After a small Day 1a with 42 entrants recorded, everybody was expecting a larger Day 1b in the 10,000 MAD Main Event of the 2024 Marrakech Poker Open, here at the Es Saadi Resort in Marrakech. That's exactly what happened, with the second flight drawing three times more participants than Day 1a.
Tonight, out of a field of 137 entries, 37 players remained and qualified for Day 2. Abdou Zizi was already the chip leader of the day during the dinner break. His stack then decreased until one of the last hands of the night when he won with kings against queens to double up and end the day with 495,000 chips, the biggest stack of all. However first place came down to the wire as Aitor Cruz, who is second in chips, bagged 470,000.
Day 1b Top Ten
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdou Zizi | Morocco | 495,000 | 124 |
| 2 | Aitor Cruz | Spain | 470,000 | 118 |
| 3 | Daniel El Keslassy | Morocco | 370,000 | 93 |
| 4 | Sza | Spain | 366,000 | 92 |
| 5 | Volga Uyanik | France | 348,000 | 87 |
| 6 | Jesus | Spain | 341,000 | 85 |
| 7 | Arthur Gouriten | France | 267,000 | 67 |
| 8 | Orey Canarinho | Spain | 259,000 | 65 |
| 9 | Iago | Spain | 256,000 | 64 |
| 10 | Muniz | Spain | 247,000 | 62 |
Daniel El Keslassy (370,000), Sza (366,000), Volga Uyanik (348,000), and Jesus (341,000) were also in the race for the chip lead tonight, and they will be back on Day 2 with approximately 70 big blinds.
Among the other qualified players are Spanish Poker Festival Team Pro Francisco "Muniz" Rascon (247,000), Soufiane Messadek (205,000), Mathieu Di Meglio (185,000), Sylvain Cisterna (160,000), Sebastien Compte (117,000), and Sabry Ferhaoui, who is last in chips with 33,000.
A few minutes after Day 1b ended, Day 1c Turbo also concluded with 11 remaining players out of a field of 35 entrants. During this last flight, Elmehdi Bellari built a big stack of 338,000, almost as much as Mounir Khoddar (355,000), who is Day 1c's chip leader. Inigo (130,000), Sonny Franco (113,000), and Bernard Guigon (67,000) also took advantage of the last flight to qualify for Day 2.
Out of a total of 215 entrants, 58 players will come back tomorrow, Saturday, August 3 at 2 p.m. local time for Day 2 of the MPO Main Event. The action on Day 2 picks up on Level 14 with blinds of 2,000/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante.
Don’t miss any of the action, as the PokerNews team continues live coverage from the floor in Marrakech!
