"Montevil21" Wins Marrakech Poker Open Main Event
"Montevil21" has won the 2022 Marrakech Poker Open Main Event in Casino de Marrakech. It's the first time since the pandemic that the Es Saadi resort held a big poker festival and the success was obvious. "Montevil21" defeated a field of 426 entries, including 192 reentries, to collect the first place prize of DH 1,000,000 Moroccan (€100,000) and the trophy.
Recreational player Ahmed Bourma ended up in second place for DH 700,000 (€70,000), in the same place where he started the day, while regular player of the Marrakech Casino, [Removed:445], was eliminated in third place for DH 475,000 (€47,500).
2022 Marrakech Poker Open Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in MAD) | Prize (in EUR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Montevil21" | Spain | DH 1,000,000 | €100,000 | |
| 2 | Ahmed Bourma | Morocco | DH 700,000 | €70,000 | |
| 3 | [Removed:445] | Morocco | DH 475,000 | €47,500 | |
| 4 | Mounim Kaddouri | France | DH 335,000 | €33,500 | |
| 5 | "OCD" | Spain | DH 230,000 | €23,000 | |
| 6 | Muhammed Hakim | Morocco | DH 170,000 | €17,000 | |
| 7 | Bachir Moutki | Morocco | DH 137,000 | €13,700 | |
| 8 | Rakesh Lalwani | India | DH 110,000 | €11,000 | |
| 9 | "David" | Spain | DH 90,000 | €9,000 |
MPO Main Event Final Day Action
At 2 p.m., 12 out of 429 players returned to Casino de Marrakech with each of them already guaranteed DH 63,000 (€6,300) for surviving two days. As for Day 1 and Day 2, "Montevil21" was leading the way and never found himself endangered during the whole day of play.
Most eyes were on WSOP champion Jean-Luc Adam, who was amongst the short stacks at the start of the final day and didn’t find any good run to finish in 12th place for DH 63,000 (€6,300). He was followed at the payout desk only a few seconds later by Mohamed Ait Chaib and Ali Ait Al Haj to set up the final table setting.
"Montevil21" was one of three Spanish players left in the field at the start of the day, the others being "David" who finished his run in ninth place and "OCD", who managed to navigate with a short stack for a few hours to eventually lose his last chips against his fellow countryman, "Montevil21", for DH 230,000 (€23,000).
Rakesh Lalwani, despite many double-ups at the end of Day 2, was next to join the rail when he shoved his pocket jacks against Mounim Kaddouri who had nothing else but pocket aces. It was Lalwani's third final table of the week, after good scores in The Opener and the High Roller.
Haho was responsible for the next departures, with the eliminations of Bachir Moutki and Muhammed Hakim in seventh and sixth place, allowing Haho to claim a temporary chiplead over "Montevil21".
Kaddouri made his way to the payout desk only 30 minutes later when he lost his last ten big blinds with ace-six while Bourma's ace-king held on a dry board. The only French player of the final table received DH 335,000 (€33,500) for his efforts.
Three-handed play started out as a nervous affair. It took more than a level and a half to lose the first player, Haho, who shoved preflop with ace-jack but only to find pocket jacks in "Montevil21"'s hand.
With that, heads-up play began with "Montevil21" with 9,700,000 in chips compared to Bourma’s 3,600,000. It didn’t take long for all of the chips to make their way to the middle, when Bourma ended up calling all in with ace-ten after a three-bet from "Montevil21" who held ace-king, and didn't find a double-up.
And so it came to pass that "Montevil21" secured the Main Event title, the €100,000 in winnings and the trophy to cap off what has been a hugely enjoyable Marrakech Poker Open.
PokerNews will be back on Moroccan soil in January as action will heat up again for the WSOP Circuit Event. See you soon in the sunny and colorful city of Marrakech!