2012 World Poker Tour Mazagan Day 1a: Guillaume Darcourt Leads
Season XI of the World Poker Tour continued on Tuesday with WPT Mazagan at the luxurious Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort in Morocco. Sixty-six runners made the trek to North Africa for Day 1a, including notables Steve O’Dwyer, Davidi Kitai, Phillippe Ktorza, Kara Scott, Fabrice Soulier and Roger Hairabedian, who won a WPT event in Mazagan back in July.
No one accumulated as many chips during Day 1a as Frenchman Guillaume Darcourt, though. Darcourt bagged 134,800 in chips after winning the final hand of the day during Level 8 with the blinds at 300/600/75. Achiles Voltolina opened in early position, Darcourt called on his direct left, and Elie Payan moved all in for 12,600 on the button. Voltolina and Darcourt called, and the flop fell J♥7♥3♥. Both players checked. The turn was a Qx, the two checked again, and an 8x completed the board. Darcourt fired 17,000, Voltolina called, and Darcourt turned over 10x9x for a straight. Voltolina flashed two aces, and Payan mucked his hand.
The pot made Darcourt the chip leader by a single T100 chip — Jeremie Sarda bagged 134,700.
Unfortunately for Darcourt’s countryman Hairabedian, things didn’t go so smoothly on Day 1a. In his elimination hand, Bruno Fitoussi opened to 500 during Level 3 with the blinds at 100/200, and four players called, including Hairabedian. The flop came 9♥7♠4♦, and the action checked to Emile Petit, who bet 1,200. Hairabedian raised to 3,200, the action folded back to Petit, who re-raised to 7,000, and Hairabedian moved all in. Petit called.
Petit: 4♠4♣
Hairabedian: 6♠5♠
The turn and river came K♥, 2♠, and Hairabedian was eliminated. Joining “Big Roger” on the rail were Koen De Visscher, Thibaud Guenegou, Kitai and Fitoussi.
Fabrice Soulier will be among the chip leaders entering Day 2, despite losing a sizable pot before the dinner break to Rebecca Gerin. The action folded to Soulier who opened to 900 on the button with the blinds in Level 6 at 200/400/50. Gerin three-bet to 2,000 from the small blind, Mehdi Hassani cold-called in the big blind, and Soulier called as well. The flop came 8♠8♦6♠, Gerin led for 2,500, Hassani quickly called, and Soulier called, as well. The turn was the 5♥, and the action checked to Soulier, who bet 3,200. Only Gerin called. The J♥ completed the board, both players checked, and Gerin tabled two aces. They were good as Soulier mucked his hand.
Day 1b of WPT Mazagan is set to begin at 1300 WET (0800 EST). As always, you can find a recap of the day’s action right here on PokerNews.
Data and photo courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com.
Interested in getting in on the action yourself? Check out our PartyPoker review page today and take advantage!
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook now!
