Day 1 of the €2,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament kicked off the 2011 season of the World Series of Poker Europe, where 360 players arrived in Cannes, France to try to get a slice of the action. This event is the first of seven this year, and the turnout suggests that this will be the biggest year of the WSOPE yet, giving some credence to pundits who had theorized that the shutdown of American poker would lead to more live play and greater turnouts in tournaments, at least for the next year.
Friday saw eight levels of hour-long play, and, at the end, France’s Flavian Guenan held the chip lead, with 108,800. The only other player with more than 100k chips was Benjamin Pollack, who had been the chip leader until Guenan made a steal at the end of the day’s action that pushed him into first place. It seemed to everyone watching that the day was over after Pollack sent Nicolas Levi to the rail taking his chips and vaulting to first place. Levi opened the action pre-flop with a raise and Pollack, who held QsJs, called. The flop brought two more spades, and the river brought another, giving Pollack an Ace-high flush, enough to eliminate Levi, who had followed Pollack’s lead and gone all-in.
Only two players were left after Pollack closed out the action at his table– Flavien Guenan and Alessandro Speranza. The board showed Jc4d2s, and Speranza bet, prompting the Frenchman to check, which he did once more when the 9s arrived with the turn. Speranza bet again, and Guenan called. The Ks came with the river, and when Guenan checked for a third time, Speranza decided to bid one last time and went all-in. Guenan called and took the pot with a pair of Jacks, making him the day’s new chip leader.
While few people were around to see the action that changed the lead at the end of Day 1, players, spectators and media alike have all been commenting on the scenery in Cannes, where the Hotel Majestic Barriere has been dazzling everyone with its class and connection to the Cannes Film Festival. The 80 players that moved on to the second day of this tournament (including Phil Hellmuth, who is looking for not only his 12th WSOP bracelet but also a chance to snag the Player of the Year title away from Ben Lamb, who is currently in the lead, Vanessa Selbst, John Racener, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Daniel Negreanu) will have another day to take in the beauty of this gorgeous locale. It’s still anyone’s bet who will take home the €215,999 first place prize, but there’s no shortage of great players left in the game, so the competition will be fierce as we go into Day 2.
At the end of Day 1, the chip counts for the leaders are:
- Flavien Guenan – 108,800
- Benjamin Pollack – 106,425
- Antonio Venneri – 99,575
- Casey Kastle – 86,100
- Peter Jetten – 71,275
- Anton Wigg – 67,075
- Bruno Benveniste – 64,475
- Alessandro Speranza – 52,900
- Luca Falaschi – 52,000
- Tapio Vihakas – 51,000