Today 331 entries took their seats at the tables here in cloudy Marrakech. Day 1b attracted many hopefuls trying to make it to Day 2 tomorrow here in the beautiful surroundings of Casino de Marrakech in the Es Saadi Resort. 104 of those entries managed to find a bag to put their chips in to reopen them again tomorrow. Taking the honors topping the chip count leaderboard for Day 1b and into Day 2 is Garcia Lorca (nickname) from Spain with a colossal amount of 315,600 chips.
Trailing behind Lorca is Harald Sammer, the German living in Austria. He bagged a staggering amount of 296,500 chips. He amassed a lot of those chips with big hands like full houses, quads and more of those kinds of hands according to himself. He also eliminated Gaelle Baumann when her king-queen ran into his ace-king. He also eliminated Romain Lewis shortly after that.
Third in the chip count leaderboard for today was Ben Bensimhon, he will take 260,000 in chips with him to his new table tomorrow. A substantial amount of those chips were collected when he hit higher flushes than his opponents, twice. In fourth place, we can find Thierry Delpui who eliminated another player in a huge pot just before the dinner break. He managed to end up with 238,400 chips. Closing out the top 5 for today is Alexandre Reard with 202,200 chips.
Bracelet winner Barny Boatman unfortunately fell at several hurdles again today, the same was the case for Rakesh Lalwani, Cheng-Wei Yin, Fabian Gumz, Sonny Franco, and Jerome Sgorrano.
Here in this Moroccan casino, it is custom that many poker players go solely by their nicknames. So expect them to crop up in the live reporting over the next few days.
All remaining players will return on tomorrow (Saturday) for Day 2 of the Main Event which will start again at 1 pm local time. The 152 remaining players will return to Level 13 which has a small blind of 1,000, big blind of 2,000 and a running ante of 300. The duration of the levels will increase to 60 minutes each. The schedule is set for 10 levels of play tomorrow with 4 breaks, including one 60-minute dinner break.
Come back again tomorrow to see who will make it into the money and stay in the running for that coveted WSOP Circuit Ring. PokerNews will be here to provide you with all the updates!
Hand #1:
The flop read with already a substantial pot having been built up. The player in early position had gone all-in for 15,450 and Barny Boatman (mid-position) was in the tank but ended up calling.
Opponent:
Barny Boatman:
According to the table and Boatman himself, there was a raise, he three-bet, his opponent four-bet small and Boatman called. And then his opponent reshoved the flop. The turn brought them the to complete the flush for his opponent and secure the double up. The on the river didn't matter anymore.
Hand #2:
Boatman shoved all in for his remaining chips totaling 7,650. The player in the cutoff asked for a count and the dealer confirmed the amount. He called. Everyone else folded.
Barny Boatman:
Opponent:
Boatman sighed: "It's one of those days..."
The dealer dealt the flop exposing .
"Oh hello!" Boatman said with some delight in his voice.
The turn brought the and the river completed the board with the ensuring that Boatman doubled up.
Ben Bensimhon has skyrocketed to the top of the chip count leaderboard and he told us how:
"The crazy Spaniard was sitting in mid-position and he raised to 700. Another players in late position called, so did the button, and myself in the small blind. I had . The flop came with two spades, I checked. The Spaniard bet 1,100, the next one called and the other folded. I also called. The turn was another spade, low. I bet 3,000, the Spaniard called, the other one raised to 9,000. I shoved, the Spaniard escaped and the raiser called with about 20,000. He had . River didn't matter anymore. That's how I got to about 100,000."
When he told us this, he had 170,000 but five minutes later he came to the media room to tell us he was on 210,000 now:
"Guy opened to 800, two people flatted, I was in the big blind and I did the same with . The flop was , I checked, so did the initial opener. The first flatter bet 1,500, the second flatter folded, I called and the other guy folded. The turn was the , I check-called the 1,600 bet of the other guy. The river was another club so I had a flush. I bet 1,500, he shoved for about 21,000 and I called. He had for the lower flush!"
Hand #1:
The player in the under-the-gun position raised to 650. Mehdi Hsissen called from mid-position, Luke Bayliss, in late position, also called. Fabian Gumz, in the small blind, raised to 3,400. The initial raiser folded, Hsissen called, and Bayliss folded. The flop came , Gumz continued with a bet of 2,000 and Hsissen called. The turn brought them the , now Gumz fired 3,500 without any hesitation. Hsissen folded with a look of disgust.
Hand #2:
Hsissen raised to 600 from the under-the-gun position and Gumz called, now sitting on the button. The players in the blinds quickly got out of the way. The dealer dealt on the flop, Hsissen bet 600 and Gumz called. The turn came with the , now Hsissen bet 1,025 and Gumz called. The board was completed with the and Hsissen checked. Gumz bet 3,200 and Hsissen did not look happy about the bet. In the end, he called. Gumz tabled for the rivered two pair, tens and fives, with the ace-kicker. Hsissen mucked.
Hand #3:
Gumz bet 600 from the cutoff and action folded to Hsissen, in the big blind, who called. The flop came , Hsissen check-called the 625 bet of Gumz. They both checked through the on the turn to the on the river. Hsissen checked again. Gumz bet 2,200. Hsissen mumbled something about Gumz probably hitting the river again. Hsissen threw a chip in for the call. Gumz showed for the rivered top pair indeed and Hsissen mucked.
Christophe Savary limped in from mid-position and Cheng-Wei Yin raised to 800 from the lowjack. Mohamed Bouzgarrou, sitting in the cutoff, called. Savary folded.
The flop came , Yin bet 1,000, Bouzgarrou raised to 2,400 and Yin called.
The turn brought them the , Yin checked and Bouzgarrou shoved all in for about 10,000. Yin tanked for a bit and then called.
Cheng-Wei Yin:
Mohamed Bouzgarrou:
Bouzgarrou had flopped trip fives and Yin had two pair with the pocket jacks he had in his hand. The river completed the board with the to give Yin the upper hand with a full house, jacks over fives, and the elimination to his name.
Welcome back to Day 1b of the World Series of Poker International Circuit 15,000 MAD (€1,350) Main Event here in the beautiful Es Saadi Resort in Marrakech. Yesterday Day 1a took place which attracted 155 hopefuls and 48 of those made it through to Day 2. Drisse Maouchi topped them to take the overall chip lead into Day 2 for now with 310,000 chips.
It is expected to see a lot of the players enter today that didn’t make it through yesterday, and the players that ran deep in the other tournaments that have taken place over the past days. Players like for example Jerome Sgorrano, Gaelle Baumann, Michael Lech, Alexandre Reard, Sonny Franco, Barny Boatman, Pierre Calamusa, Fabian Gumz, Romain Lewis, Gil Thierry, Ben Bemsimhon, and Guilliaume Diaz.
Former Champions
Year
Entries
Champion
Country
Prize
2017
511
Arron Fletcher
United Kingdom
€130,755
2016
446
Mathieu Selides
France
€95,479
2015
484
Ricardo Manquant
France
€122,330
The tournament will be starting at 1 p.m. local time today. The players will start playing with 30,000 in chips and 45-minute levels. Late registration and reentries will be allowed up until the end of level 9 with a total of 12 levels that are being played today. A 15-minute break will take place after Level 3 & 6 with a one-hour dinner break after Level 9.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be here once again to provide you with all the action of the WSOP International Circuit Main Event here in Morocco.
with already a substantial pot having been built up. The player in early position had gone all-in for 15,450 and Barny Boatman (mid-position) was in the tank but ended up calling. 
to complete the flush for his opponent and secure the double up. The 
on the river didn't matter anymore.
.
and the river completed the board with the 
ensuring that Boatman doubled up.
. The flop came 
with two spades, I checked. The Spaniard bet 1,100, the next one called and the other folded. I also called. The turn was another spade, low. I bet 3,000, the Spaniard called, the other one raised to 9,000. I shoved, the Spaniard escaped and the raiser called with about 20,000. He had 
. The flop was 
for the lower flush!"
on the flop, Hsissen bet 600 and Gumz called. The turn came with the 
, now Hsissen bet 1,025 and Gumz called. The board was completed with the 
for the rivered two pair, tens and fives, with the ace-kicker. Hsissen mucked.
to give Yin the upper hand with a full house, jacks over fives, and the elimination to his name.
