Franck Cartigny's triumph (€53,000)

After a Final Table lasting 4 hours and 25 minutes of head's up, Franck Cartigny won the €350 Carnival Festival, which attracted 1,275 entrants. The Frenchman took most of the €368,000 no-deal prizpool. This passionate amateur won €53,000 and a €2,200 CPS Main Event ticket after starting Day 3 with the second stack of the 23 survivors.

Carnival Main Event - Replay live report

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Chipleader going into the final and with a huge lead at the start of the last duel, Franck admitted to having "a bit of doubt when Julien Gillain came back to 25 blinds". "After that, I adapted, picked up my game and he folded a lot," added the man who was French champion with the PokeraLille association.

"I've been playing live for around ten years now, but I've got kids and got married, so I don't play too much any more... well, I play every week online," continued the man who played a lot when the French market opened up in the 2010s.

Winner of his first tournament in Namur, Franck ticked off this Carnival. "I'm doing three in the year, so it's off to a good start... No DSO in March but the €1,100 in May and then the CPS at the end of the year," enthuses the champion, author of his biggest win on this Carnival.

"The first objective was the final... after that I was chipleader so I was aiming for the Top 4... then I had a big stroke of luck with the 8s against the Kings, I don't believe it, I still had 13 million behind me just in case. That one shot changed everything," continued the Frenchman with his trophy in hand.

A phone call to his wife, "she's happy", and it's time to check out and get back on the road, as he lives 1? hours from Namur. At 8am on Monday morning, Franck, who works in logistics, will be at work.

"I made a picture against Firat (Baltaci, eliminated in 20th place in the chiplead pot for Franck, editor's note)... and he cracked. I'm happy with my game, I've got the same feeling I had before", concluded the undisputed Carnival champion.

The tournament has attracted 1,275 entrants since Sunday 23 February, and 335 of them have made it through the 8-day start. Day 2 saw the field whittled down to 32 players, with the final 191 players taking at least one €575 min-cash...

The Final Day was contested over 50-minute levels and Andreas Gondrom left the game very quickly. Chipleader at the start of the day, Firat Baltaci fought many battles against Franck Cartigny and exploded in the air in 20th place.

Behind the regulars JS Denissa, Giovanni Ventura, Patrick Hutsch, Fedele Ricotta and Eddy Sebastianutti saw their race come to a halt in succession. We had to wait until 7pm for the final table.

After almost a level without an outgoing player, Belgium's Ibrahim Aslan (11th) and Dutchman Raymond van Gasstek (10th) folded 60 seconds apart... Franck Cartigny was in the lead at the time, but he was only briefly joined by Zhong Chen in the middle of the final before coming out on top.

The Frenchman eliminated his last four opponents in 80 minutes, without suffering too much. He won't be there, but we'll see you at the DSO Namur, from 14 to 23 March at the Circus Casino Resort in Namur.