A three-way all-in and call situation occurred on Table 8 with Risom Norgaard in the hijack at risk for 400,000, Henri Lansade all-in as well with 520,000 chips, and Mohamed Henni under the gun who had the biggest stack.
Risom Norgaard: K♥10♥
Henri Lansade: 9♠9♣
Mohamed Henni: A♥K♣
After the flop of 7♥6♦7♠, Henni hit the K♦ turn to take the lead and to eliminate both of his opponents after the 3♠ river.
Nicolas Plantin raised to 140,000 from the cutoff, then Jonathan Pastore in the small blind three-bet to 500,000. Antonio Espinosa in the big blind decided to go all-in for approximately 800,000. Plantin folded, but Pastore called.
Antonio Espinosa: A♣J♣
Jonathan Pastore: A♦A♥
Espinosa ran into Pastore's aces, so he was eliminated on K♥7♦4♥2♥2♦. The table broke after this hand.
Alvaro Aparicio raised to 200,000 from under the gun, Benjamin Hammann three-bet to 500,000, on the button, and Aparicio called.
The A♦J♣6♠ flop checked through to the 5♣ turn. Aparicio took the lead for 300,000 and Hammann called.
The A♣ river saw Aparicio try to place a more sizable wager, but the string-like movement of his action resulted in a bet of just 100,000 being made. Hammann responded with a raise to 500,000 and Aparicio called. Hammann showed A♠7♠ for trips, while Aparicio mucked K♣J♠ face up.
Julien Sitbon, who was under the gun, moved all in for 1,300,000. Gyula Viski, in the cutoff, moved all in himself for 2,300,000 and Matthieu Lamagnere, on the button, called to have them both at risk.
Julien Sitbon: 8♥8♦
Gyula Viski: 9♥9♦
Matthieu Lamagnere: A♦A♦
Lamagnere woke up with the goods, and the 3♥10♠2♦10♣J♦ runout saw his aces hold. Both Sitbon and Viski were eliminated, bringing the player count down to 17 and concluding play for the night.
Out of the 252 players who returned for Day 2 of the 2024 Winamax Poker Open Bratislava Main Event, only 17 remain at the end of the night. They are the final contenders from a field of 1,516 entrants, and tomorrow, they will battle for the first-place prize of €90,000 and the title.
Victor Hoogstoel was also on a WPO final table earlier in his career, during last year’s WPO Bratislava. He holds 2,820,000 at the end of Day 2, so a back-to-back final table is still possible. Unlike Hoogstoel, the defending champion Martin Bartos (82nd - €1,450) and 2023 finalist Victor Fryda (209th - €1,000) were eliminated on Day 2.
Victor Hoogstoel
Nicolas Plantin and Jonathan Pastore shared the same table almost all day long. It was "a good day of work" for them, as they bagged 6,960,000 and 6,385,000 chips, respectively.
The day was a bit tougher for Alvaro Aparicio (1,885,000) and Arthur Lacroix (1,730,000). The Spanish player initially built up a stack but was caught bluffing after the dinner break, and the French player moved all-in a few times during the last level and eventually managed to double up. Both will return tomorrow with just under 20 big blinds.
Jonathan Pastore
Although 17 players qualified, more than 200 players went to the cashier to collect their prizes. Early in the day, Winamax Team Pros Gaelle Baumann (242nd), Alexane Najchaus (235th), Romain Lewis (204th), and Adrian Mateos (200th) min-cashed. 2023 Winamax Poker Tour winner Sebastien Lesoif (€1,100) and 2024 Sismix champion Anthony Dasbourg (149th - €1,100) went a bit deeper in the tournament, along with Mikael "Shishi" Berrio (139th - €1,200), who ran his sevens into queens.
Adrian Mateos
After WSOP bracelet winners Leo Margets (132nd - €1,200) and Timur Margolin (112th - €1,350) were eliminated, Omar Lakhdariwas caught bluffing at the feature table, finishing in 84th place for €1,450.
Lakhdari was followed by Mustapha Kanit (58th - €1,850), while French influencer Mohamed Hennieliminated two players at once with ace-king. He ultimately hit the rail with fours against kings, finishing 37th for €2,100, at the same time as Day 1b chip leader Ludovic Palain (35th - €2,500). 2024 WSOP Main Event finalist Malo Latinois put in another solid performance, finishing 30th (€2,500). Finally, Sitbon's elimination in 19th place (€3,500) concluded the day.
Malo Latinois, Julien Sitbon
The third and final table will commence tomorrow, September 29, at 12:30 local time. Play will restart in Level 29, featuring blinds of 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante. There are 6 minutes remaining in this level, after which each subsequent level will last 40 minutes.
A cards-up live stream will also be broadcast on WinamaxTV on a 30-minute delay, with the live report following the same delay.
Make sure to check back in with PokerNews tomorrow to find out who will be crowned The 2024 WPO Bratislava champion!
