Seat-Draw Day 3

50 players to start Main Event Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the Namur Classics Main Event, the penultimate day of the tournament which will see the field reduced from 50 to 9 players, for a televised final table tomorrow.

The restart takes place in the 20,000/40,000 blinds (40,000) with an average at 1.2 million.

Chipleader at the start of the day is Belgium's Ronny Bouwmans, who hasn't left the top of the leaderboard since the early hours of Day 1F, which he had already finished in chipleader position. He will have 3,690,000 in chips to start the day, or 92 blinds.

With fifteen or so players under 20 blinds, the early part of the day could provide plenty of action, with chipleaders having all the weapons in hand to put pressure on the short-stacks.

The Top 10 at the start of the new season :

An ideal start

Last in the standings at the start, Yuksel Tok climbed straight back into the middle of the pack within the first 5 minutes of play on Day 3.

After a 100,000 open from Ludovic Roperto at hi-jack, paid by Lagdar Sadoudi at the cut-off, Yuksel Tok takes the spot by pushing his 320,000 (8 blinds) all-in at the button.

He is paid by both players, and after a general check throughout an Ad-5c-Kc-Ac-Qs board, his Kh-Ts proves sufficient against Ludovic Roperto's pair of 7s and Lagdar Sadoudi's pair of 9s.

And toc, here's Yuksel at over a million with a hint of success to match.

It's Flammang at the tables today

After Christian Van der Haegen's swift exit at Pierre Neuville's table, Tom Flammang's double elimination at table 42 took place.

Under the gun, Andreas Kaschubek sends in his stack of 350,000 (9bb) with a pair of 5s in hand. On the button, Ruben Steenhuis reshoves for 1 million with As-Dix in hand. What he didn't see coming was Tom Flammang waking up with kings in the blinds.

An 8-T-T-4-K feel board later and Tom Flammang was at the head of a 3.5 million-strong stack, coming back on the breakaway Bouwmans, Neuville, Roperto and Carpe Diem.

In addition to these three departures, we also lost Marc Gets and JérémyBaldisseri in the first half-hour.

Lemaire on the campaign trail

When I see Raphaël Lemaire doubling and celebrating with the Aces in hand, I hasten to ask him what Gianni Lodi had in front of him. "Ace-King..." he tells me, before adding, "but that's not the most important thing".

He tells me about the job he won just before.

On the button, he mischievously shoved 4-2 offsuit for his remaining 350,000, got paid by Gregor Nachtigall with small blind As-Dix and will find a 2 on the river to survive.

The next hand, following a UTG shove from Gianni Lodi with As-King, he reshoved with Aces to 1.4 million, taking the scalp of one of the tournament's leading lights, and completely relaunching his career on Day 3.

It doesn't just happen on the Internet!

There's a persistent rumor that bad beats are arriving mostly on online sites, and much less online. Ask Zabihullah Abdoly what he thinks.

Early in the game, he simply limped to 40,000 with As-Ac, to trap as he confided afterwards. Jeroen Reiber isolates him at 150,000. Zabihullah reshoves for just over 1 million effective and gets snap-called by Ah-Qs.

A 9s-8s-Ts-Js-8d board delivered by the mischievous dealer later, and Zabihullah Abdoly finds himself crippled at 6 blinds due to the straight flush found by his opponent.

Zabihullah Abdoly: "Should I smile or cry?"

Germans fined

Coming as a group to this Namur Classics Main Event, the Germans passed the word around so as not to have to wait for each other.

Within two minutes, three of them were out the door.

Florian Lucks was unlucky and stayed all-in with the queens when Carpe Diem opened with the arrows on the button.

As for Heiko Raisch, he was finished off by Denis Charlier, when his pair of Kings was cracked by the pair of 7s of the Namur regular, who found a three of a kind on the flop, a crucial pot for Denis Charlier who would have found himself crippled and is now up to 800,000.

Koopmans cut-out

After a magnificent move yesterday, Arnaud Koopmans had a much more complicated day today. First, he lost a big As-King flip to Matthias Mordhorst's Queens, despite finding an Ace and King on the flop, but the crude Queen on the river cut him off from a congruous portion of his stack, 900,000.

Fallen short-stack, he finds a perfect spot with As-Jack of diamonds and 750,000 after shoving a short stack to 300,000 with 4-5 off.

He logically decided to reshove to Hi-Jack, but Takahiro Kanai was waiting for him with As-King at the cut-off. 

Despite the appearance of a flush draw on the turn, Arnaud Koopmans is still waiting for his diamond and has to leave the tournament in 36th place for a prize of €1,160.

State of the troops at the break

At the first break of the day, only 31 players remain in the Namur Classics Main Event, spread over 4 tables. The action resumes at blinds 30,000 / 60,000 (60,000).

Table 40

Mathias Henin (Belgium) 2,100,000
Kay Dassen (Netherlands) 1,900,000
Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium) 3,600,000
Eric Chevalot (France) 680,000
Pierre Neuville (Belgium) 2,920,000
Andreas Gondrom (Germany) 2,200,000
Vincent De Neve (Germany) 2,300,000

Table 41

Jimmy Hierso (France) 1,270,000
Harrie Snijders (Netherlands) 370,000
Niels Gybels (Belgium) 3,700,000
Lagdar Sadoudi (France) 2,340,000
Yuksel Tok (Germany) 760,000
Dalil Masaud (Belgium) 1,770,000
Omar Abda (Belgium) 95,000
Navid Saberin (Luxembourg) 4,420,000

Table 42

Robert Hanoch (Netherlands) 1,625,000
Takahiro Kanai (Japan) 3,800,000
Zabihullah Abdoly (Belgium) 1,360,000
Matthias Mordhorst (Germany) 2,690,000
Luca Pecoraro (Belgium) 1,570,000
Tom Flammang (Luxembourg) 2,450,000
Maradona Abaz (Italy) 515,000
Ludovic Roperto (France) 3,150,000

Table 43

Raphaël Lemaire (France) 1,500,000
Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands) 1,760,000
Carpe Diem (Italy) 5,250,000
Vincenzo Malvetti (France) 860,000
Vincent Villain (France) 1,700,000
Yoan Argence (France) 740,000
Octavian Ripan (Belgium) 1,005,000
Farukh Tach (Netherlands) 1,700,000

The winners of the first two levels of the day:

A legend departs

He'd been in bearing scratch mode for some time and had passed the first break with just 1.5 blinds. No miracle for Omar Abda, who came out all guns blazing, finding As-King for his last blind of the tournament.

He fell to As-Dix and saw his opponent find a Ten to eliminate him in 30th place in this Namur Classics Main Event, signing yet another ITM in Belgium, he who has had a Hendon Mob as long as his arm since his debut in 2013.

Because Chevalot well

The last member of Team Poker One to take part in this Main Event, Rico Chevalot has just walked out in 27th place.

He tells me about his exit, which took place in two stages.

"The dealer flashes me an Ace of Spades. The second is an Ace. I have As-Queen of Diamonds, open on the button, the big blind defends and checks/raises me on King-Jack-2 with two diamonds. I call. Turn 2, check-check. River 7, check-check, he's got King-Jack. I drop to 12 blinds, a few minutes later, I discover two UTG Jacks, I go all-in, I'm paid by Pierre Neuville. I hit my Jack on the turn but Pierre finishes in a straight. "

The most Belgian of Namur's French players scores another fine deep run in his favourite casino, 5 years after his 3rd place in the same tournament. He leaves with €1,540 to console himself, so far and yet so close to the big money.

3-table left redraw

Farukh Tach, 25th in the Main Event

After Farukh Tach's unexpected exit in 25th place, the Dutch player having lost a big blind battle to Raphaël Lemaire, we're down to the last three tables of the Main Event, with 24 players remaining.

All players are guaranteed to win a minimum of €1,540 as we move into the 40,000/80,000 blinds (80,000).

Table 40

Seat 1 - Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands)
Seat 2 - Octavian Ripan (Belgium)
Seat 3 - Niels Gybels (Belgium)
Seat 4 - Mathias Henin (Belgium)
Seat 5 - Kay Dassen (Netherlands)
Seat 6 - Dalil Masaud (Belgium)
Seat 7 - Matthias Mordhorst (Germany)
Seat 8 - Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium)

Table 41

Seat 1 - Jimmy Hierso (France)
Seat 2 - Pierre Neuville (Belgium)
Seat 3 - Lagdar Sadoudi (France)
Seat 4 - Yoan Argence (France)
Seat 5 - Carpe Diem (Italy)
Seat 6 - Yuksel Tok (Germany)
Seat 7 - Luca Pecoraro (Belgium)
Seat 8 - Zabihullah Abdoly (Belgium)

Table 42

Seat 1 - Raphaël Lemaire (France)
Seat 2 - Tom Flammang (Luxembourg)
Seat 3 - Takahiro Kanai (Japan)
Seat 4 - Robert Hanoch (Netherlands)
Seat 5 - Navid Saberin (Luxembourg)
Seat 6 - Vincent Villain (France)
Seat 7 - Vincent De Neve (Germany)
Seat 8 - Ludovic Roperto (France)

The bluff of a lifetime

With 22 players left in the Main Event, some players aren't afraid to put their balls on the table.

In Hi-jack, Jeroen Reiber opens to 160,000. He is 3-bet to 425,000 by Niels Gybels on the button and decides to pay out of position.

On the Jh-Td-7s flop, he checks/raises Niels' 335,000 c-bet to 825,000. The Belgian player takes a few seconds to pay up.

On the 4s turn, Jeroen Reiber follows his plan and calls all-in for 1,375,000. Niels Gybels seems to be in trouble. With a stack of 4.5 million, he ends up folding, wondering whether his opponent could have the jacks in this spot.

Jeroen Reiber slams a magnificent pair of 5s on the table, before the astonished eyes of his tablemates. Niels Gybels doesn't say a word, but he looks a little touched.

RIP Ripan

Back on Day 2 with just 4 blinds, Octavian Ripan, winner of the Circus Cup here for €40,000 in 2021, held on in short-stack ninja mode until 22nd place in this Namur Classics Main Event.

His tormentor is Dalil Masaud and he won a flip with As-Queen against the pair of 2s of Octavian Ripan, who had 8 blinds left, finding a Queen on the river.

Dalil Masaud climbs to €1.7 million, while Octavian Ripan has to leave the field €1,770 richer after a real lesson in short-stakism throughout the tournament.

We also lost Kay Dassen, who had the bad idea of playing a flip against Ronny Bouwmans, with As-King against the chipleader's pair of Tens. One Ten later and Ronny Bouwmans was up to 8 million chips, while Kay Dassen took 21st place in the Main Event.

Argence doesn't bring happiness

After a 200,000 raise from Lagdar Sadoudi at the cut-off, Yoan Argence simply pays on the button. Carpe Diem takes the opportunity to squeeze 800,000 from the small blind.

Only Yoan Argence thinks it's worth going to a flop with Th-8h in hand.

On the Ah-Kh-Tc flop, the Italian player continues his story with a continuation bet to 500,000. With third pair and a flush draw, Yoan Argence pays. 

Another 750,000 salvo from the Italian player on the 4d turn, which doesn't seem to change anything.

Yoan Argence continues to think he's ahead and pays up.

On the 2s river, Carpe Diem opts for a check and Yoan Argence takes a good two minutes before deciding to check.

Carpe Diem turned over Jake Cody's favorite hand, a beautiful Ts-4c that materialized into two pair on the turn, much to the disgust of Yoan Argence, who struggled to recover despite a still comfortable stack of 2.6 million.

Carpe Diem climbs to 5.5 million after this shot, second on the chip-count at the second break of the day.

Numbers and letters

Chipleader Ronny Bouwmans

At the second break of the day, there are only 19 players left in the Namur Classics Main Event, and Ronny Bouwmans is chipleader than ever with a 7,900,000-strong stack in front of him.

Chip-count of the last three tables :

Table 40

Seat 1 - Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands) 3,425,000
Seat 3 - Niels Gybels (Belgium) 5,100,000
Seat 4 - Mathias Henin (Belgium) 4,700,000
Seat 6 - Dalil Masaud (Belgium) 2,200,000
Seat 7 - Matthias Mordhorst (Germany) 1,850,000
Seat 8 - Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium) 7,900,000

Table 41

Seat 1 - Jimmy Hierso (France) 3,250,000
Seat 2 - Pierre Neuville (Belgium) 1,500,000
Seat 3 - Lagdar Sadoudi (France) 2,150,000
Seat 4 - Yoan Argence (France) 2,600,000
Seat 5 - Carpe Diem (Italy) 5,500,000
Seat 6 - Yuksel Tok (Germany) 1,200,000
Seat 7 - Luca Pecoraro (Belgium) 1,000,000

Table 42

Seat 1 - Raphaël Lemaire (France) 2,560,000
Seat 2 - Tom Flammang (Luxembourg) 2,145,000
Seat 3 - Takahiro Kanai (Japan) 4,300,000
Seat 4 - Robert Hanoch (Netherlands) 2,990,000
Seat 5 - Navid Saberin (Luxembourg) 2,750,000
Seat 8 - Ludovic Roperto (France) 4,900,000

Masaud at his best

Slowly but surely, Dalil Masaud is closing in on a big performance here in Namur, a feat he's been chasing since 2009, when he finished 3rd in the BPC for €74,675.

He has just relieved his young neighbor Mathias Henin of a million chips.

On the button, Mathias Henin opens to 225,000 (on blinds 50,000 / 100,000). Dalil Masaud 3-bets to 550,000 from the small blind. It's paid.

Dalil Masaud goes 2-barrel all-in on an 8h-Qs-9h-Th board, 500,000 on the flop and 1,035,000 on the turn.

After a good two minutes' reflection, Mathias Henin preferred to return his hand to the dealer and let the pot slip to Dalil Masaud, who thus climbed to his highest point of the day, now approaching the 3 million mark.

A priori, Dalil was leaning towards a King-Queen on his opponent, and tried to reassure him by telling him that he had chatted a very nice flop.

Mathias Henin, if you remember, could very well have been the bubble-boy of this tournament, had he not chatted As-6 against 9-9 at the exact bubble, he now stands at 3.5 million and is one of the candidates for the final table of this Main Event.

Henin misses the net

He almost busted at the bubble, but in the end finished 18th in the Namur Classics Main Event.

Mathias Henin went out on an unfortunate resteal against Jeroen Reiber, sending his last 22 blinds into the middle with a mismatched small blind As-9 following a cut-off raise.

Unfortunately, he crashed into the Dutch player's Aces and failed to find a miracle.

After his final at the 7-handed festival where he finished 8th, he adds another fine deep run to his list of achievements with this 18th-place finish for €2,105.

Argence too expensive, life is priceless

Shortly after Mathias Henin's exit, 7-handed festival winner Yoan Argence left us in 17th place.

Everything had been going wrong for the grinder ever since he lost that improbable move against Carpe Diem (the 10-4 off move). It was against this same player that the adventure ended, when he pushed his meagre stack with As-Dix from the button and was paid off by a pair of 3s.

The corner flip goes in Italy's favor and Yoan Argence has to leave the pitch in disgust.

"If I take the shot with T-8 of heart, I go up huge, I was among the chipleaders. Then I lost every shot," he confided to me as he went to collect his payment.

Biggest pot of the tournament

Ludovic Roperto

Shortly before Yoan Argence's exit, the biggest pot of the tournament took place, won by a certain Ludovic Roperto.

The move begins with a 200,000 opening from Takahiro Kanai on Hi-jack. It's paid by Lagdar Sadoudi on the button. Ludovic Roperto then places a 750,000 squeeze from the small blind. It's paid only by the Japanese player.

That's when Raphaël Lemaire comes to get me, to make sure I don't miss what he senses will be an explosive move.

He obviously doesn't know how to crash, as on the 4d-6d-2h flop, Ludovic Roperto places a big bet of 1,500,000. Takahiro Kanai sends in his stack for 3.3 million and is snapped up by the French player.

The games :

Qs-Qh for Takahiro Kanai

Ks-Kh for Ludovic Roperto

As Raphaël Lemaire told me, it was Ludovic's big bet that prompted the Japanese player to go all-in. "I could see you on TT or JJ," Takahiro told him to justify his all-in.

Ludovic Roperto climbs to 8 million after this move, while Japan's Takahiro Kanai will have to hang on with 2.1 million left after what still looks like a big set-up.

Takahiro Kanai

Redraw at 16

There are now just 16 players, spread over two tables, taking up the 60,000/120,000 blinds (120,000).

As a reminder, we'll be playing tonight until we reach the final table of 9.

Table 1

Seat 1 - Ludovic Roperto (France)
Seat 2 - Pierre Neuville (Belgium)
Seat 3 - Raphaël Lemaire (France)
Seat 4 - Carpe Diem (Italy)
Seat 5 - Niels Gybels (Belgium)
Seat 6 - Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium)
Seat 7 - Matthias Mordhorst (Germany)
Seat 8 - Navid Saberin (Luxembourg)

Table 2

Seat 1 - Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands)
Seat 2 - Luca Pecoraro (Belgium)
Seat 3 - Lagdar Sadoudi (France)
Seat 4 - Robert Hanoch (Netherlands)
Seat 5 - Jimmy Hierso (France)
Seat 6 - Dalil Masaud (Belgium)
Seat 7 - Yuksel Tok (Germany)
Seat 8 - Takahiro Kanai (Japan)

Lagdar laughs more

Lagdar Sadoudi 's adventure came to an abrupt end in 15th place in the Namur Classics Main Event.

With a stack of 1.5 million, he played a pair of Aces in trappish mode, simply paying a raise from the big blind.

It all went all-in between him and Jeroen Reiber on a 7h-7c-Ts flop where the Dutchman, who had opened on the button, found a straight draw on both ends with 8-9 mismatched.

Jeroen Reiber finds a Jack on the river and sends Lagdar Sadoudi out of the tournament with a move he seemed to bitterly regret as he exited.

Old Kanai

Having fallen short-stacked after his move with queens against Ludovic Roperto's kings, Takahiro Kanai 's fate was no longer in his own hands, especially when the dealer gave him a pair of tens in the middle of the hand with fifteen blinds in front of him.

Everything started logically in the middle, but he came across a bone in the person of Robert Hanoch, who was waiting patiently in the blinds with the kings.

No miracle, and the Japanese driver leaves Namur with a fine but frustrating 14th place for €3,030.

Robert Hanoch goes huge with nearly 7 million after this move.

Robert Hanoch

Navid unloaded

The last 12 players in the tournament have just left for dinner-break. And clearly, Navid Saberin couldn't wait to eat.

He decided to make a nice delivery to Ronny Bouwmans by sending his stack with a pair of 3s without diamonds on a 4d-5d-7d-9c turn after a bet from Ronny Bouwmans (the move was 3-bet preflop).

Ronny Bouwmans didn't even consider folding his pair of jacks and Navid Saberin joined the rail in 13th position.

Dinner-break: the last 12 players return at 8:50 p.m.

By dinner-break, the Namur Classics Main Event had been whittled down to 12.

They will return at 8.50pm to the 75,000/150,000 blinds (150,000) for an average of 5.2 million.

Chip-count at dinner-break:

Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium) 10,300,000
Ludovic Roperto (France) 8,275,000
Robert Hanoch (Netherlands) 6,300,000
Niels Gybels (Belgium) 5,500,000
Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands)Bas) 5 150 000
Carpe Diem (Italy) 5 150 000
Matthias Mordhorst (Germany) 4 500 000
Pierre Neuville (Belgium) 4 400 000
Jimmy Hierso (France) 4 200 000
Dalil Masaud (Belgium) 2 900 000
Raphaël Lemaire (France) 2 000 000
Luca Pecoraro (Belgium) 2 000 000

BPC 2024 TO BE FOLLOWED FROM MAY 8 TO 20, 2024

The next big event here in Namur is the Belgian Poker Challenge 2024, from May 8 to 20, with 1 million euros guaranteed on the Main Event.

Last year, it was Omar Lakhdari who came out on top in an event that generated 1,332 entries, for a win of €206,000.

This year's Main Event features 7 Day 1s, and we're expecting a big turnout for the event, which is part of the France Poker Series circuit and organized by the Circus Casino Resort in Namur in partnership with PokerStars.

Benny & Yu will be on hand to commentate the final two days of competition, with Live Streaming provided by Will and his team.

And don't forget that registration is already open on PokerStars. 

Key dates for the BPC 2024 :

May 8-12 - BPC Cup € 330
May 12-13 - PLO € 330
May 12-19 - BPC Main Event € 1,100
May 14 - NLH 6-Handed € 400
May 18-19 - High-Roller Championship € 2,200
May 18-20 - Mystery Bounty € 800

Omar Lakhdari, winner of the event in 2023

Hanoch noc, who's there?

No big changes to report since the post-dinner-break resumption, it was Robert Hanoch who had the best digestion, gobbling up a large part of Carpe Diem's stack.

After a 300,000 Hi-jack raise, Robert Hanoch 3-bet to 1,100,000 from the small blind. This is simply paid by the Italian player.

Both players check the flop Qh-8c-6h.

On the 8 o'clock turn, Robert Hanoch draws a 1,750,000 bet and Carpe Diem pays out fairly quickly.

The river 9h brings in a fourth heart and this time Robert Hanoch claims his opponent's all-in, who has 3.1 million left.

Carpe Diem then thought for a good two minutes before folding up the Jacks with the Jack of hearts. Robert Hanoch showed a king of hearts and won the pot to move over the 10 million mark and join Ronny Bouwmans on the summit.

One more little ride

Official short-stack at 12 left with Luca Pecoraro, Raphaël Lemaire is fighting like the devil to make it to this final table, having told me earlier that he'd come close several times to a real one-two. But what if it were to happen this time?

From the big blind and having prompted the dealer to give him a hand before the deal, after laying down the blind and bb ante, Raphaël Lemaire sees Pierre Neuville shove his small blind. All he has to do is turn over an Ace to put his 8 blinds in the middle.

With As-7 against Roi-6 sweated at Pierre Neuville's, he manages to double up and give himself some breathing space. "Come on, let's go for another ride," he says as he picks up his new toys. 

A few minutes later, he opened to 300,000 at the cut-off (with a stack of 2.6 million) and was paid three times. On the Qh-Ts-Tc flop, all four players in the hand check.

A bet of 675,000 was enough for Raphaël Lemaire to collect three votes... er, three folds.

Here he is back at 3.5 million, not out of the woods yet, but still fighting and ready to do anything for a seat at this Main Event final table.

Hiersout

Jimmy Hierso is a regular on the Paris circuit, particularly at the Paris Elysées Club, where he boasts an impressive record of success in middle buy-in tournaments, and he hits the ground running in his first event here in Namur.

With 2.4 million, he put everything in the middle with As-Dame following an open from Robert Hanoch, the table's chipleader.

Once again, Robert Hanoch was armed with the Kings in hand.

Jimmy Hierso couldn't find his 30% equity and had to leave the tournament in 12th place for €3,635, while Robert Hanoch flew away with €13 million now in front of him.

Pecoraro gets pecked

Short-stacked for quite some time, Luca Pecoraro sees his left-hand neighbor Jeroen Reiber push his 1.4 million stack (7 blinds) to the cut-off. He opts for a reshove with his 4 blinds and Dame-Valet in hand. 

He faces a pair of 4's from his opponent and looks set to double when he finds two pair on the flop, but a devastating 4 falls on the river to deny him dessert.

Luca Pecoraro, who finished 58th in the WaSOP Main Event last August - his best performance on the live circuit - is closing in on the big bucks, and it won't be long before he goes for the big one. For the time being, he'll settle for €4,365 for this fine 11th-place finish in the Namur Classics Main Event.

End of term for Lemaire

Official short-stack after Luca Pecoraro's elimination, Raphaël Lemaire couldn't hold on any longer. He knew that the painful final-table bubble-boy spot was in his grasp.

And yet everything could have turned out differently.

First, he found a great spot to double up, going all-in with As-King against chipleader Ronny Bouwmans' King-9, but the dealer offered a straight to both players on the board for a split.

Then it was Pierre Neuville's turn to jump ship. All-in preflop with As-7 against Niels Gybels' As-9, the November Nine found a 7 on the flop to keep the flame burning and resist again and again.

On the other table, it was Carpe Diem's turn to find himself in the reaper's sights with Ac-2c against Robert Hanoch's pair of 3s. He found a 2 on the flop and a 2 on the turn to get out of the way and let his joy at being back in the race explode.

Then comes the last move, where Raphaël Lemaire finds himself in the big blind with 700,000 in front of him, or 3.5 blinds. Pierre Neuville pushes him all-in and the young player considers his options. He tanks, hoping that something will happen at the other table to relieve him of this tricky decision. In the end, after several minutes of pondering, he finally pays with 7d-5h, and has the pleasant surprise of being ahead of Pierre Neuville's 6s-2c.

But the gods of Poker had chosen their side, offering a flop 8c-3c-2h advantageous for the legend. A way out appeared on the 4c turn, offering Raphaël Lemaire many more outs, but it was a useless Kd that fell on the river to send him out.

Hoping for the one time he's been looking for, Raphaël Lemaire finished 10th in this Namur Classics Main Event, for a prize of €4,365, and we now know the cast of 9 finalists for the tournament which resumes tomorrow at 2pm on Live Streaming, with a huge advantage for Ronny Bouwmans, chipleader since the early hours of Day 1.

Chip-count of Main Event finalists :

Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium) 19,525,000
Robert Hanoch (Netherlands) 11,600,000
Ludovic Roperto (France) 8,000,000
Matthias Mordhorst (Germany) 6,025,000
Carpe Diem (Italy) 5,050,000
Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands)Bas) 4,675,000
Niels Gybels (Belgium) 3,325,000
Pierre Neuville (Belgium) 2,825,000
Dalil Masaud (Belgium) 2,475,000

Ronny Bouwmans leads Main Event final table to 9

After a short day in which the field dwindled from 50 to 9 players, we are now casting the final table of the Namur Classics Main Event, a tournament which brought together 1,270 players at an entry fee of €350.

The chipleader at this final table is the inescapable Ronny Bouwmans, who was already leading the tournament at the first break of his Day 1, and hasn't left the top of the leaderboard since.

Occasionally caught momentarily by one or two players, he always regained the upper hand, and will have a comfortable lead over his pursuers tomorrow with 19,525,000 chips, or almost a third of the chips in circulation.

Far behind, but second on the chip-count, was the surprising Robert Hanoch. Always on the right timings, he could even have been much higher had he not lost a pair of 3s to As-2s at Carpe Diem at the end of the day for a 5 million pot. He will go into tomorrow's final table with 11,600,000.

Third in chip-count was Ludovic Roperto, the only Frenchman at this final table after Raphaël Lemaire was eliminated in 10th place, with a stack of 8,000,000. He won a huge hand on the day against Japan's Takahiro Kanai with Kings against Queens in a 3-bet pot where all the money went on a baby flop. A very experienced live player, Ludovic Roperto is riding the good run here in Namur, where he finished 2nd in the Carnival Festival High-Roller less than a month ago. Tomorrow, he could win his biggest career prize if he reaches the top 3 of the event.

Despite his meagre stack, which places him in 8th position in the rankings, Pierre Neuville will be the scarecrow of this final table. Tomorrow, he will have a golden opportunity to surpass the $5 million mark in live tournament winnings at this final table. After his 5th-place finish in the Mystery Bounty at the start of the festival, he's proving that he's still got his chops, and that he's still capable of putting together huge stacks of chips to go deep run a tournament.

All eyes at Circus Casino Resort Namur will be on local boy Dalil Masaud, who ended his day in a bit of a scratch mode and saw his stack melt. He'll be down to just ten blinds when he resumes tomorrow, but his head is full of dreams. In any case, he won't be beating his career-best score, which dates back to 4th place on the BPC ... in 2009, when he raked in €76,875. He assures me that he's only been playing seriously for two years. Perhaps it's the right time for him to hit the big time on home soil?

The final table will take place tomorrow at 2pm on the televised table. You can follow all the action with the cards revealed on Streaming Live with Will on commentary.

Composition of the final table :

Seat 1 - Niels Gybels (Belgium) 3,325,000
Seat 2 - Ronny Bouwmans (Belgium) 19,525,000
Seat 3 - Pierre Neuville (Belgium) 2,825,000
Seat 4 - Carpe Diem (Italy) 5,050,000
Seat 5 - Jeroen Reiber (Netherlands)Pays-Bas) 4 675 000
Seat 6 - Dalil Masaud (Belgium) 2 475 000
Seat 7 - Ludovic Roperto (France) 8 000 000
Seat 8 - Robert Hanoch (Netherlands) 11 600 000
Seat 9 - Matthias Mordhorst (Germany) 6 025 000

Matthias Mordhorst

Remaining prizes to be distributed :

The day's results :