Frederic Marechal Bluffs and Busts His Way to Monster Chiplead as Final Table of Eight Survive Day 3 of Mini Main Event
After three long days of no-limit hold ‘em action at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czechia, the final table of Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event of the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe is set. Frederic Marechal from Belgium may just be dreaming of WSOP gold tonight, as he will come back to the final day with the chiplead, having bagged a massive stack of 43,000,000, worth 86 big blinds at the start of Day 4.
Marechal makes regular poker trips to Rozvadov, although this is his first cash in any WSOP or WSOP Circuit event. If he finishes sixth or higher, he will have locked up his largest-ever live cash, however, with twice as many chips as his nearest contender, his thoughts will most likely be occupied with the gargantuan first-place prize of €213,350., the largest piece of the €1,500,000 prize pool.
In second place sits Luigi Pignataro from Italy with a stack of 17,550,000. Pignataro also cashed in the Mini Main last year, although the €2,350 he received for his 151st place then dwarfs in comparison to what he can walk away with this year. Rounding out the podium is German poker veteran Andreas Krause with 14,000,000 in chips.
Krause’s first cash stems all the way from 1999, and he has racked up over two million in lifetime earnings since then. His best WSOP performance was second place in the $2,500 Stud Hi/Lo event at the 2000 WSOP in Las Vegas. In fact, this will be Krause’s fourth WSOP final table, and he will be looking to close it out this time around.
Also at the final table will be King’s regular Christopher Campisano (12,600,000), Day 1 chipleader Xiaohua Yang (11,450,000), serial WSOP cashers Dimitrios Anastasakis (12,250,000) Luc Ramos (3,775,000), the latter of which is the absolute short stack with less than eight big blinds, and European circuit grinder Frederik Thiemer (8,950,000).
Final Table Seating and Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frederik Thiemer | Germany | 8,950,000 | 18 |
| 2 | Luc Ramos | Switzerland | 3,775,000 | 8 |
| 3 | Christopher Campisano | Italy | 12,600,000 | 25 |
| 4 | Frederic Marechal | Belgium | 43,000,000 | 86 |
| 5 | Andreas Krause | Germany | 14,000,000 | 28 |
| 6 | Dimitrios Anastasakis | Greece | 12,250,000 | 25 |
| 7 | Xiaohua Yang | China | 11,450,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Luigi Pignataro | Italy | 17,550,000 | 35 |
Day 3 Action
The day began with 29 contenders returning from the 1,286 entries made. Stephen Nahm was the only player left who already had a bracelet to his name, but, after a steady flow of eliminations, his quest for a second brutally came to an end in 25th place. His aces got cracked in a preflop all-in pot worth 70 big blinds, after which his top pair got outkicked in a blind-on-blind spot. One hand later, he was eliminated.
The remaining 24 players then redrew across three tables, where the likes of Florian Duta (23rd - €8,020) and Thomas Eychenne (20th - €8,020) ended their runs. Alen Sabic (18th - €8,020) failed to make his second final table of the series before start-of-day chipleader Candido Cappiello finished in 16th.
Cappiello was grinding steadily throughout the day until he folded to a daring bluff from Marechal, who grabbed a lead by winning the pot. Less than an hour later, Cappiello was down to 16 big blinds and lost a preflop all-in against the same Marchal to exit the tournament.
With the event down to two tables, Run It Once coach Ivan Banic (16th - €8,020) and the last American Gary Tatavarti (15th - €9,930) departed, as did Claudio di Giacomo. Di Giacomo finished in fourth place in the €550 Pot Limit Omaha event earlier in the series but fell just short of his second final table in the Mini Main Event, stranding in 12th for €20,280.
Arturo Paduano bowed out in tenth place after his tens could not best Krause's queens. The final nine players converged on the unofficial final table. There, Georgia's final hope Vazha Kometiani was the last player to be eliminated on Day 3, losing a flip against Marechal, who resultingly extended his lead.
The final eight players have guaranteed themselves a payday of €31,050, with the top three receiving six-figure payouts. Of course, being crowned the champion also comes with every poker player's dream, a coveted WSOP bracelet.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize* |
|---|---|
| 1 | €213,350 |
| 2 | €145,550 |
| 3 | €105,850 |
| 4 | €78,650 |
| 5 | €59,950 |
| 6 | €46,850 |
| 7 | €37,650 |
| 8 | €31,050 |
* All remaining payouts include a ticket to the €10,350 WSOP Europe Main Event
The final table will commence tomorrow, September 28, at 1 p.m. local time. Play will restart in Level 33: 250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 big blind ante. There are 28 minutes and 27 seconds remaining in this level, after which each subsequent level will last 60 minutes.
A cards-up live stream will also be broadcast on King's Resort's Twitch and YouTube channels, 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 capture the fourth bracelet of WSOP Europe 2024 and will be crowned Mini Main Event champion.