See you at 4 p.m. for Day 1E, when 260 players have already qualified for Saturday's 2 p.m. Day 1 (5000 - 10,000 [10,000] replay).

15 30-minute levels are scheduled, with registration open until just after 10 p.m.. At that point, it will be possible to switch to Turbo 1F, which will take place over 15-minute levels...

With over 1,500 entries halfway through the opening days, the prize pool generated by players has exceeded the guarantee, with the prizepool currently standing at €315,000! 

Over 230 players at the start

Let's go for a Dantesque Day 1E! 237 players were seated when the 5th of the 8 starting days of the €250 Winter Festival Main Event kicked off... less than 10 minutes later, the number had already risen to 253! 



Participants receive 50,000 chips and will have to withstand 15 30-minute levels before packing up their chips for Day 2, which begins at 2pm on Saturday on 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000). 

Late registration is possible until the start of Level 10, just after 10 p.m.. From then on, it will be possible to enter Day 1F Turbo. Day 6 starts at 10 p.m., with 15 levels of 15 minutes each, and registration open until around 12.30 p.m.! 

Over 300 entries already!

310 players seated at the tables for 314 entries as Level 2 gets underway - it's always busy in Namur! The fight is on for blinds 100 - 300 (300)...

The tables are full for Day 1E of the Winter Festival Main Event, a tournament that now features a prize pool of nearly €375,000 !

Level 3

One hour of play and the counter reads 365 players for 380 entrants, the blinds have just increased to 200 - 400 (400) and there's a steady stream of cashiers arriving on this Main Event.

Say 400 ! 

70 minutes of play on this fifth of eight starting days... and the leaderboard has just passed the 400-entry mark. 370 players remain for 402 entries on what promises to be a huge Day 1E. The provisional attendance is not too far off the 2,000 mark for this Main Event!

They're everywhere

The switch to blinds 300 - 600 (600) took place two minutes ago, with 392 players seated at the tables of the Circus Casino Resort in Namur... the table now shows 428 entrants! 

Namur regulars included Salvatore Allatta, Olivier Baeten, Aurélie Dassi, Cheryl de Paron, Mallory Frère, Stéphane Figoni, Maradona Abaz, Taner Ayhan, Samy Barka, Fred Blehaut, Norman Bultot, Olivier Carosella, Davy Huyst, Morgan Poisson, DOminique Potenza and Rico Chevalot. 

They came, they're all here! 

Over €400,000 to share

With less than 10 minutes to go before the first break of the day, 400 players are at the tables... for 450 entrants! 

The average is 57,000 chips, but more importantly there's now €403,000 in the prize pool to be shared between the players in the money. And it's about to get a whole lot bigger! 

Break at 2000

405 players on break for 480 entrants... it's official as the Winter Festival Main Event passes the 2,000 entrants mark with registration open until just after 10pm on Day 1E! The prize pool now stands at over €407,000 and counting. 

The day's average is already at 59,000 chips, and some have already built up fortunes, such as Andreas Van Deyck, who has reached 177,000 chips, i.e. almost 4 times the starting stack in 4 levels of 30 minutes! 

Chips
Anthony van Wallenghem 185,000
Andreas van Deyck 177,000
Antonio Cabanas 165,000
Jeremy Pinson 142,000
Denis Charlier 133,000
Paul van Dijk 130,000
Philipp Kuchenhofen 123,000
Salvatore Caligula 120,000
Stéphane Meo 120,000
Maxime Robin 111,000
Samuel Robischung 109,000
Stéphane Felgten 103,000
Michael Ender 100,000
Salvatore Ferrari 95,000
Wim Woet 88,000
Abdel Lamrani 81,000
Cheryl de Paron 62,000
Rico Chevalot 40,000
Stéphane Figoni 40,000
Vincent Verdickt 35,000

Resumption... at 500! 

The 500-entry mark was passed during the first break of Day 1E. The game resumes on 400 - 800 (800) with 426 players for 501 entries in this Winter Festival Main Event! 

Ocean Room

Level 6 has begun, with blinds increased to 500 - 1000 (1000) with 421 players for 526 entrants and an average of 62,000 chips. 

A little bit of everything in the Ocean Room, where more than 15 tables were spinning. Raymond Beckers got off to the best start in the secondary room, with 150,000 chips in front of him. 

In this area of the Circus Casino Resort in Namur are Samy Barka (65,000), Guillaume Navaro (83,000), Steven Rothheut (23,000), Sébastien Hetzel (57,000), Dominique Potenza (25,000), Laura Wautelet (50,000), Giuseppe Genco (62,000), Aurélie Dassi (30,000) and Farukh Tach (130,000). 

Winner of the Oktoberfest, Axel Santoni didn't get off to the best of starts with 26,000 in front of him...

Split Dinner

In view of the crowds, the dinner break is split in two. The first group, made up of players in the main room (tables 18 to 48), will take a 75-minute break at the end of level 6. 

During this break from 7.30pm to 8.45pm, tables 1 to 17 (Secondary Room) and 111 and up (Ocean Room) will play two 30-minute levels before taking a break. 

Junction for level 9 at 9:45 p.m... 

Dinner break (I)

The first group is on break for 75 minutes. These players have played 6 half-hour levels, and will return at 8:45 p.m. to play two levels before joining the group currently playing 600 - 1200 (1200). 

Entries are still open and 414 players are on Day 1E, with 575 so far! The average is 70,000 pawns...

Chipcount partial break players
Antonio Cabanas 193,000
Anthony Van Walleghem 187,000
Jean-Luc Jouven 165,000
Franck Debusschere 161,000
Ludovic Ruperto 158,000
Hakan Oztekin 157,000
François-Louis Vlassis 157,000
Andreas van Deyck 153,000
Patrick Jouven 153,000
Jeremi Pillaut 150,000
Maxime Robin 145,000
Anthony Dasbourg 143,000
Dieter Verlinden 131,000
Max Max 126,000
Christophe Lecocq 121,000
Azzedine Bouhabila 117,000
Theo Erkamps 108,000
Bruno Ghilardi 104,000
Mark Coppes 103,000
Jens Claeys 101,000

Secondary Hall

The second group will take a break at the end of the level they are playing, level 8, which runs from 800 - 1600 (1600). No huge stacks in the secondary room despite almost 4 hours of effective poker. 

Dillan Bruce and Toon Carpentier still managed 200,000 chips. PokerStars xflixx streamer Fabian Daheim (150,000) also got off to a good start. Nicolas Noel (130,000), Jeremy Pinson (160,000) and Angelo Mancuso (152,000) also got off to a good start. 

Robin Cornet seems to have got off to a more timid start, but he's still there with the starting line, unlike Axel Santoni, who's no longer in his original place... 

With half the field in dinner break, there are 397 players left for 592 entries on Day 1E. 

Dinner Break (II)

While the first group returns to contest the 600 - 1200 (1200) and 800 - 1600 (1600) levels, the second group takes a dinner break after 8 levels of poker, until 9.45pm. 

Then it's time for the junction for level 9, which will be contested on blinds 1000 - 2000 (2000), and at 9.45pm we'll resume our live coverage. 

For the moment, there are still 405 players in the running for 603 entries on Day 1E ! Registrations open until 10:15 pm... 

Reprise

The entire field is back on Day 1E, and play has resumed on 1000 - 2000 (2000) with 354 players for 625 entrants! There's just under twenty minutes left to enter or re-enter this €441,000 Winter Main Event! 

In the Salle Océan, Ohran Serbes (250,000), Farukh Tach (240,000) and Erwan Pirotais (170,000) are at ease, as are Niels Morenhout (160,000), Maverick Verhoeven (170,000) and even Samy Barka (100,000). 

Dustin van Weerdenburg (150,000) and Johannes Everaert (140,000) also set the tempo in one of the three rooms featuring this fifth starting day. 

The €150 PLO Event #11 has been delayed by half an hour, so it's still possible to join a field of sixty players... and Day 1F of the €250 Main Event is about to get underway, with 15 15-minute levels and registration open until almost 1 a.m.! 

633 entries on Day 1E, nearly €450,000 in the prizepool

Late registration is over for the fifth of eight starting days in the €250 Winter Festival Main Event. The blinds have risen to 1000 - 2500 (2500) with 319 players in contention. Five half-hour levels remain before bagging... 

Day 1E drew 633 entrants to bring the provisional attendance to 2,155 before the overnight Turbo 1F and a further two jam-packed starting days on Friday. The prizepool will pass the half-million euro mark and 3,000 entries are in sight! 

Finito

There will be a break at the end of this level. The game is being played on blinds 1500 - 3000 (3000) with 269 players still in contention to take part in Day 2. 

It's all over for Ruben Steenhuis, Axel Santoni, Claudio Guadagnino, Canio Pietrapertosa, Nordine Loulidi, Fred Blehaut, Rico Chevalot, Ahmed Jirgees, Mark Heinman, Florentin Barre, Joel Sart, Mark Coppes and Guillaume Navaro on this Flight. They can fall back on the Turbo 1F currently in progress... 

Last Break

Play has just resumed for the final four levels of Day 5 of the Main Event. There are 232 players left before the final two hours of play. Back to the blinds 2000 - 4000 (4000) with a German player leading the way. 

Dillian Delicious (yes, that's a nickname) is up to 660,000 chips after warming up with a final table finish in Event #10 Biathlon PKO last night. Not very chatty, our friend came to Namur with Martin "xxflixx" Schneiders. 



Just before the break Heni Mokni took out Michael Ender to climb to 280,000 chips. Ender tried the hero call for 20 blinds river with the 6 on Ten 5 4 7 Ace... and ran into Mokni's Ace 8. 

Somsong Intharanop is a long way off, but with 430,000 chips she's one of the biggest stacked players on Day 1E. After a good grind, the player won a very big 3-shot by hitting a river flush!

There's going to be a lot of action around the locker room, with a lot of players under pressure and few blinds... For Niclas Thumm (8th in the PSPC for $1 million), you'll have to come back on Friday! Finito also for Samy Barka or Octavian Ripan, Roberto Spagnuolo and Bryan de Riddere...

Chips
Dillian Delicious 660,000
Somsong Intharanop 430,000
jeremy Pillault 370,000
Javier Dominguez 310,000
Andreas van Deycke 300,000
Stephen Becquet 280,000
Heni Mokni 280,000
Corentin Barbosa 215,000
Taner Ayhan 200,000
Antonio Cabanas 140,000

Top 200

Just under 200 players remain in the field on Day 1E of the Winter Main Event, with an average of 40 blinds in the 2000 - 4000 blinds (4000). 

Angelo Aliberto, Salvatore Ferrari, Ali Zarrab, Marc Gets, Sebastien Hetzel, Jeremy Pinson, Yves Kupfermunz, Anthony Dasbourg, Andreas Gondrom and Octavian Ripan all jumped at the last minute...

New Kaporal

170 players compete in blinds 2000 - 5000 (5000), level 12 is underway with an average of 165,000 chips. Erwan Pirotais, Rachid Halimi, Eric Denizart and Laura Wautelet are among the latest to be eliminated...

While the big stacks are starting to form, Robin Cornet and Alexis Fleur are in resistance mode, with 80,000 chips in front of them at the same table. The duo are in the Ocean Room, where 7 tables remain.

Here, Dutchman Tomen Corporaal has taken control with 730,000 chips in front of him. Careful though, as he has Farukh Tach (450,000) to his right and David Ganser (570,000) just to his left. At a table also featuring Mihai Stinca (150,000), a clash could result in the tournament's first millionaire!

In the Salle Océan, things are also going well for José Caurel (450,000), Ohran Serbes (315,000), Mohamed Sahli (300,000) and the man better known as Sitting Bull in Namur (360,000). 

Last Hour

Just under two half-hour levels remain on Day 1E of the WInter Main Event... 150 players are still in the running on blinds 3000 - 6000 (6000). 

Abdel Chenoufi and Abdel Lamrani have just played a flip... Chenoufi's ace-valet passed a pair of 6's on a flop of 8-7-valet, but turn 5 and river 6 sent the 125,000-chip pot to Lamrani. Chenoufi is down to 65,000 chips or 11 blinds. 

Somsong Intharanop (670,000) is not far from the top, but Germany's Dillian Delicious remains solidly in front (720,000). Ludovic Ruperto (400,000), Heni Mokni (400,000) and Andreas van Deyck (360,000) have a good stack to take into the final straight to Day 2...

With 100,000 chips each, Stéphane Figoni and Vincent Verdickt don't have much room for maneuver...

Last Level

There are 129 players for the final half-hour of poker, averaging 251,000 chips in blinds 4000 - 8000 (8000). 

It's all over for Stephane Mao, Davy Maes, Lukas Trzcinski, Pierre Tilmant, Rudi Mulders, Ismael Joly, Abdel Lamrani, Theo Erkamps, Misha Wieten, Giuseppe Genco and Mihaita Georgita... All will have to try their luck again on Friday to secure a place on Day 2 at 2pm on Saturday...

 

Last Fight

Jerome Arnaud, Theo Erkamps joined the rail a few minutes before the gong, as did Robin Cornet, eliminated on a 40-60 preflop.

Finito also for Gilles Grevesse who jumped with the Aces against Antoine Vincendez's Tens on a Ten 2 Ace 3 Jack board... the croupier unwrapped 4 diamonds after putting the Ten in the doorcard and an Ace on the flop! Vincendez sucks in fifteen blinds to finish strong...

Iulian Chiriac, Loic Mattern and Cyril Richard also bowed out at the final gong... in the end, 111 players made it through Day 1, which brought together 633 entrants. 

One Kaporal millionaire on Day 1E, 111 qualifiers for Day 2

The 6th of the 8 starting days of the Winter Festival Main Event was the best attended of the tournament so far. The 633 entries recorded brought the provisional attendance up to 2,310 entrants before Friday's huge two-flight event.

The provisional prizepool has eclipsed the €250,000 guarantee, with in-the-money players set to share more than 476,000 as the tournament passes the 3,300 mark on Friday ! 

260 players had validated their ticket before Day 1E, 111 more players cleared the hurdle and will be there on 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000), Saturday from 2 p.m. for Day 2. 



After 15 30-minute levels and 7 hours 30 minutes of play at poker, the boss of Day 1E is a Dutchman. Tijmen Corporaal has built up a 7-figure stack of over 20 times the starting stack!

"I played well, I won a flip right from the start, everything went my way," Corporaal confided at the time of the final wrap-up. A three of a kind in a 3-bet pot, a pair of Aces cracked with Kings, a few smart timings to raise to 750,000 and steal another quarter of his stack by playing small pots in the final hour, everything went like clockwork for the chipleader of all starting days, the only player with 100 blinds at the restart so far. 



It was also a good day for regulars Somsong Itharanop and Andreas van Deycke, while Vincent Verdickt, Viorel Merisan, Cheryl de Paron and Heni Mokni and Ohran Serbes also got the job done. With 80 blinds at the start of the tournament, Kader Slila will also be well placed to take a share of what promises to be a huge prizepool. 


Partial Chipcount Day 1E (111 qualifiers for 633 entrants)
Tijmen Corporaal 1,017,000
Enzo Porceddu 857,000
Kader Slila 807,000
Jose Carrel 740,000
Somsong Itharanop 686,000
Dillian Delicious 657,000
Andreas van Deycke 629,000
Jeremy Pillaut 605,000
David Ganser 565,000
Ingo Croes 531,000
Simon Briziou 512,000
Vincent Verdickt 468,000
Viorel Merisan 456,000
Antoine Vincendez 428,000
Cheryl de Paron 413,000
Toon Carpentier 400,000
Heni Mokni 395,000
Orhan Serbes 388,000
David Bernerou 346,000
Mihai Stinca 302,000
Dalil Masaud 290,000
Antonio Cabanas 287,000
Chris Verbeek 267,000
Dominique Bruzzes 265,000
Alain Lambert 257,000
Samuel 248,000
Ederlei Dias 242,000
Farukh Tach 225,000
Ivan Marsus 114,000
Arnaud Debaille 104,000