his chances in the tournament by deciding not to put it all in here.

Three short-stacks managed to double, David Kahan and Salvatore Alessi with an overpair against a pair, and Niels Gybels by winning a Queen flip against As-King by finding a magnificent runner-runner flush when his opponent had hit a King.

On the third hand of the hand-by-hand, a player found himself crippled at 12,000 after making a bad call on a Qd-9c-Kh-Td-Qc board where he was shown Qs-Ts for a full house.

It was on the fourth hand of the hand-for-hand that Yannick Ansenne released all the players in the room, finishing in the worst place of the tournament.

Under the gun, he opens at 25,000 (with around 30 blinds at the start of the move) and is paid only by Michele Galatola.

He then checks/calls twice on a 5h-Kd-5d-9s board, including his opponent's all-in bet on the turn. His Ks-Qs will find no improvement against his opponent's Ac-5c, which has found trips on the board.

The 183 remaining players can rejoice, as they are guaranteed to win a minimum of €535.

A quarter of an hour in hell

Up to 400,000, Djamal Boutaleb has just endured a quarter of an hour in hell which led her to give up all her chips in 4 successive moves, in 148th place in this Namur Classics Main Event.

It all starts with an all-in for 50,000 from a short stack with As-Queens. Djamal Boutaleb pays with a pair of Jacks in hand and sees the dealer slam an Ace on the turn and a Queen on the river.

A few minutes later, he again pays a short-stack player's stack with As-Dix of spades. He's still ahead of his opponent's Queen-9, who directly finds a Queen on the flop to deprive Djamal of this move.

Then he'll lose a very big move where he opens with a pair of tens in hand, gets paid once, and sees his opponent raise all-in on a 2-3-8 flop. He pays to be shown a pair of 8s for three of a kind.

This 450,000 pot escapes him and drops him to 90,000. The next hand, he goes all in with a pair of 8s following a raise to 35,000. His opponent considers himself committed and pays him off with ten-six of spades. Djamal has already put on the jacket when the Ten falls on the river.

Jaded by this violent series of bad moves, Djamal Boutaleb looks as if he's having a bad day. " It's been 4 months that things have been going badly at tournaments," Djamal told me on Day 1.

Let's not forget the indecent run he's had over the last three years here in Namur with no less than 6 five-figure perfs, including 4th place in the BPC Namur in 2022 for €46,374, his best performance to date on the live circuit.

Pop-Corn time

As expected, the post-bubble period quickly delivered its share of eliminated players, who no longer hesitated to put their chips in the middle to catch up and begin the long-awaited remontada.

Alexandre Wastiaux, Adrien Fraiture, Jonathan Radouan, Aymé Louis, Antoine de Poortere, Gael Peres, Dimitrios Loupakis, Franck Loupakis, Samir Chebaane, Benn Proost, Arnaud Debaille, Frédéric Simon, Antonio Cabanas, Alain Caliber, Frédéric Davidts, Cyril Jacquin, Guillaume Pannier, Michel Verboven, Francesco Greco, Djamal Boutaleb, Jensen Bernard, Hervé Decker or Abdelkrim Chenoufi.

There are currently only 139 players left in the event, and the organizers have announced that play will continue until 11.30pm and the end of level 21.

Tic Tach

A solid representative of the Dutch scene here in Namur, where he is racking up a string of impressive performances, including his victory in this same tournament in 2022, Farukh Tach is struggling today on Day 2, with around 15 blinds in front of him after a lost move with a pair of queens in his hand.

On the button, he opens to 30,000 (from 10,000/15,000) and is paid by Ahmed Jirjees from the small blind and Hans Kaufmann from the big blind.

On flop 2h-9d-Th, Farukh Tach sends a continuation bet to 35,000 and doesn't scare anyone away.

On the Kd turn, Hans Kaufmann goes straight for 80,000 with Kc-Jc and Farukh Tack fails to part with his Qh-Qs for a few more rounds.

After a harmless river, Farukh Tach drops to 210,000, while his opponent climbs to 400,000.

Falling like flies

Maxence Melin, 123rd in the Main Event

The eliminations are coming thick and fast just before the dinner-break, and many of the eliminated players will be joining the ranks of the €800 High-Roller, which started in the other tournament room.

Recent releases include Simon Delhuille, Andrea Caizzi, Rodolphe Coulon, Wim Verhaegen, Julien André, Santi Sungkapas, Hielke Jaarsma and Maxence Melin.

There are already just 115 players left in the field, and the dinner-break will take place at 8:00 pm.

Lodi carbide

We talked about Gianni Lodi at the very start of Day 1, when he limped/called with As-6 and finally found four of a kind. "Since then, I must have won at least 4 moves with As-6," he tells me just after destacking a player. Here he is now at 1.2 million, among the largest stacks in the tournament with 106 players remaining.

His latest victim, Ukraine's Taras Nimylovych, got a bit carried away when he went all-in 3-bet with As-Dix on a T-4-2 flop when Gianni Lodi was waiting for him with Tens in his hand.

A river that doesn't save the one we expected

A rather crazy move occurred on table 21 just before the dinner-break. The move began with a 30,000 UTG raise from Walter Van Camberg with 6h-6d in his hand.

From the small blind, Dominic Mathys thinks about paying. The raise calls out: "You can fold too, you know?" - I've got a hand to raise," Dominic replies, before simply paying.

On the Jh-Jc-2h flop, Walter Van Camberg sends a continuation bet of 45,000 and is checked/called by his opponent.

The turn is a magnificent 6c which gives him a full house and he continues to tell his story by placing a 60,000 bet in front of him. Again, he is paid by his opponent.

The river is a 2c which completely changes his plans, as now any jack beats him. Dominic Mathys takes advantage of this to push his stack straight up, claiming the remaining 350,000 from Walter Van Camberg.

Disgusted, he ends up folding his pair of 6s, bitter, saying that this 2 saves his opponent. In fact, we learn that the opposite is true, since Dominic Mathys had flopped the full house with Jd-2d in his hand. And that 2 may well have saved Walter in this story.

Dinner-break: players return at 9:10 p.m.

The 106 remaining players in the Namur Classics Main Event have just gone into dinner-break.

They will return at 9.10pm to the 10,000/20,000 blinds (20,000) for an average of 597,259.

Selective chip-counting at the break:

Hans Visser 1 900 000
Tom Flamang 1 480 000
Eufrasio Piano 1 415 000
Niels Gybels 1 400 000
Ercan Mandrake 1 350 000
Gianni Lodi 1 300 000
Yoan Argence 1 150 000
Arnaud Koopmans 1 140 000
Harrie Snijder 1 100 000
Pierre Neuville 1 025 000
Bart Huskens 990 000
Ronny Bouwmans 980 000
Omar Abda 975 000
Andreas Gondrom 960 000
Jorge Brito 930 000
Maurice Rustveld 930 000
Dalil Masaud 915 000
Jeroen Reiber 890 000
Luca Pecoraro 850 000
Robert Hanoch 830 000
Djeremy Marsani 810 000
Navid Saberin 780 000
Andreas Kaschubeck 765 000
Alexander Van Dam 755 000
Carpe Diem 710 000
Michele Galatola 710 000
Gaetano Moreci 640 000
Morgan Poisson 570 000
Maradona Abaz 515 000
Rico Chevalot 430 000

Omar Abda

Rico massoné

Rico Chevalot and his neighbor Vincenzo Malvetti

After scraping up lots of small pots at his new table, going from 300k to 700k and even gracing us with a little 3-barrel bluff with Ts-7s on a 4c-8h-6c-2d-Kc board against his short-stack neighbor Vincenzo Malvetti, Rico Chevalot has just lost a ton on a bad beat inflicted by Florian Masson.

With an image of a very active player, Rico Chevalot opens at 40,000 UTG+1. He is paid by his neighbor Vincenzo Malvetti. On the button, Florian Masson imitates Jack Salter's sign, indicating to the dealer that he wants to go all-in.

Rico Chevalot reshoves very quickly, and for good reason, he holds Qh-Qs.

His opponent turns over Ac-Qc and manages to chat on a Jh-6d-Tc-Kc-9c board which offers him the straight on the turn and the flush on the river.

Florian Masson's stack was 280,000. If you do the math, Florian Masson now has 600,000 and Rico Chevalot 420,000. Back to the grind for Team Poker One's last representative on this Main Event.

Florian Masson

Where are the women?

It's sad to write, but with 80 players left, there are no women left in the Namur Classics Main Event.

Dutchwoman Wilhelmina Van Vegchel put her remaining 280,000 (11 blinds) with Kings in the blinds following an open from her compatriot Kay Dassen at the beginning of the floor. 

The villain of the piece paid with As-Valet and found an Ace on the flop to eliminate the player in 81st place in the tournament, leaving the men to fight it out for the big bucks.

She still walked away with €765 for her fine tournament performance and her third ITM in a row after the Winter (192nd) and the Carnival (184th).

So far, so near

The first level after dinner-break was cruel for many players who may have thought their Namur Classics Main Event adventure would continue on Day 3.

But for Jérôme Sgorrano, Christophe Vinsous, Gonzague Draguez, Steven Wright, Bart Huskens, Dimitri Bensimon, Fabrice Damamme, Jordy Engelen, Romeo Lascoux, Benoît Tombeur, David Kahan, Walter Buss or Christophe François.

Bring home the Koopmans

Arnaud Koomans and Kay Dassen

What looked like a huge preflop setup turned into a genius move at 70 left on the Namur Classics Main Event.

The action begins with a raise to UTG 75,000 from Arnaud Koopmans.

One notch to his left, Kay Dassen 3-bet to 200,000. The floor goes back to the original raiser, who decides to just call. Come on, you want to know his hand? Two beautiful black kings.

On the Jh-5h-3c flop, Arnaud checks/calls his opponent's 130,000 bet.

Again for 150,000 on the 9h turn which brings a third heart.

The Ah river brings a 4th heart and Arnaud figures his only way to win the hand is to retake the lead. He raises to 400,000 and manages to get Kay Dassen to fold face-up, holding Ad-Ac.

Arnaud Koopmans can proudly show off his two Kings and cash in this pot which takes him up to 200,000 before the final break of the day.

As for Kay Dassen, he's still got a nice rug to stand on, as he's still topping the million mark.

April Fools' Day

With 370,000 in front of him after tripling up on a spot where he open shoved his 5 blinds with Ad-Kd and managed to win against 9c-9h despite a Jc-8d-9d flop, finding a flush on the river, Morgan Poisson is rehashing two moves that could have taken him up to 1.5 million, rather than rejoicing at still being alive in this tournament which promises €60,000 to the winner.

At the break, he tells me about a first move where he made a nit fold by passing the Jacks preflop after a UTG 3-bet raise by a player in the middle of the floor. He regretfully passes the Jacks and the UTG player eventually wins the move with As-9 on a 9-high board.

But it's the second one he tells me that's particularly hard for him to digest.

UTG+1, he opens at 2x with 3-3 in hand. He is paid by the Hi-Jack and the BB. He places a continuation bet on flop 5-4-7 with his gutshot and is paid twice.

All three players check on turn Q.

The river 6 brings him the straight he was hoping for and he sees the big blind push his stack straight into an overbet for 375,000.

With 690,000 in front of him (and covered by the Hi-Jack), Morgan decides to call, convinced he's ahead. The only hitch is that the Hi-Jack player also calls with a curious As-8 for the top straight, and the big blind mucks as expected.

Last level of the day

At the final break of the day, just 65 players remain in the Namur Classics Main Event, returning for a final round of blinds 15,000 / 30,000 - 30,000.

Recent releases :

Charlier and his funny Ten

He had made the jacket move when he went all-in for his last 6 blinds with As-8 against As-9, saved by an 8 on the turn.

Denis Charlier is back in business, with 1.1 million ahead of him on a shot where he might not have done so well.

After an open from Lagdar Sadoudi to 75,000 in the middle of the hand, Denis Charlier pushes his stack to the button for just over 500,000. Shortly covered, Giovanni Ventura shoves from the small blind. 

From the big blind, Marc Gets folde, making a point of discreetly showing me his As-Dame. Lagdar Sadoudi passes quickly and the games are revealed:

Td-Ts for Denis Charlier

Ac-Kd for Giovanni Ventura.

One board with a Queen later and Marc Gets could rue not having gambled on this move, with a stack roughly equivalent to the other two players.

It was Denis Charlier who did the trick with this decisive coin flip, putting him back in the game with just a few minutes to go before the end of the day.

And for fun, the jacket trick

Ronny Bouwmans chipleader at 50 left after Day 2

Only 50 players remain after Day 2 of the Namur Classics Main Event, and the chipleader is Day 1F chipleader Ronny Bouwmans with a stack of 3,690,000, edging out long-time tournament chipleader Carpe Diem, who finishes with 3,605,000.

The day's survivors are all in the money and guaranteed to win a minimum of €1,015.

Carpe Diem

Among the players still in with a chance of landing a big ticket in this Main Event are Pierre Neuville with a stack of 3,515,000 and Ludovic Roperto with 3,500,000.

A little further down the chip-count is the author of the day's move Arnaud Koopmans (2,165,000), the Dutch contingent with the inevitable Farukh Tach (2,055,000), Harrie Snijders (1,640,000), Robert Hanoch (1,485,000) and Kay Dassen (1,295,000).

Robert Hanoch

Also present are 7-handed Festival winner Yoan Argence (1,235,000), Circus regulars Eric Chevalot, Denis Charlier, Jeremy Baldisseri, Lagdar Sadoudi and Dalil Masaud.

The 50 players will return tomorrow at 2pm to the 20,000/40,000 blinds (40,000) for an average of 1,266,190.

Chip-count complete at the end of Day 2:

The day's results