Live tournament round-up: 888Poker bests PokerStars; wins for Boggs & Mamouni

A round-up of live tournament scores including a heads-up encounter from employees of both 888Poker and PokerStars, and news from the World Series of Poker Circuit and World Poker Tour DeepStack events. 

For far too long, 888Poker employee, Ben Bensimhon, has read articles from idiots like me referring to his employer as the second largest online poker room in the world. At the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Monster Stack event at the King’s Casino, Rozvadov, he decided to do something about it.

After outlasting a field containing 677 players and 86 re-entries, Bensimhon, who played the final table dressed as a crocodile while wearing a pink rabbit hat, came face to face with the Brazilian Felipe Ramos.

888Poker v PokerStars.Live Tournament Round-Up: 888Poker bests PokerStars; wins for Boggs & Mamouni

As the Highlander used to say, “There can be only one!”

It turns out it was the crocodile with a rabbit on his head.

If Bensimhon keeps this up, he may up sticks and become a professional poker player. The victory was his second WSOPC gold ring, having defeated a field of 273 entrants to win the WSOPC Main Event in Rotterdam for $112,709, and also came in third at the most recent Unibet DeepStack Open for €9,790.

Final Table Results

1. Ben Bensimhon – €81,629
2. Felipe Ramos – €43,636
3. Yehuda Cohen – €31,241
4. Robert Schultz – €24,355
5. Waldemar Kopyl – €19,100
6. Vadzim Lipauka – €15,004
7. Rainer Ziermann – €11,199
8. Volkan Cakar – €7,756
9. Ebner Tobias – €6,125

Other players who went further than a wheelchair let loose on a massive hill were Max Lykov (23rd), Marek Blasko (52nd), and Sebastian Langrock (57th).

Justin Boggs Wins the WSOPC in Southern Indiana 

There was another two-time gold ring winner over the pond.

Danny Lawson cashed in five events, made three final tables, and won two of them to earn a seat in the Global Casino Championships as the WSOPC Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino Champion.

Lawson also enjoyed a deep run in the Main Event, finishing 23rd. The $1,675 buy-in event attracted 424 entrants, and Justin Boggs denied Wendy Freeman her second gold ring when he beat her in heads-up action to bank the $139,920 first prize. The WSOPC master, Maurice Hawkins finished 14th.

Scott Montgomery also made the final table finishing fifth. In the summer, the Canadian also ended 4/3542 in the WPT500 Aria in the summer. I smell a win coming.

Live Tournament Round-Up: 888Poker bests PokerStars; wins for Boggs & Mamouni Final Table Results

1. Justin Boggs – $139,920
2. Wendy Freeman – $86,464
3. Michael Foley – $63,180
4. Alexander Hencheck – $46,911
5. Scott Montgomery – $35,374
6. Hami Izadi – $27,074
7. George Lusby – $21,026
8. Jerry Robinson – $16,561
9. Chris Carey – $13,228

Smain Mamouni Wins WPTDeepStacks Marrakech Main Event 

Switching from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) minor leagues to the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) equivalent and Smain Mamouni took down the WPTDeepStacks Marrakech Main Event for 1,000,000 MAD ($105,255).

Mamouni defeated the WSOPC gold ring winner Pablo Ruiz in heads-up action. His previous best cash was $33,859 for a third-place finish in a WPT Amsterdam side event in 2015. The event attracted 433 entrants.

Final Table Results

1. Smain Mamouni – $105,255
2. Pablo Ruiz – $73,679
3. Daniel C – $47,365
4. Anas Belatik – $33,681
5. Anthony Cruz – $25,787
6. Julien Lemonnier – $21,051
7. Louis Linard – $17,156
8. Damien Lhommeau – $13,893
9. Elizabeth Tedder – $11,378