The first event of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) came to a close Sunday at Hotel Majestic Barriere in Cannes, France with Imed Ben Mahmoud winning €147,099 in the €2,500 + €200 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em contest.
While he hails from Tunisia, Mahmoud is currently as much of a local winner as there might ever be at the WSOPE, as he lives in Antibes, France, just seven kilometers (4.3 miles) away from the poker festival’s venue. That said, he counts as the first Tunisian to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet. When asked by WSOPE officials about the accomplishment, he expressed his pride in representing the smallest country in North Africa, “For me it’s exceptional and for Tunisia it’s fabulous. It’s priceless. I’m very, very happy.”
This was Mahmoud’s first major live poker tournament title. He had a nice run in the controversial Partouche Poker Tour Main Event earlier this month, placing 46th for €19,997 ($25,143) and finished 30th in the 2010 European Poker Tour (EPT) Deauville Main Event, earning €16,500 ($23,358). Prior to this win, Mahmoud’s largest cash was €27,000 ($36,624), achieved by a sixth place finish in a €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at EPT Berlin in 2010. He has now won approximately $331,039 in his live tournament career.
Tunisia’s first WSOP bracelet came at the expense of France’s bid to win its first WSOPE bracelet, and the first in its own country, to boot. In claiming the prize, Mahmoud denied France’s Yannick Bonnet, who was gunning for history of his own. The newest bracelet winner feels that the host country will see its flag fly soon enough, though, saying, “I think it will happen. There are more Frenchmen here than (at the WSOP) in Las Vegas, and they’ve won some there.”
Entering Day 3, Mahmoud was just sixth in chips out of the remaining eight players, nearly 300,000 behind the lead Bonnet. Only about an hour into play, though, and after having added slightly to his stack, Mahmoud made a big move. He and Sylvain Ribes got all their chips in pre-flop, Mahmoud with K-K and Ribes getting coolered, holding Q-Q. Mahmoud avoided the other two Queens and his stack grew to 460,000 while Ribes was gone in sixth place.
From there, Mahmoud grinded it out to get to heads-up play against Bonnet almost even in chips, 879,000 for Bonnet and 824,000 for Mahmoud. It was a very short match, as Mahmoud won in less than 20 minutes.
On the final hand, Mahmoud had a 200,000 chip lead and found himself with J-J and in a raising battle with Bonnet pre-flop. Eventually, the two got all the chips in and Mahmoud saw he was in for a coin flip, as Bonnet decided to go to war with A-K. The community cards offered nary a sweat for Bonnet and he was eliminated in second place.
World Series of Poker Europe Event #1 – €2,700 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
1. Imed Ben Mahmoud – €147,099
2. Yannick Bonnet – €90,884
3. Matan Krakow – €63,671
4. Senh Ung – €44,913
5. Roberto Romanello – €31,925
6. Sylvain Ribes – €22,876
* Front page image courtesy WSOP.com
