Manuel Makiadi Leads After Day 2 of the 2015 WSOP International Circuit Main Event in Marrakech
The second day of the 2015 World Series of Poker International Circuit Main Event at Casino de Marrakech restarted with 172 players remaining. After three 45-minute levels and eight 60-minute levels, the field was reduced to the final 20 contenders. Manuel Makiadi finished leading the field with 1,700,000 in chips.
With the top 53 spots paid at least �2,353, more than 100 participants left empty handed. Paul Francois Tedeschi had his aces cracked by ace-king early on, and Guillaume Darcourt was out of the door not much later despite doubling up in the very first hand. El Mostafa Ederoua, Dimitri Halliez, Brian Benhamou, Rakesh Lalwani, Rebecca Gerin, Anthony Rodrigues, Guillaume Diaz, Ben Warrington, Kuljinder Sidhu, and Omar Lakhdari were all equally fortunate.
At the end of Level 19, the bubble was reached but didn't burst until everyone returned from the dinner break. It was Kamal Sefrioui who finished in 54th place after running into the pocket queens of Abdel Omais. Once in the money, World Poker Tour Nottingham Matas Cimbolas and Jay Santos clashed in a million-chip pot with the better end for the Lithuanian. Santos recovered, but ultimately had to settle for 25th place.
The aforementioned Omais was eliminated by Miroslav Alilovic and the WPT National Brussels finalist shot to the top of the leaderboard. Other notables who cashed but didn't advance to Day 3 included Manuel Sadornil (52nd), 2011 WPT Marrakech runner-up Toufik Ourini (45th), Olivier Averso (31st), Pierre Merlin (29th) and Day 1a chip leader Frederic Rizzo in 27th place.
Several players were hovering above one million in chips and Makiadi claimed 1,700,000 to take the lead for the final on Sunday. He was followed by Ricardo Manquant (1,497,000) and Mohamed Sekkat (1,420,000). Alilovic (1,380,000) as well as Cimbolas (1,135,000) have decent stacks as well, whereas Martial Blangenwitsch (400,000) finished among the several short stacks.
Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time with blinds at 10,000/20,000 and a running ante of 3,000. All remaining participants are guaranteed at least �5,458 for their efforts and the winner will receive approximately �122,330, the WSOP Circuit gold ring as well as an invitation to the exclusive WSOP Circuit Championship.
The PokerNews team will follow along the action Sunday until a champion is crowned. Good night and see you tomorrow!