Casino Blankenberge, a gaming venue in Belgium, recently played host to the 2018 Unibet Poker Belgian Championship Main Event. The tournament had a buy-in of €550, with 438 players registering to compete. In the end, it was Christophe De Meulder who outlasted his fellow poker players to claim the win, earning €42,020 for his efforts.
Starting with the Chip Lead:
When final table play began, De Meulder held the chip lead. There were nine players seated, with Fabrice Halleux being the first to go. His pocket deuces just couldn’t hold up to Dominque Potenza’s King-Eight suited. Werner Schroons was next to exit, followed by Peter Dupont.
According to Unibet Poker blog…
Peter Dupont would exit in 6th place after taking on De Meulder. The ace-10 of De Meulder was too much for the King-queen of Dupont and he saw his tournament life come to an end. Jonas Van Baelen, Koen Lauwereys and Dominique Potenza would be eliminated in that order, leaving De Meulder and Samir Akhoullou to begin heads-up play.
Down but not Out:
When heads-up play began, Akhoullou would have the chip lead, with a 3 to 2 advantage over De Meulder. However, the lead would not last for long. De Meulder would even the odds before eventually taking a huge lead with a 16 to 1 chip stack.
At this time, the final hand would go down, with De Meulder holding pocket sixes and Akhoullou holding 8-4 suited. Akhoullou would call an all-in of De Meulder to see the flop of 2-7-5 giving him a straight draw. A six on the turn gave the pro a straight but it gave De Meulder the option for a full house on the river and with a five as the final card, the pro would earn his full house and the event win.
Final Results:
First Christophe De Meulder €42,020 Second Samir Akhoullou €26,270 Third Dominique Potenza €18,120 Fourth Koen Lauwereys €13,420 Fifth Jonas Van Baelen €10,320 Sixth Tom Hermans €7,940 Seventh Peter Dupont €6,350 Eighth Werner Schroons €5,080 Ninth Fabrice Halleux €4,070