Former MILLIONS Online Champion Chalot Progresses in PPC Winter Main Event

The second of six scheduled PartyPoker Championship (PPC) Winter Edition Main Event flights is in the bag, with Day 1B attracting 138 entrants. Only 21 of those starters punched their Day 2 tickets, and a familiar face was among them.

Benjamin Chalot had a reputation as a skilful, fearless poker player before he hit the headlines in 2019. Chalot was one of 2,109 entrants in the 2019 edition of our MILLIONS Online tournament. Playing under the alias “frenchsniperrr,” the Hungary-based Frenchman struck a deal with “Lucio” when heads-up, a deal that netted Chalot $2,259,113.

Chalot now has a legitimate chance of becoming the champion of the PPC Winter Edition Main Event, having progressed from Day 1B on New Year’s Day. Chalot bagged up a stack of 5,132,455 chips, enough for third place on Day 1B and eighth overall with four flights remaining. It would take a brave person to bet against Chalot building on his impressive start and helping himself to a larger slice of the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Only two players accumulated more chips than Chalot on Day 1B. Denmark’s Oskar Massesson turned his 500,000 starting stack into a colossal pile of chips worth 10,834,120. Massesson now only trails Ukraine’s Ihor Hula going into Day 2; Hula finished Day 1A with a tournament-leading 11,248,789 stack.

Others who made it through Day 1B relatively unscathed included Carlos Chadha-Villamarin (5,682,736), Dalton Hobold (4,167,842), Swedish legend Niklas Astedt (4,033,315), Astedt’s fellow Swede Jerry Odeen (3,610,984), Jans Arends (2,153,669), our very own Matthew Staples (2,085,016), Finnish sensation Tomi Brouk (1,840,990), and Artur Martirosian (1,504,600).

Day 1C shuffles up and deals at 19:05 GMT on January 8. Don’t forget you can win your way into this flight from as little as $0.01, with the 20x $530 seats guaranteed satellite taking place at 17:00 GMT on January 8.

PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1B Top 10 Chip Counts

Place | Player | Player | Chips
1 | Oskar Massesson | Denmark | 10,834,120
2 | Carlos Chadha-Villa | Canada | 5,682,736
3 | Benjamin Chalot | Hungary | 5,132,455
4 | Marin Georgiev | United Kingdom | 4,476,807
5 | Dalton Hobold | Brazil | 4,167,842
6 | Jakub Maryska | Czech Republic | 4,113,091
7 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 4,033,315
8 | Tomas Devenney | Ireland | 3,729,845
9 | Jerry Odeen | Sweden | 3,610,984
10 | Aleksandr Zhilin | Argentina | 3,097,783

Garbutt Grabs Mini Main Event Day 1B Lead

The United Kingdom’s Richard Garbutt thoroughly enjoyed himself on Day 1B of the $55 buy-in $100,000 PPC Winter Edition Mini Main Event. Garbutt ended the night with the most chips of any of the 51 survivors, from a field of 343 entrants, and now has every chance of winning this tournament.

Garbutt ended Day 1B with 10,659,269 chips in his arsenal. Only Day 1A leader, Mark Truschkowski (13,323,996) has more betting tokens available to them.

Finland’s Teemu Laitinen came close to breaking through the 10 million chip barrier, but ultimately finished with a still very respectable 9,504,730 stack.

Some of the other grinders to look out for on Day 2, having punched their Day 2 tickets on January 1, include Travis Darroch (4,621,926), Fabio Sperling (4,062,582), Martin Mulsow (2,499,100), and Michael Sklenicka (2,288,729).

PPC Winter #01 Mini Main Event Day 1B Top 10 Chip Counts

Place | Player | Player | Chips
1 | Richard Garbutt | United Kingdom | 10,659,269
2 | Teemu Laitinen | Finland | 9,504,730
3 | Brynley Davison | United Kingdom | 8,418,776
4 | Tomas Patka | Austria | 8,133,728
5 | Christos Symeonidis | Greece | 7,034,729
6 | Leonardo Ferreira Cardoso | Brazil | 6,360,071
7 | Jonathan Klingenberg | Germany | 4,717,432
8 | Travis Darroch | Canada | 4,621,926
9 | Jan Kalensky | Czech Republic | 4,605,189
10 | Paul Wood | United Kingdom | 4,357,410

Skovsen Secures The Grand Title After Heads-Up Chop

While Denmark’s Oskar Massesson was busy becoming the PPC Winter Edition Main Event Day 1B chip leader, fellow Dane Jonathan Skovsen was making his way toward The Grand Title. Ninety-five players bought in for $1,050 and it was Skovsen who was the last player standing.

Skovsen found himself heads-up against Alexander Tkatschew of Austria after the likes of Ihor Hula, Christopher Day, Roman Hrabec, and Alexandros Theologis had bowed out at the final table. With the difference between first and second-place money being vast, the heads-up duo struck a deal that concluded the event.

Tkatschew officially finished second and banked $18,198, leaving Skovsen to become a PPC champion, an accolade that came with a bankroll-boosting $19,968 in prize money, which happens to be the largest prize of the series so far.

PPC Winter #05 The Grand Final Table Results

Place | Player | Player | Prize
1 | Jonathan Skovsen | Denmark | $19,968*
2 | Alexander Tkatschew | Austria | $18,198*
3 | Alexandros Theologis | Austria | $10,626
4 | Roman Hrabec | Austria | $7,749
5 | Christopher Day | United Kingdom | $5,958
6 | Ihor Hula | Ukraine | $4,928
7 | Patrick Cyr | Canada | $4,291
8 | Gytis Lazauninkas | Ireland | $3,768
9 | Luke Jones | United Kingdom | $3,281

*reflects a heads-up deal