While the attention of the poker world was focused on the 2010 World Series of Poker November Nine, the World Poker Tour (WPT) made its first stop ever in Amneville, France for a €3,200 event. With an outpouring of support from some of the best players in Europe, Sam El Sayed emerged as the champion of the tournament after a 12-hour final table.
WPT Amneville, sponsored by PartyPoker.fr, drew an outstanding 542 players to build a prize pool eclipsing €1.73 million. Among those who passed on the pomp and circumstance of the party in Las Vegas to battle for the latest WPT championship included former WPT Player of the Year Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, defending WPT London Poker Classic champion Jake Cody, and French poker superstars Arnaud Mattern, Nicholas Levi, Bruno Fitoussi, and Isabelle Mercier. Although none of these top pros walked away with any of the prize money, there was plenty of action on the tables to satisfy the European poker community.
El Sayed led the battle as the eight-handed final table started on Saturday afternoon. With over 4.8 million in chips, El Sayed held a sizeable advantage over his closest competitor, Ilan Boujenah, while the remainder of the final table looked to rise up the leaderboard. The players wasted little time in getting the chips flying on the felt, with the first elimination occurring slightly over an hour in when Georges Chehade held the sucker end of a straight against the nut straight of Wilfried Bresson.
El Sayed continued to apply pressure to the final table, winning many hands pre-flop against his wary tablemates. He would give up that lead, however, against the last woman standing in Amneville, Nesrine Kourdourli; the hand catapulted Nourdourli to the top of the chip counts and left El Sayed in second.
With the action down to seven players, it seemed as if everyone held the chip lead at some point. El Sayed stayed in the game by dumping Julien Robert in seventh place. Nourdourli, however, gave up the lead to a charging Boujenah after his top pair held up against Nourdourli’s wheel draw in a nearly nine million chip pot. Then, Franck Pepe surged to the point, spurred on when his nut flush trumped El Sayed’s king-high flush for over six million in chips.
With four players remaining, El Sayed sat on the short stack with Pepe, Boujenah, and Nourdourli arranged in front of him. El Sayed began a meticulous grind to outlast both Nourdourli and Pepe and, once heads-up action began, held a 2-1 lead over Boujenah. As the players moved into the 12th hour of action, El Sayed was able to chop away at the chip stack of Boujenah before taking him out.
On that final hand, El Sayed made a raise to 800,000 from the big blind, which was called by Boujenah. After a 6-4-10 rainbow flop, Boujenah check-called another 800,000 bet from El Sayed. The turn, a jack of clubs, completed the rainbow and opened the floodgates. Boujenah checked, El Sayed put in two million in chips, and Boujenah came all-in over the top. El Sayed wasted little time in calling, tabling pocket kings against Boujenah’s K-10. Once the river blanked with another jack, El Sayed was crowned the champion of WPT Amneville:
1. Sam El Sayed, €426,425
2. Franck Pepe, €229,613
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
Along with the €426,425 for his first place finish, El Sayed also took home a WPT bracelet and, perhaps more importantly, a seat at the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in April. Pepe, in addition to his €229,613 payout, earned a seat at the 2011 WPT Rendezvous a Paris at the Aviation Club.
After the cash was awarded, WPT President Adam Pliska stated, “We’d like to congratulate Sam Al Sayed on his win and all the players that made the final table. We look forward to welcoming Sam to the Bellagio for the WPT World Championship. The tremendous efforts made by the Seven Casino and the truly impressive attendance record at the inaugural WPT Amneville, presented by PartyPoker.fr, cement it as a must-attend stop for players for the future.”
The WPT still has three non-U.S. stops on its Season 9 schedule, with one more occurring before the end of the year. The WPT will return to Marrakech, Morocco, from November 27th to 30th for its second ever tournament in North Africa. Reigning champion Christophe Savary is expected to defend his title against such notable professionals as Liz Lieu, Andy Black, and Liv Boeree. The non-U.S. swing of the WPT will finish with stops in Venice in early February and Vienna in late March.
