Saturday, December 5, 2009

Belgium Open Main Event Title Returns to Homeland

Antonio Guida Beats 817-Strong Field to Win Belgium Open Poker Championships 2009


The 2009 Belgium Open Poker Championships played out from Nov. 21 to 29 at Belgium's Casino de Namur, attracting a total field of 817.


The total prize pool for the EUR1,500+EUR200 buy-in event was EUR1,138,877, and the player who took home the biggest part of that was local Antonio Guida. Although first place was due to receive EUR302,946, Guida actually received EUR256,082 due to a deal agreed upon three-handed.


Maurits Blom of the Netherlands was the unfortunate final-table bubble and joined the 71 players on the other side of the rail who had so far received payouts.


The nine players and their chip counts going into the final table were:






Seat 1 -- Antonio Guida (819,000)
Seat 2 -- Dalil Massaud (525,000)
Seat 3 -- Xavier Charlier (940,000)
Seat 4 -- Fabian Gantile (1,286,000)
Seat 5 -- Laurent Gauthier (330,000)
Seat 6 -- Marc Inizan (1,045,000)
Seat 7 -- Barbara Martinez (1,151,000)
Seat 8 -- Joris Springael (1,419,000)
Seat 9 -- Stefan Aerts (1,004,000)




After eight hours of play, the final hand occurred when Antonio Guida opened from the button and Fabian Gantile called. The flop was Kd 10h 7d. Gantile checked, Guida moved all in and Gantile called for his tournament life. Guida showed 6d 2d for the flush draw while Gantile flipped over Kh Jh for top pair. The turn kept Gantile safe with the 4s, but it was meant to be for Guida as the river brought a diamond in the form of a ten.


The 47-year-old from Liege in Belgium was crowned the champion of the event, while Gantile received EUR190,122 for his runner-up finish - slightly more than the original prize of EUR185,070 due to the three-handed deal.


Full list of final table payouts:






1: Antonio Guida - EUR256,082*
2: Fabian Gantile - EUR190,122*
3: Springael Joris - EUR167,089*
4: Dilal Massaud - EUR76,875
5: Xavier Charlier - EUR51,250
6: Barbara Martinez - EUR36,444
7: Stefan Aerts - EUR25,397
8: Laurent Gauthier - EUR18,450
9: Marc Inizan - EUR13,325




* based on deal made three-handed


The tournament was streamed live via http://www.CircusPoker.be and filmed for broadcast, while many other events carried on alongside. One of these events which drew considerable attention was the EUR10,000 Heads-Up Team tournament.This saw six teams of four battle each other in heads-up matches on Nov.25.


The teams who took first and second place were:






First Place - PokerStars (EUR45,000)

Player 1: Arnaud Mattern
Player 2: Bertrand Grospellier
Player 3: Johnny Lodden
Player 4: Julien Brecard

Second Place - Netherlands (EUR15,000)

Player 1: Jasper Wetemans
Player 2: Bert Van Doesburg
Player 3: Jorn Walthaus
Player 4: Marc Naalden




Among other side events on offer at the Belgium Open Poker Championships were a EUR1,000+EUR50 buy-in no-limit hold'em freezeout, a EUR150+EUR10 buy-in no-limit hold'em Bounty freezeout, and a EUR100+EUR10 no-limit hold'em ladies event. All events were well attended and the whole week proved another success for the annual event.


The main event attracted some of the poker world's top professionals including PokerStars Team Pro members such as Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Arnaud Mattern, Johnny Lodden, Noah Boeken, Joep Van Den Bijgaart, Marcel Luske, Pieter De Korver, Thierry Van Den Berg, J.P. Kelly, and Marion Nedellec, and legends from all over Europe including Surinder Sunar, Davidi Kitai, Michel Abecassis, Marc Naalden, and Paul Jackson.


Kenny Hallaert, Poker Manager of Casinos de Namur and Spa, said, "We expected to have about 650-700 players and in the end we had 817, so it was definitely a success. People were also very pleased with the structure, a five-day tournament structure where it took almost 45 hours of play to honour the winner. Something you never see, especially for a tournament with a buy-in of only EUR1,700.


For side event results, photographs, or further information please email Kenny Hallaert at kh@circuspoker.beThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call +32-(0)-476-80-65-35 or Brendan Murray on

Source: melodika.net/

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