Smain Mamouni Wins WPT DeepStacks Marrakech Main Event For $105,000

French pro Smain Mamouni scored the first 6-figure cash of his career when he took down 2017 PMU.fr WPT DeepStacks Marrakech Main Event, scooping the title and one million Moroccan Dinars, still a very decent $105,000 when converted.

There were 433 entries for the €1,200 buy-in Main Event at the Moroccan leg of the DSPT, held in the Casino de Marrakech, which is situated in the former imperial city of the same name in the west of the country.

This made it ‘the biggest field of the tournament series outside of American soil’ and attracted players from all over Europe as well as the USA and Argentina among other nations, and included Spain’s Fernando Pons, who made it all the way to the November Nine at the WSOP Main Event two years ago, eventually finishing in 9th spot for $1million.

The prizefund in Marrakech couldn’t quite match that, but with almost $450,000 up for grabs the battle was fierce, 16 hopefuls returning on day 3 to fight it out for top honours with Mamouni leading the way.

A slight setback along the way - ”I lost a big pot with pocket Kings against pocket Aces, but I was not afraid of coming back in the tournament,” Mamouni stated afterwards – couldn’t stop the French pro, who was delighted with his play, explaining:

"I didn't make a lot of mistakes today. I have a lot of experience, so when I was very short stacked I wasn't afraid.”

As the others fell by the wayside one-by-one, it was left to Mamouni and Pablo Redrado to face-off heads-up match to decide the tournament, and Spaniard Redrado’s hopes were dashed by a couple of nasty coolers along the way. When the end came, it was a queen on the turn which paired Mamouni’s hand and when no ace fell on the river for Redrado to improve the title had gone to the Frenchman.

Mamouni’s million dinar payday was boosted by a €2,000 package for the WPT DeepStacks Final in Berlin next January although that’s still some way distant as the tour moves on to Holland followed by the Czech Republic.

Marrakech, however, will likely remain Manouni’s favourite, the winner stating afterwards:

"When you play in Marrakech there's a lot of fun, it's not like other tournaments where nobody is talking with each other. In Marrakech it's something better, something good. I've played maybe 5-10 WPT tournaments, and obviously this was a really good one."

The Final Table results and payouts