After fourteen levels of play it is Team Winamax Pro Bruno Lopes who amassed the most chips on Day 1A of the 2017 WInamax Poker Open Dublin Main Event.
It took him until the last level of the day, but as is so often the case just one big hand saw him saw past the likes of Sonny Franco (666,000), Olivier Marchet (642,000) and Liam O'Donoghue (605,000) to claim the outright chip lead with a stack of 803,000.
Other notables still in the field include Peter Eichhardt (195,000), Ivan Deyra (234,000), Mike D'inca (153,000) and Aladin Reskalla (91,000).
An exciting day's play saw a whole host of French players take to the felt as they took their first shot at taking down the Winamax Poker Open. A total of 373 players came together to beat last years Day 1A field by nearly 50 players, and the Citywest hotel was packed with players.
Among the players to play and bust on Day 1A were Guillaume Diaz, Erwann Pecheux, Davidi Kitai and Sylvain Loosli. Loosli was one of a number of players to bust twice, first when he bluff shoved a missed straight draw into the two pair of Sylvain Dezilleaux, and then when his Ace-Queen failed to beat the Jacks of Liam O'Donoghue in a massive 500k pot in the final level of the day.
Looking forward to a day off is two-time WSOP Main Event Last Woman Standing Gaelle Baumann who bagged up 145,000. Despite being below average for most of the day, Baumann battled to bag up and can now focus on cheering on her fellow Team Winamax Pros on Day 1B before play resumes on Saturday at 12 p.m. for Day 2.
Day 1B meanwhile takes place on Friday, with the action getting underway at 12 p.m. local time here at the Citywest luxury hotel in Dublin.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live updates from the Winamax Poker Open here in Dublin.
Defending champion Antonin Teisseire is still going strong as we approach the second break of the day. In this hand, on a flop of an opponent checked to him and he bet 2,100. His opponent called.
The turn was checked by both players and the river was the . His opponent bet 3,000 and Teisseire quickly raised to 11,000. His opponent folded and Teisseire was able to take down the pot.
We were told that defending champion Antonin Teisseire, who took down this tournament 12 months ago for €72,000, had registered for the Winamax Poker Open Main Event, and we were just waiting for him to take his seat.
When he did so, we headed over to see how he would approach his first hand.
Hand 1 - A player raised to 800 from under the gun and Teisseire, who was still sorting out his headphones, folded in the cutoff.
Hand 2 - Teisseire, now with headphones in, raised to 750 from under the gun. The button three-bet to 2,000 and Teisseire folded.
Hand 3 - The button raised to 800 and Teisseire defended his big blind. The flop came and both players checked.
The turn was the and Teisseire bet 1,025 and his opponent called. Teisseire checked the river and his opponent checked behind.
Teisseire showed for a flopped set of fives and took down the pot.
Hand 4 - Teisseire folded his small blind to a button open.
Hand 5 - Teisseire folded his button to and under the gun open.
Last night saw the conclusion of Day 1 of the Winamax Poker Open €1,200 High Roller. They will return today at 1 p.m. local time and are lead by 2017 bracelet winner Max Silver. Silver is the only player over one million in chips, but has a dominating chip lead over Adrien Delmas in second place (406,000) and Thomas Soderstrom in third place (398,000).
There is still a lot of French interest in the tournament among the 23 players remain from a starting field of 128. However, only 17 will make the money, with a min-cash worth €2,065 and first prize a cool €35,370.
We will keep you informed on the High Roller as they play down to a winner today, but our focus will be on the Main Event.
Slightly later than originally advertised, and after some brief pleasantries, the cards are in the air here at the Citywest hotel for Day 1A of the Winamax Poker Open Main Event!
Welcome to the 2017 Winamax Poker Open! The festival is already two days old, and the venue is already packed with pplayers enjoying all the fun that the Irish capital has to offer.
The festival has a new setting this year, which offers twice as much space, as well as its fair share of surprises. This is the 8th edition of the WPO and it is taking place at the Citywest luxury resort just outside of Dublin.
Today marks the start of the €550 Main Event, which was won last year by Antonin Teisseire, who took home €72,000 for his efforts.
Players will receive 50,000 chips, and will play 14 40-minute levels today before bagging up for Day 2. Players are allowed one re-entry per day 1, with late-registration and re-entry open until level ten, with the maximum number of bullets permitted being four.
Cards will be in the air around 12 p.m. local time, so stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live updates from Dublin.
an opponent checked to him and he bet 2,100. His opponent called.
was checked by both players and the river was the 
. His opponent bet 3,000 and Teisseire quickly raised to 11,000. His opponent folded and Teisseire was able to take down the pot.
and Loosli check-called a bet of 1,550 from Dezilleaux.
and Dezilleaux continued for 3,000. Loosli then check-raised to 7,500 and his opponent called.
and Loosli moved all in for his last 18,325. Dezilleaux called.
for a missed double gutshot straight draw, while Dezilleaux had 
for two pair.
and both players checked.
and Teisseire bet 1,025 and his opponent called. Teisseire checked the 
river and his opponent checked behind.
for a flopped set of fives and took down the pot.
