Shuffle up & Deal

The fourth of eight starting sessions in the €250 Summer Festival Main Event got underway at 4 p.m. on blinds 100 - 200 (200). 30 or so players are already seated at the tables of the Circus Casino Resort in Namur, ready to build up a stack of 50,000 chips over the course of the 14 levels on the program.

The players will play an effective 7 hours of poker, heading for Day 2 at 2pm on Friday, where 107 qualifiers are already waiting. Attendance is close to 600 entries, just in time to surpass the 2022 edition which attracted 1,373 entrants for a €225 entry fee. The €250,000 guarantee for the 2024 edition is also on track to fall.

Entries are open until the start of Level 10, after the 75-minute dinner break, at around 10.15pm. It should be a calm day, with exceptional sunshine in Namur and 4 matches on the Euro 2024 program this Tuesday, June 25. Not to mention Big Tuesday (€170 - 25,000 chips - 20 min.) starting at 7.30pm...

Early Birds

No outgoing players during this first level and 45 players in the running after 25 minutes of play on this fourth starting day. Some regulars are already in the running... Morgan Poisson, Saman Ziarati, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, Mehdi Rebai, Maxime Servais, Yves Senterre, Dieu Lam, Laurent Chiaramonte, Quentin Destoky or Rosario Agosta, Daniel Domb and Robert Seelen have already bought-in on Day 1D.

Sixties fan

The 60-entry mark has been passed on Day 1D of the Summer Main Event, boosting overall attendance to 614 entrants as we play the third level of this Tuesday.

The blinds are 200 - 400 (400) with 61 players in contention for 62 entries. A Dutchman dealt to everyone at his table before re-entering... Bjorn Frings, Patrick Resseler and Abdel Chenoufi... Abdel settles down at a table featuring many players known to our services.

Chenoufi will be joined by Quentin Destoky, Dieu Lam, former Namur dealer Erwan Pirotais and France's Valérie Pignot. After almost 70 minutes of play, no one has yet made the breakthrough on table 27...

Valérie isn't the only woman in the running, Christel Muniente (above) is also in the running. Christel began her game at the table of Laurent Chiaramonte and Steven Wattiez. After winning a pot against Laurent, Steven saw Christel open to 700 from Lowjack at the end of the previous level. Mhdei Rebai called the hijack and Steven took the opportunity to bet 2,000 from the cutoff. The duo called to discover a 2 7 5 flop with a diamond draw... Christel was the only one to pay the continuation bet at 5,500 chips.

On turn 6, Steven bet a second time, his bet at 8,500 chips provoking a fold. Steven showed two Aces nicely to probably take the tournament lead with a stack of around 80,000 chips. Christel was relocated shortly afterwards...

The Big Blue

The first break of Day 1D is approaching, and so is the French team's match. Already qualified, the Tricolores face Poland at 6 p.m., just in time for the break that will follow the end of Level 4. Already 95 minutes of play on this fourth starting day, and the fine weather in Namur is certainly not encouraging players to turn out in droves... although the air-conditioning is pleasant at the Circus Casino Resort!

Nevertheless, the field continues to climb with 66 players in contention for 72 entries... and two players with more than twice the starting stack. Joseph Huzij is in direct position over Robert Seelen, but with 105,000 chips in front of him. The boss has to be Michel Marinelli with 115,000 chips, and the pace is starting to pick up as the stacks have become a little more numerous in recent minutes... Jonas Smet has just come back into play after defending 9 ten of clubs from the blinds, all went to the middle on the 7 8 3 flop with a heart draw, the opener turning over the Aces to bow out on a Valet river. Double-up dad!

The game is played over 300 - 600 (600) and the traditional half-hour break begins at 6pm. Ismael Joly, Samuel Grigorian and Octavian Ripan will barely have had time to warm up, having arrived just a few minutes ago...

First Break

The first break of Day 1D is underway, after 4 levels and two hours of poker. The table shows 73 players in the running for 85 entrants, with an average of 57,000 chips and a provisional total of 637 entrants for this Main Event.

Play resumes at 6:30 p.m. on blinds 400 - 800 (800), for 5 levels leading up to the 75-minute dinner break. Denis Mathieu managed to fold the Aces in a 3 out of 9 out of 9 King... Samuel Grigorian bet high on the flop in position and took a check-raise to all-in from Christophe Berger, interposed Denis returned his cards and Samuel tank-called for his 30,000 chips with Roi Dix. Far behind Berger's King 9, Samuel called a "un Roi?" to share. "Thank you sir," he blurted out after the dealer complied on the turn for a split. Berger was just under 100,000 chips at the break, in the lead, while Grigorian came close to a correction.

Dieu Lam (to the left of Erwan Pirotais below) got off to the best possible start... and we'll be back at half-time for another checkpoint on this tournament. The Circus Casino Resort in Namur has set up a small area for soccer fans, with simultaneous broadcasts of the matches.

Chipcount
Dieu Lam 131 000
Michel Marinelli 118 000
Josph Huzij 115 000
Jawad Bengourane 109 000
Mehdi Rebai 106 000
Christian Berger 99 000
Christophe Adjar 98 000
Steven Wattiez 91 000
Bjorn Frings 90 000
Hoe Ave 86 000
Denis Mathieu 75 000
Valerie Pignot 58 000
Robert Seelen 54 000
Morgan Poisson 52 000
Samuel Grigoran 48 000
Laurent Chiaramonte 45 000

L'Apéro 

There are just under two hours left of poker before the dinner break, level 6 having started a few minutes ago. Play is now at 500 - 1000 (1000) with 77 players in the running for 93 entrants and an average of 60,000 pawns. Provisional tournament attendance has climbed to 645 entrants for this Summer Main Event. 

Day 1D saw the arrival of Kader Slila (10,000), although things didn't go according to plan for this regular of Namur's Circus Casino Resort. Things went a little better, however, for the winner of the last Siusmix in Marrakech, Anthony Dasbourg (70,000), who naturally joined the table with Valérie Pignot or Dieu Lam (120,000). 

Mehd Rebai (140,000), Michel Marinelli (120,000), Saman Ziarati (100,000 - photo) and Jawad Bengourane (125,000) also got off to a good start. Philippe Cocquyt (140,000), Shabani Burim (140,000) and an anonymous Dutchman or soft LM (132,000) took their place in the breakaway on the fourth day of the €250 Main Event...

New Level

Level 7 comes to an end as the entry count climbs to 100 on Day 1d. 74 players remain in the running for the fourth of eight starting sessions in this €250 Main Event. Quentin Destoky continues to struggle above average, while Morgan Poisson and Kader Slila will be forced to re-enter.

Djamal Boutaleb, a Namur-based serial player, also came to try his luck in this €250,000 guarantee tournament. The average is 68,000 chips, while the blinds will increase to 800 - 1600 in ten minutes' time. 

New Players

The end of the afternoon matches at Euro 2024 saw a new wave of players arrive, with 27 minutes left to play on blinds 800 - 1600 (1600), so Moh Daher has just settled in. Already firmly in place is Sismix Marrakech 2024 champion Anthony Dasbourg. 

Anthony is up to 120,000 chips after checking-raising a 4 7 Ten flop with two diamonds from the blinds in a duel against a player in MP. The Frenchman barreled 14,000 on an 8 turn and then went all-in for just under 40,000 chips on a river 2 of spades. "It felt good", he said after his opponent's quick fold...

Erwan Pirotais (225,000) and Saman Ziarati (230,000) are also looking good. The duo are ahead of the game, with an average of 77,000 chips and 71 players for 109 entries on Day 1D...

Hungry for Chips

The final level before the dinner-break has begun, with 67 players now competing in blinds 1000 - 2000 (2000), with another 42 blinds on average. This brings the total number of entrants in this fourth starting session to 112, with registration open until the dinner-break resumption.

Abdel Chenoufi (photo) just gave up on a flip button against cutoff. Abdel's pair of 4s was no match for Jawad Bengourane's ace-queen at a table where Fred Van Damme (200,000) set the tempo.

Quentin Destoky passed on the second hand in the final hour, and now stands at 315,000 chips, probably leading Day 1D, just ahead of Erwan Pirotais (305,000). Djamal Boutaleb (130,000), Steven Wattiez (100,000) and Valérie Pignot (80,000) are also on the right track... 

Top 60

There are 10 minutes left to play on 1000 - 2000 (2000) and then there's a 75-minute dinner break at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. Day 1D of the Summer Main Event still involves 60 players with 47 blinds on average... and probably a big one between Laurent Chiaramonte and Quentin Destoky. The two men appear to have swapped stacks, with Laurent now holding 300,000 while Quentin has dropped back to just above average.

Clément Godard, Kader Slila, Robert Seelen, Samule Grigorian have all disappeared... they can all re-enter until the first hand of level 10, unless they join Big Tuesday where there are already 75 entrants at level 5. 

Dinner break

Play is paused on the fourth of eight starting sessions for the Summer Main Event. The table shows 54 players in contention for 115 entrants... Ismael Joly will be wondering if he's going to nre-entry in-extremis as he jumped 20 seconds before the dinner-break.

Ismael went all in with 7 on 7 3 6 with two clubs to be paid by two Queens. Christian Berger hit a Queen turn as if to avenge the 2-outers he'd lost earlier in the day to Samuel Grigorian... Ismael saw this 120,000-chip pot slip away on the other side of the tale, as Christian went into the break with more than 4 times the starting stack of 50,000 chips.

Latecomers who sign up before the 10:15 p.m. restart will have 20 blinds on 1000 - 2500 (2500)... 

Chipcount
Erwan Pirotais 379 000
Laurent Chiaramonte 355 000
Hans Zarfl 221 000
Christian Berger 210 000
Nicolas Couzoupis 205 000
Saman Ziarati 200 000
Fred van Damme 200 000
Quentin Destoky 150 000
Mehdi Rebai 140 000
Jawad Bengourane 122 000
Maxime Servais 120 000
Shabani Burim 120 000
Bjorn Frings 97 000
Patrick Resseler 93 000
Valerie Pignot 88 000
Anthony Dasbourg 61 000
Abdel Chenoufi 45 000
Deu Lam 40 000

118 which make 671

Registration is closed for Day 1D, the fourth of eight qualifying stages of the €250 Summer Main Event. Provisional attendance climbs to 671 entrants at the halfway point, ahead of the two double sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, which promise to be the busiest of the event. 

There are 22 minutes left to play on 1000 - 2500 (2500) with 57 players in the running. 

Digestion

In a few seconds the blinds will climb to 1500 - 3000 (3000) and there will be an hour left of poker before the final break of Day 1d. The survivors will return for two half-hour levels, wrapping up at around 1am. At present, 49 of the 118 entrants are in the running for the 4th starting session of the Summer Main Event.

Mohamed Daher, Burim Shabani, Hoe Avo and Samuel Grigorian will have to return to another flight to try and join the 107 qualifiers for Day 2 at 2pm on Friday. Same verdict for Dettmar Hartmut, Brahim Hajji and Florian Kaison since returning from dinner. 

Chiaramonte at the controls, Gamhy Over

With 3 minutes left to play on 1500 - 3000 (3000), the pace has quickened... only 38 players remain after the exits of Robert Seelen, Didier Pieters, Denis Mathieu, Mohammed Safaei, Djamal Rabah or Bjorn Frings.

Pierre Pez gave himself some breathing space to climb to 110,000 chips by holding King Queen against King Jack at Omar Gamhy's, who stops there. Pierre has a long way to go, averaging 155,000 chips on Day 1D. 

After level 2000 - 4000 (4000), there will be a short break, not enough to worry Laurent Chiaramonte who has just seen Stephane van Vreckom go all-in with Flush draw max and a pair on a board with three clubs... Laurent had defended and found a straight flush draw on the flop. Two cards later Chiaramonte climbed to 425,000 chips, leading the way with a reinvigorated Quentin Destoky at 380,000. 

For Erwan Pirotais, it's a case of soup to the gills, with the former caz player at 115,000 chips and his neighbor to the left at the head of a 350,000-strong bankroll. Stijn van den Meersschaut has probably gone to the source...

3.750€ for the Big Tuesday winner

108 entries, 15 paid places

Pascal Honai, Damien Hupe, Wesley Peinen, David Opdebeeck, Dominique Potenza, Yves Senterre, Kader Slila, Orhan Serbes, Ekin Kandemir, Ismael Joly, Stephane Meo, Francois Louis Vlassis, Danny Covyn, Mohamed Daher, Samir Bou Dahdir, Fred Davidts are on the starting line of this €170 Big Tuesday Summer Festival Event #10.

With 108 entrants, the €6,000 guarantee is wiped out, and the race for the paid seats is played out over 20-minute levels. While Day 1D Main Event entrants attempt to reach Day 2, Big Tuesday winners will share nearly €15,000 at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.

56 players remain out of 1000 - 1500 (1500) with an average of 48,000 chips...

Event #10 Big Tuesday Summer Festival €170 (€14,908 prizepool)
Winner - €3,750
Runner Up - €2,450
3e - 1 750€
4e - 1 350€
5e - 1 035€
6e- 800€
7e - 640€
8e - 510€
9e - 425€

10th - €360
11th - €360
12th - €300
13th - €300
14th - €250
15th - €250


 

Pit stop

The final break of Day 1d of the Main Event is underway at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. Resuming at midnight 5 on blinds 2000 - 5000 (5000) for the penultimate half-hour level of this fourth starting session.

Quentin Destoky regained the lead going into the final straight... back with an average of 184,000 chips. Pierre Pez, Jonas Smet, Christian Berger, Djamal Boutaleb and Stéphane Blaser completed the flight. 

Chipcount
Quentin Destoky 506 000
Laurent Chiaramonte 441 000
Lucas Meyer 430 00
Stijn van den Meersschaut 301 000
Jochen Jossaer 275 000
Fred van Damme 255 000
Rosario Agosta 215 000
Philippe Cocquyt 210 000
Mehdi Rebai 210 000
Hans Zarfl 190 000
Ivan Dinamarca 181 000
Michel Marinelli 175 000
Maxime Servais 171 000
Anthony Dasbourg 165 000 (photo)
Saman Ziarati 115 000
Daniel Domb 104 000

Chips in stock

Day 1D looks set to belong to Quentin Destoky, who has been unstoppable for the last few minutes and now stands at 840,000 chips with 37 minutes to go. The final blinds at 3,000 - 6,000 (6,000) are approaching, and the Belgian has just taken out Joseph Huzij and Abdel Chenoufi. He also grabbed a stake equivalent to a starting stack on a 2 5 Roi 9 9 board. The chipleader had defended the ( on an open from Michel Marinelli who call-mucke-show a King for form! Mihaita Georgita (80,000) is moved to this table to make up the numbers...

Destoky's rush brought the field down to 28 players and the average climbed to 215,000 chips for the final sprint of the fourth of eight starting sessions. Erwan Pirotais also joined the rail in the final minutes, while Patrick Resseler (100,000) and Samlan Ziarati (95,000) are forced to be patient. Steven Wattiez has just successfully 3-bet shove to keep himself in the 20-blind zone.

Money Time

With just 15 minutes remaining on the clock on the 14th and final level of Day 1D of the Summer Festival Main Event... Germany's Hans Zarfl raised 440,000 chips, scalping Nicolas Couzouis among others.

Maxime Servais also joined the rail at the end of the evening, eliminated on a flip against Mehdi Rebai, who took advantage of the opportunity to suck up 100,000 chips and climb to over 360,000. Saman Ziarati was also eliminated in the final minutes by Kevin Boel, who had 250,000 in chips - his peak for the day. At the bottom of the leaderboard with 26 players remaining, will Daniel Domb make it to the finish?

Quentin Destoky boss of Jour 1D

End of the fourth of eight Summer Festival Main Event starting sessions with 24 players, bringing the total number of qualifiers for Friday's 2 p.m. Day 2 to 131. With 782,000 chips after 7 hours at poker and 14 half-hour levels, Quentin Destoky has built up almost 16 times the starting stack and a good cushion for a Day that will resume on 4000 - 8000 (8000) with 40-minute levels.

The Belgian beat a solid German, Hans Zarfl, who was in fine form at the end, as was the last member of the podium, Dutchman Hendrikus van der Hejden. A more solid and linear day for Laurent Chiaramonte and Mehdi Rebai.

Qualifiaction also for Sismix 2024 winner Anhony Dasbourg. The Frenchman will be back for the rest of the tournament on Friday, as will Patrick Resseler, Daniel Domb and Steven Wattiez.

Sofyan Asmari and Jochen Jossaer joined the rail in the last minutes and will be back on Wednesday (4pm and 9pm) and Thursday (3pm and 9pm) with 4 flights to conquer...

See you on Day 1E afternoon, June 26!