Oktoberfest champion Nicky changes €350 into €63,200

Nicky triumphed in 12 minutes after drawing the €25,000 bounty and concluding a 4-left deal. Ken Claessens, who was present in the deal and long-time boss of the Final Table, drew the second €25,000 bonus of this €350 Mystery Bounty, which attracted 1,578 entrants to the Circus Caisno Resort in Namur.

After the 4-way deal at the ICM, Nicky Steenland concluded in 12 minutes of madness. The Dutchman first took on Ken Claessens, the latter attempting a bluff with air on 2 6 7 7 Dix. Nicky had trips and paid to take the chipcount lead.

On the next hand, Mitch Vulperhorst moved all in for 12 blinds and Nicky decided to play his luck to the hilt, paying with Ten and 8 of hearts. A Ten on the flop set him up for victory, with the Dutchman starting the heads-up with a huge advantage.

The rising blinds dropped Sylvère Paillot to 22 blinds by the third hand of the duel. The Frenchman, who had already reached the Big Tuesday final earlier in the week, eventually limped-reshove Ace King.

Nicky called Ace 8 from the big blind to win the tournament on a 9 Jack 7 Ten 4 board. The rush of a lifetime for Nicky, who also won one of the two €25,000 prizes up for grabs.

Chipleader for a long time in the final, Ken Claessens climbed into the 4-way deal and took the other €25,000 prize, just before the final kicked off when almost 200 envelopes had already been drawn!

An online player, Sylvere scored his first result in Namur, unlike Mitch Vulperhorst, who had already slipped into a final arrangement at another well-attended festival at Namur's Circus Casino Resort.

The final was spread over 4 hours of play with a lot of ICM pressure at the start of this final table. Claessens took the opportunity to show some good poker, but in the end it was the Dutchman who triumphed.

Pierre Neuville still there on Final Day

The game had started again on Sunday with 39 survivors from a field of 1,578 entrants, the vast majority of whom were still left in a global prizepool of almost €458,000. It took 5 hours to hold the final table, with the field losing Harrie Snijders (37th), WSOP Main Event finalist Pierre Neuville (31st), Final Day chipleader Daniel Dodet (26th), Roger Edain (23rd), Gaetano Moreci (19th), Mischa Wieten (13th) and Morten Faas (12th)...

We had to wait almost 90 minutes in the final to see the first elimination. Almost chipleader going into the final table, Frenchman Billel Mansouri was the first to give up. He was then followed by two fellow Frenchmen.

After 3 exits by the Blues, two Belgians joined the rail... Guillaum Otto finished 5th for a 5-figure win... After many card tricks, the final quartet agreed at the ICM to share €97,000 and leave €10,700 for the winner. Nicky's rush continued in the minutes that followed, leaving Belgium as the winner.

See you at the end of the month for Spirit Fest, from 29 October to 3 November!

Oktoberfest 2024 €350 Mystery Bounty Main Event (1,578 entrants - 224 paid)
Champion - Nicky Steenland €36,600* (NL) CPS Main Event ticket €2200
Runner Up - Sylvere Paillot (Fr) €25,300* CPS Main Event ticket €2200
3rd - Mitch Vulperhorst (NL) €20,200* CPS Main Event ticket €2200
4th - Ken Claessens (Bel) €22,600* CPS Main Event ticket
5th - Guillaume Ott (Bel) €11,000
6th - Nicolas Iacobucci (Bel - below) €8,500
7th - Pascal Groshens (Fr) €6,500
8th - Antoine Delporte (Fr) €5,000
9th - Billel Mansouri (Fr) €3,900