FINAL DAY

A total of 39 players took part in the €330 WaSOP Super Side (which attracted 1,318 entries), with their eyes firmly set on first place and the €60,000 prize that goes with it, as well as a €2,200 ticket to the CPS at the end of the year. 

They start their marathon again at blinds 20,000 - 40,000 (40,000), already guaranteed a minimum prize of €1,210. 

The chipleader is GGPoker Romania Team member Andrei Turcanu with 2,470,000 in his possession, ahead of Belgium's Koen Lauwereys.

16 Belgians are still in the running, including Bart Lybaert, well placed with 1,450,000, and Olivier Baeten (1,325,000), while Yannick Ansenne will have to rely on the slightest hint of success to raise his small stack of 280,000 chips. 

Frenchman Quentin Crutel and Dutchman Paul van Oort still have chips to play with. Unless Djamal Boutaleb, who has already made a name for himself on numerous occasions here in Namur, returns from behind to put everyone in agreement. 

Join us on Tuesday at 2 p.m. for live coverage of the end of a tournament whose final will be streamed with the cards revealed...

Chipcount complete at the start of the final day: 

The program for the day in Namur

Here's the program for Tuesday August 1 at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur. 

DELIMAL A MAL

Things are moving very quickly on this third day of competition in the €330 WaSOP Super Side Event, as the field has already been whittled down to 25 players remaining. 

Among the last players to be eliminated was Marc-David Delimal, recent winner of the FPS Cup at Stade Jean Bouin. 

In a blinds battle with Dame-Valet, he decides to raise commit 10 BB on his initial stack of 16 BB and pays when his opponent Rachid Ouzaska sends his all-in. 

Rachid Oufaska flips the Aces and Marc-David Delimal doesn't find the exit he'd hoped for. He has to settle for €1,400 for his 27th place in the event and will be starting the Main Event tomorrow. 

Thanks to this pot and several others, Rachid Oufaska is one of the largest remaining stacks in the field, with over 3 million in front of him at the moment. 

REDRAW TO 3 TABLES LEFT

THEY CAME, THEY WERE DEFEATED

25	Mattias Landuyt		€ 1.600
26	Ricardo Gabel		€ 1.600
27	Marc Delimal		€ 1.600
28	Paul van Oort		€ 1.400
29	Yuel Bereket		€ 1.400
30	Abdel Lamrani		€ 1.400
31	Jean Sipu		€ 1.400
32	Christophe Chalons		€ 1.210
33	Thierry Aqua		€ 1.210
34	Quentin Crutel		€ 1.210
35	Markus Giesen		€ 1.210
36	Ugur Cegen		€ 1.210
37	Benjamin Fesquet		€ 1.210
38	Jean Ruche		€ 1.210
39	Cees-Jan Vermeulen		€ 1.210

TROOP STATUS AT 18 LEFT

TONIGHT AT BORIS'S, IT'S PARTY TIME POKER

With 17 players left, after the exit of Kristof Thijs, Boris Janas has just suffered the thunderbolt of the day's early chipleader, Andrei Turcanu. 

After Charly Mouline opened to 125,000 at the cut-off, paid by Andrei Turcanu from the small blind, Boris Janas raised to 420,000 from the big blind. Paid only by Team Pro GG Romania. 

On the King-Queen-7 all-spade flop, Boris Janas sends a continuation bet to 450,000 and gets checked/call. 

Action slows down on the 8 of diamonds on the turn, and the ace of hearts on the river, although Boris Janas has clearly considered bluffing. 

In the end, his pair of tens (with the ten of spades) went behind the king-jack of hearts of Andrei Turcanu, who announced that he might have paid a river bet. 

Boris Janas drops to around twenty blinds after this move, while Andrei Turcanu climbs to 4,600,000, second on the chip-count. 

BAETEN DU FEU

Only 16 players remain on the WaSOP Super Side after the exit of the likeable Olivier "CosmicBat" Baeten. 

He first lost a pot with a pair of Aces against a mismatched King-Jack which found two pairs on the board. He fell to 13 blinds after this move when he could have been up to around 30 blinds. 

A few minutes later, he found a pair of tens with 10 blinds in front of him, more than enough to send everything to the middle. 

The only problem was that a player was waiting for him with the kings and didn't hesitate to eliminate him on the board. 

Olivier Baeten finished his deep run in 17th place for a win of €2,440. 

Bart's been acting up

He is by far the most successful player in the room. With $3.5 million in Circuit earnings, Bart Lybaert is the scarecrow in the remaining field of this €330 Super Side Event. 

Among the short-stacks when the break resumed, Bart Lybaert found a lucky way to double his meagre stack. 

If I understood the move correctly, he would have stopped and gone with Ten-7 mismatched on an A-Q-7 rainbow flop and got paid by Julien Lecamus in possession of King-Ten. 

Bart Lybaert had less than ten blinds before the move. 

This move takes him up to around 20 blinds, while Julien Lecamus still has a nice stack of 30 blinds. 

The pleasure of giving

I guess it's because of the buy-in, but Bart Lybaert doesn't really have the time on this WaSOP Super Side Event. 

He's just inflicted a horror on Julien Lecamus. Watch out, keep the kids away!

At the cut-off, he opens to 125,000 with Q-J and is paid only by Julien Lecamus from the big blind. 

Both players check the 9c-7d-Jc flop. 

On turn 6d, Julien Lecamus sends a small bet to 150,000. Bart Lybaert responds, all-in for 1.1 million. 

Not pleased, Julien Lecamus takes time to think before paying with 9-7 for two flopped pairs. 

Julien Lecamus was well on his way to winning the big pot that was taking him straight to the final table, but the dealer returned a J on the river to rob him of it. 

And here's how Bart Lybaert is now sitting in front of a 2.4 million stack, while Julien Lecamus is looking a bit down in the dumps with only 800,000 chips in front of him now. 

KOEN DISCLOSES

After a long period without elimination, it was Koen Lauwereys who stepped up to the plate, pushing his stack to ten blinds with As-King. 

Paid off by Rachid Oufaska's pair of 8s, the Belgian player even saw an 8 fall on the flop to end his dream of reaching the final table. 

Koen Lauwereys finished 16th in this Super Side Event and walked away with a cheque for €2,440 as consolation. 

The beginner's mistake

There are now just 13 competitors in the WaSOP Super Side Event, following the successive eliminations of Yan Birg (15th) and Boris Janas (14th). 

On his way out, Boris Janas was a little upset because he showed his hand before his opponent announced "Call". In a battle of the blinds, Julien Lecamus raises with As-7 and sees his neighbor push his stack up to 10 blinds. 

Believing he had been paid, Boris Janas reveals As-5. Julien Lecamus didn't ask for much and made a logical call with his As-7, in a dominant position. 

He confirms his advantage on the board and puts an end to Boris Janas' superb run on this Super Side Event, his best result to date on the live circuit, with a handsome €2,910 ticket as his reward. 

Put through the mill

After having to pass a pair of queens preflop on a complicated spot where he opened, got 3-bet, then cold 4-bet, Charly Mouline has just finished his beautiful deep run on this WaSOP Super Side Event on a nice family bad beat. 

Following a 160,000 opening from Hendriekus Soering UTG+1, Charly Mouline discovers a pair of tens and logically sends his 1.3 million rug into the middle. 

His opponent procrastinates for a long moment before deciding to pay dying with his pair of 4's. He is rewarded for this gamble call by finding a 4 on the flop to pass Charly's overpair. 

Runner-up in last year's WaSOP High-Roller, Charly Mouline would probably have preferred to register for the High-Roller at a later date, but this 12th place for €3,510 gives him the opportunity to register now for Day 1B. 

We also lost Julien Lecamus a little earlier, but I didn't get to see what happened to him.  

Only 11 players are left in the tournament, which you can soon follow on the event's Live Streaming. 

The day's departures

12	Charly Mouline		€ 3.510
13	Julien Lecamus		€ 3.510
14	Boris Janas		€ 2.910
15	Yan Birg		€ 2.910
16	Koen Lauwereys		€ 2.440
17	Olivier Baeten		€ 2.440
18	Kristof Thijs		€ 2.120
19	Gilles Frere		€ 2.120
20	Dimitri Nordmann		€ 2.120
21	Bartjan van Heugten		€ 1.850
22	Mehdi Maroufi		€ 1.850
23	Sebastien Matrige		€ 1.850
24	Vincent Peeters		€ 1.600
25	Mattias Landuyt		€ 1.600
26	Ricardo Gabel		€ 1.600
27	Marc Delimal		€ 1.600
28	Paul van Oort		€ 1.400
29	Yuel Bereket		€ 1.400
30	Abdel Lamrani		€ 1.400
31	Jean Sipu		€ 1.400
32	Christophe Chalons		€ 1.210
33	Thierry Aqua		€ 1.210
34	Quentin Crutel		€ 1.210
35	Markus Giesen		€ 1.210
36	Ugur Cegen		€ 1.210
37	Benjamin Fesquet		€ 1.210
38	Jean Ruche		€ 1.210
39	Cees-Jan Vermeulen		€ 1.210

Only 10 more at the table

You'd almost have thought he had the nuts when Steven Leempoels slammed his As-Seven of clubs on the table as his all-in was paid by Stefan Schippers. 

And yet, on a 9h 2c Td - Kc board, he still needed a little help against his opponent's King-Dix, which had found two pairs on the turn, against a simple flush-draw. 

No improvement on the river and Steven Leempoels has to stand up to collect the €4,200 from his 11th place finish, while Stefan Schippers continues his demolition business with €7 million in front of him. 

The only one who managed to stop the Schippers machine was Yannick Ansenne. Going all-in with King-5 against Stefan Schippers' Jacks, Yannick Ansenne managed to find not one, but two 5s to survive and double his meager 8-blind stack. 

CHIP-COUNT AT 10 LEFT

Stefaan Schippers		6.400.000
Andrei Turcanu		7.600.000
Rachid Oufaska		6.100.000
Djamal Boutaleb		4.700.000
Kevin Fluegel		2.000.000
Bart Lybaert		1.400.000
Driekus Soering		4.100.000
Nasser Abdouni		2.600.000
Elias Bahri		1.900.000
Yannick Ansenne		2.300.000

Bart the unsinkable

We thought we had the bubble-boy of this final table, but we had to overlook the unsinkable Bart Lybaert. 

It all began with Andrei Turcanu's 250,000 open at the cut-off. He was paid by Stefaan Schippers on the button, before Bart Lybaert sent his 1,600,000 stack into the middle. 

Not pleased, Andrei Turcanu opts for a call and scares off Stefaan Schippers, who flashes a mismatched King-Queen. 

Bart Lybaert will have to chat with his mismatched As-5 against Andrei Turcanu's pair of 8s. 

And that's exactly what he does on the river of a 6-K-Q-T-J board, which gives him an improbable straight to get back on track in this WaSOP Super Side Event, with 3,600,000 now in front of him. 

Djamal tried

For long minutes, we've been waiting for the moment when an all-in and a call will take us to the first local restaurant to finally get our fill. 

Djamal Boutalel understood this, and tried to eliminate Hendriekus Soering. Unfortunately, the plan didn't really work. 

At the button, Hendriekus Soering pushes his 2.1 million rug (21 blinds) with a mismatched Queen-Jack. 

Djamal Boutaleb knows he has to pay with his As-Dix, well ahead of the opposing range. 

And that's what he does after about 15 seconds. 

Unfortunately for the serial deep runner from the Casino de Namur, the 8-9-T flop sent his chips straight to his opponent for the day, dropping him to 3.2 million. 

Nothing dramatic, however, as he seems to be in full confidence here in Namur, after some memorable performances over the last few months. 

Stage exit

Unfortunately, it was Yannick Ansenne who missed out on the final table of this WaSOP Super Side Event, ending his fine run in 10th place. 

After doubling up against Bart Lybaert with two queens against King-7 earlier in the day to climb back up to 2.5 million, Yannick Ansenne came up against the scarecrow of this late tournament, Stefaan Schippers. 

After Stefaan Schippers opened for 250,000 at the start of the hand, Yannick Ansenne raised to 1,200,000 from the small blind. He was quickly paid by his opponent with an impressive stack of 7 million. 

On the flop 2s 6d 4h, Yannick Ansenne sends 600,000, with 120k behind. He's paid by Stefaan Schippers. 

The rest goes to the Td turn and Yannick Ansenne's Ad Qs will have to improve against the opponent's 7c 7h. 

But it's a brick that falls on the river and deprives Yannick Ansenne of a prestigious final table. He still walked away with €4,200 to freeroll the rest of his WaSOP festival. 

The last nine survivors of this Super Side Event go into dinner-break for 75 minutes and will return to the final table, all streamed by the Will Lion team for the Casino Resort de Namur. 

FINAL TABLE

The final table starts with blinds 60,000/120,000 (120,000). All players are guaranteed a minimum of €5,490 and the winner of the event will take home €60,000 to become king of the night in Namur. 

You can follow the whole of this final table in Streaming with Will Lion at the helm and several guests. 

Composition of the final table : 

Seat	Player		Chipcount
1	Stefaan Schippers		9.575.000
2	Kevin Fluegel		4.835.000
3	Elias Bahri		1.355.000
4	Bart Lybaert		3.730.000
5	Nasser Abdouni		1.115.000
6	Djamal Boutaleb		4.175.000
7	Andrei Turcanu		5.765.000
8	Driekus Soering		4.110.000
9	Rachid Oufaska		4.715.000

Elias Bahri, 9th for €5,490

The first outgoing player at the final table was Elias Bahri, who was one of the two smallest stacks at the resumption.

With a dozen blinds in his possession, he found As-King after an opening by Kevin Fluegel and logically sent his all-in.

Equipped with a pair of queens, Kevin Fluegel logically pays and puts an end to Elias Bahri's adventure after the five cards of the board appear.

Elias Bahri finished in 9th place and won €5,490.

Nasser Abdouni, 8th for €7,140

Short-stacked at the start of the final table, Nasser Abdouni had no time to dream on this beautiful evening of Tuesday August 1st.

The facetious one offered him As-King when Hendriekus Soering had found a nice pair of Kings.

There were no Aces on the board, so Nasser Abdouni left us in 8th place for a win of €7,140, by far his biggest live result.

Andrei Turcanu, 6th for €12,010

Well served since the start of the final table, Bart Lybaert once again finds a hand at the cut-off, returning two beautiful queens.

He opts for a standard raise to 400,000. Andrei Turcanu finds As-Queen from the small blind and sends his stack of 4,300,000 into the middle.

Narrowly covering his opponent, Bart Lybaert paid off in the second and his premium stayed ahead at the end of a T-6-5-K-T table.

Team Pro GG Romania, Andrei Turcanu stayed near the top of the leaderboard on Day 3.

His fine run ended in a fine but frustrating 6th place for €12,010, while Bart Lybaert came perilously close to the chiplead, just behind Stefaan Schippers.

Just a few minutes earlier, we had lost Hendriekus Soering in 7th place, a place of honour which earns the Dutch player €9,264.

Bart Rocks

A huge pot has just allowed Bart Lybaert to take a very serious option on victory with 5 players remaining in this Super Side Event.

Again discovering a premium, pair of Kings, Bart Lybaert opens to 400,000 UTG. Rachid Oufaska 3-bet to 1,100,000 from the small blind, with As-9 of diamonds in hand.

Bart Lybaert then 4-bet to 2,600,000. You'd think the Dutchman would wisely pass on his hand, but against all odds, he 5-bets shove all-in, claiming 8,600,000 from his opponent, who snaps with the second-best hand at poker.

At the end of a 4-4-3-6-J table, Bart Lybaert climbs to 18 million, while Rachid Oufaska falls to 1,700,000.

To understand Rachid Oufaska's madness, it has to be said that Bart Lybaert has been very active since the start of this final table, even if, following the live action, we know that he has been well served and hasn't abused his position any more than that.

Almost to Bout-aleb

After a long period with 5 players remaining, it was finally the man who had spent his final table as the short-stacked player who bowed out in 5th place.

Indeed, after a fine performance in which he passed between the balls, always choosing the right spots, Djamal Boutaleb lost to probable future winner Bart Lybaert, on a corner flip with a pair of 9s against the Belgian player's Dame-Valet.

A Queen falls on the turn to give Bart Lybaert the win and further consolidate his chiplead.

Djamal Boutaleb makes yet another deep run in Namur. Since his 4th place in the BPC Namur Main Event a year ago, Djamal Boutaleb has reached 5 final tables of major events in Namur, with 5 5-figure performances.

Djamal Boutaleb's performances in Namur since 2022:

Kevin Fluegel, 4th for €20,400

Bart Lybaert continues his demolition job on this Super Side Event final table, having just eliminated the formidable German Kevin Fluegel in fourth place.

With a pair of tens in his hand, Kevin Fluegel simply limps to 250,000 from the small blind.

Bart Lybaert discovers As-Valet and opts for a raise to 1,000,000.

Kevin Fluegel sends in his stack of 5,000,000 and is snapped up by the chipleader.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bart Lybaert finds a Jack of Diamonds on the flop to take the lead and go huge with now 80% of the chips with 3 players left.

Kevin Fluegel pockets €20,400 for 4th place.

Stefaan Schippers, 3rd for €26,500

Ten minutes after Kevin Fluegel's exit, it was Stefaan Schippers' turn to suffer the wrath of Bart Lybaert.

Stefaan Schippers pushes his 4.9 million rug straight into a blinds battle with As-Valet in hand.

With a pair of 9s, Bart Lybaert pays in the second.

As if that wasn't enough, the Belgian with $3.5 million in winnings on the live circuit found a 9 on the flop to confirm the story.

Stefaan Schippers finished a magnificent 3rd in this WaSOP Super Side Event, good for €26,500.

Rachid Oufaska, runner-up for €37,100

With only 3.5 million chips to Bart Lybaert's 35 million, Rachid Oufaska had little chance of taking the title from the most experienced player at the final table.

And after two hands, the match was sealed. On the button, Rachid Oufaska pushed all-in with Jack-4 of clubs.

Bart Lybaert couldn't pay any faster with a mismatched King-Jack.

A King on the flop and Rachid Oufaska was already drawing dead on the turn.

He finished this Super Side Event runner-up for €37,100, and clearly didn't disappoint at the final table, where he made some ballsy moves.

His As-9 of diamonds 5-bet all-in against Bart Lybaert will long be remembered, an old-fashioned move which undoubtedly led the Belgian player to victory.

Bart Lybaert wins WaSOP Super Side Event for €60,000

Let's face it, it's rarely a player of this stature who wins the first WaSOP Side Event.

And yet Bart Lybaert, who was in the area to play the High-Roller and Main Event, wanted to warm up by playing the €330 buy-in WaSOP Super Side Event, which may just be 6th on the Belgian All-Time Money List with $3.5 million in winnings.

Three days later, he took the title from a field of 1,318 entrants.

Although he could clearly have given up the ghost on several occasions during the semi-finals, notably with two spewy shots played against Julien Lecamus, Bart Lybaert calmed down once he had amassed a big stack to get back in the running.

After that, it was all straightforward: the Belgian player hit a lot of games during the final table and saw his opponents level up against him one by one. First, Rachid Oufaska, who 5-bet him all-in with As-9 when he had Kings, or Stefan Schippers, who warmed up to raise him with a pair of 2s on a TTK flop when Bart had hit trips with T-7, and paid a big valuation bet on a river 7 that gave him full.

What followed was a highway on which he was always on the right side at showdowns.

Admittedly, this victory is far from being a "changing life", as he says, amused, at the time of the photo, but it did seem to please him, especially as he shared it with his buddies Wim Verhaegen and Jorden Verbraeken, who came to support him at the end of the final table.

Final table standings :

Place	Player	Country	Winnings
1	Bart Lybaert		€ 60.000
2	Rachid Oufaska		€ 37.100
3	Stefaan Schippers		€ 26.500
4	Kevin Fluegel		€ 20.400
5	Djamal Boutaleb		€ 15.630
6	Andrei Turcanu		€ 12.010
7	Driekus Soering		€ 9.264
8	Nasser Abdouni		€ 7.140
9	Elias Bahri		€ 5.490