2016 WSOPC Caribbean: Jean-Pierre Didier Wins the First Ring

Copy link Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Nov 08, 2016 5 min read Last updated Nov 09, 2016

The first elusive World Series of Poker Circuit ring has been awarded at the 2016 WSOPC Caribbean festival on the sunny island of Sint Maarten. Only 43 hopefuls out of a 236-entry strong field returned to the tables of the Casino Royale and 18 of them would leave empty-handed.

It took almost 10 levels to eventually determine a winner and it was Jean-Pierre Didier who emerged victorious, banking $17,700.

Among those to bust early were Brett Murray and Tahar Slamani. The field was reduced to 39 after the first level of play. Stephane Genet took care of Slamani with a set against two pair and also knocked out Jose Delgado soon after flopping quads sixes. Layne Flack defended in the big blind and then shoved an ace-high flop with a gutshot and a flush draw, Werner Eder looked him up with two pair and ended up with the winning hand.

Chan Ping Hsiung, Ashram Ragoonanan and Sean Stoll fell before the money and the elimination of Jose Duzanson set up the bubble. After a few hands without any showdowns, there were two all-ins and calls at different tables. William "Timmy" Hicks, who started Day 2 as chip leader, shoved with eight-six on the button and Mario Eder called with ace-eight and instantly spiked an ace on the flop. Erwin Hammer ran with king-eight into the aces of Patrick Alain and the duo chopped the min-cash of $670.

Once the money was reached, the eliminations came at a steady pace. Claudie Nannini ran into the flopped nut flush of Pierre Goetz and she was soon joined on the rail by Frederic Maniez, Peter Hajszan, Felix Sang and Ben Beighle. The latter was short and faced the limp of Hatice Demir and shoved with ace-three, Demir called with ace-jack and made a straight. Once Rodrigue Robineau and Arman Bosnakyan were eliminated, the last two tables were set.

Mario Eder faced a huge setback after a trips versus trips setup against Alain and 16 players headed into the dinner break. Tommie Janssen lost all but one ante, but then survived the next all in and made a money jump. Robbie Bakker's exit in 16th place was a big upset. The Dutchman flopped trips sevens only to see Werner Eder fill up to a full house with pocket eights on the river. Janssen joined his countryman on the rail right after and the tournament was down to 14.

The following eliminations of Angelo Flanders, Goetz, David Allafort and Marvin Browne brought the field down to the last 10. Demir then four-bet shoved with ace-queen into the aces of Alain and fell one hand later.

The first casualty on the final table was Jacco van Limpt, who ran with ace-ten into Christophe Enrici's ace-king suited. Augusto Cavazzini had to settle for eighth place after losing a flip with fours against the ace-nine of Alain. Enrici came seventh. He lost most of his stack in a straight over straight spot against Werner Eder to bow out soon after.

Mario Eder followed in sixth; he shoved the small blind with king-seven suited and fellow Austrian Werner Eder called with queen-three suited to flop a three and river a queen. Stephane Genet sent the chips to the very same opponent, his king-jack was no match to the ace-jack of Eder.

What followed was a roller coaster ride for Werner Eder, who eventually got short and busted under cruel circumstances. Dueval Fenton had raised to more than four big blinds and called the shove with six-five suited. Eder had pocket tens and turned a set, but Fenton rivered his gutshot.

With three players remaining, it was all over in just 20 minutes. Fenton turned top pair with queen-seven and Didier snapped him off with aces to get down to heads up. After fewer than a dozen hands, Alain four-bet shoved with ace-jack and Didier called with ace-seven to spike a seven in the window and come out victorious, lifting the trophy.

Willie Janssen Leads Six-Handed Event

The second World Series of Poker Circuit ring awarding tournament at the Caribbean Festival on Sint Maarten saw 45 players take part in the $365 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Event and 16 re-entries were purchased to boost the attendance to 61 entries. The prize pool of $18,300 will be split among the top seven spots and nine players bagged up chips after 14 levels of 30 minutes each.

Wilhelmus "Willie" Janssen has the overnight lead with 122,300 followed by Aroon Maharaj with 100,300 and Switzerland's Joachim Lob with 91,000. Tommie Janssen cashed in the $365 NLHE Event #3 in 15th place and jumped right into the six-handed action. The Dutchman peaked at 180,000 before running dry and putting 80,100 in his bag at the end of play.

The other hopefuls that made it through include Mohamed Bourhaleb (75,400), Sean Stoll (73,200), Alexandre Annovazzi (66,800), Michael Lech (61,000) and Frederic Maniez (54,900).

Notables that participated but failed to bag up chips included Walter Treccarichi, Arman Bosnakyan, Hank Sitton, Jeffrey Colpitts, William Hicks, Attila Juhas, Tony Makhlouf and Dominik French.

Colpitts was among the early leads but fell before the last two tables were reached. Makhlouf lost a big pot against the four-three suited of Tommie Janssen, who had flopped a set, and the remaining chips then vanished in a flip with pocket sevens against the ace-king of Bourhaleb.

Dominik French became the last casualty of the day in the penultimate level when his pocket queens met the ace-king of Stoll, and the flop brought an ace and a king before another ace on the turn left French drawing dead.

In the last level of the day, the lead changed several times and it was Willie Janssen who came out on top after winning a bigger pot against Michael Lech with pocket jacks on a ten-high board.

Day 2 Seat Assignments

The action will recommence with level 15 and blinds of 1,200-2,400 with a running ante of 400. As of Day 2, the level duration increases to 40 minutes and will be 50 minutes on the final table. A min-cash is worth $940, but all eyes are set on the first-place payout of $6,400 and the elusive WSOP Circuit ring that comes along with it.

On Nov. 8, the final nine players of the $365 Six-Handed Event #10 return to the tables at 3:30 p.m. local time and the top seven spots get paid at least $940. The winner will receive $6,400 and the second WSOPC ring of the festival.

The $365 Monster Stack Event #13 will kick off with Day 1 at 6 p.m. local time, a $65 Turbo Satellite for it runs two hours prior. At 9 p.m. local time there's another edition of the $135 Survivor Event that pays $500 to the top 20 percent of the field.

• Tags WSOP
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker