Welcome to Day 2 of the Record-Setting 2022 Winamax Poker Open Madrid €500 Main Event
After three thrilling days of live poker action at the Casino Gran Madrid in Torrelodones, the marquee event of the 2022 Winamax Poker Open Madrid series is heading towards the money bubble and beyond. A total of 2,182 entries across four starting days ensured that the 2022 WPO Madrid €500 Main Event has become the biggest six-max event in the history of live poker. It smashed the previous record set back in 2019 (1,389 entries) and also surpassed the biggest ever SISMIX edition (2,036 entries) by the operator as well.
Each of the starting days lost more than 80% of the contestants and there are 394 contenders still in the mix for Day 2 as of noon local time. The returning blinds will be 3,000-7,000 with a big blind ante of 7,000 and it is expected that the opening stages will provide frantic action towards the money bubble. Only the top 312 spots will get paid at least €1,000 out of a prize pool of €960,080 and it remains to be seen how many will be left when the dust has settled.
All players in the overnight top ten have more than 100 big blinds at their disposal and Jose Manuel Gonzalez leads the way with 1,025,000, narrowly ahead of Winamax Sponsored Pro Pierre Calamusa (1,023,000), and Vital Villarrubia (1,006,000). They are the only players so far with a seven-figure stack but that will soon change as the fast-paced six-max format will bring changes every other second.
2022 Winamax Poker Open Madrid €500 Main Event Day 2 Top 10 Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Manuel Gonzalez | Spain | 1,025,000 | 146 |
| 2 | Pierre Calamusa | France | 1,023,000 | 146 |
| 3 | Vital Villarrubia | Spain | 1,006,000 | 144 |
| 4 | Julien Robert | France | 768,000 | 110 |
| 5 | Jean-Charles Remaud | France | 762,000 | 109 |
| 6 | Hayg Badem | France | 748,000 | 107 |
| 7 | Alberto Ortiz Such | Spain | 740,000 | 106 |
| 8 | Xabier Bolinaga | Spain | 739,000 | 106 |
| 9 | Dragos Iosub | Romania | 734,000 | 105 |
| 10 | Hugo Saint-Paul | France | 720,000 | 103 |
Notables in the top ten also include Julien Robert (768,000), Jean-Charles Remaud (762,000), Hayg Badem (748,000), and Dragos Iosub (734,000). Team Winamax has several other ambassadors in the mix including Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes (639,000), Davidi Kitai (391,000), Top Shark winner Loic Debregeas (161,000), Francois Pirault (137,000), and Adrian Mateos (68,000).
Most of them will be seated in the Mandalay Room, which will contain eight tables including the live-stream feature table. The broadcast can be found on the Winamax Twitch channel with cards-up coverage and additional footage from the outer tables all the way until the end of the tournament.
For Day 2, the level duration increases to 35 minutes each and three levels at a time will be played. It is expected that the money bubble will be reached if not even broken during the first session of the day.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to capture as many hands as possible en route to crowning the Winamax Poker Open champion in the biggest six-max live poker event in the history of the operator thus far.