button in SafariKaddouri Among Chip Leaders of Main Event Day 1a
Ten full levels of Texas Hold’em have now been played out at Casino de Marrakech, and Day 1a of the Unibet Open Main Event has officially ended. Of the 211 entries into the flight, 71 managed to bag up at the end of play, with Picachu leading the way. His 385,000 chips is good for 192 big blinds coming into Day 2.
It’s certainly not lonely at the top, however, as Mounim Kaddouri is right on his tail. His 375,000 in the bag earns him second place in the Day 1a standings. Completing the top three is Anthony Apicella, who scored an impressive 350,000 chips, which will be brought forward to the second day of competition.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Picachu | Spain | 385,000 | 193 |
| 2 | Mounim Kaddouri | France | 375,000 | 188 |
| 3 | Anthony Apicella | France | 350,000 | 175 |
| 4 | Kolja Kentmann | France | 306,000 | 153 |
| 5 | Kevin Dedner | France | 303,500 | 152 |
| 6 | Patrice Chamarre | France | 295,500 | 148 |
| 7 | Ziga Klopcic | Slovenia | 284,500 | 142 |
| 8 | Shahin Norouzian | Canada | 270,500 | 135 |
| 9 | Belghiti Smail | Morocco | 252,000 | 126 |
| 10 | Pascal Groshens | France | 248,500 | 124 |
Further down in the standings, WSOP bracelet winners Jonathan Therme, (107,500) and Jeremy Saderne (70,000) both secured Day 2 stacks, and they're joined by Benoit Grobocopatel (96,500), who is fresh from a runner-up finish in the Unibet Deepstack Open for 440,000 MAD. The three will be returning at 1:00 p.m. local time on October 2 to hopefully carry on their journeys.
Multiple Unibet Poker ambassadors found a bag at the end of the evening too. Alexandre Reard (153,500) and Margaux Ponnelle (93,500) secured their seats for Day 2, after having been seated at the same table for the latter stages of the day. Others, however, weren't so lucky, as Aurelie Reard came and went, unable to stay alive until through to end of day.
She wasn't the only casualty during play, however, as plenty of other names tried but failed to secure a spot in Day 2. Michel Leibgorin, Arnaud Enselme and Paul Leckey all failed to navigate their way through the field and put chips in the bag. The same fate awaited EPT champs Lucien Cohen and Jean Montury
The aforementioned 211 entries across the first 10 levels of play have created a prize pool of 2,278,800 MAD. However, this number is simply a running total, as late registration remains open throughout Days 1b, 1c, and 1d, all the way until Level 13 during Day 2. There's really no telling just how high it will climb
Be sure to make your way back to PokerNews for full live coverage of the remaining Day 1 flights and beyond.