Christophe De Meulder Wins the Unibet Poker Belgian Championship
Belgium's Christophe De Meulder outlasted a field of 438 entrants to win the 2018 Unibet Poker Belgian Championship �550 Main Event at Casino Blankenberge for �42,020 ($48,099).
De Meulder surpassed $400,000 in live tournament cashes to go along with almost $1.5 million in online cashes.
2018 Unibet Poker Belgian Championship Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize | Prize in $USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christophe De Meulder | Belgium | �42,020 | $48,099 |
| 2 | Samir Akhoullou | Belgium | �26,270 | $30,056 |
| 3 | Dominique Potenza | France | �18,120 | $20,732 |
| 4 | Koen Lauwereys | Belgium | �13,420 | $15,354 |
| 5 | Jonas van Baelen | Belgium | �10,320 | $11,807 |
| 6 | Tom Hermans | Belgium | �7,940 | $9,084 |
| 7 | Peter Dupont | France | �6,350 | $7,265 |
| 8 | Schroons Werner | Belgium | �5,080 | $5,812 |
| 9 | Fabrice Halleux | Belgium | �4,070 | $4,657 |
According to the Unibet Open Blog, De Meulder kicked off the nine-max final table with the chip lead. Belgians held seven seats at the final table with players from France seated in the other two.
Belgium's Fabrice Halleux was the first casualty at the final table in ninth place for �4,070 ($4,657). He three-bet jammed seven big blinds with pocket deuces and couldn't win the flip against the king-eight suited held by France's Dominque Potenza after a king appeared on the flop.
Next to go was Belgium's Werner Schroons in eighth place for �5,080 ($5,812). Shroons open-jammed 13 big blinds with king-jack and didn't improve his hand after Samir Akhoullou called with ace-queen suited.
After a break, France's Peter Dupont jammed his short stack with king-queen before De Meulder's three-bet with ace-ten chased off the remaining players. Dupont was unable to catch up in the hand and was eliminated in seventh place for �6,350 ($7,265).
Shortly after, Belgium's Tom Hermans called a three-bet with ace-eight against Potenza with pocket nines. The board ran all blanks and Hermans headed to the cashier to collect the sixth-place prize of �7,940 ($9,084).
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Play NowBelgium's Jonas Van Baelen was the next to go. Akhoullou opened before Van Baelen three-bet jammed with king-jack. De Meulder over-jammed with a four-bet holding big slick and Akhoullou folded. The board didn't help Van Baelen, and he hit the rail in fifth place for �10,320 ($11,807).
Belgium's Koen Lauwereys jammed his short stack with ace-three from the small blind before Akhoullou called with pocket sixes from the big blind. Lauwereys got not help from the board and was ousted in fourth place for �13,420 ($15,354).
After the elimination, Akhoullou had more chips than both of his remaining opponents. Another break took place before Potenza jammed the button with queen-jack suited and was called by De Meulder with ace-queen. Both players flopped top-pair but Potenza was outkicked and hit the showers in third place for �18,120 ($20,732).
Akhoullou began heads-up play with a 3:2 chip advantage against De Meulder. This didn't last long as De Meulder quickly evened things up before he went on a run to take a huge 16:1 chip advantage.
On the final hand, De Meulder jammed pocket sixes, and Akhoullou called with his short stack with eight-four suited. The two-seven-five flop gave Akhoullou a straight draw which was completed after a six appeared on the turn.
The six also gave De Meulder a set and outs for a full house on the river. A five spiked the river to give De Meulder a full house and destroy any comeback hopes from Akhoullou.
Akhoullou didn't walk away emptyhanded after shaking De Meulder's hand, as he collected a healthy runner-up prize of �26,270 ($30,056).
*Photos courtesy of Artur Eranosian/Unibet Open.
