Main Event
Day 2 Completed
WPT Marrakech presented by Chilipoker
Main Event
Day: 2
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
Day 2 Concludes
After two long Day 1s here at the Main Event of the World Poker Tour at Marrakesh series presented by Chilipoker, just 82 players from a starting field of 222 had returned with hopes of making it to the top 27 and the cash, and perhaps all of the way to the top spot and that €254,745 payday.
A short-stacked Surinder Sunar was the first elimination of the day, beginning a long parade of players to the rail that included Ahmed Debabeche, Alana Pariente, Jean-Jacques Mars, Santiago Terrazas, Manuel Bevand, and Alexia Portal.
As the field continued to shrink, it appeared all but certain that the young German Dominik Nitsche would be joining the procession of players eliminated prior to the cash, especially after he was crippled down to a stack of less than 5,000 chips. But several double-ups later, Nitsche was back up to 200,000. And a couple more big hands saw him suddenly challenging for the chip lead.
Meanwhile Davidi Kitai, Christophe Peuriere, Narendra Banwari, and Andrei One all hit the rail without making the money. Erik Tamm, who had challenged for the chip lead earlier on Day 2, went out in 29th -- busted by Nitsche -- and when Viktor Gerasymenko followed him in 28th, the cash bubble had burst.
Damien Rony went out soon thereafter in 27th place in a huge hand versus Nitsche when after four rounds of betting and calling, Nitsche's pocket aces proved best. Action slowed for a short while, then bustouts came quickly with nine players going out in the space of a single one-hour level. Among those leaving us were local favorites "Big" Roger Hairabedian (in 23rd) and Majid Chaboub (in 20th), and Frenchman Nicolas Levi (in 18th). Over the next couple of hours, eight more players would hit the rail before play concluded, among them French rap star Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes (in 15th).
After making his remarkable comeback, Nitsche led the pack for much of the night, with end of Day 1 chip leader Sebastian Homann of Germany retaking the lead just before play concluded. Here's how they'll stack up when cards go back in the air tomorrow:
1. Sebastian Homann - 1,539,000
2. Dominik Nitsche - 1,479,000
3. Guillaume Cescut - 956,000
4. Johan Williamson - 693,000
5. Sebastian Compte - 529,000
6. Guillaume de la Gorce - 516,000
7.Felix Oberauer - 499,000
8. Patrick Muleta - 244,000
9. Julien Labussiere - 210,000
Those nine will be reconvening at 1 p.m. local time tomorrow, having redrawn for seats to gather around a single final table. See you back here then!
Joel Benzinou Eliminated in 10th Place (€16,299)
On the last hand, as the other table was already bagging and tagging, Joel Benzinou managed to find himself a cooler. He committed his whole stack on the turn of a 
board only to find that his 
was second best. Trip jacks couldn't beat Guillaume Cescut's 
for sixes full. The 
river changed nothing, and Benzinou went from one foot in the door on Day 3 to out in 10th place.
Phu Troung Eliminated in 11th Place (€12,678)
Phu Truong raised to 29,000 under the gun, and Julien Labussiere flatted on the button. From the big blind, Dominik Nitsche didn't mess around. He just moved all in with his massive stack. Truong called all in for around 300,000, and Labussiere got out of the way. Cooler time!
Truong: 
Nitsche: 
Not so good for Nitsche, but then again, things have really been going his way today. No help from the 
flop or the turn. Truong was one card away from a major double up. But right on schedule, the 
appeared on the river. Truong was struck down in 11th place. Nitsche can't quite hide his smile behind his 1.68 million.
Another Double for de la Gorce Through Benzinou
Guillaume De la Gorce of France had just doubled through Joel Benzinou a little while ago (before having knocked out El Mimouni), when he found himself once again committing his entire stack against the Belgian.
In this one, de la Gorce opened for 28,000 from under the gun, and it folded around to Benzinou who reraised to 72,000 from the small blind. The big blind got out, then de la Gorce pushed all in for 372,000 total. Benzinou snap-called, turning over his 
, while de la Gorce showed 
.
The flop came 
, bringing de la Gorce the ace he needed. The turn was the 
and the river the 
, and de la Gorce doubled up to 768,000 total. Benzinou, meanwhile, has slipped to around the 200,000-chip mark.
El Mehdi El Mimouni Eliminated in 12th Place (€12,678)
Guillaume de la Gorce doubled through Joel Benzinou to move up to 280,000. Then came a hand in which he opened for 28,000 from the cutoff, and El Mehdi El Mimouni -- who has been nursing a very short stack for some now -- finally pushed all in from the button with his last 39,000. The blinds folded, and de la Gorce called, showing versus El Mimouni's 
.
De la Gorce would win the race, as the board came 
. El Mimouni is out, and de la Gorce had built his stack up to 340,000.
Daniel El Keslassy Eliminated in 13th Place (€12,678)
Daniel El Keslassy of Morocco opened with a raise to 30,000, then Joel Benzinou reraised to 80,000 behind him. It folded back to El Keslassy who pushed all in for 355,000 total, and Benzinou quickly made the call. As it turned out, the pair had nearly identical stacks prior to the hand, with El Keslassy having the young Belgian outchipped by just 6,000.
El Keslassy had and Benzinou 
, and after the next five cards came 
, Benzinou had doubled and El Keslassy was all but done.
A third of his stack went in as the ante in the next hand, and El Keslassy put the other 4,000 in when given the opportunity. Patrick Muleta then raised to 24,000 from the small blind, and Benzinou called from the big blind. Both checked the 
flop and turn. The river brought the , and when Muleta checked, Benzinou bet 32,000, and Muleta folded. Benzinou showed for trip jacks. Keslassy turned up his 
, then shook Benzinou's hand as he left.
Benzinou is now up to 725,000.
And One More for Good Measure
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Guillaume Cescut raised to 28,000 on the button, and Daniel El Keslassy three-bet to 72,000 out of the small blind. Cescut then moved all in for another 165,000 on top. El Keslassy called with 
to race Cescut's 
. The board paired El Keslassy but gave Cescut a tough-to-beat set. The turn was the uninteresting 
, and the river, the 
. Quads were good enough to double Cescut to 412,000 and drop El Keslassy down to 330,000.
Double Double for Your Trouble
The latest two in a long line of all ins both ended the same way - with the short stack getting a new lease on life.
In the first hand, Daniel El Keslassy raised his button to 23,000. In the big blind, Joel Benzinou shoved for a total of 130,000. El Keslassy looked him up with 
. Benzinou's 
was behind, but the 
board helpfully delivered him a straight. He rebounded to 272,000, sticking El Keslassy with 480,000.
On the other table, Sebastian Homann raised to 20,000 on the button. As we've seen before, the big blind moved all in. This time, the culprit was Julien Labuissiere in the big blind with 122,000. Homann called with 
to put Labuissiere's at risk. The 
flop put Homann in the lead, but unlike most of the hands he's played up until this point, his lead didn't hold. The turn and river made Labuissiere a four-card flush to double to 255,000. Homann still has 1.12 million.
Last Level
Level 21 is underway, the last scheduled level for Day 2. The plan will be either to complete this one-hour level or stop if the field happens to shrink to the final eight first.