Hassan Sey Takes Commanding Lead into Day 3 of PokerStars Open Namur
A total of 91 players left Circus Casino Resort last night still dreaming of glory in the €1,100 buy-in, €1,000,000 guaranteed PokerStars Open Main Event Namur, with Finnish player Hassan Sey (2,380,000) chief among them.
The event has proven to be hugely successful, gaining a total of 1,572 entrants to create a record-breaking €1,445,327 prize pool, the largest live event in the history of Belgian poker.
Sey dominated proceedings in Day 2, taking the chip lead before the first break and never relinquishing it from there, including bursting the bubble, to hold the overall lead as we head into Day 3, starting at noon local time today, 6 June.
No other player came close to breaking the two million mark, with Gertjan Albers (1,580,000) of the Netherlands and Namur regular Erwin Vu Duc (1,483,000) Sey's closest challengers at the start of play.
The Finn is no stranger to the business end of poker tournaments, with a win at the 2019 Masters Classic of Poker in Amsterdam his biggest score amongst five live tournament triumphs. Albers and Vu Duc will be hoping to land the biggest scores of their poker careers thus far.
Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hassan Sey | Finland | 2,380,000 | 238 |
| 2 | Gertjan Albers | Netherlands | 1,580,000 | 158 |
| 3 | Erwin Vu Duc | Belgium | 1,438,000 | 143 |
| 4 | Ramdhane Maamar | France | 1,209,000 | 120 |
| 5 | Eduard Stefan | Belgium | 1,172,000 | 117 |
| 6 | Ferdinando D'Alessio | Belgium | 1,152,000 | 115 |
| 7 | Sasa Maksic | Serbia | 1,138,000 | 113 |
| 8 | Djamal Boutaleb | France | 1,061,000 | 106 |
| 9 | Jean-Vincent Lehut | France | 1,022,000 | 102 |
| 10 | Saman Ziarati | Belgium | 1,005,000 | 100 |
Plenty of top-quality players remain in the mix, all of whom will be striving to knock Sey off his perch and eyeing the €238,000 first-place prize, including Robert Douras (675,000), WSOP bracelet winners Ranno Sootla (618,000) and Tobias Peters (548,000), along with Simone Demasi (601,000) and Grzegorz Kozieja (525,000).
The players have all secured a minimum payout of €3,030, with a spot at the final table worth €22,800, and the next pay jump kicking in when 71 players remain. The runner-up will walk away with €153,500, meaning the players lucky enough to reach the end game will play a €84,500 heads-up match.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €238,000 | 18-20 | €8,430 | |
| 2 | €153,500 | 21-23 | €7,020 | |
| 3 | €109,620 | 24-27 | €6,050 | |
| 4 | €84,320 | 28-31 | €5,250 | |
| 5 | €64,830 | 32-39 | €4,560 | |
| 6 | €49,950 | 40-55 | €3,960 | |
| 7 | €38,410 | 56-71 | €3,450 | |
| 8 | €29,850 | 72-91 | €3,030 | |
| 9 | €22,800 | |||
| 10-11 | €17,500 | |||
| 12-13 | €14,560 | |||
| 14-15 | €12,130 | |||
| 16-17 | €10,110 |
The players will return to Level 20, with blinds of 5,000/10,000, with a 10,000 big blind ante. The scheduled plan is to play eight 75-minute levels in Day 3, subject to the tournament director's discretion, with a dinner break scheduled for the end of Level 25.
Levels will increase to 90 minutes for Day 4 on 7 June, with the players returning for the final day on 8 June.
Keep with us here at PokerNews for what is sure to be an exciting day of poker thrills and spills.