2012 World Series of Poker Europe Day 3: Mahmoud Wins; Rettenmaier Leads Event #2
Day 3 at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe wrapped up on Sunday with a relatively early day on the felt. Although a "short" day by most tournament standards, it was an exciting one because the first gold bracelet winner of the series was crowned. Tunisia's Imed Ben Mahmoud won Event #1: �2,700 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em. Also, Day 1b of Event #2: �1,100 No-Limit Hold'em concluded.
Event #1: �2,700 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em
Imed Ben Mahmoud emerged victorious over the 227-player field in the first event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe and earned a payday of nearly �150,000 and his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet. He defeated a field of tough players, including Yannick Bonnet during heads-up play.
Roberto Romanello and Matan Krakow were also at the final table. Romanello was chasing poker's elusive Triple Crown and Krakow was looking to top his fourth-place finish from this event last year.
After the elimination of Sylvain Ribes in sixth place, Romanello bowed out in fifth. He moved all in with J?10?, but Bonnet woke up with J?J?. From there, the board ran out Q?7?6?7?9?.
Krakow was able to best his performance from a year ago when Senh Ung fell in fourth place, putting Krakow in the top three. But, that's as far as his run went.
The big hand that crippled Krakow came against Mahmoud. On the Q?8?6? flop, Krakow check-raised all in with 8?7?, but Mahmoud made the call with Q?10?. The 9? on the turn and 7? on the river finished out the board. Mahmoud ended up with a straight to beat Krakow's two pair, leaving Krakow with just over two big blinds. Shortly thereafter, Krakow was all in preflop with J?8? versus Bonnet's 10?3?. The board ran out 9?3?2?5?A? and Krakow was out.
Mahmoud began Day 3 sixth in chips out of the final eight players. He maneuvered his way to heads-up play with start-of-the-day chip leader Bonnet, but was slightly behind in chips. Right away, though, Mahmoud snatched the chip lead and never looked back.
When the final hand came up, Mahmoud four-bet all in with J?J? and Bonnet put himself at risk with A?K?. The board ran out 10?9?2?5?9? and it was all over. For his finish in second place, Bonnet earned over �90,000.
By winning this bracelet, Mahmoud has become the first gold bracelet winner from the country of Tunisia �� the smallest country in North Africa.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imed Ben Mahmoud | �147,099 |
| 2 | Yannick Bonnet | �90,884 |
| 3 | Matan Krakow | �63,671 |
| 4 | Senh Ung | �44,913 |
| 5 | Roberto Romanello | �31,925 |
| 6 | Sylvain Ribes | �22,876 |
Day 1b of Event #2: �1,100 No-Limit Hold'em
Event #2: �1,100 No-Limit Hold'em of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe continued on Sunday as 331 players turned out for Day 1b, the second of two starting flights. In just over nine levels of play, that number was reduced to 53 and PartyPoker Pro Marvin Rettenmaier led the way with a stack of 69,950.
Combined with Day 1a��s 295 players, Event #2 drew a total of 626 entries and created a prize pool of �600,960, which will be distributed to the top 63 with �126,207 reserved for the winner. On Monday, the remaining 98 players from both starting flights will meet under the same roof for Day 2 action.
On Day 1a, Rettenmaier late registered for the tournament but didn't have much luck because he busted fairly quickly. He took advantage of the reentry format and fired a second bullet, which proved to be a wise decision. In an early hand on Day 1b, the board read 5?3?Q?K?Q? when an unknown player had checked from early position and Rettenmaier took the opportunity to move all in. His opponent only had 1,550 behind and tank-called only to discover his A?K? was no good against the A?Q? of the PartyPoker Pro. It wasn��t a huge pot, but it was reminiscent of how the German ran throughout the day.
Another player who made the most of his reentry was 2011 WSOP Europe bracelet winner Tristan Wade. In an early hand, he raised to 325 form the cutoff and was immediately three-bet to 850 from the player on the button. Both blinds got out of the way, Wade four-bet 2,200, and the button moved all in for right around 8,500. Wade made the call and it was off to the races.
| [U]Showdown[/U] |
| Wade: AxKx |
| Button: 9?9? |
Wade was behind and needed to improve, which he did on the K?J?2? flop. The K? turn improved the South Floridian to trips, while the harmless 5? river allowed him to knock out his opponent and chip up to 16,500 �� he went on to bag up 30,875 on Day 1b.
Unfortunately not everyone was as fortunate as Wade and Rettenmaier. Andy Frankenberger, Chance Kornuth, Oliver Speidel, Vanessa Selbst and Michael Mizrachi were just a few of the players who reentered and fell short for a second time. They were joined by Day 1b newbies Jennifer Tilly, David ��ODB�� Baker, Phil Hellmuth, Charlotte Van Brabander, Roland Israelashivili, Dan Shak and Brandon Cantu, just to name a few.
With that said, a few players who reentered made the most of their second chance including Dominik Nitsche, Joe Kuether, Erik Cajelais and John Monnette, all of whom finished toward the top of the Day 1b chip counts. They, along with John Tababtabia, Roger Hairabedian, Jean Paul Pasqualini, Bourcier de Carbon and Gil George, will join the likes of Day 1a��s Antonio Esfandiari, Mclean Karr and Antonin Teisseire on Monday for Day 2 action.
Notable Day 1b Chip Counts
| Player | Count |
|---|---|
| Marvin Rettenmair | 69,950 |
| Florian Ciuro | 44,300 |
| Dominik Nitsche | 40,350 |
| Gianluca Cedolia | 36,550 |
| Bourcier de Carbon | 34,100 |
| Marc Bariller | 33,325 |
| Joe Kuether | 33,275 |
| Tristan Wade | 30,875 |
| Erik Cajelais | 29,300 |
| Gil George | 28,400 |
| John Monnette | 19,875 |
On Day 4 of the 2012 WSOP Europe, the remaining 98 players in Event #2 will will transfer to the Casino Barri��re de Cannes Croisette for Day 2 action at 1400 CET (0800 ET). Also on the slate is Event #3: �5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha, which starts up at 1700 CET (1100 ET). Be sure to stay tuned to the PokerNews Live Reporting pages for all of the coverage.
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