button in SafariTamer Kamel Nears Two Million Chips on Day 1d
For a first edition at Partouche Pasino Club in Paris, the €1,500 Main Event of the World Series of Poker Circuit drew a massive field of 1,282 entries across the five starting flights, making this WSOP Circuit Main Event the largest ever held in Europe.
This number was boosted by Day 1d, which recorded 447 entries, as well as the final flight, Day 1e Turbo, which attracted 193 entries. Of the 1d field, 67 players qualified for Day 2 and secured a spot in the money, where they will share a portion of the €1,661,472 prize pool.
If the share was proportional to chip counts, Tamer Kamel would have the biggest one for sure, as he bagged the overall chip lead with a massive 1,904,000 chips. Even though he lost a few chips after Romain Lourenco (300,000) doubled on the bubble, the Englishman applied pressure on his opponents all the way to the end to build his stack.
Second in chips is Mehdi Mouhoubi (964,000), who actually burst the bubble, although he is still way behind Kamel. He is followed by Koffi Eklu (917,000) and Triple Crown winner Davidi Kitai (833,000).
Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tamer Kamel | United Kingdom | 1,904,000 | 159 |
| 2 | Mehdi Mouhoubi | France | 964,000 | 80 |
| 3 | Koffi Eklu | France | 917,000 | 76 |
| 4 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | 833,000 | 69 |
| 5 | Pierre Chevalier | France | 700,000 | 58 |
| 6 | Pierre Merlin | France | 661,000 | 55 |
| 7 | Hugues Girard | France | 621,000 | 52 |
| 8 | Christos Kyprianou | Cyprus | 592,000 | 49 |
| 9 | Tomislav Pavanic | France | 565,000 | 47 |
| 10 | Fabien Feybesse | France | 517,000 | 43 |
Will Kassouf (450,000), Thomas Ward (443,000) and Gary Fisher (133,000) follow in their fellow countryman Kamal's footsteps, facing players like Pierre Merlin (661,000), Hugues Girard (621,000), Tomislav Pavanic (565,000) or Yann Brosolo (449,000), who will try to keep the ring home.
Idir Haiche (349,000) also advanced to Day 2, as did WSOP bracelet winner Mourad Amokrane (275,000), WSOP Main Event finalist Benjamin Pollak (235,000), High Roller runner-up Florian Duta (207,000) and Koen de Visscher (190,000).
Seniors event winner Juliane Papazian (186,000) is also in contention for another ring, as are Sarah Ramirez (129,000), Suat Uyanik (125,000) and short stack Matthias Kribben, who bagged 40,000, slightly less than the starting stack.
Day 1e Turbo ended not long after Day 1d with 29 remaining players led by Kamel Atoui (690,000) who already win a ring earlier this week.
He is followed by Valentin Blot (684,000) and Samir Ainous (630,000) while Jason Wheeler (550,000), Julien Duveau (392,000), Michal Schuh (341,000), Kevin Abecassis (317,000) or Ange Besnainou (148,000) also advanced thanks to this final flight.
A total of 193 players will return this Sunday, September 13, at 1 p.m. local time for Day 2 of this Main Event. Blind levels will increase from 40 minutes to one hour, starting at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante. The plan will be to play down to the final table.
All remaining players are now in the money, but the detailed payouts will be revealed at the restart.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continuing coverage of the €1,500 World Series of Poker Circuit Paris Main Event as the field combines!