Benjamin Hamman Leads Final 17 After Day 2 of the WPO Bratislava
Out of the 252 players who returned for Day 2 of the 2024 Winamax Poker Open Bratislava Main Event, only 17 remain at the end of the night. They are the final contenders from a field of 1,516 entrants, and tomorrow, they will battle for the first-place prize of €90,000 and the title.
After a relatively short day, Benjamin Hammann ended up as the chip leader. He climbed to the top of the chip counts early in the day and never dropped from the leading positions. He finished by eliminating Yann Nasser just a few minutes before the day ended, bagging 10,070,000 chips.
2024 WPO Bratislava Main Event Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip count | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Hammann | France | 10,070,000 | 101 |
| 2 | Dylan Cechowski | France | 7,925,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Matthieu Lamagnere | France | 7,200,000 | 72 |
| 4 | Nicolas Plantin | France | 6,960,000 | 70 |
| 5 | Jonathan Pastore | France | 6,385,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Aliosha Staes | Belgium | 4,730,000 | 47 |
| 7 | Oscar Peleg | Sweden | 4,390,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Anton Markachev | Russian Federation | 3,790,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Clement Albert | France | 3,680,000 | 37 |
| 10 | Timothe Labassa | France | 3,575,000 | 36 |
| 11 | Valentin Imperatore | France | 3,480,000 | 35 |
| 12 | Americ Stiller | Germany | 2,980,000 | 30 |
| 13 | Victor Hoogstoel | France | 2,820,000 | 28 |
| 14 | Johnny Andreassen | Denmark | 2,420,000 | 24 |
| 15 | Hugo Menant | France | 1,970,000 | 20 |
| 16 | Alvaro Aparicio | Spain | 1,885,000 | 19 |
| 17 | Arthur Lacroix | France | 1,730,000 | 17 |
Dylan Cechowski “spent the whole day with 10 big blinds” but managed to win big pots during the last level, finishing second in chips with 7,925,000.
The podium is completed by Matthieu Lamagnere, who also had a short stack for a long time. However, he doubled up with kings against Julien Sitbon, then eliminated both the last remaining Winamax Team Pro and Gyula Viski with aces, concluding the day with 7,200,000 chips. Thanks to this stack, he could be headed for a second consecutive final table of a Winamax event, after finishing sixth of the Sismix in May.
Victor Hoogstoel was also on a WPO final table earlier in his career, during last year’s WPO Bratislava. He holds 2,820,000 at the end of Day 2, so a back-to-back final table is still possible. Unlike Hoogstoel, the defending champion Martin Bartos (82nd - €1,450) and 2023 finalist Victor Fryda (209th - €1,000) were eliminated on Day 2.
Nicolas Plantin and Jonathan Pastore shared the same table almost all day long. It was "a good day of work" for them, as they bagged 6,960,000 and 6,385,000 chips, respectively.
The day was a bit tougher for Alvaro Aparicio (1,885,000) and Arthur Lacroix (1,730,000). The Spanish player initially built up a stack but was caught bluffing after the dinner break, and the French player moved all-in a few times during the last level and eventually managed to double up. Both will return tomorrow with just under 20 big blinds.
Although 17 players qualified, more than 200 players went to the cashier to collect their prizes. Early in the day, Winamax Team Pros Gaelle Baumann (242nd), Alexane Najchaus (235th), Romain Lewis (204th), and Adrian Mateos (200th) min-cashed. 2023 Winamax Poker Tour winner Sebastien Lesoif (€1,100) and 2024 Sismix champion Anthony Dasbourg (149th - €1,100) went a bit deeper in the tournament, along with Mikael "Shishi" Berrio (139th - €1,200), who ran his sevens into queens.
After WSOP bracelet winners Leo Margets (132nd - €1,200) and Timur Margolin (112th - €1,350) were eliminated, Omar Lakhdari was caught bluffing at the feature table, finishing in 84th place for €1,450.
Lakhdari was followed by Mustapha Kanit (58th - €1,850), while French influencer Mohamed Henni eliminated two players at once with ace-king. He ultimately hit the rail with fours against kings, finishing 37th for €2,100, at the same time as Day 1b chip leader Ludovic Palain (35th - €2,500). 2024 WSOP Main Event finalist Malo Latinois put in another solid performance, finishing 30th (€2,500). Finally, Sitbon's elimination in 19th place (€3,500) concluded the day.
The third and final table will commence tomorrow, September 29, at 12:30 local time. Play will restart in Level 29, featuring blinds of 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante. There are 6 minutes remaining in this level, after which each subsequent level will last 40 minutes.
A cards-up live stream will also be broadcast on WinamaxTV on a 30-minute delay, with the live report following the same delay.
Make sure to check back in with PokerNews tomorrow to find out who will be crowned The 2024 WPO Bratislava champion!