The Winamax SISMIX Marrakech Main Event at Casino de Marrakech in the Es Saadi Resort, here in Morocco, has now solidified itself in the history books as the largest six-max event ever held!
After 50 levels of play, it was Anthony Dasbourg who bested the record-breaking field of 2,736 entrants to take home the trophy, title and 1,500,000 MAD (approximately €140,000).
Over a total of four starting flights, a considerable sum of 453 players were lucky enough to return to the tournament floor for Day 2. After an additional 19 levels of play, just 24 remained to battle it out on the felt this afternoon. Despite such fierce competition, Dasbourg took the pole position as the dust settled.
Dasbourg came into the final with the chip lead and put on a clinical performance, eliminating four of his six competitors, to cruise to a win that looked like it was going to be his from the very start of proceedings.
2024 Winamax SISMIX Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Dasbourg | France | 1,500,000 MAD |
| 2 | Thomas Ristorcelli | France | 1,100,000 MAD |
| 3 | Petre Ionescu | Romania | 755,000 MAD |
| 4 | Hedi Boussetta | France | 520,000 MAD |
| 5 | Nadine Rohde | Germany | 370,000 MAD |
| 6 | Matthieu Lamagnere | France | 270,000 MAD |
| 7 | Romain Lewis | France | 200,000 MAD |
Winner’s Reaction
“I don’t realize it, I’m still a bit euphoric and savoring the moment right now,” Dasbourg said moments after he lifted the trophy. “It’s a feeling of fulfilment. I’ve been playing poker for years to experience moments like this, and now I’ve made it to the end. It makes a huge difference to be first out of 2,736 players. It’s exceptional.”
But before he won the tournament, he still had to come to Marrakech. And it seemed like it wasn’t an easy task for his friends: “To me, Marrakech was far, and I didn’t want to leave my family too much. But one of my friends hyped me up, and in the end, I told myself, ‘Go for it.’ And I’m glad I did.”
Dasbourg had an average stack both at the end of Day 1b and at the end of Day 2. But he sped up at the final table to take the lead and never leave it again, despite having very good players like Romain Lewis and Matthieu Lamagnere around the final table. “I just told myself, ‘Play your game and enjoy the moment.’ That’s what I did, and it paid off. I think I played well; I was aggressive. And everything went perfectly at the final table,” he explained.
But maybe he had some extra help, as he had an octopus figurine chosen by his son with him. A small lucky charm that is never going to leave him again.
Day Three Action
The aforementioned Lewis drew first blood, eliminating Fahd Kaabat within the first 20 minutes of the day. Kaabat got his money in good against the last surviving member of Winamax Team Pro team, but his pocket nines soon fell to a rivered pair of aces of Lewis, and he was sent to the rail in 24th place.
Premium pocket pairs seemed to be dealing the most damage as this final day panned out, with both Raul Gordo and Didier Mambour, the next two eliminations, running their short stack shoves into pocket aces and pocket kings respectively.
The remaining eliminations came at a steady pace as Aurélien Guiglini and Paul Beccari soon found their way to the rail, prompting a three-table redraw.
Amongst the final eighteen finalists, Lewis was quickly making his presence known, being responsible for two of the next three eliminations; most notably Hugues Girard in 16th place. Girard was the 2024 Winamax Poker Tour Grand Final runner-up and seemingly fell short on his quest to improve upon his silver-place finish in Paris.
Nolan Madene played one of the biggest pots in the tournament on Level 40, as his pocket jacks held to more than triple him up, However, the dream soon came to an end for Madene as he bowed out in 15th place.
David Darrimajou and Soufiane Messadek very quickly followed in the footsteps of Madene and a two-table redraw was prompted. The players soon settled into their penultimate reshuffle of the day and the race towards the all-important final table began.
It was Sacha Cohen who had the misfortune of being the final table bubble boy, exiting in 8th place. Cohen’s dominated ace-six couldn’t pull in front of the ace-king held by Matthieu Lamagnere, ending his tournament run.
Final Table Action
The scene was set and the final seven made their way to the feature table; whether it was the Moroccan climate or the first-place prize of 1,500,000 MAD on offer, the action quickly started to heat up.
The final table proceedings kicked off at a snail’s pace but as the structure shallowed each player’s stack, fireworks were soon to be expected. It was Lewis who became the first causality of this final table, finally ending the campaign for a Winamax Team Pro member to take down this year’s SISMIX Main Event. Lewis got his money in good against Nadine Rohde, but it was a turned queen that saw her pull in front of his ace high, ensuring Lewis’ departure in seventh place.
It was close to an hour before another seat was left vacant. This time, Lamagnere’s ace-queen ran into the pocket kings of Dasbourg, ending his deep tournament run. Lamagnere is no stranger to Winamax success, having final tabled the 2019 Winamax Poker Open High Roller and the 2018 Winamax Poker Open Main Event, both held in Dublin, coming 5th and 3rd respectively.
Shortly after the dinner break, Rohde had to find her way to the payout desk. Rohde’s pocket queens fell behind the ace-queen of Thomas Ristorcelli, ending her incredibly impressive run. Rohde was met on the rail by a group of women who had been sweating her deep run while playing the ladies’ event that was being held alongside this final table.
Dasbourg wasn’t done there as he soon helped himself to the stack of Hedi Boussetta. Dasbourg’s pocket sevens held against king-six of Boussetta to send him packing in fourth place. Boussetta certainly had the biggest rail in the room, and although his finish may not have been gold medal-worthy, his friends and family certainly acted like it was.
Crashing out in the first podium position was Petre Ionescu. Ionescu had one of the most volatile journeys on this final table having been left with just one big blind on Level 46. Despite this, Ionescu managed to ladder up three spots to secure himself a payday of 755,000 MAD. Again, Dasbourg was the beneficiary of another stack.
The heads-up battle began and Dasbourg had one last stack to devour; only 15 minutes into heads-up play, that’s exactly what he did. On a flop of ten-seven-five, all the money was in the middle with Ristorcelli at risk. Dasbourg held two pair but Ristorcelli had straight and flush outs to the win. The dealer revealed the last two cards of the runout to confirm Dasbour’s record-breaking victory, leaving Ristorcelli to settle for second place.
