WaSOP Main Event Day 3 Seat-Draw

We'll be playing in the tiers today

Only 39 players remain in the WaSOP Main Event, all of whom are already guaranteed a minimum prize of €2,140.

The scale of earnings to be distributed today :

Near Dubuc

When I met Louis Dubuc this morning at the Casino de Namur hotel, he told me that he was going to try to play the bearings today on Day 3.

With an all-in stack of 1.2 million, in 32nd place at chip-count, he didn't have the time. Finding a nice pair of Jacks UTG+1 after a 200,000 opening from Abdel Lamrani, he went all-in.

Not pleased, his opponent opted for an As-Jack of clubs call and found an Ace on the flop to eliminate the young player, who walked away with €2,465 for his 38th place finish in the Main Event.

Just before, we also lost Nico Pohl in 39th position.

Dashboard
Level 25: 40,000 / 80,000 (BB Ante 80,000)
37/1689 players remaining
Average: €2,282,432
Guaranteed payout: €2,465
Next level: 31st - €2,835

What's wrong with her, m'Agel?

Sami Agel

With just 4.5 blinds, Sami Agel managed to stop and go with a 6-3 mismatch on a Tc-2h-Th flop after defending his big blind.

Paid by the button player and the small blind, with King-Queen and Queen-Jack respectively, he manages to find a 3c on the river to triple his stack and get out of the red zone and back to over 1 million chips.

Dashboard
Level 25: 40,000 / 80,000 (BB Ante 80,000)
37/1689 players remaining
Average: €2,282,432
Guaranteed payout: €2,465
Next level: 31st - €2,835

Put through the mill

Charly Mouline

Up to 2.7 million, Charly Mouline has just lost a move that could have propelled him to the top, "a river that costs a lot of money", as he told me two minutes later.

Under the gun, Ahmad Niazi sends in his small stack of 1,000,000 with Ah-Qs. 

Billy Tuaiva in turn pushes his 1,300,000 stack with As-Ks to the button.

Charly Mouline discovers Jh-Jd de grosse blinde and pays the whole lot. He's in a perfect position to climb to over 5 million.

At the end of a 2h-7h-4c-3h-5s table, his two opponents finish in straights and share his chips.

He still has 1,600,000 left after this lost move, a stack of 16 blinds now at the level change.

Ahmad Niazi also has 1,600,000, while Billy Tuaiva has 2,000,000.

We lost Nicolas Mariscal in 37th place in the Main Event.

Dashboard
Level 26: 50,000 / 100,000 (BB Ante 100,000)
36/1689 players remaining
Average: €2,345,833
Guaranteed payout: €2,465
Next level: 31st - €2,835

It's someone Ahmad says

In two stages, Ahmad Niazi left the WaSOP Main Event in 36th position.

First, he pushes his 14 UTG blinds with As-King and gets mucked by Hicham Aourache's As-Queen.

Then, down to 7 blinds, he goes all in with Jack-Ten on the button. Paid by Jérôme Naye's pair of 9s from the big blind, he fails to chat the corner flip and has to stop there.

Jérôme Naye

Dashboard
Level 26: 50,000 / 100,000 (BB Ante 100,000)
34/1689 players remaining
Average: €2,483,824
Guaranteed payout: €2,465
Next level: 31st - €2,835

Click... click... click

Michal Kil

Relaunched after his unexpected triple up at the start of the day, Sami Agel thought he'd found a spot to relaunch himself completely, in a hand against Michal Kil. But then...

It all starts with Michal Kil opening to 200,000 on the button. Sami Agel defends from the big blind.

On the Kd-8s-Kh flop, the two Luxembourg players are having the time of their lives. Michal raises to 100,000, or 1 blind. Sami checks/raises to 255,000. Michal decides to click-back to 410,000, a move so rarely seen in Namur that the dealer looks a little lost.

To spice things up, Sami click-back to 570,000 (with 680,000 behind). Michal decides it's time to cut the crap and sends in his stack. He's snapped by Sami.

The games :

Ks-Qd for Michal Kil

Kc-7d for Sami Agel.

No help came from the rest of the board to save Sami Agel, who had to leave the tournament in 35th place for a prize of €2,465.

As for Michal Kil, he moves up to 5.4 million after this move, likely to be chipleader by now.

From chipleader to busto

Hamoun Habibi, 30th in the Main Event

Chipleader at the start of the day with 5.8 million chips, Hamoun Habibi will ultimately finish no further than 30th in this WaSOP Main Event.

Down to a dozen blinds after losing every move for the first two hours of play, he sent his rug out with As-Jack of BB after an open from Gregory Grech at the cut-off. 

Paid by a pair of 8s, Hamoun Habibi saw the dealer return an 8 on the flop to finish him off cleanly.

He probably had another plan than to bust so quickly on Day 3 and has to settle for €2,835 for this beautiful deep run.

While I was on the Mystery Bounty, a few short-stack players took the opportunity to bust, including Guy Goosens (34th), Théo Milioni (33rd) and Gaëtan Lheureux (31st).

Dashboard
Level 27 : 60 000 / 120 000 (BB Ante 120 000)
29/1689 players remaining
Average payout: €2,912,069
Guaranteed payout: €2,835
Next level: 27th - €3,260

Akhoullou Matata

Samir Akhoullou, 28th in the Main Event

Everything was moving very fast on Day 3, with carpets flying all over the place and some great stories ending with lost coin flips. That's what happens in every tournament, but it's always hard to come so close to a huge stack after a lost coin flip.

Accustomed to tournaments and deep runs, Samir Akhoullou is used to one-day disillusionment, when he plays a 5 million pot with As-King against a pair of 9's. This time, it didn't work out against Brandon Van Kerwijk, and his fine run came to an end in 28th place in the Main Event.

We discovered him a few years ago when he chatted a big flash to win a PSPC ticket to the Bahamas. Since then, we've seen him at all the best festivals in Namur, and he's what we call a sure thing. Today, Samir finishes so far... so close to the big money, but signs a new deep run at the Casino de Namur.

He leaves the WaSOP Main Event with a cheque for €2,835.

Dashboard
Level 27: 60,000 / 120,000 (BB Ante 120,000)
27/1689 players remaining
Average: €3,127,778
Guaranteed payout: €2,835
Next level: 27th - €3,260

Like a dream

The best move of the day on this Final Day of the Main Event was made by young Julien Wasilewski, who was struggling with a stack of around 12 blinds, before making a great rush to go huge.

Raised to 2,000,000 after shoving several times without getting paid, Julien Wasilewski serves up his favorite move, after a 250,000 raise from Glenn Popken. He gets paid by the Dutch player, who turns over a pair of 9s and his As-King goes over the top, finding an Ace on the flop.

A few minutes later, he finished off poor Glenn Popken after raising/call As-Valet against his opponent's 700,000 King-Jack.

After two hours of play, Julien Wasilewski finds himself in the lead with 5.6 million to his name, but remains lucid. "If I lose an all-in to a short, I'll fall back to the average. And yes, everything is moving very fast today on Day 3.

Redraw to 24 players left

Quentin Destoky, 25th in the Main Event

Only 24 players remained at three tables after Quentin Destoky exited in 25th place in the Main Event. However, the Namur regular entered Day 3 with the 3rd stack.

Unfortunately, he will have to make do with €3,260 on this WaSOP Main Event on which he has just bubbled the last three tables.

Dashboard
Level 28: 75,000 / 150,000 (BB Ante 150,000)
24/1689 players remaining
Average: €3,250,000
Guaranteed payout: €3,260
Next level: 23rd - €3,745

Tribute to Doyle

The WaSOP Main Event has already been whittled down to 19, following the respective exits of Cédric Glineur (24th), Thibaud Zeien (23rd), Richard Koster (22nd), Hicham Aourache (21st) and Sergiu Covrig (20th). 

Julien Wasilewski

One of those responsible for the eliminations was Julien Wasilewski, who struck out on one hand.

After a raise from Hicham Aourache on the button, Richard Koster shoves his 1.5 million (10bb) SB stack. With 6 million stack, Julien Wasilewski reshoves. Hicham Aourache tank call.

The games :

Ladies for Hicham Aourache

As-Valet for Richard Koster

Kings for Julien Wasilewski

The best hand holds and Julien Wasilewski moves up to 13 million after this move, the tournament's clear chipleader.

He could even have soared even higher had he not suffered a big bad beat a few minutes later, on a completely improbable hand.

UTG, he discovers a new pair of Kings, Ks-Kd, and raises to 350k. At the cut-off, Abdel Lamrani thinks it's a good time to send in his stack of 4,025,000 (26 blinds) with Th-2h at the cut-off.

Julien Wasilewski pays in the second. He's already up to 17 million, but the dealer's 7h-5c-2d-Jc-Td board deprives him of this huge pot.

Abdel Lamrani, a little carried away by the table, invokes the recently deceased Doyle Brunson. Don't they say "Ten-Deuce, never lose?", he laughs as he collects his chips.

Julien Wasilewski still has over 9 million after this severe bad beat.

Dashboard
Level 28: 75,000 / 150,000 (BB Ante 150,000)
18/1689 players remaining
Average: €4,691,667
Guaranteed payout: €4,305
Next level: 17th - €4,955

A heart to take

Sergiu Covrig, 20th in the Main Event

On table 16, we also lost Sergiu Covrig, one of the most experienced players in the remaining field, who has accumulated $400,000 in winnings on the live circuit.

With fifteen blinds in front of him, he opens UTG with Ah-5h and is only paid by an anonymous player with a huge stack in the blinds.

On the Kh-6d-3h flop, all the money goes between the two men, the big blind has found two pair with Ks-6c in hand, a hand that will stay ahead of his opponent's flush-draw on the rest of the board. 

Sergiu Covrig was eliminated in 20th place from the WaSOP Main Event. He will be followed in the rail by Jérôme Naye, eliminated in 19th position at Jérôme Sgorrano's table.

The last two tables of the Main Event

Chipleader Brandon Van Kerkwijk

After the exits of Euan Ralston (18th) and Valentin Bury (17th), we have the last two tables of this WaSOP Main Event.

Play continues at blinds 100,000 / 200,000 (BB Ante 200,000) for around 30 minutes. At the end of this level, the levels will increase to 60 minutes.

Don't forget that the televised table will be available via Live Streaming.

Composition of the last two tables:

A chipleader in vacuum mode

Current chipleader Brandon Van Kerkwijk continues to do his job to ensure that the tournament can one day finish.

Fathi Khazami, 16th in the Main Event

There are now just 14 players still in the running after he took care of Fathi Khazami and Kubus Puchatek.

Both players had a dozen blinds in front of them, Fathi Khazami sent what was left to him with As-Valet, paid by As-Dame at the chipleader's.

As for Kubus Puchatek, it was with As-Queens that he decided to put his tournament on the line. This time, the chipleader had a pair of 9s.

Brandon Van Kerkwijk now has 17 million chips and is a serious contender for the final table of this WaSOP Main Event.

Pascal Masset

Meanwhile, Pascal Masset found a magnificent double-up spot to get back over the average. From the small blind, he discovered Qs-Qc and saw his neighbor Ercan Mandrake send his stack to the button. He pays, plays Kh-9h and manages to dodge the balls on the board to climb to 6.5 million while Ercan Mandrake finds himself crippled.

Dashboard
Level 28: 100,000 / 200,000 (BB Ante 200,000)
14/1689 players remaining
Average: €6,032,143
Guaranteed payout: €5,925
Next level: 13th - €7,110

Charly Mouline's beautiful week

12th in the Super Side Event, 13th in the High-Roller, Charly Mouline is still in with 14 players remaining in this WaSOP Main Event, guaranteed to win a minimum of €5,925.

It's already a 5-figure performance this week in Namur for the man who already finished runner-up in last year's High-Roller.

Even though he's currently one of the short-stacks, with just 15 blinds in front of him, he's certainly hoping to break the curse of the semi-finals.

Kill Michal

Billy Tuaiva

Originally from French Polynesia, but living not far from Namur, Billy Tuaiva is playing his third festival at the Casino de Namur, after the BPC and the Havana Festival.

He's clearly on a big one-two on this Main Event, especially as he's just won the scalp of Luxembourg's Michal Kil, once chipleader on Day 3, who gave up the last of his strength with Dame-9 in a battle of blinds.

Billy Tuaiva had pushed his stack with King-Jack and the best hand held on the board.

He is nevertheless one of the 13-player short-stacks remaining, with 4,000,000 players ahead of him.

Dashboard
Level 30: 125,000 / 250,000 (BB Ante 250,000)
13/1689 players remaining
Average: €6,500,000
Guaranteed payout: €7,110
Next level: 11th - €8,510

The 13th warrior

Grégory Grech, 13th in the Main Event

Gregory Grech paid the price for Abdel Lamrani's indecent run to finish his fine deep run in 13th place in the WaSOP Main Event.

Under the gun, Gregory opens to 500,000 and sees his neighbor on the left Abdel Lamrani send his stack for 7 million. After everyone had folded, Gregory Grech commits his 4,500,000 with a pair of Jacks, but is unpleasantly surprised to discover a pair of Kings in Abdel Lamrani's hand.

No magic on the board, and Gregory Grech had to settle for 13th place in the WaSOP Main Event, for a prize of €7,110.

They killed Benny

Benny Kneepkens, 12th in the Main Event

After losing some precious ammunition by attempting a bluff against the chipleader, Benny Kneepkens sends what's left to the middle, namely 1,900,000 (8 BB) with Kd-2d.

One notch to his left, a player who wishes to remain anonymous sends his all-in with Ad-Qs.

Despite the appearance of a diamond draw on the turn, Benny Kneepkens was unable to chat a double-up to survive and had to give up his last chips in 12th place of the Main Event.

Ercan Festival

Ercan Mandrake, 11th in the WaSOP Main Event

Crippled, Ercan Mandrake managed to find his first double-up to get back into the game.

Unfortunately for him, he took a big setup against Roland Gerga for his last chips (8 blinds), as he opened the big blind Jacks after an open Roland Gerga on the button.

He logically pushed his stack to the middle but there were Aces in front.

No miracle and Ercan Mandrake finished 11th in the WaSOP Main Event.

The anonymous bullard

It was a completely anonymous player who finished in 10th place in this Main Event, thus bubbling the final table.

In a battle of the blinds, he finds himself with 9d-8d on a 9c-2c-7s-6c turn on which he decides to go all-in for around 5 million.

Embarrassed, chipleader Brandon Van Kerkwijk has decidedly too many outs to folder his Kc-7c.

And it's a Ks that falls on the river to give him the win.

He further consolidated his chiplead, now exceeding the 20 million chip mark.

Dashboard
Level 30 : 125 000 / 250 000 (BB Ante 250 000)
9/1689 players remaining
Average payout: €3,383,333
Guaranteed payout: €11,095

WaSOP Main Event final table announced

After a well-deserved dinner-break for the 9 finalists in the WaSOP Main Event, it's time for the final table to come down to the wire. There were 1,689 players at the start of this year's WaSOP Main Event, but now only 9 have made it to the final table of the tournament here in Namur.

You can stream the final table from 9.20pm onwards, and here I'll be reporting on all the important moves and exits that take place at the final table.

Chipleader Brandon van Kerkwijk

If you think there's a chip-count error, you're wrong: one Dutch player does have a mountain of chips in front of him, Brandon van Kerkwijk, who holds 32% of the chips on the restart.

It's simple: he has a trophy cabinet as long as your arm, and was responsible for eliminating much of the competition during the semi-finals.

If the chipleader doesn't extinguish all his opponents one by one, this final table could prove exciting, with some very experienced players like Jérôme Sgorrano or Charly Mouline, discoveries like Julien Wasilewski or Billy Tuaiva, and a regular player at the Casino de Namur, Pascal Masset, who has been waiting for this great moment for a long time.

The colossal sum of €120,000 is promised to the winner of the event.

Composition of the final table :

Headquarters	Player	Country	Chip-count
1	Tom De Boom		6.275.000
2	Jérôme Sgorrano		8.050.000
3	Roland Gerga		9.400.000
4	Brandon van Kerkwijk		26.800.000
5	Abdel Lamrani		12.300.000
6	Charly Mouline		5.850.000
7	Pascal Masset		5.225.000
8	Julien Wasilewski		3.650.000
9	Billy Tuaiva		5.300.000

Here's why the players will be battling it out in the 125,000 / 250,000 blinds (BB Ante 250,000) for an average of 9.3 million:

The day's complete results :

10	Romain		€ 8.510
11	Ercan Mandrake		€ 8.510
12	Benny Kneepkens		€ 7.110
13	Gregory Grech		€ 7.110
14	Michal Kil		€ 5.925
15	Kubus Putachec		€ 5.925
16	Fathi Khazami		€ 4.955
17	Valentin Bury		€ 4.955
18	Euan Ralston		€ 4.305
19	Jerome Naye		€ 4.305
20	Sergiu Covrig		€ 4.305
21	Hicham Aouraghe		€ 3.745
22	Richard Koster		€ 3.745
23	Thibaud Zeien		€ 3.745
24	Cedric Glineur		€ 3.260
25	Quentin Destoky		€ 3.260
26	Michal Gadzala		€ 3.260
27	Monir Marie		€ 3.260
28	Samir Akhoullou		€ 2.835
29	Glenn Popken		€ 2.835
30	Hamoun Habibi		€ 2.835
31	Gaetan Lheureux		€ 2.835
32	Stephane De Lorge		€ 2.465
33	Theo Milioni		€ 2.465
34	Guy Goossens		€ 2.465
35	Sami Agel		€ 2.465
36	AJ Niazi		€ 2.465
37	Nicolas Cerban		€ 2.465
38	Louis Dubuc		€ 2.465

Julien Wasilewski, 9th in the Main Event

In the very first minutes of play at this final table, we unfortunately lost Julien Wasilewski.

From the big blind, he defends with Js-9h on a 500,000 open from Jérôme Sgorrano with Qs-Qd UTG+2.

The flop 9c-6s-2h brings max pair to Julien Wasilewski who chooses to check/raise all-in his 2,900,000 stack after Jerome Sgorrano's 550,000 c-bet.

Jérôme Sgorrano snaps with his overpair and maintains his advantage on the turn and river.

Julien Wasilewski nonetheless walked away with a handsome cheque for €11,095 for his first one-off on the live circuit.

As for Jérôme Sgorrano, he joins Abel Lamrani at the chip-count with 12 million chips in front of him.

A mutant fold

Jérôme Sgorrano almost took a huge pot against Austria's Roland Gerga. Yet the Austrian pulled off a world-class fold to avoid the door in 8th place at the final table.

UTG, Jérôme Sgorrano discovers Ks-Kd and opts for a raise to 500,000. He is 3-bet to 1,700,000 by his neighbor on the left, Roland Gerga, who holds Qs-Qc, the shoe below him.

Jérôme Sgorrano considers his options and decides to place a 4-bet to 4,600,000.

Roland Gerga, who has 8,000,000 left, thinks for a good two minutes before passing his hand, thus preserving his chances of going far at this final table.

Jérôme Sgorrano continues his good start to the final table and is already up to 14 million.

Dashboard
Level 31: 150,000 / 300,000 (BB Ante 300,000)
8/1689 players remaining
Average bet: €10,556,250
Guaranteed payout: €14,425

Let's Sgo

Jérôme Sgorrano

Since the start of Day 3, Abdel Lamrani has proved that he's afraid of nothing.

A case in point is his recent strike against Jérôme Sgorrano.

In Hi-Jack, Jérôme Sgorrano opens to 600,000 with Ah-8h. Roland Gerga flattens with Ad-Kh at the cut-off. From the small blind, Abdel Lamrani completes with 9d-8d.

On the 2s-Td-3h flop, where no one has hit, Jerome makes his continuation bet of 775,000 with his backdoor flush draw.

Roland Gerga was quick to pass, but not Abdel Lamrani, who gave us a check/raise to 1,600,000 with his height 9 and flush draw backdoor too. But not the same one.

Jérôme decides not to believe his opponent and pays with his high Ace.

The problem is that Abdel Lamrani continues his story on the 4d turn, where he sends his stack of 9,500,000 straight in, helped by a second diamond that gives him a flush draw.

Jérôme fools quickly and Abdel Lamrani pockets the chips to climb to 14 million and relieve Jérôme of precious chips.

Abdel Lamrani

Billy Tuaiva, 8th in the Main Event (€14,425)

Billy Tuaiva

The second player to leave the final table is our representative from French Polynesia , Billy Tuaiva.

After an open from Jerome Sgorrano UTG with Kc-Jd in hand, Pascal Masset pays with As-Qh on the button. Billy Tuaiva squeezes all-in for 3,200,000 with Jh-Th from the small blind.

From the big blind, Tom de Boom reshoves for 5,500,000 with Ah-Ks in his hand.

The other two players step aside from this future bloodbath, leaving Tom and Billy to explain themselves.

At the end of a 4s-5s-7s-7c-5d table, Billy Tuaiva finished 8th in the WaSOP Main Event for €14,425.

Dashboard
Level 32: 200,000 / 400,000 (BB Ante 400,000)
7/1689 players remaining
Average bet: €12,064,286
Guaranteed payout: €18,700

Pascal Masset, 7th in the Main Event (€18,700)

Struggling throughout the final table with a small stack, Pascal Masset thought he'd found an ideal spot to put his 13 blinds in the middle, but he came crashing down against chipleader Brandon van Kerkwijk.

After a UTG opening from Tom de Boom with Ac-5c in hand, Brandon van Kerkwijk 3-bet to 1,900,000 with Ks-Kd from the cut-off.

From the big blind, Pascal Masset raises Th-Tc and chooses this moment to send his stack of 5,100,000 into the middle.

He gets snapped by the chipleader and fails to find any improvement on the 5s-5h-9h-3d-2c board.

A regular at Casino de Spa and in Namur, Pascal Masset achieved his third career performance with this fine 7th place for €18,700, having already distinguished himself several times on large fields during tournaments in Rozvadov.

Dashboard
Level 32: 200,000 / 400,000 (BB Ante 400,000)
6/1689 players remaining
Average payout: €14,075,000
Guaranteed payout: €24,361

Chip-count at the break

At the break, there were only 6 players left and they returned to the 250,000 / 500,000 blinds (BB Ante 500,000) for an average of 16,890,000.

The final 6 players are guaranteed to win a minimum of €24,621 and a ticket to the €2,200 CPS Main Event.

Player	Country	Chipcount
Brandon van Kerkwijk		33.000.000
Abdel Lamrani		14.000.000
Jérôme Sgorrano		14.000.000
Roland Gerga		8.500.000
Tom De Boom		8.000.000
Charly Mouline		6.200.000

Roland Gerga, 6th in the Main Event (€24,621)

Right from the start, Roland Gerga lost almost half his stack trying to bluff Abdel Lamrani.

He opens at the button to 1,000,000 with Qh-8h and only Abdel Lamrani defends from BB with Kc-Qd. 

On the 3c-Js-Jc flop, Abdel donk-bets 500,000 and Roland pays. 

The turn Td prompts Roland to bet 2,000,000 after the opponent's check. Abdel decides to take his opponent all-in, claiming his remaining 3,800,000 with his straight draw.

Roland Gerga asks if his opponent has a jack and quickly foldes his hand.

The next hand, Roland Gerga sends his stack to the cut-off with Ks-3s (for 5.5 BB). Charly Mouline takes his courage in both hands and pays him with Ad-5s for two-thirds of his chips.

After an As-Jc-Kc-8d-Td table, Roland Gerga was eliminated from the Main Event in 6th place, taking home €24,621 in prize money.

As for Charly Mouline, he climbs to 10 million chips, his highest point on this final table.

Player	Country	Chipcount
Brandon van Kerkwijk		33.000.000
Abdel Lamrani		18.000.000
Jérôme Sgorrano		12.000.000
Charly Mouline		10.000.000
Tom De Boom		9.800.000

Dashboard
Level 33: 250,000 / 500,000 (BB Ante 500,000)
5/1689 players remaining
Average bet: €16,890,000
Guaranteed payout: €31,690

We found Charly

Charly Mouline has just re-established himself as a serious contender for the final victory, after chatting up a big double-up against Abdel Lamrani.

After a 1,000,000 open from Brandon van Kerkwijk with 9h-4h, Abdel Lamrani pays de SB with Th-Tc.

Charly Mouline squeeze all-in for 9,900,000 with Ad-8d from the big blind.

He is snapped up by Abdel Lamrani and will have to improve to survive this final table.

And that's exactly what he does, finding a magnificent 2d-Ac-4d flop which is enough for him to move ahead and climb to 21 million chips, while Abdel Lamrani falls to 8.2 million.

Abdel Lamrani, 5th in the Main Event (€31,690)

A few minutes after the bad beat he suffered against Charly Mouline, Abdel Lamrani gave up his last pawns to Jérôme Sgorrano on this final table.

After a 1,000,000 Jérôme Sgorrano open with 9s-9h at the cut-off, Abdel Lamrani shove his 6,700,000 stack with Kd-7d from the small blind.

Jérôme Sgorrano pays very quickly, because "the pair of 9s is in front!" and maintains his advantage on the As-9d-3h-Ad-Jc board, which gives him a nice family full house to climb to 20 million and eliminate his opponent.

Abdel Lamrani, who saved himself in a very lucky way at 20 left by finding two pairs on the river with T-2 off against Julien Wasilewski's Kings, after remainingal for 26 blinds, finished in a magnificent 5th place, good for €31,690.

At the microphone, Abdel Lamrani tells us that this friendly cash-game player is a 5-time Belgian kicker champion.

Player	Country	Chip-count
Brandon van Kerkwijk		35.000.000
Jérôme Sgorrano		20.950.000
Charly Mouline		20.300.000
Tom De Boom		7.700.000

Dashboard
Level 33: 250,000 / 500,000 (BB Ante 500,000)
4/1689 players remaining
Average bet: €28,150,000
Guaranteed payout: €41,200

Tom de Boom, 4th in the Main Event (€41,200)

Short-stacked at the moment of 4 left, Tom de Boom took his responsibilities by pushing his 7,500,000 (15bb) stack into a blind battle with Ks-9c in hand.

Jérôme Sgorrano finds Ad-Qh from the big blind and makes a logical call to test his opponent.

At the end of a Qd-5s-9d-5d-4d table, Jérôme Sgorrano finished flush and eliminated Tom de Boom in fourth place in this Main Event.

Jérôme Sgorrano is now approaching the chiplead on this final table, very close to Brandon van Kerkwijk with 32 million in front of him.

Dashboard
Level 33: 250,000 / 500,000 (BB Ante 500,000)
3/1689 players remaining
Average bet: €28,150,000
Guaranteed payout: €53,535

Charly Mouline, 3rd in the Main Event (€53,535)

After a crazy week here in Namur, with a 12th-place finish in the Super Side Event for €3,510 and a 13th-place finish in the High-Roller for €4,345, Charly Mouline made his mark by finishing on the podium of the WaSOP Main Event, walking away with a €53,535 cheque for his third-place finish.

Charly Mouline gave up his last chips in two stages.

First, he simply checks with big blind Kc-Ts, after a SB limp from Brandon van Kerkwijk in possession of 6d-4h.

The Dutch player checks/calls Charly's 800,000 bet on the 5d-Th-3s flop.

On the turn Tc which gives trips to the Frenchman, Brandon decides to check/raise to 6,200,000 after Charly's second barrel to 1,900,000. Charly simply pays.

One imagines that the action will stop on the river, but Brandon doesn't put on the handbrake and continues his huge bluff, having shown an ultra solid poker on the final table, without any bluff.

Charly thinks for a good two minutes before deciding to fold his hand, believing that he never has a bluff here.

This move drops him to 17 million, which he will commit a few minutes later after a pair of 9s following a raise from Jérôme Sgorrano. The Belgian player pays with As-Queens and wins the flip by finding a Queen on the flop.

Charly Mouline thus leaves the tournament. Interviewed on his way out, very clear about the fact that he had a good run all week, Charly didn't seem to have any regrets about the King-Dix move. Even though several players came up to him to ask if he really had that hand on the fold spot, Charly felt that his opponent couldn't be bluffing here, especially after what he had shown on the final table, and during the semi-finals when they shared the same table.

Perhaps he'll think about it again in the future, but in any case, he's already had a magnificent run, finishing third for €53,535, his best result to date on the live circuit, as he's more accustomed to the online cash-game tables where he plays in 5/10.

Thanks to this coin flip victory, Jérôme Sgorrano now finds himself in a virtual tie with Brandon van Kerkwijk, with 42 million against 43 million. The last two players in the Main Event are currently discussing a deal, but the Dutchman seems to prefer to play for the time being.

Dashboard
Level 34: 300,000 / 600,000 (BB Ante 600,000)
2/1689 players remaining
Average bet: €42,225,000
Guaranteed payout: €75,000

Heads-up action set to last

While Brandon van Kerkwijk initially didn't want to deal, he eventually agreed to smooth out the payout a little, with each player securing €85,000 and both players playing for €25,000 and the trophy.

Jérôme Sgorrano got a bit roughed up during the early heads-up, losing a number of small pots to drop to 26 million from 59 million, until he found a nice pair of kings in the big blind.

After seeing his opponent open to 1,200,000 with 8c-7c, Jérôme Sgorrano 3-bet to 4,800,000 with Ks-Kd. He gets paid by his opponent, who finds an enomous Tc-6s-4c flop.

Jérôme Sgorrano places a continuation bet of 5,900,000 and checks/raises all-in.

He snaps with his overpair and manages to dodge bullets on the turn and river, his opponent had a good stack of outs to end the tournament here.

Supported by his girlfriend Aurélie Dassi, Romain le Dantec and a few friends not far from the table, Jérôme Sgorrano regained the lead in this heads-up game with 53 million to 32 million.

But a few minutes later, Brandon van Kerkwijk came back to level, after 3-barrel Ac-2d on a 2h-Ah-8h-Jd-Ks board, 900,000 flop, 4,000,000 turn and 10,000,000 river. Jérôme Sgorrano failed to fold his Kc-Qh, putting his opponent back in the saddle with this failed call.

The pivotal heads-up move?

We've just witnessed what could well be the pivotal move of this heads-up. It begins with Jerome Sgorrano raising to 1,500,000 with 7d-7h.

Brandon van Kerkwijk defends his big blind with Kc-8d in hand.

On the 3h-4d-8c flop, Jerome sends a continuation bet to 1,600,000 and gets checked/raised to 4,700,000. He decides to pay.

Brandon insists on the 3s turn with a potato to 8,500,000. Jérôme takes the time to think about it and pays.

While many players would check-back on the river Ts, Brandon pondered for a good three minutes, before continuing to try to scrape up value by placing a 12,000,000 bet in front of him.

Jérôme Sgorrano fails to fold his pair of 7s and drops to 13 million after this move, while his opponent soars to 72 million.

The blinds have just been raised to 400,000/800,000 (BB Ante 800,000).

Jérôme Sgorrano, runner-up in the Main Event (€85,000)

After a complicated heads-up against Brandon van Kerkwijk, a formidable opponent from the start of the day, Jérôme Sgorrano let the WaSOP Main Event title slip from his grasp, but walked away €85,000 richer after securing a deal with the eventual winner after just a few minutes of heads-up play.

On the last hand of the 90-minute head-to-head, Jérôme Sgorrano sends his last 11,000,000 rounds with Ac-2c.

Brandon van Kerkwijk takes a sip, looks at his cards, and calls in a second with Ah-Kh in his hand.

Jérôme encourages the dealer to reveal a"Deuce on the turn", but it's a Jh-5c-7h-5d-9d board that ends the story.

In search of big results for several years now, Jérôme Sgorrano is back in the spotlight with this magnificent performance in this €550 tournament, where he took over 170 buy-ins. And above all, in a Namur Casino he's been frequenting for years, an XXL performance on home soil.

We're hoping this performance will get him back on the circuit, and that he'll continue to bring his legendary good humor to every corner of Belgium, France and Europe.

Brandon van Kerkwijk wins WaSOP Main Event (€110,000)

At the end of three days of competition on this Main Event, Brandon van Kerkwijk came out on top after a two-handed deal against Jérôme Sgorrano, one of the Casino de Namur's leading figures for many years.

The Dutch player won over a record field of 1,689 entries, an increase of 70% on the 2022 edition, and took home the sum of €110,000, for what is by far his biggest live performance to date. His previous best was a €340 WPT DeepStack Amsterdam Side Event win for €19,949.

Brandon van Kerkwijk arrived at the final table with a massive stack of 26 million, compared with 12 for his nearest challenger. He played an ultra-solid poker , reserving just one moment of madness when he placed a huge bluff against Charly Mouline, finding a way to make the French player fold a huge game with a height of 6.

Heads-up play against Jérôme Sgorrano was a one-way affair. Although the Belgian player got a boost from a flip on the flop when his pair of kings held up against his opponent's 7-6 of clubs on a T-6-4 flop with two clubs, he suffered greatly against Brandon, who was in total control of his game. Jerome tried two hero calls which resulted in huge hits by his opponent, who took value when needed and avoided losing value when he was behind.

Complete Main Event results:

#	Player	Country	Winnings
1	Brandon van Kerkwijk		€ 110.000
2	Jérôme Sgorrano		€ 85.000
3	Charly Mouline		€ 53.535
4	Tom De Boom		€ 41.200
5	Abdel Lamrani		€ 31.690
6	Roland Gerga		€ 24.361
7	Pascal Masset		€ 18.700
8	Billy Tuaiva		€ 14.425
9	Julien Wasilewski		€ 11.095
10	Romain		€ 8.510
11	Mandrake		€ 8.510
12	Benny Kneepkens		€ 7.110
13	Gregory Grech		€ 7.110
14	Michal Kil		€ 5.925
15	Daniel Kafka		€ 5.925
16	Fathi Khazami		€ 4.955
17	Valentin Bury		€ 4.955
18	Euan Ralston		€ 4.305
19	Jerome Naye		€ 4.305
20	Sergiu Covrig		€ 4.305
21	Hicham Aouraghe		€ 3.745
22	Richard Koster		€ 3.745
23	Thibaud Zeien		€ 3.745
24	Cedric Glineur		€ 3.260
25	Quentin Destoky		€ 3.260
26	Michal Gadzala		€ 3.260
27	Monir Marie		€ 3.260
28	Samir Akhoullou		€ 2.835
29	Glenn Popken		€ 2.835
30	Hamoun Habibi		€ 2.835
31	Gaetan l'Heureux		€ 2.835
32	Stephane De Lorge		€ 2.465
33	Theo Milioni		€ 2.465
34	Guy Goossens		€ 2.465
35	Sami Agel		€ 2.465
36	AJ Niazi		€ 2.465
37	Nicolas Cerban		€ 2.465
38	Louis Dubuc		€ 2.465
39	Nico Pohl		€ 2.465
40	Philipp Kampf		€ 2.140
41	Fayssal Chakroun		€ 2.140
42	Roger Sacre		€ 2.140
43	Jeoffrey Duytschaever		€ 2.140
44	Woody Christy		€ 2.140
45	Stieven Razab-Sekh		€ 2.140
46	Thomas Delattre		€ 2.140
47	Gunther Rettel		€ 2.140
48	Albert Hoekendijk		€ 2.140
49	Reda Haidar		€ 2.140
50	Patrick Vos		€ 2.140
51	Mihaita Georgita		€ 2.140
52	Anthony Bui Ngoc		€ 2.140
53	Eddy Veillard		€ 2.140
54	Sandro Pitzanti		€ 2.140
55	Adrien Rami		€ 2.140
56	Rolf Weighaupt		€ 1.865
57	Hasan Yildiz		€ 1.865
58	Luca Pecoraro		€ 1.865
59	Timo Scarcella		€ 1.865
60	Stef Bloem		€ 1.865
61	Ryan Vermeer		€ 1.865
62	Arnel Popovic		€ 1.865
63	Marten Brongers		€ 1.865
64	Antonios Kapnissakis		€ 1.865
65	Nawfal Ben Azuz		€ 1.865
66	Henricus Roefs		€ 1.865
67	Dave Kroon		€ 1.865
68	Thomas Jansen		€ 1.865
69	Philipp Munzinger		€ 1.865
70	Alain Caliber		€ 1.865
71	Max Melin		€ 1.865
72	Livio Del Giacco		€ 1.620
73	Adolf Nossent		€ 1.620
74	Jean Paul Peiffer		€ 1.620
75	Julien Lauer		€ 1.620
76	Kevin Lavechin		€ 1.620
77	Robert Seelen		€ 1.620
78	Denneth Rodgers		€ 1.620
79	Mehdi Hbili		€ 1.620
80	Daniel Domb		€ 1.620
81	Niels Gybels		€ 1.620
82	Wim Verhaegen		€ 1.620
83	Edwige Lesage		€ 1.620
84	Pierre Gedi		€ 1.620
85	Thomas Denie		€ 1.620
86	Daniel Pirlot		€ 1.620
87	Fabrizio Vozza		€ 1.620
88	Marco van Turenhout		€ 1.620
89	Yüksel Tok		€ 1.620
90	Uwe Matthias		€ 1.620
91	Abdel Chenoufi		€ 1.620
92	Halim Guerrout		€ 1.620
93	Mario Frijters		€ 1.620
94	Ali Nafaoui		€ 1.620
95	Glenn Laureys		€ 1.620
96	Christophe Devaux		€ 1.410
97	Leandro Monteiro		€ 1.410
98	Sihao Zhang		€ 1.410
99	Omar Lakhdari		€ 1.410
100	Antonio Domingos		€ 1.410
101	Angelo Aliberto		€ 1.410
102	Freddy Godel		€ 1.410
103	Stephane Giancola		€ 1.410
104	Michel Fajga		€ 1.410
105	Firat Baltaci		€ 1.410
106	Pietro Marchione		€ 1.410
107	Sabri Philips		€ 1.410
108	Badre al Ghouch		€ 1.410
109	Vincent Verdickt		€ 1.410
110	Muhammadi Khall		€ 1.410
111	Thomas Narbonne		€ 1.410
112	Alaettin Keles		€ 1.410
113	Dennis Lavrijsen		€ 1.410
114	Aksel Aygun		€ 1.410
115	Lionel De Beer		€ 1.410
116	Marc Hansens		€ 1.410
117	Miguel Coussement		€ 1.410
118	Iman Ghashayar		€ 1.410
119	Michael Goossens		€ 1.410
120	Jonas ten Cate		€ 1.225
121	Leonardo Armino		€ 1.225
122	Romain Hernandez		€ 1.225
123	Patrick Hutsch		€ 1.225
124	Andy Victorion		€ 1.225
125	Jonathan Lays		€ 1.225
126	Mehidi Sahli		€ 1.225
127	Christoph Rech		€ 1.225
128	Marc Delimal		€ 1.225
129	Kader Slila		€ 1.225
130	Charles Eichner		€ 1.225
131	Jasmin Berge		€ 1.225
132	Niels de Moree		€ 1.225
133	Djordi Holtackers		€ 1.225
134	Thore Kunze		€ 1.225
135	Stijn Favest		€ 1.225
136	André Otten		€ 1.225
137	Matthias De Meulder		€ 1.225
138	Quentin Thavisouk		€ 1.225
139	Julien Dubail		€ 1.225
140	Slimane Mameche		€ 1.225
141	Jelle Jonckheere		€ 1.225
142	Thibaut Durieux		€ 1.225
143	Melvin Maas		€ 1.225
144	Aziz Kendel		€ 1.065
145	Ingo Croes		€ 1.065
146	Angelos Valilis		€ 1.065
147	Micha Hoedemaker		€ 1.065
148	Max Cingu		€ 1.065
149	Damien Hupe		€ 1.065
150	Amir Mozaffarian		€ 1.065
151	Julius Sandaal		€ 1.065
152	Tim van de Riet		€ 1.065
153	Simon Bouaksa		€ 1.065
154	Philippe Riminucci		€ 1.065
155	Leon van der Velden		€ 1.065
156	Paul van Oort		€ 1.065
157	Wiljan van Woerkum		€ 1.065
158	Joseph Huzij		€ 1.065
159	Pascal Vogt		€ 1.065
160	Chayan Kaushal		€ 1.065
161	Raynald Coppin		€ 1.065
162	Nicolas Kojovic		€ 1.065
163	Cedric Sevrin		€ 1.065
164	Christophe Dos Santos		€ 1.065
165	Steven Krzonkalla		€ 1.065
166	Clayde Terlaan		€ 1.065
167	Chris Rubbini		€ 1.065
168	Benn Proost		€ 1.065
169	Erhan Dogan		€ 1.065
170	Faycal Djoher		€ 1.065
171	Hadrien Gallez		€ 1.065
172	Farukh Tach		€ 1.065
173	Mad Max		€ 1.065
174	Christophe Vinsous		€ 1.065
175	Jan Kusters		€ 1.065
176	Steve Lacomblez		€ 1.065
177	Nagib Raji		€ 1.065
178	Romain Guibas		€ 1.065
179	Tony Remondeau		€ 1.065
180	Yves Senterre		€ 1.065
181	David Garcet		€ 1.065
182	Franz Josten		€ 1.065
183	Christophe Bellings		€ 1.065
184	Mark Roovers		€ 925
185	Koen Lahousse		€ 925
186	Moncef Karoui		€ 925
187	Johannes van Rijn		€ 925
188	Virgile Anello		€ 925
189	Ruben Steenhuis		€ 925
190	Nathan Martinez		€ 925
191	Lukas Gatzweiler		€ 925
192	Dennis Raijer		€ 925
193	Gregory Duro		€ 925
194	George Inan		€ 925
195	Vincas Jonaitis		€ 925
196	Sebastiaan van den Berg		€ 925
197	Sebastian Benz		€ 925
198	Rachid Sekkai		€ 925
199	Dennis de Laat		€ 925
200	Ilia Fathi		€ 925
201	Francois Henneuse		€ 925
202	Cristian Bogdan		€ 925
203	Bartjan van Heugten		€ 925
204	David Talier		€ 925
205	Christoph Wandel		€ 925
206	Alex Douven		€ 925
207	Soufiane Gherbi		€ 925
208	Fedele Ricotta		€ 925
209	Youri Sablain		€ 925
210	Andrea Mencaccini		€ 925
211	Levent Efe		€ 925
212	Baptiste Personne		€ 925
213	Mischa Wieten		€ 925
214	Yoann Nigro		€ 925
215	Yannick Bornebroek		€ 925
216	Laura Wautelet		€ 925
217	Jean-Pierre Kocks		€ 925
218	Raymond Hilbert		€ 925
219	Thierry Pawlenko		€ 925
220	Kristof Verhoeven		€ 925
221	Alexandros Dimogiorgis		€ 925
222	Dias Batista		€ 925
223	Luc Boeckx		€ 925
224	Bregt Winters		€ 840
225	Simon Persson		€ 840
226	Xiao Chen		€ 840
227	Andrei Turcanu		€ 840
228	Hussam Abdel Aziz		€ 840
229	Reinoud Vancoetsen		€ 840
230	Alain Fleurent		€ 840
231	Arnaud Desbrosse		€ 840
232	Cees-Jan Vermeulen		€ 840
233	Gilles Magny		€ 840
234	Mark De Clerck		€ 840
235	Okan Bulut		€ 840
236	Pierre Giacometti		€ 840
237	Yin Zhang		€ 840
238	Kevin Fluegel		€ 840
239	Tim Jurgawka		€ 840