Sam El Sayed wins WPT Amneville!
Sam El Sayed raised from the button to 800K. Franck made the call. The flop came 
and Franck check/called 800K. On the turn 
, Franck checked again and Sam fired 2 millions. Franck shoved all-in and was instantly called by Sam, who could win the tournament if he won the hand.
Sam El Sayed : 
Franck Pepe : 
on the river did it for Sam. Sam El Sayed has won the first World Poker Tour of Amneville and the 426,425€. Franck Pepe won 226,613€ for his second place.
1 Sam El Sayed 426,425 € + an entry to WPT World Championship at Bellagio (worth 25,000$)
2 Franck Pepe 229,613 € + an entry to the next WPT Paris (worth 10,000€)
3 Ilan Boujenah 161,550 €
4 Nesrin Kourdourli 109,886 €
5 William Bresson 79,545 €
6 Jean-Paul Pasqualini 62,323 €
7 Julien Robert 46,743 €
8 Georges Chehade 34,442 €
Final Table Pictures
[miniflickr photoset_id=”72157625199884377″]04.50
Ilan Boujenah is out in 3rd!
It took a while but we are now heads up – Sam El Sayed vs Franck Pepe.
On the 
, Sam bet 250K, called by Ilan. While the room was mostly asleep – the action slowed down the last hour – but there was action on the turn 
. Sam bet 1 million and Ilan shoved for 3.5 millions total. Quick call by Sam.
Ilan : 
Sam : 
Ilan had 44% of the cards remaining in the deck on his side, but the river was a blank 
.
Ilan Boujenah has been eliminated in 3rd place winning 161,550 €.
03.45
We just got a preflop showdown between Sam El Sayed and Ilan Boujenah. Ilan was the player at risk and moved all-in against a button raise from Sam.
Sam El Sayed : 
Ilan Boujenah : 
The board ran 
giving Ilan a better flush to win the pot and survive. The stacks of all three players are now even at around 5 million.
03.30
Sam raised to 360K and Ilan made it 880K to go, Sam called. The flop 
was checked by both players. On the turn 
, Ilan bet one cool million and got called. The river 
was checked down and the Ace-high of Sam beat the King-high of Ilan.
02.30
Nesrin Kourdourli is out in 4th!
Ilan bet 250K, called by Franck, and Ness squeezed all-in for 1.7M. Ilan tanked a while and called.
Franck called the 1.7M and we saw the flop on a 6M pot. Flop was 
and Ilan moved all-in. Franck folded and cards were turned:
Ness : 
Ilan :
Turn: 
River:
Nesrin Kourdourli is eliminated in 4th place, winning 109,886€!
02.00
Chip counts:
Franck Pepe 6,950,000
Ilan Boujenah 5,000,000
Nesrine Kourdourli 2,590,000
Sam El Sayed 1,690,000
01.10
Franck Pepe open-shoved with 
and got called by Sam El Sayed with . Flop was 
and Franck was in very good shape to bust Sam. But the turn was the 
, which got Sam back in the game. The river was the (4h] and Sam doubled up.
After this hand, Franck Pepe moved all-in a few times without getting called, until a hand where both him and Ilan were all-in on the turn on a 
board.
Franck : for flush draw
Ilan : 
for ace-high
River was the 
making the crowd scream, and Franck is back in the game.
00.40
William Bresson eliminated in 5th place!
Short-stack, William Bresson shoved his last blinds with Ace-Queen and was called by Ness with a pair of Nines.
The board brought no help to William who is eliminated in 5th place, winning 79,545 €
00.30
Latest chip count:
Nessrine Kourdourli : 2 000K
Franck Pepe : 1 600K
Wilfried Bresson : 900K
Ilan Boujenah : 8 700K
Sam El Sayed : 2 800K
00.15
Ilan Boujenah was under the gun and raised to 160,000. Ness and Sam both called from the blinds. The flop came 
. Ilan bet 290K, but Ness check/raised him 700,000. Sam folded and Ilan re-raised to 1.5M. Ness was not going anywhere and made it 3 million total. Insta-shove for Ilan and time to do the maths. Ness had just 420K to add in a 8 million pot. Both players are on the showdown :
Ilan Boujenah: 
“Ness”:
Turn and river keeps Ilan in the lead and he is now up to 8.7M
23.10
Jean-Paul Pasqualini eliminated in 6th place!
The action goes crazy preflop and Pasqualini is all-in preflop, called by Ilan Boujenah. Again, he have a huge setup :
Pasqualini:
Boujenah:
The board ran 
.
Jean-Paul Pasqualini is eliminated, he made a pretty good final table being the shortstack at the beginning of the day. He wins 62,323 €.
22.40
Julien Robert out 7th!
Julien Robert raised prefop and Sam made the call in position.
Two players saw a flop 
. Julien bet out and Sam raised enough to put him on all-in, and Julien quickly called.
This was a coin-flip, Julien held while Sam had . The turn was an 
and Julien needed a club to survive, but river was the .
Julien is out in 7th position and wins 46,743€
22.00
Latest chip counts:
Nesrine Kourdourli 6,390,000
Sam El Sayed 2,620,000
Ilan Boujenah 2,240,000
Wilfried Bresson 1,475,000
Jean-Paul Pasqualini 1,370,000
Julien Robert 1,185,000
Franck Pepe 950,000
21.00
Big pot!
Ness raised to 110K and got called by Sam and Julien. The flop was and Ness fired a C-bet for 180K.
Sam raised quickly to 380K and Ness called. Turn was the 
and fasten your seat belts please: Ness checks, Sam bets 450K and Ness raises to 1 million straight.
Sam tanks a while, asking for the remaining chip-count of Ness, and eventually moves all-in for 3.6M!
Ness snap-calls with and Sam shows his air bluff with . He’d dead to three outs. The river is another Queen and Ness takes down a huge pot!
19.00
Latest chip counts:
Seat 1: Ilan Boujenah 2,450,000
Seat 2: Julien Robert 2,100,000
Seat 3: Wilfried Bresson 2,050,000
Seat 5: Franck Pepe 1,120,000
Seat 6: Nesrine Nourdourli 2,700,000
Seat 7: Sam El Sayed 5,000,000
Seat 8: Jean-Paul Pasqualini 1,000,000
18.45
Ness raised to 105,000 and Jean-Paul Pasqualini called in position. On the flop, Nerin check/folded and Jean-Paul showed a pair of tens.
Ness raised from the SB and Sam defended. The flop was . Ness fired 150,000 and Sam snap-called. Turn was a and the action went check/check. River was the 
and Ness bet 315,000. Quick call for Sam who mucked his hand after seeing the of Ness for nuts flush.
18.30
Ilan raised to 92K, Wilfried called, so did Sam from the SB. Flop was 
and after a check from Sam, Wilfried made a c-bet to 160,000. Both opponents folded.
On a , Franck Pepe bet 160K, called by Ilan. The turn was a and the Seven Casino local player moved all-in. Ilan folded.
Blinds are now 25K/50K with a 5k ante.
18.15
Georges Chehade is out in 8th place! He found himself all-in with a low straight versus the nut straight of Wilfried Bresson. Georges takes home 34,442 €.
18.10
Sayed raised to 88,000 and Ilan, very quiet so far, re-raised to 220,000. Action back to Sam who folded his hand while flashing the ace of diamonds.
18.05
Action folded to Franck Pepe who called from the SB. Ness checked her option. Flop was and Franck check/called 60K.
Turn was the and Ness fired 60K again. Raised to 210K by Franck and quickly called. River wentcheck/check and Ness turned over Nine-Deuce for the winning hand.
Shortly after Ness raised to 100K pre-flop and Jean-Paul Pasqualini moved all-in for about 750K. Ness folded.
17.50
Wilfried Bresson raised to 65,000 and Ness made the call from the big blind. The flop came and Ness bet 60,000. Wilfried raised to 140,000 and Ness 3-bet for 360,000 forcing her opponent to fold.
17.45
Two squeezes in a row from Sam El Sayed:
Wilfried raised to 90K, Ness called from SB and Sam El Sayed made 290K to go from the big blind. Quick fold for Wilfried but Ness tanked a while before folding.
Next hand, George Chehade raised to 85K and Franck Pepe called from the cutoff. Sam El Sayed squeezed again, this time to 385K. Both opponents folded.
A nice result for Sayed who’s exploiting the presence of short-stacks at the table.
17.40
Group photo from the start of play today:
More information on our finalists:
Sam El Sayed
This experienced Swiss poker shark sure has a lot to bring to the table – he has been playing for 24 years and has great live and online results including a huge cash in the Sunday Million and playing live all over the world.
The fabulous poker world has got him so interested that he decided to leave his job as a sales representative and become a poker pro but when he is not playing, you will usually find him snowboarding or busting some moves at the dance floor to R’n’B. Originally from Lebanon, Sam loves Asian food and can not live without a beach.
Nesrine Kourdourli
Who says girls can’t play poker? This fab lady who is usually in charge of ACF qualifiers decided to jump in their shoes and qualify herself. And what an amazing job she did – only 25 and already at the WPT Final table!
Ness, as her friends call her, loves shopping and spends her free time watching ‘Gossip girl’. If she takes this one down, which we are sure she will, since she was mentored by Bruno Fitoussi, she will have a lot of shopping to do!
Wilfried Bresson
It is not rare to see poker players bringing their families to rail them when they play a final table. This chatty 36 year old player from Lorraine sure is one of them. Apart from playing poker for the past 2 years, Wilfried adores spending time with his 2 kids and hopefully teaching them all the skills he has so they can become successful just like their dad.
Georges Chehade
Another player joining this exotic line up is Chehade, or as some might know him as Chorchy. Originally from Lebanon, This 42 year old hotelier is very keen on this title. With 10 years of poker experience, APPT FT and role models like Daniel Negreanu, how can he miss it?
Julien Robert
If you thought this table will not have some young blood to represent – you were wrong. Julien is 25, has been playing for 3 years and is determined to win. How could he not, after all he has been following his idol, Gus Hansen and learning from his game. Gus just got a bracelet, Julien – your time to shine!
Jean-Paul Pasqualini
It is going to get very serious at this table when ‘el Korsico’ decides to take the action. With many years of experience and already cashing in WPT events, this 50 year old father of one will have a lot to show. Especially because his favorite player happens to be Phil Ivey.
Ilan Boujenah
The youngest player at the table might happen to be the most dangerous one. Comparing his game to Dwan, Annette and Jorgensen, Ilan just might give us that aggressive edge that we are not expecting from the older players. Playing poker for 3 years, he already finished 9th once in the WPT. Can he do it again?
Franck Pepe
No, it is not the famous lover-boy, it is a young sales representative that has been playing for 3 years and only entered the WPT circuit once. His friends convinced him to play and they were not wrong. Pepe will put his headphones in his ears, turn some rap on and show us what he’s got.
17.25
We are back. Level 26. Blinds are 20,000 / 40,000. Ante 4,000. Average stack is just above 2,000,000. Here is a video of our 8 final table participants:
17.10
…and just as we have started the level 25 has finished and we are on a 15-minute break.
16.40
…and we are underway. Blinds are 15,000 / 30,000, ante is 3,000. Average chipstack is just above 2,000,000.
15.40
Final table play is scheduled to start at 16.00. Stay tuned for the updates, pictures and videos.
15.30
Final table is as follows:
- El Sayed Sam 4830000
- Boujenah Ilan 2953000
- Robert Julien 2176000
- Kourdourli Nesrin 1835000
- Pepe Franck 1686000
- Bresson Wilfried 1259000
- Chehade Georges 786000
- Pasqualini Jean-Paul 704000
The prize pool is as follows:
1 426,425 € + an entry to WPT World Championship at Bellagio (worth 25,000$)
2 229,613 € + an entry to the next WPT Paris (worth 10,000€)
3 161,550 €
4 109,886 €
5 79,545 €
6 62,323 €
7 46,743 €
8 34,442 €
If you have missed the early coverage of the tournament check out:
