"EV" and Anas Tadini Way Out Ahead as Players Bag for Day 1a
After a little over 12 levels of play, a field of 87 players from Day 1a was whittled down to just 18 players who bagged and tagged for Day 2 of the Marrakech Poker Open Main Event, taking place at the beautiful Es Saadi Resort.
"EV" finished the day as the chip leader with 599,000. "EV" was paid off for a rivered flush early in the day and was later seen winning a significant pot when he raised the river, forcing Nicolas Garrigues to fold and dragging in a decent pot. From there, "EV" continued to gain steam and won a pot on the last hand of the day to edge the lead.
Only slightly behind, Anas Tadini bagged in second place with 577,000 chips. Tadini is a regular here in Marrakech and will be looking to top his biggest-ever score of 330,000 MAD, set in 2019 for winning an event.
"EV" and Tadini are way out in front, a couple of hundred thousand chips clear of third place Jeremie Canetti, who bagged for 392,000. Patrick Bornicke (369,000) and Youssef Aboussaad (322,000) round out the top five players.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EV | Spain | 599,000 | 200 |
| 2 | Anas Tadini | Morocco | 577,000 | 192 |
| 3 | Jeremie Canetti | France | 392,000 | 131 |
| 4 | Patrick Bornicke | Germany | 369,000 | 123 |
| 5 | Youssef Aboussaad | Morocco | 322,000 | 107 |
| 6 | Eric Rabut | France | 283,000 | 94 |
| 7 | Ivan Govorov | Russian Federation | 274,000 | 91 |
| 8 | Sofian Bounaya | Morocco | 249,000 | 83 |
| 9 | Younes Charrat | France | 209,000 | 70 |
| 10 | Mohamedovic12 | Tunisia | 180,000 | 60 |
Reigning champion Tristan Forge didn't make it. He was sent to the rail when Aboussaad made quads to crack his pair of jacks. Last year's runner-up Javier Tsunamy also busted several bullets in an attempt to make it back for Day 2, as did Hassan Dahmani, Isabel Baltazar, and Nicolas Garrigues, who all fired multiple times.
"Ghost Rider75" was the final player to bust out on Day 1a, falling in 19th place and triggering the end of the flight.
There are two more starting flights still to come. Day 1b runs tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time and will have the same structure as Day 1a, with 45-minute blinds and up to 15 levels of play. A turbo flight, Day 1c, also runs tomorrow evening, giving players one final chance to make it through.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor.