Toujours du Monde in Namur

140 registrants ten minutes before the start of the 7th of the Summer's eight starting days, and over 160 entrants 5 minutes after the start of Day 1G, the attendance swelled at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur on Thursday June 27.

With the first of the 14 levels on this penultimate starting day barely underway, the number of entries has surpassed 1,000... which should prove to be the biggest flight of the tournament. Registration is open until the first hand after the dinner break and the start of level 10, at around 9.15pm. From there, it's down to Day 1H Turbo, played over 14 15-minute levels, to join Day 2 on Friday at 2pm. On this eighth and final starting day, entries will be possible until around 11.30 p.m.!

All players receive 50,000 chips, shuffle up & deal!

All together

The game has been underway for just over twenty minutes, but the counter is still climbing, and the 200 mark is not far off. 

Robin Cornet, Anthony Bui Ngoc, Olivier Armougon, Heni Mokni Steven Colignon, Karim Alleg, Thomas Alarcon, Romain Becker, Morgan Poisson, Tetiana Kovalchuk, Gerard Bargibant, Claudine Couppe, Dennie Cordromp, Giovanni Ventura and Xavier Coutereel are already at the tables...

They arrive

Level 2 has begun, there have been 5 withdrawals since the start and the table now shows 218 players seated at the tables at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. With 223 entrants at the start of the day, the 1,100-entry mark has been cleared for this €250 Summer 2024 Main Event.

Sebastien Lecomte, Laurent Leclercq, Armand Mouratoglou, Winter Pel winner Nieuwenhuis and his compatriot Morten Faas have already started their day of poker.

Thomas Denie, Elie Hallouss, Marc Gets, Theo Erkamps, Jean-Pierre Cruccas, Adrien and Leopold Darcheville, Bjorn Frings (photo), Pascal Honai, Charlene Kals and Viorel Merisan are also in the game... 

Keep Growing

The Namur event continues to attract large crowds. Maxime Servais, PLO5 winner JS Denissa, Virginie Toury, Harrie Snijders, Ruben Tach, Sabrina Senden, Vincent Verdickt, Gael Peres, Sabri Philips, Mischa Wieten, Paul van Oort, Robert Seelen and Philippe Riminucci are all taking part in Day 1G, which has now attracted 254 entries. This is already the biggest flight of the tournament as re-entries remain open until just after 9pm.

243 players are seated at the tabs, as there are already a few spews and flush versus flush encounters... 7 minutes remain before the end of the second level and the switch to blinds 200 - 400 (400).

Warranty Exceeded

With 10 minutes remaining on blinds 200 - 400 (400) and the third level of Day 1G, the €250,000 guarantee was wiped out. With 268 players in the running for 286 entries, theprovisional attendance for the event has risen to 1,170 entries for a prize pool of €257,000. 

The main room is full, the Ocean Room has been opened with 7 Main Event tables running, so the dinner break should be split into two groups. While one half of the field heads off for a bite to eat, the other half will play two levels before the positions are reversed for a join-up on the start of level 10 and the end of late registration.

Alexandra Quach, Gilles Huet, Ruben Steenhuis, Rachid Sekkai, Roger Sacre, Ludovic Ruperto, Alioune Wade, Luis Rosero, Rico Roumen, Dang Nguyen sit out this Main Event. A regular cash-game player in Namur, and serial winner of car raffles, Louis Lourthie even warmed up to make a dumpling and join this field. 

1,200 is now

The last edition of the Summer Festival took place in the summer of 2022 in Namur. Although the buy-in was just €225, attendance was 1,373... a figure that's still within reach, as the 1,200th entry has just been recorded for this 2024 edition. 

There are 16 minutes to go before the first break of Day 1G and the end of Level 4. At this very moment, 284 players are seated at the tables of the Circus Casino Resort de Namur for 316 entries registered on this seventh and penultimate day of the Summer Main Event. 

The average has climbed to 55,000 chips with €264,000 now in the prize pool. The final prize pool should be around €300,000.! Moise Alloun, Redouan Bettioui, Cristian Bogdan, Bayer Demirci and Lennart Djikamp take advantage of the opportunity to play a small poker , which could prove highly lucrative in the event of a deep-run. 

Yves Kupfermunz, Robin Engelmann, RoelFeenstra, Serge Gielbartowicz, Cyril Jacquin, Jessica Hervé and Antonino Mangano also put their hands in the wallet to start the summer in style. 

Reprise

A thirty-minute break ended a few moments ago, and play is now underway on blinds 400 - 800 (800) with 313 players in the running.

With 364 entrants on the penultimate day of the Summer Main Event, attendance is now approaching 1,250 for this €250-entry tournament, whose last edition attracted 1,373 entrants (in 2022 with a €225 buy-in, editor's note)...

Chipcount
Christine Konczok 148,000
Lauris Krievs 143,000
Lucas Garot 125,000
Philippe Riminucci 117,000
Gilles Huet 110,000
Mischa Wieten 105,000
Sabri Philipps 90,000
Serge Gelbartowicz 87,000
Pascal Honai 86,000
Roin Cornet 80,000
Karim Alleg 80,000
Ruben Tach 75,000
Morten Faas 73,000
Ruben Steenhuis 72,000
Harrie Snijders 70,000
Anthony Bui Ngoc 70,000
Guy Goossens 70,000
Morgan Poisson 66,000
Jean Yip 65,000
Vincent Verdickt 65,000
Heni Mokni 61,000
Pel Nieuwenhuis 54,000
Julien Lauer 53,000
Romain Becker 53,000
Kader Slila 50,000
JS Denissa 44,000
Claudine Couppe 40,000
Robert Seelen 39,000
Charlene Kals 36,000
Marc Hansens 35,000
Sabrina Senden 35,000
Paul Van Oort 28,000
Tetiana Kovalchuck 26,000

Next Level

The blinds have just risen to 500 - 1000 (1000)... enough to allow latecomers to enter with 50 blinds all the same. Level 6 is underway, with 313 players in the running for 380 entries on Day 1G!

With the average already at 60,000 chips, there's plenty of action on this penultimate day of the Summer Festival Main Event...

JS Denissa triumphs again in Namur

JS Denissa has been away from Namur for the past month, recharging his batteries in Morocco... and just as he returned to Namur's Circus Casino Resort, he reminded the regulars of his good fortune by winning the €130 PLO5 KO Summer Festival Event #11.

Held over 20-minute levels, the tournament offered a €50 bonus per elimination... the battle was fierce and ended in a 4-way deal. The bubble had already been long (with the worst place going to Frank Wuyts, editor's note), and the final quartet also played for a long time before coming to an agreement to take a little more than the original second place and keep their bonuses.

Tournament winner JS Denissa pocketed an extra eggplant with 10 scalps in the process. He got along with Frank Konrad, Mehdi Rebai and Gilles Magny...

Event #11 PLO5 KO Summer Festival at €130 (€2,990 prizepool - €50 KO)
Winner - JS Denissa 593€ *
Runner Up Frank Konrad 593€ *
3rd - Mehdi Rebai 593€ *
4th - Gilles Magny €593 *
5th - Thomas Gougeul €260
6th - Gerard Bargibant €200
7th - Morgan Poisson €160

* Deal - excluding bonuses

Split Dinner

It's official, the dinner break is cut in two. The first part of the field will play level 7, which starts and then goes on break from 7pm to 8.15pm. This first group is made up of players from the Salle Océan.

Meanwhile, the second group, from the main room, will play two more levels before taking a dinner break from 8pm to 9.15pm. During the second group's dinner-break, the first group will return to play levels 8 and 9...

The two groups join forces at 9.15pm for the start of level 10 and the end of late registration for this penultimate starting day of the Summer 2024 Main Event.

With the blinds now at 600 - 1200 (1200), the table shows 307 players in the running for 408 entrants! This brings the tournament's provisional attendance close to 1,300... and the prizepool above €260,000. 

Dinner break (I)

The first group is on lunch break, the 17 tables in the Salle Océan are empty and the players are enjoying a 75-minute break. 

The table shows 295 players in the running at the end of level 7, which was played at blinds 600 - 1200 (1200)... Day 1G's attendance is currently at 437, bringing the tournament total to 1,323 entries and the prizepool to €268,000! With the main room group set to play two levels, and the end of level 8 and blinds 800 - 1600 (1600), here's an update on the players currently in the break. 

Gunther Rettel (pictured left) appears to be in the lead with 280,000 chips and nearly 6 times the starting stack...

Chipcount Ocean Room after 7 levels
Gunther Rettel 280 000
Jason van Vianen 225 000
Jay Hoebe 190 000
Esteban Devresse 173 000
Ohran Sen 164 000
Stefan Hofman 144 000
Peter van den Berg 140 000
Alexander de Viville 130 000
Giovanni Ventura 128 000
Nengming Wang 128 000
Alexandra Quach 120 000
Conor Stapelton 114 000
Thierry Aqua 113 000
Theo Erkamps 105 000
Gilles Huet 105 000
Nikola Wicquart 52 000
Greg van der Wecken 45 000
Octavian Ripan 43 000

Still Playing

In the main room, blinds are still running at 1000 - 2000 (2000). These players have played almost an hour more than the first group... dinner break is just around the corner for this group, who will return at 9.15pm for the start of level 10 and the junction of the tournament with closed entries.

For the moment, the table shows 272 players in the running for 452 entries for this 1G flight, the penultimate of the Summer Main Event. Total attendance exceeded 1,340 entries even before the last-chance Utrbo 1H kicked off at 9 p.m... the record for the last edition of 1,373 entries dating back to 2022 is about to fall!

There is now just over €272,000 in the prizepool...

Dinner break (I)

The second group is taking a break, the main room having emptied, while the group from the Ocean Room returns to play two levels on blinds 800 - 1600 (1600) then 1000 - 2000 (2000)...

The second group has already played these two levels and is leaving for a dinner break until 9.15pm, when the junction will take place on level 10 with registration completed. As one part of the field resumes play and the other heads off for a bite to eat, the table shows 261 players still on Day 1G, for a provisional total of 458 entries! This brings the provisional attendance to a record 20 entries... while the last-chance Turbo 1H starts in an hour's time and will be open to late registrations until around 11.30 p.m...


Sabri Philips has given up the ghost on this Day 1G and confided in me that he's going to migrate to this last-chance Turbo, which will feature 14 15-minute levels to join Day 2 on Friday at 2 p.m...

Chipcount Main hall after 9 levels
Ralf Geens 251 000
Hamid Bencherif 244 000
Remzi Delibas 240 000
Philipe de Meulemeester 235 000
Louis Lourthie 230 000
Jeroen Thijssen 230 000
Patrick Ziegler 212 000
Kris van Lieshout 204 000
Philippe Riminucci 170 000
Arthur Narellou 168 000
Morten Faas 160 000
Djamal Boutaleb 160 000
Gert Swolfs 156 000
Serge Gelbartowicz 154 000
Yi Hu 152 000
Rachid Sekkai 150 000
Pel Nieuwenhuis 136 000
Julien Lauer 122 000
Vincent Verdickt 105 000
Mohamed Razab Sekh 100 000
Guy Goossens 70 000
Redouan Abed 60 000
Marc hanssens 56 000
JS Denissa 42 000
Karim Alleg 35 000

478 entries on Day 1G

Registration is closed on the penultimate day of the Summer Main Event, with 478 entries counted this Thursday, June 27! This brings the tournament's provisional attendance to just under the record set by the last edition, which took place in the summer of 2022. 

240 players remain on the track at the resumption on 1000 - 2500 (2500) with the aim of joining the 180 qualifiers from the first 6 qualifying sessions... The Turbo 1H started just a few minutes ago, further boosting the prize pool... there's almost €285,000 in the pot! 

Skimming

Around 30 players jumped in on the half-hour following the restart. Level 10 is behind us, and the game is now being played on 1500 - 3000 (3000) with 35 blinds still on average...

For those who've been eliminated since the restart, there's one and only one way to reach Day 2, and that's on to Day 1H Turbo, which started at 9pm. Paul van Oort, Harrie Snijders, Fred Borgmans, Guy Goossens, Marc Hansens, Robin Cornet, Kader Slila, Pierre Pez, Robert Kalka and Maxime Servais have no choice but to join an event whose prize pool has ballooned to €293,000!

213 players remain on level 11 of Day 1G, with the final break of the day taking place at the end of this level...

All rights 

Resuming after the final break on the penultimate day of qualifying for the €250 Summer Main Event... during the break, a few players joined the last-chance Turbo 1H to push the prize pool over €300,000!

Just under 150 players remain, with Bayer Demirci, JS Denissa, Redouane Abed, Samuel Grigorian, Robin Engelmann, Cyril Jacquin, Claudine Couppe, Greg van Der Weckene, Luis Rosero and Virginie Toury all gone. Gone too are Ludoic Ruperto, Mohamed Razab Sekh and Robert Jansson.

The Last Hour

As the day draws to a close, the field continues to shrink, with some big stacks coming in. Ralf Geens continues to put on the pressure and is up to 416,000 chips, following in the footsteps of Eastern European player Dmytro Pashytskyy.

Here are a few stacks from the latest round of table action...


Chipcount
Dmytro Pashytskyy 427,000
Ralf Geens 416,000
Martinus van Griensven 343,000
Julien Lauer 300,000
Nils Matisons 310,000
Olivier Guilloux 290 000
Philip de Meulemeester 285 000
Morgan Poisson 270 000
Ruben Steenhuis 270 000
Hamid Ben Charif 270 000
Redouan Bettioui 260 000
Kris van Lieshout 203 000
Gert Swolfs 200 000
Vincent Verdickt 200 000
Jusef Pahlewani 200 000
Mischa Wieten 200 000
Roel Feenstra 200 000
Patrice Ziegler 190 000
Rachid Sekkai 180 000
Louis Lourthie 180 000
Morten Faas 170 000
Laurent Leclercq 165 000
Willemde Jong 160 000
Claus Spieckermann 151 000
Giuseppe Polina 140 000

1,524 Summer entrants, €307,000 to be shared by the winners

Registration is closed for the eighth and final starting day of the €250 Main Even. Day 1H Turbo drew 163 entrants to bring the event's final attendance to 1,524, a new Namur record... enough to generate a massive €306,958 prizepool! 

On this Turbo, they are on the 11th of 14 quarter-hour levels, with 9 minutes left to play in blinds 1500 - 3000 (3000)... The average is 98,000 chips, with 83 players still in contention to qualify for Day 2, starting Friday at 2pm...

Sprint

With a quarter of an hour left to play in blinds 3000 - 6000 (6000), the conclusion is nigh on Day 1G of the Summer 2024 Main Event. There are still 114 players in the running with a few minutes to go, and it's all over for Alioune Wade, Jean-Pierre Crucass, Elie Halouss, Robert Seelen, Serge Gielbartowicz, Pascal Honai and Olivier Armougon.

Like Salvatore Alessi, Prash Knight and Michael Kopp, these players are finished with the Main Event, as it is no longer possible to enter either of the last two starting sessions.

For the others, it's all over as the floor will announce 4-5 or 6 hands to be played in a few seconds.

44 Turbo qualifiers

The last-chance turbo sold out with over 160 entrants... and 44 players managed to survive the 14 15-minute levels to reach Friday's Day 2. Play resumed on 4000 - 8000 (8000) with 329 players in contention for 223 paid seats. The champion will cash for just over €45,000 and it's a German who's positioned himself on Day 1H.

Frank Richter waited until the last hand to defend 8 and 5 of hearts, pay a barrel with flush draw and flop and take a few extra chips after hitting the flush on the turn. Rich get richer in life and at poker ! Frank took the opportunity to steal the chiplead from this last flight in-extremis.

Partial Chipcount Day 1H Turbo
Frank Richter 489 000
Kalko 488 000
Mike Gysbrechts 434 000
Daniel Knapp 434 000
Davor Anticevic 363 000
Robert Kalka 333 000
Thomas Denie 318 000
Stefan Bariaud 317 000
Baris Aydin 306 000
Thomas Alarcon 277 000
Harrie Snijders 256 000
Nicolas Karvas 250 000
Jay Mahadew 248 000
Sherbil Mouche 208 000
Yusdzhan Yusuf 205 000

329 players on Day 2, €45,000 to win and 223 paid places

The eight qualifying days of the €250 Summer Main Event set a new attendance record with 1,524 entries. 105 players crossed the festival's busiest day, with 478 entries recorded for Day 1G, held on Thursday at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.

Together with the 44 qualifiers for the Turbo 1H last chance, 329 players packed in chips for the rest of the competition, which resumed on Friday at 2pm on 4000 - 8000 (8000) with 40-minute levels. Heading for the 223 paid places in a tournament with a final prizepool of almost €306,000, the €250,000 guarantee was unsurprisingly wiped out! 

Kris van Lieshout topped the penultimate day of qualifying, the Belgian bagging 520,000 chips and just over ten times the starting stack. He was the only player on Day 1G to break the half-million chip barrier...

Numerous regulars secured their tickets for this flight, including Claude Mamalepot, Jay Hoebe, Thierry Aqua, Djamal Boutaleb, Ismael Boujahma, Ralf Geens, Roel Fenstra, Morten Faas, Dennie Cordromp, Jean Yip, Vincent Verdickt, Rachid Sekkai, Mischa Wieten and Ruben Steenhuis...

See you on Friday for the money race and the start of the Summer 2024 Main Event...

Partial Chipcount Day 1G
Kris van Lieshout 520 000
Dennie Cordromp 495 000
Nicolas Lebon 462 000
Claus Spieckermann 448 000
Hamid ben Charif 446 000
Stephan van den Berg 445 000
Ralf Geens 422 000
Laurent Crochemore 419 000
Antoine Degris 413 000
GuntherRettel 394 000

Jason van Vianen 370 000
Ruben Steenhuis 368 000
Jay Hoebe 361 000
Jean Yip 335 000
Jeroen Thisjen 332 000
Olivier Guilloux 327 000
Djamal Boutaleb 322 000
Sephane Croes 319 000
Willem de Jong 319 000
Otman Egemen 314 000

Theo Erkamps 310 000
Gert Solwfes 299 000
Mischa Wieten 276 000
Isamel Boujahma 250 000
Louis Lourhie 232 000
Vincent Verdickt 215 000
Claude Mamalepot 205 000
Roel Fenstra 201 000
Julien Lauer 192 000
Rachid Sekkai 195 000

Morten Faas 186,000
Thierry Aqua 177,000




Seatdraw and full chipcount in the document below