Join us at 2pm on blinds 5000 - 10,000 (10,000) to follow Day 2 of the biggest event in Namur's history. 

The €250 Winter Festival attracted 3,423 entrants for a prizepool of €689,392. 626 players bagged chips for this stack choice tournament, so there may be a few fewer players at the restart... 

Top 15 Day 2
Tijmen Corporaal 1,017,000
Yoann Argence 1,000,000
Rony Cebola 948,000
Enzo Porceddu 857,000
Yves Vandenreyt 844,000

Gary Prize 808,000
Kader Slila 794,000
Ano Nyme 794,000
Robert Janssen 779,000
Levi Vangoidsenhoven 748,000

Jose Caurel 739,000
Stanislav Khegay 739,000
Cristobal Ochoa 739,000
Florian Wathieu 727,000
Guy Goossens 697,000

479 places paid, €90,000 for the champion

Just before the start of Day 2's 40-minute levels, the payout was revealed. The final 479 players in this field of 3,423 entrants will share a prize pool of almost €690,000...

The 9 finalists secure a minimum payout of €8,160, plus a CPS Main Event 2024 ticket worth €2,200.

Event #6 Winter Festival Main Event
Winner - €90,000
Runner Up - €55,022
3rd - €39,420
4th - €30,315
5th - €23,320
6th - €17,810
7th - 13 680€
8th - 10 615€
9th - 8 160€

10th and 11th - 6 280€
12th and 13th - 5 235€
14th and 15th - 4 365€
16th and 17th - 3 645€
18th to 20th - 3 070€
21st to 23rd - 2 670€
24 to 27e - 2 315€
28 to 31e - 2 010€
32 to 39e - 1 750€
40 to 55e - 1 520€
56 to 71e - 1 330€
72 to 95e - 1 160€
96 to 119e - 1,000€
120 à 143e - 870€
144 à 183e - 755€
184 à 223e - 650€
224 à 287e - 570€
288 à 351e - 495€
352 à 415e - 425€
416 à 479e - 370€

Shuffle Up & Deal

The game resumes a few minutes late with 622 players in blinds 5000 - 10 000 (10 000). The average blind is 27...

Head for the money and the Top 479 of this record-breaking tournament, which attracted 3,423 entrants and a prize pool of almost €690,000! 

With twenty players at less than 7 blinds, and 160 players at 16 blinds or less, the money should come quickly...

Next

The big bucks or the HendonMob line won't be coming today for these first victims, who are already on the busto wagon. 

Robin Cornet's ace-queen flop against ace-six moved him up to 28 blinds, putting him in the lead. Is there such a thing? Loivier Guenard, Yannick Loddo, David Janssen, Gustav Johansson, Kevin Tizianel, Romain Dussart and Raymon Corbach also finished...

No Money

We're starting to see a bit more clearly, with 90 exiting while the first level of Day 2 is still in progress. The average is back up to 31 blinds with the exits of Laurent Hennequin, Mehdi Maroufi, Bennardo Gattuso and David Ethuin. 

Finito also for Davy Maes, Pierre Pezzuto, Davy Maes, Kevin Clement, Thierry Penders, Kim Pauwels, Daniel Veloson, Denis Charlie, Stephane Figoni or Willehlmus Crolla and Prescillia Duhoux. 

No ITM for Dang Nguyen, Serge Lenaerts, Guillaume Navaro or Nicolas Coeman either...

Top 500

The blinds have risen to 6,000 - 12,000 (12,000) in the last ten minutes and the money is almost there. There are just under 500 players now.

There are exactly 496 players for 479 paid places and the game is unfortunately being played without Jean Jouven, Fred Simonis, Riad Benamar, Joel de Smit, Luc Brouet, Marc Gets, Yves Minkhorst, Turbo 1H chipleader Louis Dubuc, Emile Custinne or Jean-Marc Canttarutti. 

Mini Break

Resuming at 3.36pm with 482 players for 479 paid places, it's bubble time with an average of 354,000 chips on blinds 6000 - 12,000 (12,000). 

In the last hour, Erwan Pirotais has gone from 600,000 to 1.4 million, probably leading the debate. Aymeric Dolignon also got off to a good start, climbing to half a million and Mathias Moutaoukil to 800,000 chips... 

On the other hand, Steven Kronzkalla, Giovanni Ventura, Alioune Wade, Ethan Bugan, Badre Al Ghouche, Yoann Allot, Aksel Aygun and Rapahael Canta are all out of money...

Main Par Main

The bubble is played in two rooms, so let's pray for the decisive shot! Samuel Limbasan will jump him before the money... Not there, the Belgian will be UTG at the restart and automatically all-in on the second deal following the restart. His hand will be mucked, heading for the rail at the gates of the paid seats.

482 players for 479 spots, hand by hand!

La Bulle for Buhl

After an hour of hand-for-hand play and 7 deals, the bubble burst on the Winter Festival Main Event. An ace river freed the 479 remaining players, and eliminated Aldebert Buhl in-extremis. 

Behind, level 8000 - 16,000 (16,000) begins, with a break at the end of this level. 

Hand For Hand

Play resumed on 5,000 - 10,000 (10,000) with 482 players for 479 paid seats. As soon as play resumed, Samuel Libasan sees his hand mucked in the big blind, he exits without showdown at the end of a move where Ruben Steenhuis tried to steal then send two barrels without success. The small blind will check-call twice before showing 3rd pair for the win. 

Laurent Olive then doubled up with Kings against Jacks, a King 2 6 flop giving him immediate relief... On the second deal of the hand by hand, it's Rico Roumen who sends in 39,000 chips and gets paid by Ace 6 in the big blind. Rico flips King Queen and hits a King 6 4 8 Queen board to give himself some breathing space. 



In the end Anthony Loots, who will finish 481st (above)on the 3rd hand of the Main par Main. Anthony sends 167,000 chips to MP with Ace-King and Hakan Otzekin reshoves a ton just to his left. Hakan turns over the queens and executes his opponent after an ace-queen-ten-ten-7 board. 

On this deal, Cristobal Ochoa has the opportunity to pop the bubble straight away. Open under the gun, Cristobal pays in MP, it's paid by Moutaoukil in position and then Stefaan Skippers in the small blind. In the big blind, a player pushes 132,000 chips! Tank UTG but it's finally Ochoa who pays with Ace 7 of diamonds. The shorts turn over Ace 8 and double up on a Jack 6 King Queen 8 board! 

Not much action on the next deal, despite a double-up in the adjoining room... the shorts hold, there's a min-cash at €370 for the taking! 



The 5th deal sees Gabriel Mihai Radu call a button raise... then again call his opponent's open-shove on 4 8 5 with two spades. Gabriel shows 6 and 7 of hearts for a straight at showdown, his opponent drops to 25 blinds after only being able to show kings in the showdown... 

On this hand, Sascha Pagnia finds himself in danger. He open-shoves 56,000 small-blind chips and Constantin Ifrim pays in the big blind with Ace 3. Sascha's Jacks will hold on a board where he will make flush as the dealer unlocks an Ace 9 King flop with two hearts, the 2 of hearts and the 3 of hearts for another double-up from the threatened player. 

After a double-up of a short in the Ocean Room, with Ace Jack against Queen 6 at the big stack, the 6th deal will also see Stanislas Khegay play his tournament. On the previous hand, Stanislas paid a turn bet on a turn leading to a third spade before folding when Hakan Otzekin asked for his all-in...



Otzekin showed him the flush and 7th deal that would trigger the decision. With three all-ins paid! First, Stanislas opens at the cutoff, the button pays and Hakan Otzekin sends his stack into the big blind. Khegay pays quickly and shows Ace 8 of clubs at the showdown, ahead of the King Jack of hearts of the big stack. The dealer will unpack a 7 7 24 King board... but with three clubs including a last river to make everyone drool. Double-up dad! 



Then on to table 24 with an open-shove at 170,000 chips on 6,000 - 12,000 for Aldebert Buhl (above, standing and shaking hands). To the button, Cornelis Orry decides to pay with 250,000 in front of him and Ace Ten of diamonds. A board of 2 9 King 3 Ace causes Cornelis to jump out of his chair and Buhl to fall into the rail in the worst seat. 

They are then 279 all guaranteed to be paid, but the bubble can still be shared since Rudy Francis is in danger. On this table, there was an open and everyone called... they found themselves at 6 on an Ace-Queen-9 flop with two spades and Rudy went straight all-in for just over 200,000 pawns. 

One of the players in the blinds has paid and returns Ace 9 for two pair in shodown. Rudy needs help with Jack Ten... a King on the flop raises him to half a million and secures the min-cash. 

Pop-Corn

91 players jumped the gun to tell you about the bubble, a half-hour break starts in 6 minutes... 

Only 388 players remain in the running for the Winter Festival Main Event! Stanislas Khegay, Cristobal Ochoa, Ruben Steenhuis, Dominique Potenza, Dalil Masaud, Davy Huyst and recent WSOP Circuit winner Daniel Dodet pocketed the min-cash before making a quick exit. 




They pocket €370
416th - Francesco Biribao
417e - Manu Renson
418th - Dick Spiegelberg
419th - Jeffrey Jol
420th - Dalil Masaud

421st - Gregry Lahmy
422nd - Yassine Nabih
423rd - Alain Lambert
424th - Ludovic Manin
425th - Niels Moerenhout
426th - Stanislas Khegay 
427th - Daniel Meunier
428th - Valentin Bury
429th - Christophe Dos Santos 
430e - Stephane Besson

431st - Fathi Khalfaoui
432nd - Timothée Laplace
433e - Gunther Rettel
434th - Ruben Steenhuis
435th - Gilles van Hout
436th - Geert Sluys 
437th - Paul Verheul
438th - Antonius van Dieursen
439th - Kris Thys 
440th - Mohamed Allah Razkou

441st - Maxim Weingardt
442nd - Dominique Potenza 
443rd - Davy Huyst 
444th - Murat Taihusoglu
445th - Mesut Akin
446th - David Berneron
447th - Jan Jasma 
448th - Constantin Grandjean
449th - Cristobal Ochoa 
450th - Ludo Freymouth

451st - Elie Hallouss
452nd - Nicolas Laselva
453rd - Patrick Stroobants
454th - Philippe Dosogne 
455th - Sebastien Lonnoy
456th - Kay Dassen
457th - Raijmond Slabbekkoorn
458th - Majed Adel
459th - Wiljan van Woerkum
460th - Prash Knight

461st - Theo Millioni
462nd - Yann Truchot
463rd - David Grilli 
464th - Mathieu Jasserand
465th - Isaac Borghouts
466th - Ivan Palamariuk
467th - Daniel Dodet
468th - Simon Brizion
469th - Maxime Robin

470th - Hasan Sarikata
471st - Mohamed Sahli
472nd - Julien Denis
473rd - Jean Ruche
474th - Yannick de Raeve
475th - Rico Roumen 
476th - Franco Scalise
477th - Jim Heyerick
478th - Rick Breed 
479th - Bjorn Geleyn

Break


Resumption at 5:55pm in blinds 10,000 - 20,000 (20,000) with 376 players in contention for an average of 455,000 chips... 

Players ranked 353rd to 415th will receive €425...

Big Stacks

The game is still being played in two rooms at the Circus Casino Resort, now on blinds 10,000 - 20,000 (20,000). 

Here are some of the rugs observed during the last break when the 100,000 chips were introduced... 



Chipcount 
Koen Dinneweth 1,800,000
Gary Prize 1,500,000
Francois Heine 1,500,000
Ruben Tack 1,400,000
Ibrahim Aslan 1,400,000
Noah Alem $1,300,000
Cornelis Orry 1,250,000
Fabrice Bayart 1,100,000
Fabrizio Quattrochi 1,100,000
Michael Ender 1,100,000
Marcos Thielke 1,000,000
Quentin Hupliez 900,000
Andrei Chirilic 900,000
Hakan Otzekin 900,000
Florian Wathieu 850,000
Sébastien Matrige 800,000
Mike Niegho 800,000
Abedin Omerovic 750,000
Sébastien Guidez 700,000
Mathias Moutaoukil 700,000
Rudy Francis 600,000
Vincent Gabel 460,000
Carina VOncken 300,000
Martin Schneiders 250,000

They collect €425

Only 300 players remain in the Winter Festival Main Event. The blinds are 10,000 - 25,000 (25,000) with an average of 578,000 chips, and the survivors have secured a €495 payout.



Constantin Ifrim, Dorian Delecault, Min Sung Lee, Ervin Vu Duc, Ludovic Ruperto and AYmeric Dolignon have jumped onto the second payment tier...

They pocket €425
353rd - Adrien Brihaye
354th - Stephane Meo
355th - Romain Bertrand
356th - Tonio Ruggiu
357th - Min Sung Lee
358th - Tony Prenveille
359th - Constantin Ifrim

360th - Giuseppe Falcone
361st - Arnaud Danes
362nd - Jean Huttmacher
363rd - Andre de Bock
364th - Messaoud Laamari
365th - Corentin Barbosa
366th - Christophe Lohman
367th - Cesar Paredes
368th - Joel Bieffheil
369th - George Harutunian

370th - Dorian Delecault
371st - Sitting Bull
372nd - Robert Previsic
373rd - Philippe Zimmermann
374th - Ashley Vermeersch
375th - Florian Pierso
376th - Christian Wasell
377th - Jeremy Wastiels
378th - Aymeric Dolignon
379th - Mehidi Sahli

380th - Freddy Godel
381st - Viorel Merisan
382nd - Bruno de Buyere
383rd - Wesley Bellens
384th - Glenn Daems
385th - Vincent de Neve
386th - Steven Lempoels
387th - Sascha Pagnia
388th - Vincent de Roos
389th - Igor Plinere

390th - Mario Lepez
391st - Dory Saade
392nd - Thomas Denie
393rd - Marius Dinu
394th - Erwin Vu Duc
395th - Loic Maddens
396th - Dylan Noel
397th - Pascal Bertrand
398th - Hamid Ben Charif
399th - Zoran Vucetic

400th - Michael Poquet
401st - Agim Gizmo
402nd - Daoud Hassaine
403rd - Natascha Siepmann
404e - Michael Grevisse
405th - Julian Vermoesen
406th - Ludovic Ruperto
407th - Massimo Centorame
408th - Wouter Dehaene
409th - Francis Bawine
410th - Moritz Kluthmana
411th - Fouad Elmouhmouh
412th - Sajmir Demiri
413e - Cedric Herbiet
414th - David Maso
415th - Dennis Vrints

Top 250

Only 250 players remain in the tournament, with an average of 684,000 chips on blinds now ranging from 15,000 to 30,000 (30,000). 

Sebastien Matrige just gave up... twice in a row his pairs were inferior to those of his opponents. Down to 15 blinds, the 7Bello sent with 7s to impale himself in the big blind's Aces, heading for the rail. 



For Carina Voncken, it was the other way around, as the Dutchwoman went all-in with the nuts... her opponent had the same hand, but it was Carina who was freerolling with a belly draw for the Royal Flush. The King of Hearts on the turn gave her this pot to climb to 900,000 pawns and relaunch herself to a big deep-run! 




This year's bustos include Adrien Guyon, Cheryl de paron, Luca Delfino, Benjamin Celaudoux and François Louis Vlassis, Bart Maes and Andreas Gondrom...


They collect €495
288th - David Kahan
289th - Mathias van der Perre
290th - Dimitri Arabatzis

291st - Cedric del Sordo
292nd - Johann Berger
293rd - Mikail Celebi
294th - Sandro Lamon
295th - Salvatore Lapaglia
296th - Jonathan de Schepper
297th - Adrien Guyon
298th - Chenda Ly
299th - Ludovic Lomboni
300th - Luca Delfino

301st - Eric Boge
302nd - Cem Muhtar
303rd - Benjamin Celaudoux
304th - Pierre Fesler
305th - Francois Louis Vlassis
306th - Stefan Schmitz
307th - Franck Greaux
308th - Hoaiviet Phung
309th - Laurent van den Eynde
310th - Bart Maes



311th - Jens Noel
312th - Ano Nyme
313rd - Andreas Gondrom
314th - Daniel Woessner 
315th - Florian Kaison
316th - Dorian Swartenbroeck
317th - Giel Timmers
318th - Heinz Schneider
319th - Ovidiu Rusu
320th - Afshin Sadeghieh Eshtehardi

321st - Bjorn Vereecke
322nd - Antonio Cabanas
323rd - Stephen Hecquet
324th - Michele Galatola
325th - Najam Ghulam
326th - Thierry Brandibas
327th - Roman Fljegen
328th - Loic Matern
329th - Amir Khaled
330th - Levi Vangoidsenhoven 

331st - David Ganser
332nd - Constantin Smitanca
333rd - Quentin Wouters
334th - Koen Rothheut
335th - Patrick Jouven
336th - Jimmy Dehoest
337th - Ano Nyme
338th - Ulrich Theunissen
339e- Nathanael Mizrah
340th - Alexandra Kouao

341st - Octavian Ripan
342nd - Olivier Jarny
343rd - Ethan Lisbet
344th - Yoann Ramaekers
345th - Gregory Garcia
346th - Michael Passy
347th - Ivo Hermans
348th - Cheryl de Paron
349th - Bastien Gilbert
350th - Martin Schneiders
351st - Erwann Gerard

Dinner break approaching

There are 18 minutes left before the dinner break, which will be spread over 75 minutes of play. There are 214 players in the running, with a guaranteed prize of €650...

Eggplant

They collect 570€ and then leave. These players jumped in before the dinner break, which lasts until 9.10pm. We meet again shortly before the start of the second half of the day to take stock of who's still in the running for the €90,000 first prize.

Pierre Neuville, Mihai Stinca, Vincent Verdikt and Johann Compagnon have not reached the dinner break...



They cashed in €570
224th - Stephane Clymans
225th - Yoan Argence
226th - Valentin Gregoire
227th - Kevin Spiessens
228th - Mathies Boesen
229th - Chayan Kaushal
230th - Dimitri Bensimon

231e - Salvatore Virgilio
232e - Antoine Vincendez
233e - Evangelos Tsoutas
234e - Louis Michaud
235e - Paul Martin
236e - Yacine Naciri
237e - Patrick Lorenz
238e - Leo Bosquee
239e - Jonas Degen
240e - Jeremi Pillault

241e - Reda Haidar
242e - Yannick Lapoirie
243e - Dias Baptista
244e - Samuel Jans
245e - Acille Zilioli
246e - Jens Hermes
247e - Seb Le Cauchois Seb Le Cauchois
248th - Jeroen Buls
249th - Paulo Martins

250th - Stephane Baronnet
251st - Arnaud Koopmans
252nd - Ben Thill
253rd - Alessandro Leoncelli
254th - Sebastien Matrige
255th - Peter Mathijssen
256th - Pierre Neuville
257th - Fred Belhaut
258th - Renato Messori
259th - Mohamed Taabouni
260th - Maxime Pieters

261st - Claude Mathieu
262nd - Vincent Verdickt
263rd - Johann Compagnon
264e -Toni Barros
265e - Bregt Winters
266e - Jorge Brito
267e - Carmelo Sacco
268e - Dylan Klein
269e - Mickael Poitoux
270e - Fall Mohamed

271e- Tom Vandecaetseek
272e - Maxence Dupas
273e - Rui Da Costa
274e - Tony Sicot
275e - Damien Ducros
276e - Adrian Gwozdz
277e - Heni Mokni
278e- Dino Marsani
279e - Mihai Stinca
280e - Ludovic Lemaire

281e - Azzedina Bouhabila
282e - Stijn van den Meerschaut
283e - Orhan Serbes
284e - Koen Lahousse
285e - Christian Hardenberg
286e - Gerard Lemaire
287e - Armin Loew

Dinner Break

191 players made it through to the dinner break of the Winter Festival Main Event. Day 2 resumes with blinds 20,000 - 40,000 (40,000) from 9.10pm, averaging 22 blinds.

Chips
Cornelis Orry 3,100,000
Noah Alem $2,800,000
FFabrice Bayart $2,400,000
Sergio Benso $2,200,000
Florian Wathieu 1,900,000
TTimothy Teeuwen 1,700,000
Abdellah Khalifa $1,600,000
Ivo Schoofs 1,450,000
Gilles Masaud 1,400,000
Remy Malama 1,400,000
Ufuk Sari 1,300,000
Karim Riah $1,300,000
Mahir Cirak 1,300,000
Ruben Tack 1,300,000
Francesco Pillitteri 1,300,000
Logan Kelidis $1,200,000
Andrea Caizzi $1,200,000
Fabien Nguyen $1,100,000
Guillaume Gillet 1,100,000
Mathias Moutaoukil 1,100,000
Sébastien Guidez 1,000,000
Bora Uludag 1,000,000
Dillian Delicious 1,000,000
David Olurebi 1,000,000
David Nolle 800,000
Rudy Francis 750,000
Robin Fore 700,000

They collect €650

These players jumped between 184th and 223rd place... Yoann Argence, Kader Slila, Djamal Boutaleb and even Rachid Oufaska and Emmanuel Courrier disappeared just before the dinner break, with 191 players still in the running. 

The game is now played on 20,000 - 40,000 (40,000), still with 40-minute levels... without Heidi Croone, Mike Niegho and Mitch Vulperhorst, who gave up the ghost at the start.

The average is 945,000 chips with half an hour in this level...



650€ in your pocket
184th - Noel Renson
185th - Olivier Hegy
186th - Mitch Vulperhorst
187th - Heidi Croone
188th - Alain Fleurent
189th - Gerben Sikma
190th - Sabri Philippe
191st - Mike Niegho

192nd - Wilhelmina Van Vegchel
193rd - Fred Renard
194th - Clyde Tjauw Foe
195th - Emile Aussems
196th - Markus Osinga
197th - Emmaneul Removille
198th - Tony Bitto
199th - Melvin Maas
200th - Laurent Amri

201e - Robert Jansson
202nd - Didier Renard
203rd - George Pecete
204th - Guillaume Bazoge
205th - Ahmed El Kaddouri
206th - Senbatien Guermonprez
207th - Marc Hansens
208th - Xavier Dupuy
209th - Djamal Boutaleb
210th - Erest Welter

211th - Delano Nesselaar
212th - Christian Tonnelier
213th - Herve Famie
214th - Rachid Oufaska
215th - Kevin Leite
216th - Kader Slila
217th - Robertus de Wildt
218th - Paul Hamou
219th - Konrad Franck
220th - Stan Declercq

221st - Emmanuel Courier
222nd - Jeroen Van Belzen
223rd - Sven de Haan

755€ in Poches

20 minutes of play on blinds 25,000 - 50,000 (50,000) with just under 140 players in contention and an average of 22 blinds. Fabien Perrot repositioned himself at 11 blinds by winning the Kings against the 7s at the end of a Jack 7 Jack 3 King board! 

Anne Trebitsch, Walter van Camberg, Guy Goossens and Fred Davidts are all still here, unlike Jorden Verbraeken, who lost a big move post-flop on King Ten 4 King Queen with Ace King against King Queen. Verbraeken then disappeared on a flip to climb back up to around 30 blinds...

Survivors are guaranteed a €870 payout, as record holder of paid places at Namur, Salvatore Alessi has added another ITM to his collection of over sixty...




They collect €755
144th - Logan Kelidis
145th - Leo Wengler
146th - Cedric Lescut
147th - Christophe Di Mace
148th - Jordan Englebert
149th - Morgan Poisson 
150th - Bruno Vandenhaute

151st - Laurent Olive
152nd - Nico Pohl
153rd - Patrick Hutsch 
154th - Dove Monaco
155th - Ronnie Falize
156th - Hakan Oztekin
157th - Rony Cebola
158th - Joost Kuijpers
159th - Salvatore Alessi
160th - Samantha Jan

161st - Andre Otten 
162nd - Martin Berge
163rd - Christophe Deschamps
164th - Ufuk Sari
165th - Dieter van Belle
166th - Gaetan Dupre
167th - Giuseppe Pollina
168th - Ingo Croes 
169th - Toon Carpentier
170th - Stephane Fourreau

171st - Anthony van Walleghem
172nd - Abdessamad Ayyad
173rd - Marcos Thielke
174th - Jorden Verbraeken
175th - Philippe Monreal
176th - Roberto Lanero
177th - Yvan Marsus
178th - Rudy Francis
179th - Andreas van Deyck
180th - Younes Ben Abdelhak

181st - Jean André
182nd - Gokhan Pinar
183rd - Robin Engelmann

They collect €870

End of run just before the landing for Mathias Moutaoukil, who pays covered with Ace 9 after a 12-blind open-shove from David Nolle on the button. David returns Ace-Queen and hits a Queen on the flop to take the suspense away and take out the tricolor...

This group of outgoing players includes Bayer Demirci and Fabien Perrot, as well as Carina Voncken and Aurelio Martin-Garcia...



120th - Mathias Moutaoukil
121st - Miguel Pache
122nd - Fabien Perrot
123rd - David Muller
124th - Katja Schneider
125th - Cedric Rommel
126th - Matthieu Callens
127th - Fathi Khazami
128th - Mallory Frere
129th - Carina Voncken
130th - Michael van der Werf

131st - Thomas de Kerchove
132nd - Luk de Herdt
133rd - Bayer Demirci
134th - Geoffrey Vautrin
135th - Michael Ibba
136th - Robin Fore
137th - Mark Coppes
138th - Samuel Dias
139th - Aurelio Martin Garcia
140th - Bora Uludag

141st - Enzo Porccedu
142nd - Ivo Schoofs
143rd - Adil Kouskous

Ouch

A break will take place in 10 minutes and Fred Davidts would have liked to have reached it... the Belgian had started with 5 blinds on Day 2, he has just jumped to 115th position with the Aces in a preflop pot that could have seen him climb to 2.2 million chips! 

With a few minutes left to play on 30,000 - 60,000 (60,000), Fred found himself all-in with Arrows against Jacks at Somsong Intharanop... A doorecard Jack ejected the regular, and Intharanop's stack now stands at 2.7 million for an average of 1.6 million! 

Sébastien Guidez (below) also finished in 117th place for €1,005. The Frenchman went all-in with Ace Valet for 12 blinds... three players went all-in on top! Guidez found himself up against Jacks, Ace Kings and Queens! Fabien Nguyen's queens held up for this player who was short, he's now up to 1.6 million chips. Guidez couldn't find a miracle and logically joined the rail... 

Reprise

After a quarter-hour break for the players, play resumes on blinds 40,000 - 80,000 (80,000) with an average of 20 blinds, or 1.6 million. There are still 104 players in the running, so it's down to 4 or 5 tables for Final Day! 



Chipcount
Guy Goossens 4.5 million
Daniele Venditti 4?2 million
Cyril Vassal 4.1 million
Laurent Barrague 3.9 million
Philippe Merckx 3.5 million
Michael Ender (below) 3.4 million
Francois Heine 3.4 million
Abdein Omerovic 3.4 million
Andrei Chiriliuc 3.1 million
Cornelis Orry 2.7 million
Ken Volckaert 2.6 million
Koen Dinneweth 2.6 million
Stephane Vincent 2.6 million
Ian van Hove 2.4 million
Noah Alem 2.3 million
Pel Nieuwenhuis 2.3 million
Dillian Delicious 2.1 million
Julien Warnoeskerken 2.1 million
Somsong Intharanop 2.1 million
Fab Bayart 2.1 million
Giovanni Danker 2 million
Jorge Oliveira 2 million
Sam Hilger 2 million
Sergio Benso 1.9 million
Francesco Pillitteri 1.8 million
Jonas Viaene 1.8 million
Ibrahim Aslan 1.7 million
Gilles Masaud 1.7 million
William Mansart 1.7 million
Andrea Caizzi 1.5 million
Florian Wathieu 1.5 million
Farukh Tach 1.4 million
Yves Senterre 1.1 million
Walter van Camberg 1.1 million
Thibault Fournier 1 million
Vincent Gabel 800,000
Guillaume Gillet 700,000
Anne Trebitsch 500,000

They collect €1005

With 90 players and 20 minutes left to play in the 40,000-80,000 blinds (80,000), the survivors are guaranteed a €1,160 payout.

In the losers' pack we find Anne Trebitsch, who went all in with Dame Huitre and 6 blinds, only to be impaled on Ace Roi...

Gary Priez, Chau Han Soo, Ruben Tack and Karim Riah are also out...




96th - Mui Hon Hea
97th - Farid Azarkan
98th - Patrick Prijot
99th - Jasper Vandenbussche
100th - Bao Nguyen

101st - Anne Trebitsch
102nd - David Gaillard
103rd - Gary Prize
104th - Dominique Sertin
105th - Chau Han Soo
106th - Roel Feenstra
107th - Jelle Jonckheere
108th - Karim Riah
109th - Loic Cauchies
110th - Kaiffei Chen

111th - Ruben Tack
112th - Lennart Dijkkamp
113th - Gabriel Mihai Radu
114th - Marco Silva
115th - Fred Davidts
116th - Michel van Wissen
117th - Sebastien Guidez
118th - Sandeep Nene
119th - Quentin Hupliez

New Level

The blinds have just climbed to 50,000 - 100,000 (100,000) for level 26, while the board shows 81 survivors assured of a €1,160 payout. 

VIncent Gabel, former footballer Guillaume Gillet, Jay Hoebe and Yves Senterre gave up in the final minutes. Yves Senterre thought he had a fresh start when he put everything into the Kings... but there were the Aces in front! 

Erwan Pirotais and Jonas Viaene have jumped for Team Grinder... another great deep-run, but the big bucks aren't in the bag this time! 

No official announcement, but a break is scheduled at the end of level 27. After this break, the organization should play two more levels to reduce the field to 4 or 5 tables... 

They collect €1,160

There were 5 minutes left in the 50,000 - 100,000 (100,000) blinds when the cut-off was reached, and the players in contention were guaranteed a €1,330 payout. It's about to get even tougher for the shorts, as the blinds climb to 100,000 - 150,000 (150,000)! 



72nd - Koen Dinneweth
73rd - Dustin Matuschek
74th - Abdel Khalifa
75th - Timothy Teeuwen
76th - Laurent Barrague
77th - Steve Lixon
78th - Walter van Camberg
79th - Geoffrey Drossart
80th - Yves Vandenreyt

81st - Marcel Boymans 
82nd - Jonas Viaene
83rd - Sebastien Careme
84th - Maxime Lardau
85th - Florian Wathieu
86th - Antoine Billet
87th - Erwan Pirotais
88th - Redouan Laarkoubi
89th - Vincent Gabel
90th - Guillaume Gillet

91st - Jay Hoebe
92nd - Matthieu Rigolot
93rd - Gregory Lebrun
94th - Yves Senterre
95th - Nicolas Destercq

Top 55 

The final 55 players in the 3,423-entry Winter Festival Main Event are guaranteed to turn €250 into at least €1,550. There's €90,000 at the top! To get there, you'll need to qualify for Sunday and the Final Day. 

There are 25 minutes of play left on 50,000 - 150,000 before a break which will be followed by two 40-minute levels. The average is 2.4 million after Gilles Masaud's flip... another family ITM for him and his brother Dalil (420th). Finito also for Yves Sergeant and Moise Alloun...



They collect €1,330
56th - Mickael Sellam
57th - Paul van Dijk
58th - Gilles Masaud
59th - Antoine de Poortere
60th - Yves Sergeant

61st - Axel Steiner
62nd - Azzedine Lakrouf
63rd - Moise Alloun
64th - Romain Semler
65th - Jorge Oliveira
66th - Cyril Vassal
67th - Arjan Rensing
68th - Adrien Rondeau
69th - Steve Houtmeyers
70th - Francesco Pillitteri
71st - Tadeusz Pietrzak

Top 50

With just a few minutes to go before the break, the field has been whittled down to 50 players. Farukh Tach has already gone all in on a Main Event with thousands of players in Namur, and he's repositioned himself with 5.5 million, at the chipleader's table.

Sam Hilger had 33 blinds at the start of the day, and the Luxembourger sits in front of 11 million chips after an incredible final hour. "Aces, kings, aces", Sam sums up, leading the tournament at 50 left for an average of 3.4 million.

The average is what Michael Ender just put in the middle. The Belgian 3-bet shove As Valet after an Amael Argento open under the gun. Argento paid with Kings to climb to 8 million and take out the man who had taken the €30,000 Mystery Bounty on the CPS 2023 Mystery Bounty.

Andrea Caizzi gives a little whine when I pass by. "Ace-King against the 9s for a 6 million pot, I make the Ace on the flop, he makes the 9 river," rants the Belgian with 700,000 in front of him... which he raises to 1.2 million by sucking up Mahir Cirak's shortstack in the process. Stephane Vincent has 8 million at this table which also features Noah Alem.

Noah Alem found Ace 7 in the big blind after a 900,000 open-shove in the dark from David Nolle. It's paid, sir, there are 3 and 4 in front and it's holding... towards 5.4 million for Alem!

Cedric Gliner passed the survival flip just before these moves, sending 1.1 million under the gun with 3s and seeing the player in the big blind pay with Ace 9 of hearts. The dealer unwraps an Ace-Queen-4 flop with three clubs, the 3 of clubs on the turn and a Ten of diamonds on the river, heading for 2.3 million for Cedric.

Reprise

Two levels down to Final Day... play resumes with 48 players in the 100,000-150,000 blinds (150,000) and an average of 3.6 million. Sam Hilger leads the way with 11.4 million chips. There are 171 outstanding in the tournament. 



Chipcount
Sam Hilger 11,400,000
Amael Argento 7,800,000
Ibrahim Aslan 6,500,000
Bjorn Frings 6,500,000
Philippe Merckx 6,300,000
Farukh Tach 5,500,000
Giovanni Danker 5,300,000
Stephane Vincent 5,000,000
David Olurebi 5,000,000
Christophe Lecocq 4,900,000
Cornelis Orry 4,200,000
Somsong Intharanop 4,100,000
Jose Caurel 4,000,000
Roman Langner 3,700,000
Daniel Venditti 3,400,000
Noah Alem $3,200,000
Guy Goossens 2,800,000
Cedric Glineur 2,000,000
Andrea Caizzi 1,700,000

Top 45

There are 12 minutes left to play on 100,000 - 150,000 (150,000) before the final blinds are raised on Day 2 of this record-breaking Winter Festival. 44 players are still in contention after the exit of José Caurel (45th). José paid well, he jumped... 

From the big blind, he defends on an open from Senguen Cueneyt in MP and check-raises to 900,000 on the 6 7 King flop. Headache when the German sends in his stack for a total of 2.8 million. After an infinite amount of time, José calls with Roi Valet, in front of his German opponent's Ten... who hits a Ten on the turn to pocket the 6.5 million pot! Down to 4 blinds, José exits on the next hand...

Adrian Miroiu comes out in a 3-shot, pushes under the gun for less than two blinds and the button calls. Francois Heine goes all-in in the big blind for 1.6 million with King Jack of hearts and the Carolo button calls with 8's. There's Queen 9 suit in the mega-short who jumps at the end of a King 2 4 5 4 board that brings Heine up to 3.5 million in chips. 

Players ranked between 40th and 55th receive €1,520. 

Last Level

As the blinds rise to 100,000 - 200,000 (200,000) for the final 40 minutes of play, only 41 players remain. Cédric Glineur has just jumped.

"It's frustrating," he notes after a deep-run in a field of 3,423 entrants. "We're working to win," he adds after putting in his last 6 blinds with King Jack and impaling himself in Kings. "It was a nice festival," ends Cedric, fair-played but disappointed after his 42nd place for €1,520.

1,520€ in your pocket...

... and a dream gone. The €90,000 won't be for these players, who fell between 40th and 55th place... 

With 20 minutes left to play on Day 2, there are only 36 contenders for an average of 4.8 million. 



40th - Bjorn Frings
41st - Muhamed AManullah Kall
42nd - Cedric Glineur
43rd - Koen Volckaert
44th - Tijmen Corporaal 
45th - Jose Caurel
46th - Adrian Miroiu
47th - Thibault Fournier
48th - Marian Chelaru
49th - Olivier Carosella
50th - Mahir Cirak
51st - David Nolle
52nd - Michael Ender
53rd - Julien Warmoeskerken 
54th - Pieter Witteveen
55th - Jean-Marc Massu

34 Qualified for Final Day, Sam Hilger in the lead

Namur regular Sam Hilger leads the way at 34 lefts from the Winter Festival, a tournament which attracted 4,324 entrants for the biggest tournament in Namur's history, an event which will offer a €90,000 check to its winner on Sunday at the end of a streamed final with the cards revealed. 

The field is still looking good, with the Dutch, Germans and French looking for a good performance and a 5-figure payout. So far, the players present on Day 3 have secured €1,750... a ticket for a €250 investment, but a figure that doesn't quite match the big money expected for the finalists. 



Sunday at 2 p.m. with other regulars still in the running, Noah Alem and Francois Heine are dreaming of a home title, as are Guy Goossens, Andrea Caizzi and Somsong Intharanop. There are 171 million chips up for grabs to lift the trophy! 


Chipcount partial Day 2 (selection - 34 left) 
Sam Hilger 9,900,000
Ibrahim Aslan 9,775,000
Dilicious 9700 000
Farukh Tach 9,600,000
David Olurebi $9,350,000
Philippe Merckx 8,225,000
Cueneyt Senguen 6,950,000 
Amael Argento 6,775,000
Denis Schneider 6,300,000
Stephane Vincent 5,825,000

Fabio Quattrochi 5,675,000
Fabrice Bayart 5,425,000
Noah Alem 5,300,000
Carla Verbeeck 4,325,000
Guy Goossens 4,100,000
Roman Langner 4,000,000
Francois Heine 3,700,000
Sergio Benso 3,400,000
Andrea Caizzi $2,900,000
Somsong Intharanop 2,800,000



They Sautéed at the end of Day 2 for €1,750
35th - Christophe Lecocq
36th - William Mansart
37th - Cornelis Orry
38th - Giovanni Danker
39th - Erwin Philips

Payout restant Event #6 Winter Festival Main Event
Winner - €90,000
Runner Up - €55,022
3e - 39 420€
4e - 30 315€
5e - 23 320€
6e - 17 810€
7e - 13 680€
8e - 10 615€
9e - 8 160€

10th and 11th - €6,280
12th and 13th - €5,235
14th and 15th - €4,365
16th and 17th - €3,645
18th to 20th - €3,070
21st to 23rd - €2,670
24th to 27th - €2,315
28th to 31st - €2,010
32 to 34th - €1,750