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

45,250€ for the Summer 2024 champion

The final 223 players in this field of 1,524 entrants will share a prize pool of €306,933... here's the prizepool breakdown, including three €2,200 CPS Main Event tickets for the final trio of competitors...

Seatdraw & Chipcount

All the info in the document below

Shuffle Up & Deal

Day 2 participants will start to share the €306,000 prize pool, with 329 players starting on 4000 - 8000 (8000) with 40-minute levels... There are 223 paid seats, and the day won't end with the money. The program includes 10 levels of play on this Summer Main Event, in order to skim the field before Saturday's Day 3, which will be played on 50-minute levels...

On Day 2, while some players are late and haven't played a hand... others have already joined the rail. Five minutes and counting for the Winter Festival winner. Dutchman Pel Newenhuis put it all in after an open from Nicolas Destercq and a flat from Andries de Bruin... Nicolas passed and Andries paid with As Valet to win the flip against the 8s of the man who had cashed in €90,000 at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur in January...

End of round also for Thierry Aqua and Sam Hilge. Dmytro Burla, Maxime Patou and Kevin Reicher gave up the ghost right from the start...

High Tempo

There's not much time left in Namur... the first level of Day 2 of the Summer Main Event is drawing to a close and just over 280 players remain in the hunt for 223 paid places and a prizepool of almost €307,000.

Andries de Bruin has given up the ghost, as has Aurélien Kisiangou, who fell victim to Yves Senterre on a flip. Senterre climbed to 430,000 chips at a table where Nicolas Destercq was ahead (610,000) until the arrival of Quentin Destoky with just over 80 blinds for the 5000 - 10,000 (10,000) level ahead.

Cem Muhtar, Philipp de Meulemeester, Xavier Coutereel, Dieu Lam, Alexandra Quach, Olivier Lacour, Daniel Domb, Jordan Plon, Mohamed Daher and Bayer Demirci all gave up... 

Money is coming

The money is closing in fast, with a min-cash at €370 for 223 places paid. After 50 minutes of play, there are only 265 players left... 65 players have jumped in since the start, despite an average of 29 blinds and 40-minute levels...

There are 30 minutes left to play in the 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000) Main Event, which has attracted 1,524 entrants over 8 starting days... Rico Roumen, Jonathan Masson, Sutharsan Ariyanagam, Lucky Luciano, Steven Wattiez, Majid Riouch, Patrick Hutsch, Gael Peres, Pierre Titeca, Didier Bollen, Bregt Winters or Rens Buijs will not be in the money on this Main Event.

They can fork out for a €100 high-roller satellite at 3.30pm or go straight to the €600 HR at 6pm...

La Bulle is here

The pace is intense, with 92 eliminations in 73 minutes of play since the start of Day 2. Only 237 players are left in the running for 223 paid seats, and there are only 7 minutes left before the switch to blinds 5,000 - 15,000 (15,000). The average is 32 blinds, but the increase in blinds is going to hurt! 

Finito for Philipp Meyer, Lucas Garot, Guillaume Fontaine, Mohamed Razab Sekh, Morten Faas, Koen Lahousse, Marcel Diel, Olivier Guilloux, Jessica Herve, Adrien Darcheville or Alessandro Licata...

Alexandre de Viville bubble-boy

The hand-by-hand action didn't even have time to start, as the last 223 players in the field found themselves in the money. With 226 players left, the man who finished 5th in the last BPC for €53,000 open-shoved 220,000 chips early in the hand for 5,000 - 15,000. Samir Bou Dahdir got paid by the big blind and jumped in with the 6s against ace-queen, an ace coming on the flop.

As the floor announced the bubble rules and the start of hand-by-hand play at the end of the hand in progress, Abdullah Keremoglu jumped in from the other end of the room. This left 224 players and just one victim to free everyone.

The wait for the end of the hands in progress began... and two players got excited. After a failed raise under the gun turned into a limp, Alexandre de Viville bet 55,000 chips from the cutoff. In the big blind Dylan Dereuddre clicked in 110,000 chips to fold the UTG player. Alexandre paid to uncover an 8 4 2 flop with no flush draw.

There, Dylan went all-in for 232,000 chips. It didn't take long for Alexandre (below, middle) to call for 210,000 chips. A big minute's wait for the rest of the room to finish and we have a showdow. Alexandre flips the queens, insufficient against Dylan's kings who stay ahead of a jack and ace later, heading for the €370 min-cash and a stack of 655,000 chips.

A nice fortune to start the popcorn moment. And then it was 17 minutes to the break! It took 103 minutes of play on Day 2 to drop from 329 players to 223 winners starting to share a prize pool of almost €307,000! 

Break

Resuming at 4:35 p.m. in blinds 10,000 - 15,000 (15,000), 196 of the 1,524 players entered the Summer 2024 Main Event. Survivors are guaranteed a €370 prize; to win more, you'll need to reach the Top 183...

Resuming with an average of 25 blinds, it's going to keep jumping fast as we return to the locker room... After the entry years of the money, Rico Chevalot impaled himself on an open from Mathias Moutaoukil to give up the gauntlet. WSOP Circuit winner Longmao Fan struck to take out Dang Nguyen and Kris van Lieshout to climb to 1.1 million chips.

There's still plenty to play for in this tournament, and here's an update on the first break of Day 2...

Chipcount
Daniel Knapp (photo) 1,600,000
Youssef Hammas 1,250,000
Kolka 1,200,000
Tayer Ayhan 1,100,000
Longmao Fan 1,000,000
Jochen Eid 880,000
Anthony Dasbourg 830,000
Thomas Denie 800 000
Lukas Trzcinski 800 000
Baris Aydan780 000
Quentin Destoky 750 000
Rachid Sekkai 750 000
Yusuf Yuzdzhan 750 000
Danny Deridde 700 000
Shaft Bekale 700 000
Mathias Moutaoukil 700 000
Dario Sorrenti 650 000
Ismael Boujahma 65 000
Amadeus Janotta 600 000
Zakaria Ben Omar 600 000
Mikael Svensson 600 000
Stephane Cornelissen 600 000
David Botty 550 000
Thomas Alarcon 550 000
Ralf Geens 500 000
David Opdebeeck 450 000
Andrea Caizzi 400 000
Sabrina Senden 350 000
Luigi Pacilli 300 000
Harrie Snijders 300 000
Noah Alem 260 000
Morgan Poisson 200 000
Bryan de Riddere 160 000

370€ and rail

It took 7 minutes of play after the break to reach the first payout level. Only 183 players remain in this Summer Main Event, all guaranteed a €420 prize. The average is 24 blinds and the tournament survivors will play three levels in a row, heading for the dinner break between 6.30 and 7.45 pm. We'll then play 4 levels for a final round at around 11 p.m...

They collect €370

Finito

David Olurebi, Jawad Bengourane, Mathias Moutaoukil (170th), Harrie Snijders, Robert Kalka and Melvin Mass are among the bustos... who are €420 richer. Enough to pay for a good part of the two-day €600 high-roller starting at 6pm...

Mathias Moutaoukil opened button with Ace Ten before 4-bet shove 430,000 on 10,000 - 15,00 (15,000). His opponent tank-called Ace Dame with a "let's gamble" before ejecting him into the rail. Since then, the blinds have climbed to 10,000 - 20,000 (20,000°) and there are only 162 players left, with an average of 23 blinds.

They'll have to reach the Top 143 to pocket a little more and €480...

Dinner approaching

The blinds were raised to 10,000 - 25,000 (25,000) with 128 players still in the tournament, all guaranteed a €480 payout. Here are the players who took €420 for their efforts. They include David Botty, Dario Sorrenti, Fred van Damme, Ruben Steenhuis and TheoErkamps and Ralf Geens (above)...

Bustos

A big quarter of an hour of play before the dinner break for 118 players still on 10,000 - 25,000 (25,000) with an average of 645,000 chips... The survivors were finally assured of an eggplant, while the last withdrawals pocketed €480 for their ddep-run in this Summer Main Event, which attracted 1,524 entrants.

Jorden Verbraeen, Noah Alem, Claude Mamalepot, Quentin Destoky, Wim Verhaegen, Kadr Slila and Octavian Ripan were among the regulars to give up in the final minutes...

Dinner Break

The dinner break has begun, with 99 of the 1,524 entrants to the €250 Summer Main Event still alive; the race for the €45,000 first prize resumes at 7.50 p.m. in blinds 15,000 - 30,000 (30,000), with four 40-minute levels to be contested.

The average is 770,000 chips, and no one has yet topped the million-chip mark... The survivors have secured a €550 payout, with their sights set on Day 3 on Saturday, when 50-minute levels will be played. Final Day on Sunday in streaming! 

Chipcount fin level 20 Main Event Summer
Danny Deridder 1 900 000
Maurice Rustveld 1 700 000
Leopold Darcheville 1 700 000
Frank Richter 1 600 000
Stephane Croes 1 600 000
Wesley Peinen 1 600 000
Pakize Altunsov 1 500 000
Baris Aydin 1 480 000
Cedric Kediorza 1 400 000
Dmytro Pashytskyy (photo) 1 400 000
Lennart Djikkamp1 350 000
Longmao Fan 1 300 000
Mehdi Rebai 1 200 000
Soufiane Messadek 1 150 000
Philip Cocqyut 1 150 000
Ismael Boujahma 1 100 000
Julien Lauer 1 100 000
Yusuf Yuzdzhan 1 000 000
Sebastien Bodson 900 000
Fred Schelten 810 000
Huseyin Yildirim 780 000
Taner Ayhan 650 000
David Opdebeeck 550 000
Tamara Ruben 500 000
Thomas Alarcon 500 000
Sabrina Senden 500 000
Matthieu Rigolot 250 000

In & out

Tawfik Samih jumped into 89th place after 20 minutes of play in the 15,000-30,000 blinds (30,000). The WSOPC winner lost in a 3-way pot where he had the Kings... his opponent was ambushed with the Aces. If it's all over for this regular from the Circus Casino Resort in Namur, Bryan de Ridder is back at it again. In two moves, the Poker One player has gone from 300,000 to 1.3 million chips. Let's go!

Patrik Prijot, Denis Charlier and Gaetano Morecci are still in the running, so close so far from a first prize of just over €45,000...

No right to happiness

They are 72 guaranteed a €635 payout, with the next elimination guaranteeing €720 for the Top 71 of the Summer Main Event, which attracted 1,524 entrants. With 20 minutes left to play on blinds 20,000 - 40,000 (40,000), it's time for the final break of the evening. After the break, the survivors will play two more 40-minute levels before packing their chips for Day 3.

Bryan de Riddere's comeback was nipped in the bud... and it was the end of the road for Huseyin Yildrim, who was well ahead going into Day 2 as one of only two players with a 7-figure stack. The Frenchman came in late, but held on to finish 77th in this tournament with a final prizepool of almost €307,000.

Last Break

After a quarter-hour break, play resumes on 25,000 - 50,000 (50,000) with 62 players guaranteed a €720 prize. Just 80 minutes left of poker before Day 3, which will be played over 50-minute levels from 2pm on Saturday. Luigi Pacilli was the last victim before the break. 

The average is 1.2 million chips or 24 blinds... Ismael Boujahma (2.7 million), Leopold Darcheville (3.4 million) and Soufiane Messadek (3.7 million) have taken the lead since the dinner break. Just before the final break, Orhan Sen gave up the ghost at the same time as Denis Charlier. Charlie went all in with ace-king, only to be impaled by Yves Senterre's kings, who took the opportunity to climb to 1.4 million in chips. 

Chipcount
Soufiane Messadek 3.7 million (photo)
Leopold Darcheville 3.4 million
Wesley Peinen 2.8 million
Ismael Boujahma 2.7 million
Yusuf Yuzdzhan 2.4 million
Frank Richter 2.4 million
Antoine Degris 1,8 million
Koen Casteleyn 1.5 million
Cédric Kedziora 1.5 million
Philippe Cocqyut 1.2 million
Lukas Oster 1 million
Maurice Lemson 1 million
Mehdi Rebai 850,000
Guy Goossens 850,000
Longmao Fan 850,000

Top 55

The final 55 players in the Main Event are guaranteed a €805 payout following the exits of Thomas Denie and Sabrina Senden. Thomas made two Kings against two Aces at Longmao Fan, the Chinese taking the opportunity to raise to 1.7 million... Crippled, Thomas jumped with Jack 9 suited against Jack Ten suited just behind... 

Sabrina Senden started the day at 10 blinds before climbing to 1 million chips an hour ago. After that, she dropped back to 10 blinds before going all in with Ace Dame. Paid by Ace Valet, she saw a Valet doorcard end her run in 59th place. The same goes for Jordy Sanchez and Nicolas Destercq...

Sabrina's elimination leaves Pakize Altunsoy (pictured above) as the last woman standing. Pakize is up to 1,250,000 chips for an average of 1.4 million. With 8 minutes left to play on 25,000 - 50,000 (50,000), it's time for the final blind raise of the day.

The final wrap will be on 30,000 - 60,000 (60,000). 

Last half-hour

There are 46 players left ^for an average of 1.6 million on the 30,000 - 60,000 blinds (60,000), the final level of this Day 2 of the Summer Main Event. Survivors are guaranteed a €805 payout, but to do better they'll have to make it into the Top 39.

Lukas Trzcinski is still in with a chance, having just tripled up to €2.2 million by going all in with Dame Valet at the cutoff. He heard all-in in the small blind and then all-in in the big blind to hit a doorcard Jack against Tens and Ace Queens! Thomas Alarcon (2 million) is more discreet just to the right of David Opdebeeck, who has just doubled up to 2.3 million. Out of position on the duo, Cédric Kedziora is also above average with 1.9 million in chips.

There are still 6 tables left in the tournament, as Gaetano Moreci (2.3 million) has just striked a flush against Donovan Kool and Sebastien Bodson (48th and 49th), watched by an amused Andrea Caizzi (1.3 million). Just before, Patrick Prijot had given up the ghost in 50th place, watched by Julien Lauer who now stands at 3.8 million in chips. 

Between Men

It's all over for the players in this Summer 2024 Main Event. Pakize Altunsoy bowed out in 41st place after losing 9s to Jacks for a 2.4 million pot against Koen Casteleyn. In agony after this move, she lost her last blinds to Longmao Fan, who was down to 1.8 million chips with ten minutes to go on Day 2. The floor has just stopped the clock and announced the last 5 hands...

The average is 2 million chips in the 30,000 - 60,000 blinds (60,000°, there are 39 players in the €930 blinds as Lukas Oster has bubbled out of the tier. 

Additional time

Day 2 ended with 35 players returning on Saturday at 2 p.m. to battle it out over 40,000-80,000 blinds (80,000). Levels will increase to 50 minutes with the aim of building the 9-player final table on Sunday... 

Boosted by an Ace-Ace versus King-King confrontation at Thomas Dennie's, Longmao Fan finished strong by taking out Danny de Ridder in stoppage time. Danny 3-bet called Ace-Queen for 24 blinds to impale himself on better from the Chinese WSOP Circuit winner in Cannes in April. Dennie Cordromp then lost the plot and the ultimate flip, his Ace-King finding no help against a pair of 4s... heading for the rail in 37th place, imitated seconds later by compatriot Maurice Rustveld. 

In ten 40-minute levels the field went from 329 players to 35 bidders for the €45,251 first prize accompanied by a €2,200 CPS Main Event ticket. 

Julien Lauer in the lead ahead of Day 3

Aided by an Ace-Ace/King-King encounter, Julien Lauer has moved into the lead of the €250 Summer Main Event, where only 35 players will be in the running on Saturday for the 40,000-80,000 (80,000) buy-in. With the Frenchman now at 4.8 million and an average of 2.2 million, he's well on the way to Sunday's Final Day, when the battle for the top prize of over 45,000€ will be contested live in front of the cameras at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. 

Runner-up to KO Progressif at the start of the festival, Julien knows he still has a long way to go, as there are still plenty of customers in his wake. Between WSOPC winner Longmao Fan, the formidable Dutchman Paul van Oort, the experienced Gaetano Morecci, buddies Walid Messaoud and Ismael Boujahma, GG player Poker DavidOpdebeeck, Belgians Wesley Peinen and Guy Goossens, the discreet Lukas Trzcinski or Thomas Alarcon... there are still plenty of contenders. 

Paul Chum (below) will return with the 21st-lowest stack among the survivors... he had the smallest stack of the Day 3 qualifiers going into Day 2 at 2pm on Thursday, with 329 players out of the 1,524 Summer Festival entrants. It took just under three levels and two hours of play to reach 223 paid places. Players began to share in a prize pool of almost €307,000, with Day 3 participants securing a €930 payout...

Seatdraw Day 3