Main Event
Day 1a Started
WPT Marrakech presented by Chilipoker
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
WPT Marrakech presented by Chilipoker
Buy-in
€4,250
Entries
222
Level
27
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Welcome to Marrakech!
PokerNews welcomes you to exotic Morocco for the second annual WPT Marrakech presented by Chilipoker! The World Poker Tour and ChiliPoker have combined forces to once again bring tournament poker back to the Casino De Marrakech at the Es Saadi Gardens & Resort.
Last year, it was Frenchman Christophe Savary who topped the field Main Event field of 416 to take home a pay day of €377,262. A good mix of top-tier pros and hopeful amateurs will make up the bunch that will be filling the seats on both Day 1 flights. Among those that are expected to take part in the action are Liz Lieu, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, David Benyamine, and many more.
Day 1a is set to kick off at 2pm local time, about ninety minutes from now. We’ll be on the floor to update you on everything that happens, so stay tuned!
All Aboard... the Marrakech Express Arriving Soon
It looks as though we are still a short wait away from the start of today's Day 1a of the Chilipoker Marrakech Festival. Players are starting to make their way into the poker room, having escaped a rainy Saturday afternoon into the Casino de Marrakech.
Right now it appears the plan is to begin with about 15 tables' worth of players on this first Day One, with an additional five having been readied as well. Back in a few!
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal
Cards are in the air! The first hands of Level 1 -- the first of 11 one-hour levels scheduled for today -- are being dealt.
Early Bounce for Bevand
Manuel Bevand has gotten off to a nice start today. We were still in the first orbit when a hand arose in which Bevand flopped a set of sixes, then managed by the river to get paid handsomely by his opponent.
Bevand jumps from the starting stack of 30,000 to more than 45,000 here in the early going.
Player Spotting
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The field, as expected, is mostly French players, since Marrakech is a popular destination for French tourists and the tournament's sponsor, Chilipoker, is a French-facing site. Team Winamax is very well represented on Day 1a. Nicolas Levi and Tristan Clemençon are sharing a table. Manuel Bevand is already off to a hot start. The newest member of the team, Marc Inizan, is also at work early in the level.
Also spotted were Euro-circuit regulars Antonin Teisseire, Dominik Nitsche, and Joel Benzinou. Antoine Saout is in the middle of the room, and Alex Gomes is here representing the southern hemisphere.
Gomes Lets It Go
With the board showing 
and about 6,000 already in the center, a middle position player pushed out a bet of 4,200, putting Alex Gomes to a decision. After riffling his chips for more than a minute, Gomes finally tossed his cards dealerward.
Gomes still sits with about 27,500.
Judet Pushes Saout
Antoine Saout opened with a raise to 250 from under the gun, and the table folded around to Toni Judet who made the call from the hijack seat. The remaining players folded, leaving the pair to see a flop come 
. Saout checked, prompting Judet to bet 400. Saout looked across the table for a moment, then check-raised to 1,225. Judet paused a beat, then made the call.
The turn brought the 
and a quick check from Saout. Judet bet 1,625 this time, and Saout quickly let it go. Saout slips to 27,000, while Judet moves up to just over 35,000 here as we move toward the end of the first level.
Early Numbers
The big board currently shows a total of 126 players having been seated thus far for the start of today's Level 1. Registration will remain open through Level 4, so we may well see a few more seats filling up over the next four hours of play.