Ricardo Manquant Wins the 2015 WSOP International Circuit Main Event in Morocco
The final day of the 2015 World Series of Poker International Circuit Main Event at Casino de Marrakech started with 20 competitors remaining from a 484-entry field. It took until 5 a.m. local time, but eventually a winner was crowned in Ricardo Manquant.
Manquant emerged victorious after defeating Miroslav Alilovic in heads-up play to take home 1,300,000 Dirhams (approx. €122,330), the WSOP Circuit gold ring, as well as a ticket to the WSOP Circuit Championship in 2016. Manquant, a Frenchman, had $388,687 in live earnings thus far according to his Hendon Mob profile and the biggest score to date remains a victory in the World Poker Tour National Marrakech Poker Open in October 2013 for €127,273 at this very same venue.
Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | Prize (Dirhams) | Prize (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricardo Manquant | 1,300,000 | 122,330 |
| 2 | Miroslav Alilovic | 850,000 | 79,985 |
| 3 | Antoine Rahal | 623,000 | 58,624 |
| 4 | Matas Cimbolas | 455,000 | 42,816 |
| 5 | Diego Aranzadi | 345,000 | 32,465 |
| 6 | Najib Bennis | 265,000 | 24,937 |
| 7 | Ramona Gallardo | 215,000 | 20,232 |
| 8 | Fahd Kaabat | 170,000 | 15,997 |
| 9 | Ondrej Milabersky | 137,000 | 12,892 |
Manuel Makiadi led the field into the final day and several of the remaining participants were down to less than 20 big blinds upon restart. Ahmed Boukaddeda was the first to fall and the Moroccan was quickly followed by Thierry Gogniat in 19th place and Inigo Montoya in 18th place.
After a few more eliminations, Alilovic and Matas Cimbolas were atop the overall counts, and it was the Lithuanian Cimbolas who knocked out start-of-the-day chip leader Makiadi in 13th place after winning a coin flip. Robert Giordano in 12th place and Jose Martin in 11th place didn't see the end of Level 26 before the official final table was set with the elimination of Anouar Mehlil.
Ramona Gallardo started nine-handed play with less than 10 big blinds, but it was Ondrej Milaborsky who bowed out in ninth place. Then, Fahd Kaabat ran with pocket queens into pocket aces and had an early dinner break. After several double ups for the short stacks and almost four hours without an elimination, Gallardo busted in a three-way all-in clash and the last remaining woman in the field finished in seventh place.
Najib Bennis was victim of yet another setup and failed to improve with pocket queens versus pocket kings. Diego Aranzadi had escaped elimination three times, but had to settle for fifth place when his king high ended up second best to ace high. The all-French podium was set with the elimination of WPT Nottingham champion Cimbolas, after the Lithuanian lost a flip against eventual winner Manquant.
Down to the final three players, Antoine Rahal took an enormous lead with a runner-runner straight, but the Frenchman still bowed out in third place. Alilovic started the heads-up battle with a slight lead and quickly increased that before getting worked back down without any major showdowns. On the very last hand, Alilovic shoved his last seven big blinds in the dark with the J♥8♥ and didn't get there against the K♣9♠ of Manquant.
With that, the PokerNews Live Reporting team treks onward. There are still a few events you may want to follow along with in our live reporting section, and you can do so by clicking here. Next up will be the European Poker Tour Malta festival, and it plans to be a big one.
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