Marc Macdonnell Near the Top After Day 1a of Winamax Poker Open Dublin
At the end of Day 1a of the Winamax Poker Open Dublin Main Event , just 37 players booked their spot on Day 2 from a starting field of 183. Players making their way to Day 2 included Winamax Team Pros Joao Vieira (195,500) and Sylvain Loosli (142,000).
However, the chip leader at the end of the day is Dominique Potenza who used a unique style of aggression and panache to bag 655,000 in chips, slightly ahead of well-known Irish player Marc Macdonnell (639,000). Macdonnell, who has home court advantage, is used to success here in Dublin at the Winamax Poker Open, having finished fourth for €40,000 in 2013; it's also Macdonnell's biggest score on home soil.
"I just ran pretty good all day," said Macdonnell, "When it's short-handed and you make good hands all day...I mean I ran really good."
The Irishman said that there was nothing crazy all day, just players not believing him in certain situations.
"Irish people never believe me, so it's kind of nice. The French more so; more than the Irish that's for sure. But tournaments like this are just a minefield sometimes."
Other players bagging up stacks include last year's runner-up Sonny Franco (130,000) and former Winamax Team Pro Adrien Guyon (272,500).
Notable eliminations today included last year's winner Otto Richard and former champion Pierre Calamusa, both of whom fired two bullets. They will be back tomorrow, most likely joined by Winamax Team Pros Gaelle Baumann and Leo Margets, 2017 final tablist Teunis Kooij, Sander van Wesemael and Mark Buckley who were unsuccessful in their attempts to make Day 2.
Photos courtesy of Caroline Darcourt
vs 
flop two players including Franck Besnard, still in his Captain Vodka costume, checked to defending champion Otto Richard who bet 5,000 into a pot of 15,500. The first player called before Besnard check-raised all in for 30,350. Otto thought before calling and the other player folded.
didn't help the overpair of Richard as Besnard doubled up.
