Day 1B kicks off

The second of eight starting days for the €330 Havana Main Event got underway at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.

45 players are already seated on the one and only level of the no-ante tournament. Day 1B features 12 levels of play and 6 hours 40 minutes of poker action.

Participants receive 50,000 chips and will play eight 30-minute levels, followed by four 40-minute levels before wrapping up. Late entries and re-entries are available during 8 levels and the dinner break, which takes place at around 8.30pm.

Day 1b will be streamed after the dinner break.

The tournament is run in Mystery Bounty format (€125 of the buy-in goes into the bounty pool), with tokens being placed on the heads of every player in the tournament from the money entry on Saturday, Day 2 of the tournament.

On Sunday, when the tournament opened, the organization recorded 243 entries for 61 qualifiers on Day 2. Pietro Paci built up a stack of almost 600,000 chips.

Shuffle up and deal! 

Target 150

Monday is traditionally a little quieter, as it's the start of the week and not everyone has time to visit poker. For enthusiasts who want to manage their budget and aren't free until the evening, a €60 satellite starts at 8pm (20,000 chips - 15 minutes).

On the Main Event, the counter now shows 63 entrants. The 100 - 200 level is coming to an end and players will be able to enjoy the last ante-free level of the Havana Main Event for another 3 minutes.

Daniel Pirlot, Sébastien Matrige, Fedele Ricotta, Ludovic Ruperto, Tawfik Samih and others arrived in the final minutes... 

New start

Blind fight with 15 minutes left to play on blinds 100 - 300 (300), the pot seems to have been limped and Carno Pietraposa draws a 3,100-chip bet on a King Ten 3 flop with a club draw.

In the small blind Dylan Balzat quickly checke-calls to discover a brick turn. He checks again and hesitates for a long time when Canio bets 11,000 with 5,000 behind. Dylan finally checke-shoves with King 2 of hearts.

It's paid instantly by Canio who hit two pair on the flop with Ten 3 of hearts. A river log and Pietraposa reraises to 40,000 chips. Dylan falls back to 43,000 but the duo have almost the starting stack.

Michael Marlier, Dorian Savage, Morten Faas and JS Denissa have just arrived... while the counter shows 68 players in the running for 72 entrants. 

A la Kachbah

This is a cruel game and Yassine Boukhachba has just experienced it. As the blinds climb to 200 - 400 (400), Ladgar Sadoudi opens at the end of the floor just to his right. Yassine calls on the cutoff and Ismael Abdallah completes with 1,400 chips on 100 - 300 (300).

On the 7 3 4 flop with no flush draw, things speed up and Yassine finally goes all-in for 24,000. After some hesitation, Ismael in the big blind pays with 7 and 6 mismatched.

The dealer directly unlocks a 6 of hearts which puts Ismael back on the right side of this 70 - 30 misbet and rings Yassine. No river jack and Boukhachba has to leave the game. He gets up after a few seconds... and his former partners wait for him to leave before letting out a "he's been punished, just pay preflop".

74 players remain for 78 entrants, with level 3 now underway. 

Pas Le Temps

Pierre Neuville wants to build up a stack, he opens under the gun and 4-bets to 8,100 chips when Jérôme Neukermans raises to 3,100 MP. 

Jérôme places a 5-bet for 25,100 chips, half his stack in the process. The Belgian legend thinks it over before calling and going all-in on a Jack 8 5 flop with no flush draw. 



Jérôme instantly calls with the Aces and stays ahead of the WSOP Main Event finalist's Ace-King two cards later. Jérôme climbs to 100,000 chips while Pierre falls to just over 5 blinds. 

Despite a double-up on the next hand, Pierre Neuville quickly headed for the cash desk, only to return to Day 1B a few minutes later. 

There are 20 minutes left to play on 200 - 500 (500) with 80 players for 88 entrants. 

Du Coeur mais Pas de Carreau

Finalist at Spa last week, Rami Awad greets me as Jean Cruccas and Billy Tuaiva duel.

Jean opened early and made two bets out of position, Billy paid in MP to reveal an 8 Ace Jack 2 3 board with two diamonds on the flop, one on the turn and one on the river.

After Jean's river check, Billy sends in his stack for around 40 blinds and just over 20,000 chips. He tries to muck when Jean pays by revealing King-Queen with a diamond and second nuts.

The dealer forces him to reveal a pair of black 9s and the player from French Polynesia has to leave the play area. You go now!

With 80,000 chips, Jean is ahead of the average at 56,000.

The first break of the day will start in 9 minutes for half an hour... 

Break


82 players went on break for half an hour and will return to blinds 300 - 600 (600) from 6.35pm.

The average is 58,000 chips and Jérôme Neukermans has taken the rope with three times the starting stack.

Chips
Jérôme Neukermans 153,000
Heni Mokni 118,000
Adnan Ekeroglu 117,000
Benjamin Alalouf 92,000
Fedele Ricotta 80,000
Morten Faas 80,000
Michael Marlier 79,000
Rami Awad 76,000
Daniel Pirlot 62,000
Farukh Tach 61,000
JS Denissa 59,000
Steven Kronzkalla 56,000
Tawfik Samih 38,000
Tatiana Kovalchuk 25,000

Resuming

Play resumed 5 minutes ago and the counter now reads 99 entries. 84 players are competing in blinds 300 - 600 (600) with an average of 100 blinds. 

Quinte Papa

6 minutes to go until blinds 400 - 800 (800) and Virus has just infected the board. This German player, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent 60 blinds and 38,000 chips straight from the big blind after an open and a call.

After paying the opening with Kings to the Hijack, Giuseppe Moreci paid to find himself facing Ace-King. Despite the mischievous "split" dropped by a player after the river of a 3 Ten Queen 9 Jack board, Ohran climbs well to 80,000 pawns.

Giuseppe, who started out in front, falls to 12,000 chips in the red zone. 

Check-Shove

The 7th level has been underway for ten minutes. 79 players are competing in blinds 500 - 1000 (1000), with an average of 70 blinds.

The counter now shows 107 entrants, JS Denissa will have to re-enter if he wants to validate his ticket for Day 2. Denissa limped-call with Ace 4 of spades before checking-call on 2 3 6 with a spade and then check-shoving 39,000 chips following a second barrel to 11,000 on a turn 9 of spades. His opponent tanked before calling with two kings. The river brick didn't change the fate of this regular at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur...

Giuseppe Moreci didn't recover from his 70-30 preflop loss with Kings and also joined the rail. Temporarily?

Late entries and re-entries are open until the first hand of level 9, around 9.40pm. 

Streaming - Day 1B live

Streaming has started earlier than expected, so enjoy Day 1B with the cards revealed... The blinds have just climbed to 600 - 1200 (1200°, a 75-minute break will begin at the end of this level.

Dinner Break

The dinner break started a few minutes ago and will continue until 9:45 pm. Resumption will take place on 1000 - 1500 (1500) and registration/ re-entry will be completed.

The table currently shows 77 survivors for 121 entrants and an average of 79,000 chips. Jérôme Neukermans has returned to the starting stack, but has been overtaken by Oliviere Marzella, who is now at almost 6 times the starting stack.

Rami Awad took the opportunity to double up and reach the break with 100,000 chips. Sébastien Matrige raised-call river after taking the initiative in a family pot at the turn, the winner of the Belgian Poker Challenge 2023 Cup reaching the break with 56,000 chips.

Chips
Oliviere Marzella 286,000
Sébastien Novalet 236,000
Bastien Laurent 223,000
Noah Wozney 192,000
Virus 170,000
Heni Mokni 149,000
Angelo Aliberto 136,000
Dimitri Verez 135,000
Cristian Bogdan 118,000
Lagdar Sadoudi 112 000
Rai Awad 100 000
Pierre Neuville 81 000
Steven Kronzkella 72 000
Fedele Ricotta 66 000
JS Denissa 65 000
Ludovic Ruperto 58 000
Sébastien Matrige 56 000
Jérôme Neukermans 53 000
Thierry Aqua 35 000

123 entrants on Day 1B of the Havana Main Event

Play has resumed on blinds 1000 - 1500 (1500) and registration is closed with 123 entrants in this second starting session. This brings theprovisional attendance to 366 entrants after two of the eight opening sessions... well on schedule to exceed the €250,000 guarantee.

61 players have already booked their ticket for Day 2 at 2pm on Saturday, while 77 players are still in contention for this level 9 of Day 1B.

There are 12 levels on the schedule, with 2 hours 20 minutes of poker remaining before wrapping up.

Runner Runner

Daniel Pirlot and Thierry Aqua disappeared as soon as level 9 resumed, with 17 minutes left to play.

Fedele Ricotta has just chatted on King Jack 8 with a heart draw. After initiating hostilities on the button, he starts a raise war with Billel Zanoun. Zanoun ends up paying off his opponent's 52,000-chip big blind with Roi Valet.

Fedele flips King Ten, drops a big whine but the Queen turn and river 9 give him a new stack of 115,000. Quinte papa!

Billel falls to 70,000 chips, while the average is 85,000 chips (57 blinds).

Squeeze

70 players remain in the race as the blinds climb to 1000 - 2000 (2000). Sébastien Matrige just placed a squeeze to get back into play. 

The winner of the 2023 BPC Cup had 56,000 chips on the restart, which is the stack he has again after placing a small blind all-in 3-bet for 39,500 chips. 

Open under the gun, call from Cristian Bogdan in MP and from the button, shove from the Belgian. The opener took the longest to think, but a flurry of folds followed after he'd turned in his cards. 

The average is 43 blinds to start level 10. 

Resume Streaming

With just under half an hour left to play in level 10 of Day 1B of the Havana Mystery Bounty Main Event, a few players are moving up the stack.

Dorian Savaga (200,000), Sébastien Novalet (170,000) and Noah Wozney (200,000) are on a roll, while Mihai Stinca (90,000) and Salvatore Alessi (55,000) are also still in the hunt.

Khalid Sektani, David Faux and Martin Canler have given up the fight for good in this Flight.

There are 25 minutes left to play on 1000 - 2000 with 65 survivors for an average of 57 blinds.

Checkpoint

Finito for Tatiana Kovalchuk who attempted the small blind 3-bet shove with 8 blinds and Jack Ten suit. Steven Varagone completes after opening in MP with Ace 8 of hearts and eliminates the Ukrainian after an Ace 9 9 5 6 board.

Pierre Neuville is short with 3 blinds. See you tomorrow!

There are 15 minutes left to play before the final break of the day. 60 players remain with an average of 51 blinds.

Chips
Dimitri Verez 286,000
Billy Tuiva 245,000
Fedele Ricotta 235,000
Farukh Tach 230,000
Noah Wezney 202,000
Cristian Bogdan 200,000
Ismael Abdallah 190,000
Heni Mokni 120,000
Rami Awad 90,000
JS Denissa 72,000
Ludovic Ruperto 45,000

Last Break

56 players are on break on Day 1B. Play will resume on 1000 - 2500 (2500) with an average of 44 blinds.

Two 40-minute levels are scheduled, and then it's on to Day 2!

Pierre Neuville has jumped... while Noah Wozney continues to win. He fired two big barrels in a move against Olivere Marzella where a third player was all-in preflop.

Wozney bet 30,000 river on an As 6 As 7 6 board and Oliviere paid with Roi Roi to discover As Dame and fall to 280,000 chips, still in the lead on this second starting day.

JS Denissa, Rami Awad and Morten Faas still have chips, unlike Michael Marlier, Salvatore Alessi and Fabirce Lemaire.

Trips

Mihai Stinca kicks off his tournament with a big blind defense. Open to Sebastien Novalet at the start of the hand, his continuation-bet to 11,000 chips is met by a check-raise to 23,000 chips from Stinca.

Sébastien goes all-in on flop 8 77 and it's snap with Jack 7 of clubs by Mihai. Novalet returns two Aces and has to pay 63,500 after a turn and a river with no Aces.

Mihai climbs to 135,000 chips, a stack now on a par with Sébastien's. This duo is still above the average of 116,000 (46bb).

For JS Denissa (32,000), Morten Faas (90,000) or Ludovic Ruperto (75,000) and Sébastien Matrige (75,000), the margin for manoeuvre is shrinking...

With 53 players left and just under 20 minutes to play on blinds 1,000 - 2,500 (2,500), this is the last hour of play on Day 1B.

Last Level

50 players now face off on blinds 1500 - 3000 (3000) for the final level of Day 1B.

Billel Zanoun seems to have taken the tournament lead with 345,000 chips in front of him. At his table there are some big stacks as Oliviere Marzella has won a family pot.

4 players limp preflop and Oliviere bets 4,000 chips on Jack 4 8. Three players on the Ace turn and Oliviere's 5,000 bet is again paid by everyone. The pair finally go for broke on a third banderill at 16,000 on river 6. Marzella is up to 290,000 chips after this move.

Sebastien Semal and Daniel Colacurcio will have to try their luck again, as will Ismael Abdallah, Benjamin Alalouf and Fouad Elmouhmouh.

The average is 41 blinds. 

Flip

Sébastien Matrige will be back on Wednesday to try and qualify. The CUP BPC 2023 winner 3-bet shove 52,000 small blind chips after a late Heni Mokni open. The latter called with Ace Valet and then won the flip against the Belgian's 5 at the end of an 8 9 Ten Queen board on which nobody looked at the river. Mokni climbs to 260,000 chips.

The field now stands at 46 with 19 minutes left to play on Day 1B. Erwin Philipps also gave up in the final minutes. 

3 Last Hands

The clock is running down, as the organization has announced the last 3 hands with 45 players still in the running.

We'll be back as soon as possible for the full report on this second opening day, with Farukh Tach holding the lead with 360,000 chips, notably after an ace-ace versus queen-queen confrontation. 

43 qualifiers on Day 1B, Farukh Tach and Oliviere Marzella neck and neck

Two players finished with the same stack in the second of eight opening sessions of the €330 Havana Mystery Bounty Main Event on Monday, Day 1B, which attracted 123 entrants. 

Farukh Tach, winner of the Namur Classic's, and Oliviere Marzella bagged up 7 times the starting stack and 359,000 chips for Saturday's 2pm Day 2. The duo were always in the right tempo on this day, connecting boards to build a stack in 12 levels and 6 hours 40 minutes of poker effective.

After two of the eight starting days, provisional attendance stands at 366 entrants, with 104 players having already validated their ticket for Day 2, while the Mystery Bpunty format will begin at the finish in the money, at approximately 15% of the remaining field.

Morten Faas, Mihai Stinca, Ludovic Ruperto, Rami Awad, Bastien Laurent, Steven Kronzkella, Bogdan Cristian, Adnan Ekeroglu and Heni Mokni have cleared the hurdle, as has Billel Zanoun, third in this flight with 319,000 chips and 80 blinds for Day 2...

Partial chipcount Day 1B
Farukh Tach 359,000
Oliviere Marzella 359,000
Billel Zanoun 319,000
Noah Wozney 306,000
Steven Kronzkella 260,000
Bastien Laurent 227,000
Heni Mokni 226,000
Adnan Ekeroglu 196,000
Angelo Aliberto 176,000
Bogdan Cristian 170,000
Steven Vargone 165,000
Guido Kinna 162,000
Morten Faas 127,000
Fedele Ricotta 125,000
Rami Awad 101,000
Ludovic Ruperto 70,000
JS Denissa 53,000