Benelux Amateur Poker Champion Bachelor Party in Vegas…

The Benelux Amateur Poker Championship, which was also the Grand Final of the local APAT Belgian Tour, really was GRAND.

Players all over Belgium and Holland showed up for a big weekend of events, culminating in 605 entries for the Main Event and almost 500 more in 3 Side Events!

Because of the growing success of APAT events in Namur, which caused the event to last well into the very early hours on previous occasions, the Main Event was extended this time to a 3-day event and probably by far one of the best structures for a low buyin event ever held in Belgium.

This was enjoyed by many players and, as is the case lately, a big Dutch invasion helped push the numbers well above the previous record of 480.

Previous winner Massimo Di Perri enjoyed another great run, trying to reach a 3rd consecutive Final Table, but his quest came to an end in the closing moments of Day 2. 27 players made the final day, with amongst them Jorden Verbraeken and Glenn De Cuyper, 2 well known Belgian players, but they failed to make the Grand Final November Nine.

Because of the huge turnout everyone at the final table was guaranteed €1,000, with the winner walking away with a massive €10,061 prize!

Indicative for the high number of Dutch players, all the medals found a new home in Holland as the last Belgian player, Kwinten Olaerts, was eliminated in 4th place.

Joseph ‘JoJo’ Rozenbeek, who held the chip lead for most part of the final table, had to settle for bronze after calling off his entire stack with only 2nd pair. His opponent, Emile Cox, was thought to be bluffing but top pair was more than good enough to rake in the massive pot.

Emile started the HU against Kees Torenbeek with a 3-to-1 chip lead and steadily grew that even further. Kees tried to work his way back by making some well-timed bluffs and shoves, but finally Emile found a hand to call with. Pocket rockets sealed the deal and especially Emile’s fiancee will be happy with an extra €10,000€ to spend on their wedding next year.

As part of the Season 10 celebrations Emile Cox also won an added package to Las Vegas. With our APAT regular Carl Pilgrim already scheduled to get married in Vegas next year, we can now throw one hell of a bachelor party for both Carl and Emile!

In Side Event action we saw victories for Ivo Geens (PLO – 98 runners), Martin Otter (Progressive Bounty – 208 runners) and Christophe Rigaux (NLH Turbo Freezeout – 168 runners).