31 players on Final Day, a Belgian in the lead

Pierre-Constantin Fesler put in a stunning final hour to wrap up the chiplead on Day 2 of the Spirit Fest, which attracted 1,444 entries. 31 players will take part in the Final Day on Sunday from 2 p.m. to compete for a €44,000 first prize.

Survivors are guaranteed a €1,040 payout and will play the final in front of the cameras at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur, with the cards revealed. Fesler will return with 87 blinds, while the average is 23 blinds... 7th-placed Johann Berger will return with 29 blinds.

The Belgian will have his work cut out to take the title, as several French players are in touch. Ludovic Ruperto has packed 60bb for the restart, which will take place on 50,000 - 100,000 (100,000). Samy Barka will be back with 40bb, while Patrick de Waegenaere (42bb), Stephan Lehner (49bb) and Stéphane Boura (32bb) will also be in good company... 

Behind them, Tino de Zutter and Jay Hoebe are on a mission. With 17 blinds, the duo are in the middle of the field... so things should be moving fast as the Final Day gets underway!

Jean Yip, Gianluca Bucchino, Andreas Gondrom, Mischa Wieten, Donato Sparavilla will be giving their all to come from behind. 12 Belgians are still on track to bring home the trophy after a long day.

Day 2 was spread over 12 40-minute levels and 8 hours 10 minutes poker... It took almost 4 levels to go from 428 survivors to 215 players assured of a €350 min-cash. Behind them, the survivors played 8 more levels in an attempt to reach Day 3. Don't miss the Final Day from 2 p.m. on Sunday right here! 

1.044€ in the pockets, 44.000€ in the winnings

The €250 Spirit Fest Main Event attracted 1,444 entrants, generating a prizepool of €290,820. The last 215 players in the field began to share the prize pool with a €350 min-cash.

The champion will pocket €44,000, with a 5-figure payout for the Top 5. The 9 finalists who will compete for the trophy on Sunday via streaming are guaranteed to turn their buy-in into €4,200...

There will be 31 players at the start of Day 3 on Sunday at 2pm, with half an hour remaining in the 50,000 - 100,000 blinds (100,000). Levels increase to 50 minutes with an average of 23 blinds...


Event #1 Spirit Fest 250€ (1,444 entrants - 290.820 prizepool)
Champion - €44,000
Runner Up - €28,500
3rd - €20,300
4th - €15,600
5th - €12,000
6th - €9,255
7th - 7,100€
8th - 5,500€
9th - 4,200€

10th and 11th - 3,230€
12th and 13th - 2,700€
14th and 15th - 2,250€
16th and 17th - 1,870€
18th to 20th - 1 580€
21 to 23e - 1 375€
24 to 27e - 1 200€
28 to 31e - 1 040€

They jumped to Day 2
32 to 39e - 905€
40 to 55e - 785€
56 to 71e - 680€
72 to 95e - 600€
96 to 119e - 515€
120 to 143e - 450€
144 to 183e - 400€
184 to 215e - 350€

Grabuge already

19 minutes of play and four outs... no damage done in the first ten minutes with unpaid stacks and shorts doubling up as Jean Yip gave himself some breathing space. Jay Hoebe also went all-in in the middle, but found no takers.

Frenchman Fred Torres was the first to give up, heading for the rail in 31st place for €1,040. Behind him, Jean-Marc Mihoc sent out his last blinds with 9s following an open from Ludovic Ruperto. The Frenchman snaps with the kings and this will hold up to climb to 7.5 million, hot on the heels of Pierre-Constantin Fesler.

The 50,000 - 100,000 (100,000) level hurts half the field who started the day with 20 blinds or less. It's a German's turn to give up, Marcel Diel joining the railways after a lost confrontation against Johann Berger. The tricolore pulled out his best AS Saint-Etienne jacket... Berger climbs to 5.2 million after this scalp. Allez les Verts!

The sequence ends with the release of Gianluca Bucchino. A regular at Brussels and Namur, the Belgian has reached a number of semi-finals at Namur's big tournaments, but not this time for the man whose best performance remains a 4th place finish at a WPT Brussels at Viage... 

They're still 27 with an average of 26 blinds and a few minutes to go before the switch to blinds 60,000 - 120,000 (120,000)...



They jumped on Day 3
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040

Last three tables

Skimming continues on this early Final Day of the Spirit Fest, which brought together 1,444 entrants. The average is back up to 3.1 million on blinds 60,000 - 120,000 (120,000) as 8 players have jumped since the resumption forty minutes ago.

A flush versus max flush confrontation proved fatal for Jay Bo Hoebe, who surrendered for his 5th deep-run on a Main Event in Namur. The big money will have to wait, but the Dutchman is a sure thing in the field...

9 Belgians, 5 Frenchmen and 5 Dutchmen remain out of the 23 players now gathered at the last three tables. 

They jumped on Day 3
24th - Kevin van Balen (NL) €1,200
25th - Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200
26th - Jan Bobbaers (Bel) €1,200
27th - Sebastian Scharf (All) €1,040
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040

Cruel Poker

It took almost half an hour of patience to get another out on Day 3 of the Spirit Main Event, which is now played on 50-minute levels.

After losing an Ace-King versus Ace-Queen encounter at the start of the day, Donato Sparavilla was patient enough to double up on Jean Yip for the first time. He just finished the job and his buddy Jean on an Ace-King flip against Tens that tipped river. The Ace in-extremis pushed Yip into the rail and Sparavilla to 2.4 million chips. "I also lost Ace King to Ace Jack," whine Jean as he joined the rail in 23rd place...

There are still 22 players assured of a €1,375 win with 8 minutes to go before the blinds 75,000 - 150,000 (150,000). The average is 3.2 million, or almost 27 blinds left...

Direction CPS

Not this time

Tino de Zutter will not reach the Final Table. The Belgian came up against BPC champion Samy Barka. The Frenchman opened with a 300,000-chip lowjack and weighed up his options before calling with 9s when Tino de Zutter pushed 1.7 million and went all-in from the big blind.

The Belgian flipped ace-valet and lost a 3 83 7 6 board later... Samy Barka climbs to 7.5 million chips for an average of 3.9 million.

18 players remain assured of a €1,580 payout, withAndreas Gondrom (pictured) losing out in Tino's wake... the first break of Final Day is just 27 minutes away on 75,000 - 150,000 (150,000). 

They jumped on Day 3
19th - Abdalah Bouabid (Bel) €1,580
20th - Andreas Gondrom (All) €1,580
21st - Tino de Zutter (Bel) €1,375
22nd - Vincent Touil (Fr) €1,375
23rd - Jean Yip (Bel) €1,375
24th - Kevin van Balen (NL) €1,200
25th - Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200 Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200
26th - Jan Bobbaers (Bel) €1,200
27th - Sebastian Scharf (All) €1,040
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040

Semi-finals

Pierre-Constantin Fesler (pictured) extended his lead at the end of the level, Donato Sparavilla continued his comeback, and the duo gave Nicolas Baars and Eleftherios Korexinidis a run for their money... meanwhile, Ludovic Ruperto lost his superb form and got run over on one of the other tables!

After a quarter-hour break, play resumed on blinds 100,000 - 200,000 (200,000) with 24 blinds on average and only two tables left! 

Chipcount
Pierre-Constantin Fesler 14.1 million
Donato Sparavilla 7.2 million
Samy Barka 6.1 million
Bogdan Petrascu 6.1 million
Johann Berger 5.4 million
Patrick Aerts 4.8 million
Wilhelmus Galesloot 4,3 million
Kevin Gorens 3.8 million
Raffaello di Benedetto 2.7 million
Benjamin Vandekerckove 2.5 million
Stephen Lehner 2.4 million
Mischa Wieten 2 million
Ludovic Ruperto 1.025 million

They jumped on Day 3
17th - Nicolaas Baars (Bel) €1,870
18th - Eleftherios Korexinidis (Bel) €1,580
19th - Abdalah Bouabid (Bel) €1,580
20th - Andreas Gondrom (All) €1,580
21st - Tino de Zutter (Bel) €1,375
22nd - Vincent Touil (Fr) €1,375
23rd - Jean Yip (Bel) €1,375
24th - Kevin van Balen (NL) €1,200
25th - Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200
26th - Jan Bobbaers (Bel) €1,200
27th - Sebastian Scharf (All) €1,040
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040

Samy Débarqué, hecatomb in Namur

With 20 minutes left to play on the 100,000 - 200,000 (250,000) level, only 11 players are left in the field for the €44,000 first prize and the 5 €2,200 CPS Main Event tickets. The average is 6.5 million or 32 blinds... after 5 players jumped in ten minutes!

Samy Barka went all-in straight from the cutoff for 5 million with players covered on his left... in the small blind Stephan Lehner snapped with Ace Ten to make flush with Ace of Spades! Crippled, Samy went all in with 6s to lose to Ace King.

Then Ludovic Ruperto sent 5 and 2 suit to double up against Lehner and come back to 3 million. Ruperto then played a yo-yo game against Stephan Schreitl... he sent to the button on Stephan's big blind alone, which woke up with Kings. Ruperto's jack-suited 6 isn't enough and the Frenchman falls back to 1 million. He'll redouble behind, still against Schreitl with Dame Valet against the 5s this time. A breath of fresh air for Ruperto, who is still far from out of the woods!

Meanwhile, at the other table, Kevin Gorens is about to give up, quickly joined by Mischa Wieten. Bogdan Petrascu goes 3-bet shove with 7 and 9 suiter to be snapped up by Mischa and his Kings. The friendly Dutchman heads for the exit, as his opponent finds two pairs! 

They jumped on Day 3
12th - Mischa Wieten (NL) €2,700
13th - Kevin Gorens (Bel) €2,700
14th - Stephan Lehner (All) €2,250
15th - Samy Barka (Fr) €2,250
16th - Stéphane Boura (Fr) 1 870€
17th - Nicolaas Baars (Bel) 1 870€
18th - Eleftherios Korexinidis (Bel) 1 580€
19th - Abdalah Bouabid (Bel) 1 580€
20th - Andreas Gondrom (All) 1 580€
21st - Tino de Zutter (Bel) €1,375
22nd - Vincent Touil (Fr) €1,375
23rd - Jean Yip (Bel) €1,375
24th - Kevin van Balen (NL) €1,200
25th - Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200
26th - Jan Bobbaers (Bel) €1,200
27th - Sebastian Scharf (All) €1,040
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040

One less Belgian

Finito for Benjamin Vandekerckhove who sees Wilhelmus Galesloot go all-in from the button for 2.3 million. The Belgian wakes up with Ace-Ten in the small blind and commits his stack of 2 million... for a flip as the Dutchman turns over the 5s.

A King 7 9 4 8 board later and the final bubble. Benjamin cashes in for €3,230 as his tormentor rises to 4.6 million in chips.

There are 10 players with an average of 7.1 million and blinds climbing to 125,00 - 250,000 (250,000)... 

Final table

With 35 minutes left to play on 125,000 - 250,000 (250,000), the final table is set for 9 players with an average of 7.9 million, all guaranteed to win €4,200.

It took several all-in confrontations to get to this point... and there will only be two Belgians in the final table of this tournament, which attracted 1,444 entrants.

First and foremost Ludovic Ruperto doubled with the Ten, compared with 7 and 8 at Johann Berger who found a straight draw on both ends at the turn before blank river. On the next hand, Ludovic went all-in again with Ace 8... only to fall back to Kings at home. Stephan Schreitl. Ludovic hit two Aces to climb to 5.2 million and a seat in the final! 

Then Stephan Schereitl goes all-in. Stephan open-shoves from the cutoff for 525,000 chips and Donato Sparavilla goes all-in over the button for 1.5 million. In the big blind Johann Berger puts everyone at risk by paying with Jack 7 of clubs! Stephan's King-Queen and Donato's pair of 6s are the same. Despite two clubs on the flop, Stephan hits a King turn and the river changes nothing. Berger falls back to 14 million while Stehan Schreitl (below) returns to 2 million, while Donato Sparavilla plunges to 1.5 million. 

In the end, it was at the other table that the decision was made, with 35 minutes left to play on level 30 of the Spirit Fest. Raffaello di Benedetto (below) goes all in for 2.5 million and sees Wilhelmus Galesloot reshove over the blinds. The Dutchman reveals the queens and stays ahead of the Belgian's ace-king suit at the end of a 4 7 4 Dix 9 table.

The players are scheduled for a televised table at 6 p.m... we'll see you soon for the TF redraw and the chipcount of this final table... 

They jumped on Day 3
10th - Raffaele d Benedetto (Bel) 3 230€
11th - Benjamin Vandekerckoven (Bel) 3 230€
12th - Mischa Wieten (NL) 2 700€
13th - Kevin Gorens (Bel) 2 700€
14th - Stephan Lehner (All) €2,250
15th - Samy Barka (Fr) €2,250
16th - Stéphane Boura (Fr) €1,870
17th - Nicolaas Baars (Bel) €1,870
18th - Eleftherios Korexinidis (Bel) €1,580
19th - Abdalah Bouabid (Bel) €1,580
20th - Andreas Gondrom (All) €1,580
21st - Tino de Zutter (Bel) €1,375
22nd - Vincent Touil (Fr) €1,375
23rd - Jean Yip (Bel) €1,375
24th - Kevin van Balen (NL) €1,200
25th - Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200
26th - Jan Bobbaers (Bel) €1,200
27th - Sebastian Scharf (All) €1,040
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040

Final kick-off

The final starts with two Belgians, one of them in the lead... there are also two Frenchmen still on the track and 3 Dutchmen! 

Chipcount (in order of seats)
Johann Berger (Fr) 13 600 000
Bogdan Petrascu (Rom) 9 525 000
Donato Sparavilla (It) 3 075 000
Stephan Schreitl (NL) 2 150 000
Patrick Aerts (Bel) 5 475 000)
Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 7 325 000
Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 8 525 000
Pierre-Constantin Fesler (Bel) 17,925,000 (chipleader)
Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 4,475,000

The final begins with 35 minutes to play on blinds 125,000 - 250,000 (250,000) and an average of 8 million chips. Streaming begins in a few minutes... the players in the final will share €146,000 in cash and the last 5 players in the running will also win a CPS Main Event ticket worth €2,200 for the end-of-year festival at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur...

after this ongoing level, there will be two 50-minute levels, heading for the dinner break at 8.25pm...


Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1,444 entries - 290.828€ prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - 44 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
Runner Up - 28 500€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
3e - 20 300€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
4e - 15 600€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
5th - 12 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
6th - 9 255€
7th - 7 100€
8th - 5 500€
9th - 4 200€

Schreitl to the rail

Barely started, already out... Stephan Schreitl pockets €4,200 for his place in the Spirit Fest final, after a 3 all-in.

Donato Sparavilla sent his all-in straight under the gun with Ace Dame... the Dutchman woke up with the Tens and went all-in over the top... to hear Pierre-Constantin Fesler go all-in from the button too. Fesler turned over the Queens but an Ace came out to allow Donato to raise all in. Stephan is in the rail while Pierre remains chipleader, but with no margin over Johann Berger. 

14 minutes left to play on 125,000 - 250,000 (250,000) with 9 million average... 

Chipcount (in order of seats)
Johann Berger (Fr) 13 600 000
Bogdan Petrascu (Rom) 9 525 000
Donato Sparavilla (It) 8 075 000
Patrick Aerts (Bel) 5 475 000)
Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 7 325 000
Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 8 525 000
Pierre-Constantin Fesler (Bel) 14,225,000 (chipleader)
Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 4,475,000

Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1,444 entries - €290,828 prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - €44,000 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
Runner Up - €28,500 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
3rd - €20,300 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
4th - €15,600 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
5th - €12,000 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
6e - 9 255€
7e - 7 100€
8e - 5 500€
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) €4,200

Ludo Busto (€5,500)

There are 7 players left with an average of €10.2 million after Ludovic Ruperto's exit. The Frenchman bowed out in 8th place for €5,500...

As he moved up the field, Ludovic placed a 3-bet from the hijack before snapping Patrick Aerts' shove while covered. Ludovic turned over an ace-valet and impaled himself on the Belgian's ace-king, which raised him to 9 million chips.

Ruperto joins the rail after a 5 6 Queen 2 8 board! With 40 minutes left to play on blinds 150,000 - 300,000 (300,000), the average rises... 

Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1,444 entries - €290,828 prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - €44,000 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
Runner Up - €28,500 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
3rd - €20,300 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
4th - €15,600 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
5th - €12,000 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
6e - 9 255€
7e - 7 100€
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) €5,500
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) €4,200

Last Level

One more level to go before the dinner break and there are still 7 players in the running for the Main Event. The average is 10.2 million chips with 45 minutes left to play on 200,000 - 400,000 (400,000)... Bogdan Petrascu is on the move! 

Chipcount (in order of seats)
Johann Berger (Fr) 9 200 000
Bogdan Petrascu (Rom) 25 525 000 (chipleader)
Donato Sparavilla (It) 4 275 000
Patrick Aerts (Bel) 10 475 000)
Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 4 125 000
Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 3 625 000
Pierre-Constantin Fesler (Bel) 15 225 000 (chipleader)

It's getting out of hand 

End of the road for Patrick de Waegenaere who open-shoves 7 blinds under the gun with Ace Ten of diamonds. At the cutoff, the chipleader wakes up with Ace-King to pay quietly.

Bogdan Petrascu returns Ace-King but goes behind on a flop 8 Ten Ten! There are two hearts on the flop and the Queen of Hearts on the turn gives outs to Bogdan who has the Ace of Hearts... and hits a 2 of Hearts river to move to 30 million chips (out of 72 in circulation) and eliminate an opponent just shy of the dinner break. 





Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1,444 entries - €290,828 prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - €44,000 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
Runner Up - €28,500 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
3rd - €20,300 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
4th - €15,600 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
5th - €12,000 + CPS Main Event ticket €2200
6e - 9 255€
7th - Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) €7,100
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) €5,500
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) €4,200

Streaming 

A la Soupe

Play resumes at 9:30 p.m. for the Spirit final... the 5 survivors are guaranteed a 5-figure payout and a €2,200 CPS Main Event ticket, and now it's time to go for the trophy and the €44,000 first prize. One player has come out on top! 

Chipcount (in order of seats)
Johann Berger (Fr) 7,500,000
Bogdan Petrascu (Rom) 31,000,000
Patrick Aerts (Bel) 14,000,000
Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 8,000,000
Pierre-Constantin Fesler (Bel) 11,200,000

No More French

The star has gone out, and there are no French players left in the game at this Spirit Fest. Chipleader in the semi-finals and very well placed going into the final table, Johann Berger, like everyone else, suffered the domination of Bogdan Petrascu. As the Frenchman exited, the first deal discussions began...

Johann finally put in 12 blinds from the cutoff with Ace 5 and Patrick Aerts woke up in the small blind with Ace Jack suit. A 4 3 King Queen Jack board propels the Belgian to an average of 18 million, while the 300,000 - 600,000 blinds (600,000) will arrive in 3 minutes.

The tournament is paused for a reunion between the four survivors of a field of 1,444 entrants... 

Chipcount (in order of seats)
Bogdan Petrascu (Rom) 28 600 000
Patrick Aerts (Bel) 18 100 000
Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 13 400 000
Pierre-Constantin Fesler (Bel) 11 000 000

Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1.444 entries - 290.828€ prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - 44 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
Runner Up - 28 500€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
3e - 20 300€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
4e - 15 600€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
5e - Johann Berger (Fr) 12 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
6th - Donato Sparavilla (It) 9 255€
7th - Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 7 100€
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 5 500€
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) 4 200€

Deal

The blinds are now 300,000 - 600,000 (600,000) and the last four players in contention are fighting for the trophy and the remaining €4,000.

Levels are 25 minutes, everyone has their €2200 CPS Main Event ticket and a minimum of €23,070... 

Chipcount/ Deal ICM (in order of seats)
Bogdan Petrascu (Rom) 28 600 000 - 30 280€
Patrick Aerts (Bel) 18 100 000 - 26 636€
Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 13 400 000 - 24 440€
Pierre-Constantin Fesler (Bel) 11 000 000 - 23 070€

No podium for Bogdan (€30,280)

Patrick Aerts is the only survivor of the tournament who can win more than Bogdan Petrascu. The Romanian falls to 4th place after having dealt from a position of strength a quarter of an hour ago.

Petrascu was initially on the wrong side of a match against Pierre-Constantin Fesler. The checkers held for the Belgian against the Romanian's jacks, which left him at 7 million while Fesler took the lead at 32 million.

A few minutes later, Bogdan put his last chips in the pot with Ace-King against Ace-9 for Pierre-Constantin Fesler, who made a straight at the end of a 4 6 7 5 8 board. Out goes the old boss!

Chipcount (in order of seats)
Patrick Aerts 22 million
Wilhelmus Galesloot 23.5 million
Pierre-Constantin Fesler 30 million

The game is now 400,000 - 800,000 (800,000) with an average of 24 million... Two Belgians and a Dutchman remain. 

Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1.444 entries - 290.828€ prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - 44 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
Runner Up - 28 500€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
3rd - 20 300€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
4th - Bogdan Petrscu 30 280€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
5th - Johann Berger (Fr) 12 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
6th - Donato Sparavilla (It) 9 255€
7th - Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 7 100€
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 5 500€
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) 4 200€

Wilhelmus relinquishes title to Belgium (€24,430)

Wilhelmus Galesloot bowed out in third place for €24,430 and a CPS Main Event ticket. The Dutchman defended in the big blind and toched a pair, but couldn't resist a nice valuation of Pierre-Constantin Fesler who found two river pairs after opening from the button. 



Belgian Fesler starts the last duel with 60 blinds against 15 for his compatriot Patrick Aerts as the blinds increase to 500,000 - 1,000,000 (1,000)... 

Payout Table Finale Spirit Fest (1.444 entries - 290.828€ prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion -+ ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
Runner Up - + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
3rd - Wilhelmus Galesloot 24 430€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
4th - Bogdan Petrscu 30 280€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
5th - Johann Berger (Fr) 12 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
6th - Donato Sparavilla (It) 9 255€
7th - Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 7 100€
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 5 500€
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) 4 200€

ICm 4 left deal with 4000€ to win

Patrick Aerts runner-up (€26,636)

The final duel of the Spirit Fest lasted 18 minutes and Patrick Aerts doubled up once... but failed to raise.

Right from the start, Pierre-Constantin Fesler put the pressure on by going all-in and snap-raised from the big blind with Tens when his opponent sent in 11.6 blinds from the button with Jack 7. An Ace 3 Jack Queen 7 board put a short suspense in this last duel.

PCF continued to play aggressively and the second match point proved to be the winner. Down to 11 blinds, the Belgian sent from the button with Ace 6 and the eventual winner called with King 4 to hit a Queen 3 Queen King 6 board to end this tournament which had gathered 1,444 entrants.

Patrick Aerts pocketed €26,636 after dealing 4 in second place... he left the remaining €4,000 to the champion but also cashed in a €2,200 CPS Main Event ticket.

Spirit Fest Final Table (1.444 entries - 290.828€ prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - Pierre-Constantin Fesler 27 070€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
Runner Up - Patrick Aerts (Bel) 26 636€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
3rd - Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 24 430€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
4th - Bogdan Petrascu (R0) 30 280€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
5th - Johann Berger (Fr) 12 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
6th - Donato Sparavilla (It) 9 255€
7th - Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 7 100€
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 5 500€
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) 4 200€

4 left ICm deal with 4000€ left to win

Spirit Fest: Belgium's Fesler turns €250 into €27,070

Consecration for Pierre-Constantin Fesler. Chipleader going into Day 3, the Belgian led the way to the final with a stack. After weathering the Petrascu storm and earning himself a handsome ticket in a 4-way deal at the ICM for €116,000, he went on to claim the trophy and the remaining €4,000! 

"I found my sunrun again at the end of Day 2," confided the Spirit Fest champion after his expeditious success following a final 100% Belgian duel. "The odds were against us at the start of the final", recounted this regular of the Namur jousts since 2019. 

A passionate player, PCF scored his best live success ever, his first 5-figure win... he'll have the opportunity to express his poker in a few weeks' time on the CPS Main Event, as the last 5 players in the running have booked a ticket for the most expensive Main Event of the year in Namur. 

"I've been coming to Namur often for the last two-three years, but I've already won here in 2019," explained the champion, who will be able to enjoy himself after triumphing in front of his wife and pals. "It's a pleasure to win in a field of over 1,000 players, and the prize money that goes with it is also a pleasure", added the man who will take home €27,070 in cash. 

"Sunrun at the end of Day 2... it was too much, it was pure... I even won by going all-in behind... there was so much emotion that I cried in the car on the way back to Brussels," continued the champion. "I was relaxed in the final, I knew I'd already made a good shot... I waited for my spot and I feel like I played perfect", concluded the winner, heading for the photo session with the family. 

Spirit Fest Final Table (1.444 entries - 290.828€ prizepool - 215 ITMs)
Champion - Pierre-Constantin Fesler 27 070€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
Runner Up - Patrick Aerts (Bel) 26 636€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
3rd - Wilhelmus Galesloot (NL) 24 430€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
4th - Bogdan Petrascu (R0) 30 280€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€*
5th - Johann Berger (Fr) 12 000€ + ticket CPS Main Event 2200€
6th - Donato Sparavilla (It) 9 255€
7th - Patrick de Waegenaere (NL) 7 100€
8th - Ludovic Ruperto (Fr) 5 500€
9th - Stephan Schreitl (NL) 4 200€

4 left ICm deal with 4000€ left to win

At the start of Day 3 at 2 p.m. on Sunday, there were still 31 contenders. It took 3 hours 30 of poker to reach the final... with two Belgians failing to reach the TF, Raffele di Benedetto and Benjamin Vandekerckoven (10th and 11th).

Gianluca Bucchino (28th), Jay Bo Hoebe (25th), Jean Yip (23rd), Tino de Zutter (21st), Andreas Gondrom (20th), Samy Barka (15th) and Mischa Wieten (12th) enjoyed a nice deep-run, but their Final Day came to an end before the final and an official first prize of €44,000.

The final was a fast-paced affair, with 4 eliminations in the 150 minutes before the dinner break, Ludovic Ruperto finally bowing out in 8th place for €5,500.

By the time the dinner-break came around, Bogdan Petrascu was in possession of 31 of the 72 millions in circulation, and it was Johan Berger who was the first to give up the ghost. The last Frenchman on ice jumped 45 minutes after the dinner-break... leaving the final quartet to agree on a deal at the ICM.

Behind him, Pierre-Constantin Fesler's aggressiveness hit the bull's-eye, and so did the cards. It was enough to win a tournament which enabled 5 players to turn €250 into a 5-figure prize, this quintet also winning their place in the €2,200 CPS...

See you on November 26 for what promises to be an epicfestival, with a €550 Cup to kick things off! 

They jumped on Day 3
10th - Raffaele d Benedetto (Bel) 3 230€
11th - Benjamin Vandekerckoven (Bel) 3 230€
12th - Mischa Wieten (NL) 2 700€
13th - Kevin Gorens (Bel) 2 700€
14th - Stephan Lehner (All) €2,250
15th - Samy Barka (Fr) €2,250
16th - Stéphane Boura (Fr) €1,870
17th - Nicolaas Baars (Bel) €1,870
18th - Eleftherios Korexinidis (Bel) €1,580
19th - Abdalah Bouabid (Bel) €1,580
20th - Andreas Gondrom (All) €1,580
21st - Tino de Zutter (Bel) €1,375
22nd - Vincent Touil (Fr) €1,375
23rd - Jean Yip (Bel) €1,375
24th - Kevin van Balen (NL) €1,200
25th - Jay Hoebe (NL) €1,200
26th - Jan Bobbaers (Bel) €1,200
27th - Sebastian Scharf (All) €1,040
28th - Gianluca Bucchino (Bel) €1,040
29th - Marcel Diel (All) €1,040
30th - Jean-Marc Mihoc (Bel) €1,040
31st - Frederic Torres (Fr) €1,040