Luis Alberto Montalvo Hortal moved all in with a very short stack from the button and Victor Daniel called in the big blind with a much bigger stack. Players flipped their cards, with Hortal at risk.
Luis Alberto Montalvo Hortal: 9♠9♥
Victor Daniel: 10♣3♣
The board ran out 5♦A♣10♦K♦4♣ and Daniel hit a pair of tens to win the pot, sending Hortal to the rail.
The room was vibrant with buzzing players, media and floor staff who were trying to navigate the sparce space between the tables to oversee three simulataneous all in and calls, two of which resulted in bustouts.
On Table 26, Scotti Azuaje open-raised from the cutoff and Arnaud Bodar moved all in from the button for 128,000. The small blind reported that he folded pocket jacks before Azuaje made the call for around 90,000. Players flipped their cards and Azuaje was at risk.
Scotti Azuaje: K♥K♦
Arnaud Bodar: A♥Q♥
The flop ran out 5♥4♦2♥ and the room erupted with "oohhs" and "ahhs" as Bodar picked up a flush draw. The turn was a blank, the 5♣, but the river came the 4♥ to complete Bodar's flush. Lots of cheers rang out as the bubble burst, but there was still two more hands to run.
Over on Table 20, action was paused on the river on a board of 7♦2♠3♥2♦K♠ and Samy Khaled had led out for 205,000, putting his opponent all in. Noel Garde called for 200,000 and, when the time came, players revealed their hands.
Khaled had K♣J♦ for a rivered pair of kings. Garde flipped over 10♦10♣ and his hand was beat.
Noel Garde
While Garde and Azuaje were eliminated, Marc Uzan opened from the button, and Alberto Lopez moved all-in from the big blind. Uzan called off his last 137,000.
Marc Uzan: A♠Q♠
Alberto Lopez: 8♠8♥
The A♥ door card came on a K♦6♠A♥J♦6♣ board, giving Uzan two pair and securing him a double up.
Marc Uzan
Both Garde and Azuaje bust out on the bubble, meaning 204 players from Day 1c have made the money, bagging and tagging for Day 2.
After last year’s record-breaking 2,736 entries, the Casino de Marrakech at the Es Saadi Resort, along with the Winamax Team, saw things on a bigger scale to welcome even more players. A giant tent was set up outside, and additional poker rooms were opened to ensure there was plenty of space with room to spare. But even that margin was nearly pushed to its limit by the wave of players who descended on Marrakech this year, creating a massive field of 3,390 entries, setting a new world record for a 6-max tournament.
Today’s Day 1c alone brought 1,232 entrants to the Sismix Main Event tables. Only 204 players managed to bag chips and qualify for Day 2. The day was originally set to end with 205 survivors, but Scotti Azuajewas eliminated on the bubble at the same time as Noël Garde, who lost his stack on the river to Samy Khaled, who seized the moment to climb into the chip lead with 1,100,000 chips. A very good way to finish a day that started at home in Paris this morning and continued on the TV table for a few hours today.
Khaled took over the top spot from Sismix rookie Jose Lozano, the only other player to bag more than a million chips with 1,077,000 after what he called “an awesome day.” “It started a bit badly, but then everything went well. I hope to keep the momentum going tomorrow,” he said, adding that he fired four bullets in this Main Event. At the table next to him, Nelson Vaz Da Silva explained that he built his stack “step by step” to finish third in chips with 969,000.
Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Samy Khaled
France
1,100,000
110
2
Jose Lozano
Spain
1,077,000
108
3
Nelson Vaz Da Silva
Portugal
969,000
97
4
Pablo Garcia Alba
Spain
862,000
86
5
Mathieu Halgand
France
829,000
83
6
Klemen Videc
Slovenia
767,000
77
7
Kevin Belhamici
France
735,000
74
8
Arnaud Pousset
France
732,000
73
9
Faycal Ait Ouccime
France
720,000
72
10
Ugo Taurines
France
718,000
72
Far from the hustle and bustle of the main room, Ugo Taurines (718,000) didn’t lack of animation at his table as he was seated next to the feature table and just two seats away from local favorite Anas Tadini, who ultimately bagged 463,000 chips.
As a birthday gift, [Removed:520] received a bag he filled with 423,000 chips, slightly more than Battle Royale runner-up Aitor Cruz (369,000). Marc Uzan doubled up on the bubble to finish with 300,000, while Tahar Said (205,000) had secured his spot just moments earlier thanks to a runner-runner straight.
Meanwhile, Mustapha Amaouche (232,000), Jean-Marc Chiba (215,000), and Mounim Kaddouri (162,000) reached Day 2 without having to take too many risks, as for Bruno Soutavong, who ended Day 1 with exactly the starting stack (49,000).
Bruno Soutavong
Just minutes after Day 1c concluded, the final flight Day 1d Turbo also came to an end. Out of a field of 402 entries, only 67 players advanced to Day 2. Leading the pack is Belgium’s Redouan Bettioui, who bagged 1,090,000 chips.
He’s closely followed by Said Abdel Attey (1,018,000), while other notable stacks include Rayane Bouibeb (678,000), Timothée Rey (536,000), and Winamax Team Pro Pierre Calamusa (500,000). Christopher Dowling (439,000), Said El Yousfi (373,000), Adrien Amorella (368,000), and Tristan Forge (363,000) also seized this final opportunity to qualify for Day 2.
Sismix Editions Comparaison
2024
2025
Players Left
Day 1a
549
677
112
Day 1b
824
1079
179
Day 1c
986
1232
204
Day 1d
377
402
67
Total
2736
3390
562
A total of 562 players will return for Day 2 tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time, all with their sights set on reaching the final tables of the record-breaking Main Event. The full payout structure will be unveiled at the start of the day, and levels will be extended to 35 minutes.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the updates and action here in Marrakech!
