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Frank Debus Bags a Million-Chip Stack After Day 1b
After 17 players out of 127 entries qualified for Day 2 through Day 1a, Day 1b of the €1,500 World Series of Poker Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event was expected to double those numbers.
That’s almost exactly what happened with a total of 231 entrants in the second out of four flights of the tournament at the Pasino Grand Partouche, with only 31 players successfully making it to Day 2.
Day 1a chip leader Suwei Yang bagged 894,000. Frank Debus did even better this Friday by ending the day with 1,025,000 chips. He already had a pretty good run during the day but extended his lead even more on the bubble by applying pressure on his opponents.
Karim Kaladjou, however, had a different strategy. He also had a big stack during the last levels of the day, but wasn’t afraid to lose it all if needed. That’s what happened when he moved all-in on the turn against another chip leader, Valentin Messina. Messina folded and finished the day with 637,000, but thanks to this pot, Kaladjou was propelled just under the million chip mark (955,000).
The 2024 $1,000 WSOP Mini Main Event champion Georgios Skarparis sits third in chips with 835,000. Two other WSOP bracelet winners, Axel Bayout (576,000) and Giovanni Rosadoni (283,000), also advanced to Day 2.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Debus | Germany | 1,025,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Karim Kaladjou | France | 955,000 | 80 |
| 3 | Georgios Skarparis | Cyprus | 835,000 | 70 |
| 4 | Onni Huttunen | Finland | 683,000 | 57 |
| 5 | Valentin Messina | France | 637,000 | 53 |
| 6 | Michel Leibgorin | France | 579,000 | 48 |
| 7 | Axel Bayout | France | 576,000 | 48 |
| 8 | Vahe Martirosyan | Armenia | 543,000 | 45 |
| 9 | Hervé Gouzil | France | 486,000 | 41 |
| 10 | François Rognon | France | 425,000 | 35 |
Michel Leibgorin (579,000) spent his day among the chip leaders as well, while Hervé Gouzil won a key hand with kings against jacks to reach 486,000.
Following Ivan Chegusov (392,000), Aurélien Six (340,000), Louis Schoumaker (325,000) and Ivan Angelov (294,000), Aurelie Reard eliminated Elie Nakache with full over full and was about to finish with around 450,000. However, Jacques Der Megreditchian (206,000) doubled up through her during the final hands, leaving her to bag 274,000.
Michael O’Neill survived on the bubble thanks to a split and qualified with 196,000 alongside Koen de Visscher (191,000), Michael Birchler (189,000), Hugo Menant (186,000), Cecile Ticherfatine (171,000), Rabah Ait Abdelmalek (115,000) and, last in chips, Thibaut Moussa (104,000).
The final flights are scheduled for Saturday, April 18, starting with Day 1c at 12:30 p.m. local time. This flight will follow the same structure as Day 1a and Day 1b, featuring a 50,000 starting stack and 40-minute levels.
Day 1d Turbo, however, kicks off at 8 p.m. with 20-minute levels. In each flight, the remaining 13.5% of the field will qualify for Day 2 and make the money.
The PokerNews team will be back tomorrow to follow this Main Event all the way until the end!