Aliosha Staes, the defending champion from Bratislava last year, is in the field and will be hoping for another deep run here.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
28,000 | |
|
||
There was around 38,000 in the middle on a board of K♣5♦2♦9♠2♥, in a hand between Pascal Ridet in the cutoff and Claudiu Petre on the button.
Ridet checked, and Petre jammed for 25,000. Ridet went deep into thought, seemingly pained by the decision, and he gave Petre the side-eye, trying to get some kind of read on his opponent.
Ridet clearly didn't like it, but made the call after around 90 seconds. He was shown the bad news when Petre tabled A♦K♦ for two pair, kings and twos, and Ridet mucked in a frustrated manner.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
88,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
45,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
A pot of around 45,000 had developed by the river on a board of A♣J♣5♠5♣J♦, in a hand between Winamax ambassador Davidi Kitai in the big blind, and Gaetan Plassiard under the gun.
Kitai jammed for around 25,200, and Plassiard went into the tank.
After around two minutes, he flicked in a calling chip, and was shown the bad news when Kitai tabled 10♣6♣ for the turned flush.
Plassiard had A♠4♠ for two pair, ace and jacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
||
|
|
3,200
3,200
|
3,200 |
In a blinds confrontation, a big pot of 42,000 had developed by the river on a board of 4♦4♠2♥10♦2♣.
Guillaume Graux slid out a bet of 16,000 from the small blind, and after a bit of deliberation, Maeva Nerriere made the call.
Graux tabled 6♣4♣ for the full house, and Nerriere nodded and mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
95,000 | |
|
|
14,200
35,800
|
35,800 |
Around 1,400 was in the middle on a flop of A♥K♣2♠, and the big blind checked to Benjamin Castaldi in the cutoff, who fired out a bet of 1,400. Only Herve Martinage called on the button.
The 5♦ hit on the turn, and Castaldi double-barreled, this time with a bet of 2,200. Martinage again called.
The 4♠ river completed the board, and Castaldi checked to his opponent. Martinage quickly fired out an overbet of 12,000, and Castaldi looked pained.
After a brief exchange of words between the two, Castaldi smiled and open-folded the A♦.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
66,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
52,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
A player opened to 1,000 from the button, before Gregory Prelaz produced a three-bet from the small blind to 2,200. Quentin Pauly was in the big blind, and he took a brief moment for thought before making it 6,300 to go.
The opener got out of the way, but Prelaz called to see the J♦8♣7♦ flop.
Both players took quite a bit of time before checking through to the 8♠ turn, where Prelaz check-called a bet of 4,500 from Pauly.
The K♥ river was then checked through, and Pauly mucked when Prelaz tabled 10♥10♠ for two pair, tens and eights.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
67,000 | |
|
47,000 |
A pot of 9,000 had brewed by the river on a board of K♣J♣9♦5♥3♦, in a battle of the blinds between Aurelia Pioget and Florent Villanchet.
Pioget checked to her opponent, who fired out a bet of 6,000. Pioget made the call, and her Q♣Q♠ for second pair was good versus Villanchet's A♠J♦.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
57,500
57,500
|
57,500 |
|
|
42,500
42,500
|
42,500 |
Another extremely busy day is expected here at Casino Grand Cercle d'Aix-les-Bains, with Day 1b of the 2025 Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains due to kick off at noon local time today, September 18.
Day 1a attracted a huge total of 361 entries, far surpassing the 215 entrants obtained in Day 1a of the 2024 edition, held in Bratislava. When the dust settled, Selim Zegour of France (1,125,000) rose to the top of the standings, bagging over twenty starting stacks.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Selim Zegour | France | 1,125,000 | 113 |
| 2 | Franck Romero | France | 999,000 | 100 |
| 3 | Vincent De La Porte | France | 707,000 | 71 |
| 4 | Kourosh Adeli | France | 635,000 | 64 |
| 5 | Arnaud Charoulet | France | 635,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Julien Chanas | France | 628,000 | 63 |
| 7 | Alexandre Mebs | France | 605,000 | 61 |
| 8 | Adrien Dumont | France | 596,000 | 60 |
| 9 | Matthieu Vizioz | France | 517,000 | 52 |
| 10 | Adrien Straub | France | 511,000 | 51 |
Winamax ambassadors Leo Margets and Gus Hansen were in the field in Day 1a, but neither managed to progress. They are expected to fire another bullet today, and are likely to be joined by fellow ambassadors Pierre Calamusa and Julien Sitbon.
The tournament is a six-max affair, and players will sit down in Day 1b to a 50,000 starting stack at blind level 100/200, with a 200 big blind ante.
Day 1b is the second of four starting flights, with the clock set to 30-minute levels, and late registration is open until the start of Level 14. Play will continue in each starting flight until 16.6% of the field remains, all of whom will be in the money. Players must put chips in a bag to receive a minimum cash.
Day 2 qualifiers will return on September 20 for the penultimate day, where blinds will be increased to 35-minute levels, with the final day scheduled to take place at 12:30 p.m. on September 21, where the clock will jump to 40-minute levels.
There are also plenty of social activities for players to partake in away from the tables, with nightly DJ sets and the Winamax Darts Open scheduled to take place this evening.
| Date | Day | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 18 | Day 1b | Noon | 30 minutes |
| September 19 | Day 1c | Noon | 30 minutes |
| September 19 | Day 1d | 7 p.m. | 15 minutes |
| September 20 | Day 2 | Noon | 35 minutes |
| September 21 | Day 3 | 12:30 p.m. | 40 minutes |
PokerNews will be on the floor until a champion is crowned, so stick with us for all your coverage of the 2025 Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains.
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