Max Wind wins CPS Main Event for €129,083

The €2,200 Main Event attracted 555 entries and a prize pool of €1,053,945, making it the second-largest tournament held at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur in terms of prize pool. It was an unusual tournament in Namur, attracting many new, seasoned players not found at other festivals, who found it the perfect warm-up for the EPT Prague.

RELIVE THE CPS WITH FULL COVERAGE OF THE MAIN EVENT

After a final table where he was never in danger, Max Wind is the triumphant winner of the first Circus Poker Series Main Event. After a 5-way deal in which he secured €109,083 from a split at the ICM where he was 2nd in stack, Max Wind finally pocketed €129,083 for his victory, as well as a ticket to the EPT Prague Main Event.

At the top of the leaderboard since the 3-table left redraw, Max Wind took Tobias Peters' scalp to go huge, and has hardly shaken since, playing a diligent poker and surfing on the good run.

After his victory, he spoke to us about the magical week he has just spent in Namur:

"I don't know what happened! An incredible, great week... I don't know where I'm at but I'm very happy. "

"I played a lot when I was 18 and for two years it was an obsession, then I got away from the game a bit, I'm an actor and playwright, in fact I'm writing a play at the moment... but during Covid, I didn't have a job anymore so I got back into online poker. There was a little spark that pushed me to play live again, but nothing more... and then this summer I'm going to Valkenburg for a SPA trip. The casino wasn't far away and I went there to play cash-game. I took €1,600 and the feeling was there, the poker feeling was back... I told myself I was going to play a few tournaments".

"I got back in touch with my coach and then I came back from the MCOP in Amsterdam, a few final tables and in good spirits, so I had to keep playing. I'm looking for festivals not too far away so I can get back home between events, and I've heard about the renovation of Namur. I came here 4-5 years ago to the Hotel Beauregard, which has changed a lot... my friends told me that there were big fields and the CPS program was good. It wasn't far, there are big guarantees, I had a good feeling about this week".

"The start of the week was bad and one evening I'm sitting in cash-game and I get a message from a friend who tells me there's a guy who looks like me in Namur. I hadn't seen him for a year, turned around and our eyes met - it was Michael Ender. We're in the same coaching group, we fall into each other's arms... that was the pivotal moment of the week. From then on, the signs were everywhere. Frankly, I went into the Main Event feeling very confident, even though I hadn't planned to play it. The last 5 days have been incredible".

Max Wind with his buddy Michael Ender

"So I convinced him to play the Mystery Bounty and we had a little agreement... he was confident and he went and got a €30,000 envelope (the maximum bonus, editor's note) so I used what he gave me to play the Main Event. It's my second-biggest buy-in, along with the €3,000 MCOP Main Event. What a run! He'll get his money back (laughs). Now I've got to keep the planets aligned and find a hotel in Prague".

"You have to keep the spirit of the run good, find that particular rhythm and use it, I'm very happy despite the fatigue. I'm quite happy with my game, even if I think I made a few mistakes at the end, but 'c'est la vie'.

Final table standings

Final table recap

Official short-stack at the start of the final table, Maxence Melin thought he'd be back in the game after winning the most classic of coin flips against Mickaëk Arcidiaco. But a few minutes later, his reshove with Ace-Queen came up against Ace-King from young Théo Milioni, to finish in 9th place in the event. After finishing 11th in the Mystery Bounty, Maxence Melin ended the festival on a high note, pocketing €19,720.

Then it was Mickaël Arcidiaco's turn. Going all-in with an overpair against a huge combo-draw from Cyril Richard, Mickaël Arcidiaco saw his opponent find one of his 15 outs on the river to send him into the rail. Mickaël finished his big one-two in 8th place in the Main Event, with a prize of €23,660.

It's 13:30 and you'd think that the final table of the Circus Poker Series Main Event wouldn't last long. And yet it took almost 6 hours for the next elimination to arrive. In the meantime, Matthias Van Der Perre found a way not to lose everything with Ace-King against Gary Hasson's Aces, then went chipleader by taking a nice shot at Cyril Richard with full against full, before gracing us with a strange 3-bet/fold with Jacks against Théo Milioni's Ace-King.

It was clearly Théo Milioni who was attracting all the limelight at this point, managing to fold the winner in a battle of the blinds against Gary Hasson, the Belgian player making a small blocking-bet with straight on a board showing 4 spades. With third pair, Théo Milioni managed to pass Gary Hasson by turning his hand into a bluff. The man with the biggest record at the final table never recovered. He busts a few minutes later with a pair of 4s against Max Wind's Ace-2 suiter, ending his fine run in 7th place for €30,760 in winnings.

We thought Théo Milioni was well on his way to a big performance, so diligent and successful did he seem at this final table. And yet, he first doubled Ngoc Nguyen with Ace-Queen against King-Queen suited, then found himself in a terrible spot against Cyril Richard. After limping/calling with Queen-Jack of diamonds, he found a Queen-Jack-8 flop with 2 hearts, on which Cyril sent a first nugget, then an all-in bet on the Ace of hearts on the turn. After a good five minutes' reflection, Theo Milioni convinces himself that his opponent may have quite a few bluffs, and ends up calling drawing dead against the chipleader's Queens. After his 10th place in the BPC Main Event, Théo Milioni confirms his superb 6th place in this CPS Main Event, for a substantial win of €40,010.

At dinner-break, there are still 5 players at the final table. A first deal is discussed between the players, but short-stack Mattheus Van Donselaar, who is then offered €65,000, decides to refuse the deal, demanding more money than the ICM has promised him and scuppering the deal attempt. Play continued until... the same Mattheus Van Donselaar became chipleader and Cyril Richard officially became the short-stack. This time, the deal was accepted by everyone and Mattheus Van Donselaar took the biggest slice of the cake, securing €125,384 and the chance to win a further €20,000 + an EPT Prague ticket in the event of victory.

Deal figures:

This deal was concluded on the basis of the following chip-counts:

Shortly after the deal, it was Cyril Richard who ended his magnificent run in this Main Event in 5th place for a win of €85,779, on a shot where he failed to fold a set against the flush found by Mathias Van Der Perre.

It was the same Mathias Van Der Perre who went out in 4th place, the victim of a bad beat inflicted by Max Wind Ace-8 against the Belgian player's Queens. The finalist in GG Poker's Boss9 promotion left Namur with €89,172.

Mattheus Van Donselaar then fell to the inevitable Max Wind, following a bad beat with As-Queens against King-Ten. He turned in the biggest performance of his live career, winning €125,384, a big improvement on the €65,000 he was offered in his first deal attempt.

Heads-up play then lasted just a few minutes, with Max Wind inflicting yet another bad beat on local Ngoc Nguyen. All-in with Ace-8 against Ace-9 on the final hand of the tournament, he found a full house to conclude his magnificent week in Namur and pocket the title, the accompanying €129,083 check and the ticket to the EPT Prague Main Event offered by PokerStars.