Moroccan Magic

10/20/2009

The World Poker Tour Marrakech provided a little Moroccan magic - and a Euro 377 262 bank booster - to the relatively unknown French player Christophe Savary over the weekend as he bested a record field of 416 players to win the event.

Savary has previously made it to the final table in three tourneys, but the current win will enhance his $62 000 career earnings to date considerably.

His victory was all the more notable set against an entry field from 30 countries that included the likes of Ludovic Lacay, Bertrand Grospellier, Arnaud Mattern, Bruno Fitoussi, Fabrice Soulier, Antony Lellouche and WSOP '09 finalist Antoine Saout. Huck Seed, Antonio Esfandiari, Tony G, Annette Obrestad, Liz Lieu and Scott Montgomery all turned out, along with The Hendon Mob's Ross and Barny Boatman who did well in the high roller's event last week (see previous InfoPowa report).

Many of those big names had been bouncd out of the tournament by the time the final table was set, which comprised Hicham Ben Halima (out in ninth place), Balazs Botond (taken out shortly thereafter in eighth) and Patrick Meurisse, headed for the exit in seventh place before dinner.

Post-dinner and six handed, the table was made up of Savary, Eoghan O'Dea, Ludovic Lacay, Julien Arneodo, Adrian Marin and Benjamin Spindler.

Ludovic Lacay, who many thought was on a winning track throughout the event, was eliminated in third place with a Euro 164 182 payday to set up a Savary vs. O'Dea heads up. The Frenchman held a massive 2 million chip lead over his Irish opponent, who gave a skilled and determined performance but was overwhelmed and had to be content with the second placing prize of Euro 262 446.

In addition to the trophy and the big payday of Euro 377 262, Savary earned a $25 000 entry into the WPT Championship next spring.