The second of four starting starting flights kicks off at 1 p.m. local time here at the Casino de Marrakech for the 2024 Unibet Deepstack Open Marrakech. Yesterday's flight saw 167 hopefuls take their seats with just 41 surviving to Day 2.
Day 1a was dominated by Ahmed Sylla. The French actor and comedian made a massive hero call with aces on a double-paired board that propelled him to the top of the leaderboard and he never looked back. He was one of many notable players to take their shot yesterday.
End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Ahmed Sylla
France
723,000
2
Pedro
Portugal
537,000
3
Niels de Vos
Netherlands
419,500
4
Khaled Almudhaf
Kuwait
412,500
5
Louis Michaud
France
337,500
6
Karim El Rharbaoui
Morocco
312,500
7
Abdelghani Bagas
Morocco
296,000
8
Adrien Ricard
France
290,000
9
Idriss Benkhetache
France
260,000
10
Mayis Birdemir
France
247,000
Players will begin today with 50,000 in tournament chips. Levels last 50 minutes with a 15 minute break every two levels, and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 8. Registration remains open through to the end of Level 9 with unlimited re-entries allowed. The blinds will begin at 100/300 with a 300 big blind ante. Play continues until 25% of the field remains.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we follow action throughout the day and continue coverage through to the end of the event.
Krzysztof Falinski opened from the cutoff before Cecile Ticherfatine three-bet to 6,500 from the button. With the action back on Falinski, he put in a four-bet to 19,800. Ticherfatine took a minute to weigh her options before she opted to jam for 57,000 and Falinski snap-called.
Cecile Ticherfatine: A♠5♣
Krzysztof Falinski: Q♠Q♦
Ticherfatine was in rough shape but she had three live outs. The 10♥6♦4♣ flop presented backdoor straight potential but the J♦ on the turn left her drawing to only an ace. The 5♥ completed the board and Ticherfatine was sent to the rebuy cage as Falinski added to his already impressive stack.
After going all-in in the dark on countless hands in row, Hassan "The Gambler" Nashar open jammed 73,900 from under the gun before the cards were dealt. Next to act, Laurent Cruchon was left with a difficult decision before he rejammed. All subsequent action folded and the cards hit their backs.
Hassan Nashar: 9♠2♠
Laurent Cruchon: A♣3♣
Cruchon was ahead with ace-high but Nashar had two live cards. The board ran out 4♦3♠2♥3♥10♣ and Nashar was drawing dead on the turn as the popular Marrakech regular made his way to the rebuy cage once again. Cruchon held to win a pot of over 150 big blinds.
Action was picked up on the turn with around 70,000 in the middle in a hand between "Ghost Rider" from under the gun, Philippe Barouk from middle position, and Jerome Arnaud from the cutoff.
With the board reading A♠J♠10♠4♣, Ghost Rider led for 25,000. Barouk opted to jam for his remaining 68,500, and Arnaud cold-called before Ghost Rider got out of the way.
Philippe Barouk: J♥J♦
Jerome Arnaud: K♠Q♠
Barouk had flopped middle set but he was drawing stone dead against the flopped Royal Flush of Arnaud. Many from the table took out their phones to capture the moment as Arnaud raked in a massive pot that would have been worth much more in the casino pits.
Day 1b of the 2024 Unibet Deepstack Open Marrakech is in the books. It was another exciting day of action with a total of 258 hopefuls making their way to the Casino de Marrakech with the goal to find a bag. At the end of the day, just 65 have punched their ticket into Saturday’s Day 2.
Leading the way from this flight is Laurent Cruchon who bagged an impressive 559,000.
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Laurent Cruchon
France
559,000
2
Quentin Laugt
France
539,000
3
JJ
Spain
515,500
4
Boubekeur Benhalima
Algeria
418,000
5
Adrien Sanz
France
339,500
6
Mehdi Hsissen
Morocco
332,500
7
Jerome Arnaud
France
314,000
8
Abdelhadi Kondah
Morocco
300,500
9
Christophe Goyard
France
299,500
10
Daragh Davey
Ireland
298,000
The Days Action
As is always the case in Marrakech, there was action from the very first shuffle. In the second level of play, Laurent Michot made a great hero call with just ace-high in pot of almost 100 big blinds.
The field size grew rapidly as the numbers far outpaced those of Wednesday. There were almost 100 entrants by the first break in break, almost double the amount from Day 1a.
Later, Thierry Gogniat was the victim of a cooler situation in which he flopped top pair with top kicker. He jammed the turn only to be drawing dead against the turned quads of Thierry Oldak.
Quentin Laugt soared up the chip counts after a wild three-way all-in. Laugt rivered sixes full of aces against the threes full of Frederic Steinbach to win a massive pot and he never looked back as he kept a big stack the entire day.
Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day belongs to Jerome Arnaud. He flopped a Royal Flush in a three-way pot and eliminated Philippe Barouk who had flopped middle set. Arnaud rode this momentum to a bag of 314,000.
Jerome Arnaud
Another interesting piece from today is the story of Marion Bocher. She was the only woman from the first two flights to advance to Day 2. Even more inspiring is the fact that she qualified for the event for just €1 on Unibet. She played with confidence and aggression throughout the day on her way to a bag of 220,000.
Marion Bocher
For those who advanced, Day 2 resumes on Saturday, September 28 at 1 p.m. local time. However, there are still two more opening flights for those who were less fortunate. Day 1c kicks off on Friday, September 27 at 1 p.m. local time and follows the same structure as today. There is also a turbo flight at 9 p.m. which features 15-minute levels and will also play until 25% of the field remains.
That does it for Day 1b coverage from the Unibet Deepstack Open Marrakech. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we follow all the action through the opening flights until a winner is crowned.
