€1,100 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
€1,100 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Who better than a former actor to lead Day 2 of the €1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes? After an initial career in the film industry, Julien Sitbon has successfully transitioned to poker.
While he has previously final-tabled both an FPS and a UKIPT event, a PokerStars Open title is still missing from his résumé. Maybe this will be the one, as Sitbon closed Day 2 as the chip leader with a massive 1,700,000 chips. “Among the big pots I won, there was a three-bet pot with ace-queen on a two-club flop against king-ten of clubs, and another one where I made a flush against Nikolai Mamut,” he explained.
Out of a total field of 1,202 entries, which generated a €1,153,920 prize pool, start-of-day chip leader Michel Marcone experienced some ups and downs but still finished the day second in chips with 1,395,000. Roberto Manfredi (1,120,000), Pascal Peraldi (1,100,000), Davis Modans (1,060,000), and Krysztof Zapolski (1,025,000) were the other players to bag more than one million chips.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julien Sitbon | France | 1,485,000 | 124 |
| 2 | Michel Marcone | France | 1,395,000 | 116 |
| 3 | Roberto Manfredi | Italy | 1,120,000 | 93 |
| 4 | Pascal Peraldi | France | 1,100,000 | 92 |
| 5 | Davis Modans | Latvia | 1,060,000 | 88 |
| 6 | Krysztof Zapolski | Poland | 1,025,000 | 85 |
| 7 | Adria Diaz Dalmau | Spain | 995,000 | 83 |
| 8 | Thomas Jakobsen | Denmark | 970,000 | 81 |
| 9 | Jamel Ghizaoui | France | 925,000 | 77 |
| 10 | Fahd Boudaouine | France | 920,000 | 77 |
Romain Haramburu switched from poker dealer to player for this event, a transition he executed with great success as he topped the chip counts during the dinner break before slipping back slightly to bag 835,000. The 2023 EPT Paris finalist Henri Kasper (850,000), Giovanni Rosadoni (810,000), Kamel Atoui (790,000), Arthur Lacroix (760,000), Axel Bayout (665,000), and Toni Kaukua (630,000) also advanced to Day 2 among the 65 remaining players.
Mehdi Rebai (550,000), Paul Tedeschi (445,000), Giovanni Renna (195,000), and Bekim Murtezi (145,000) remain in contention, along with Fabio Costa Mendes (120,000), who burst the bubble earlier in the day.
Bruno Benveniste closed Day 2 at the bottom of the chip counts after starting the day short-stacked before mounting a comeback. Back down to just four big blinds late in the day, he doubled up to climb to 650,000 but ultimately bagged 105,000.
PokerStars ambassadors Julien Dupre (85th – €2,600), Benjamin Bruneteaux (119th – €2,260), and Kerryjane Craigie (136th – €1,960) failed to advance but still finished in the money. The same fate befell Day 1a chip leader Joseph Benedetti (76th – €2,600), Umberto Ruggeri (79th – €2,600), David Docherty (132nd – €1,960), Gerard Carbo (140th – €1,960) or Anthony Apicella (141st – €1,960).
Play resumes on Saturday, December 20, at noon local time, with blinds of 10,000/15,000 and a 15,000 big blind ante, and Day 3 should conclude once the final table is reached. For now, the 65 remaining players have already secured a minimum payout of €2,990, but all will be aiming for the €195,700 top prize.
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €195,700 | 9 | €18,110 | 28-31 | €4,550 |
| 2 | €122,410 | 10-11 | €13,930 | 32-39 | €3,960 |
| 3 | €87,430 | 12-13 | €11,610 | 40-55 | €3,440 |
| 4 | €67,250 | 14-15 | €9,670 | 56-65 | €2,990 |
| 5 | €51,730 | 16-17 | €8,050 | ||
| 6 | €39,790 | 18-20 | €6,910 | ||
| 7 | €30,600 | 21-23 | €6,010 | ||
| 8 | €23,540 | 24-27 | €5,230 |
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| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,485,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,395,000
901,000
|
901,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,120,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
|
|
1,100,000
508,000
|
508,000 |
|
|
1,060,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
|
|
1,025,000
811,000
|
811,000 |
|
|
995,000
909,500
|
909,500 |
|
|
970,000
940,000
|
940,000 |
|
|
925,000
295,000
|
295,000 |
|
|
920,000
421,000
|
421,000 |
|
|
870,000
198,000
|
198,000 |
|
|
850,000
124,000
|
124,000 |
|
|
835,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
810,000
360,000
|
360,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
810,000
515,000
|
515,000 |
|
|
790,000 | |
|
|
775,000
745,000
|
745,000 |
|
|
760,000
595,000
|
595,000 |
|
|
740,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
|
720,000
69,000
|
69,000 |
|
|
680,000
521,000
|
521,000 |
|
|
665,000
117,000
|
117,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
630,000
43,000
|
43,000 |
|
|
630,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
605,000
453,000
|
453,000 |
65 players found a bag at the end of Day 2 and have successfully qualified for tomorrow's Day 3.
Stay tuned as PokerNews provides you chip counts and the full recap of today's action!
The clock was stopped 13 minutes before the end of Level 20. Four more hands will be played tonight before wrapping up.
A floor was called after Romain Haramburu in the hijack called Anthony Matray's 137,000-chip stack.
Anthony Matray: 5♥5♣
Romain Haramburu: 7♥7♣
Haramburu hit the best flush on a board of 8♥4♥2♥3♥7♦ to reach 810,000 and send Matray to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
810,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Filippo Lazzaretto opened from early position. Julien Sitbon in the big blind moved all-in and Lazzaretto called off his last 216,000.
Filippo Lazzaretto: A♠10♦
Julien Sitbon: 8♣8♠
Sinon flopped a set on 7♣8♥K♦, but Lazzaretto was lucky enough to hit a runner-runner straight with the J♥Q♠ runout to double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,500,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
455,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
Down to four big blinds when he arrived at his new seat a few minutes ago, Bruno Benveniste doubled up a few times to reach 316,000. With this stack, he found himself at risk once again from the cutoff against Fabio Costa Mendes in the small blind.
Bruno Benveniste: Q♥Q♠
Fabio Costa Mendes: A♦K♠
Benveniste kept the lead all the way through a board of 9♣9♥8♠2♣9♠ and secured a big double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
650,000
394,000
|
394,000 |
|
|
50,000
440,000
|
440,000 |
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