Berinov Leads 12 Players into the Final Day of WSOP International Circuit in Holland Casino Rotterdam
If you think things could be hectic, nothing compared to the latter stages of Day 2 of the WSOP International Circuit Main Event here at Holland Casino Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Out of 495 entries, 165 players returned to the felt at 1 p.m. local time. By the end all the chips were bagged, there were only 12 players left to battle it out for the lion share of the €475,200 prize pool. The winner will eventually walk away with the first-place prize of €83,350, the coveted WSOP gold Circuit Ring, and a seat to the Global Casino Championship worth $10,000.
Taking the chip lead into the final day is Russia’s Andrei Berinov. Berinov already owns a WSOP Circuit Ring when he won the Colossus during WSOP International Circuit in Sochi four months ago. This gave him his biggest cash in his poker career worth $90,000. A win here in Rotterdam would surpass that by a bit.
Berinov jumped into the chip lead halfway during the day when he eliminated Daoud Faroun with aces against queens. He lost it a few times but with some well-timed calls and shoves, he ended the day with 3,110,000 in chips. He eliminated Fadhil Farag but lost the chip lead to Fadi Ghabour who had started the day with the chip lead. When the tournament was paused to play the final seven hands of the night, Berinov had called the shove of Ghabour after Berinov had raised and Mustafa Biz had three-bet. Biz got out of their way and Berinov’s kings held against the ace-queen of Ghabour to propel him into the chip lead.
Second in the chip counts is Majid Bozakraft with 2,775,000 in chips. Bozakraft earned most of those chips when he doubled through Emanuele De Lemmi. In a straight-over-straight situation, Bozakraft climbed up to almost 3 million in chips. Bozakraft finished in 16th place here in Rotterdam last year and has already bettered that result. His best live cash took place here in Rotterdam too when he finished in fourth place in the Main Event of the Rotterdam Poker Series.
Closing the podium is Renato Messina, the Day 1a chip leader, with 1,970,000. At the end of the penultimate level of the night, Messina three-bet and then called the four-bet shove of Erik de Jong in a blind versus blind battle. Messina had found queens while De Jong was sitting with pocket treys. Messina flopped a set and improved to a full house to double up around the stack he ended up bagging. Messina’s cashes have mostly taken place in Malta according to The Hendon Mob which makes sense as the Italian player resides there. He has now collected his Dutch flag and will be looking to also make this his biggest cash to date.
WSOPC Rotterdam €1,100 Main Event - Top 5 Chip Counts After Day 2
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrei Berinov | Russia | 3,110,000 | 104 |
| 2 | Majid Bozakraft | Netherlands | 2,775,000 | 93 |
| 3 | Renato Messina | Italy | 1,970,000 | 66 |
| 4 | Mustafa Biz | Turkey | 1,470,000 | 49 |
| 5 | Alexandre Reard | France | 1,270,000 | 42 |
Biz and Alexandre Reard complete the top five as you can see above. Biz actually burst the bubble when he eliminated Raijmond Slabbekoorn in a cooler. Biz had three-bet after Gazmend Bekteshi had raised. Slabbekoorn four-bet shoved and was Biz was the only person to make the call. Slabbekoorn then saw he had run his pocket kings into the rockets of Biz and got no help from the board. Reard won his second WSOP Circuit Ring last night in the High Roller for €55,727and jumped into Day 1c immediately. He will be looking to win two rings in one week.
Even though the top five represents five different countries, five more Dutch players, one Romanian, and one Chinese player are also through to the final day. Francisco Marti, Viroel Roscovan, Max Dieleman, Samet Giral, Jimmy van der Want, De Jong, and Meian Pan will all return tomorrow to try and chip up as they all ended the day with an below-average stack.
Day 3 will start again at 1 p.m. local time with all returning players guaranteed to cash at least €6,083. The level duration will increase to 60 minutes each and a break has been scheduled after every two levels. Play will continue until a winner has been crowned. The seat draw will be done before the start of the day and posted as soon as the PokerNews live reporting receives them. The first level of the day will be Level 25 which features a small blind of 15,000, big blind of 30,000, and big blind ante of 30,000.
Make sure to return on Thursday, November 21, at 1 p.m. local time to follow everything until someone puts that ring on their finger for the winner photo!