For our story today about major live poker tournaments, we move to the King’s Resort in Rozvadov, where a very popular festival not only among players from our country is in full swing. We are talking about the Italian Poker Sport, abbreviated as IPS, and in this case it’s called IPS 1.5 MILLION, which today will experience its Day 2 with a Wissam Ouertani in great form.
Read also: Sanremo Festival 2026 Predictions: Betting on the Final Podium
IPS 1.5 Million: invasion of 4,299 at King’s and it’s not over yet
The IPS with 1.5 million euros guaranteed in prize money actually started on January 27th, with the first of many scheduled flights, always at a buy-in of €380 but with a very varied menu of formats: from 60 minutes per level for Day 1A to just 12 for Day 1I turbo, which is currently underway as we write.
In any case, up to Day 1H last night, there were 4,299 paying players, with the format stipulating that 15% of the field wins a prize, but only 12.5% qualify for Day 2. Therefore, the last part of the eliminated players from each flight received a minimum cash of €750, while the final payout will only be known upon the closure of registrations.
Read also: Main Event MicroMillions: everything you need to know for tonight’s grand finale
The Top 10
So, after eight flights, the Croatian Mateo Ciglar is clearly in the lead, the only one above the 2 million mark and with a huge gap to second place. In the top 10, we also have an Italian, the excellent regular Wissam Ouertani, who will return today with 1,250,000 chips. Here is the detail of the top 10:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mateo Ciglar | Croatia | 2,310,000 |
| 2 | “JULIO” | Spain | 1,455,000 |
| 3 | Mourad Tounnouti | Netherlands | 1,340,000 |
| 4 | Zoran Stojanovic | Switzerland | 1,263,000 |
| 5 | Wissam Ouertani | Italy | 1,250,000 |
| 6 | “PAUL” | Germany | 1,226,000 |
| 7 | Franz Holzner | Germany | 1,211,000 |
| 8 | “SAFTMÄNNI” | Germany | 1,148,000 |
| 9 | “Jack Sparrow” | Germany | 1,147,000 |
| 10 | Szymon Patryk Politowski | Poland | 1,138,000 |
The other Italians
Obviously, Ouertani is not the only Italian qualified for Day 2 of this mega-tournament. In fact, among the 522 qualifiers for Day 2, and awaiting the very last arrivals from the Day 1I turbo and the Flip&Go satellite, there are as many as 85 other Italians who have earned access to Day 2, already guaranteed a cash prize. Let’s look at them in detail:
Read also: Napoli, injury for McTominay: how many games he misses and who replaces him
| POSITION | PLAYER | STACK |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Santo Sidoti | 1,062,000 |
| 17 | Gianmarco Vassallo | 987,000 |
| 20 | Alessio Fratti | 972,000 |
| 22 | Domenico Maiullari | 952,000 |
| 29 | Daniele Borghi | 886,000 |
| 31 | Antonino Di Martino | 870,000 |
| 32 | Lollo66 | 869,000 |
| 35 | Stefano Illiano | 837,000 |
| 51 | Giuseppe Pitruzzella | 782,000 |
| 60 | Claudio Di Giacomo | 749,000 |
| 65 | Sandro Dellanna | 735,000 |
| 70 | Francesco Simone Recupero | 718,000 |
| 72 | Davide Slanzi | 713,000 |
| 90 | Jamil Nourdine | 655,000 |
| 97 | Franco Cozzula | 638,000 |
| 102 | Vito Giuseppe Vella | 630,000 |
| 103 | Corrado Martinelli | 630,000 |
| 106 | Davide Nutarelli | 626,000 |
| 113 | Alessandro De Michele | 599,000 |
| 116 | Antonio De Ieso | 590,000 |
| 123 | Mirko Schiano Di Tunnariello | 570,000 |
| 126 | Andrea Marchi | 562,000 |
| 128 | Davide Cojaniz | 561,000 |
| 136 | Gennaro Proscia | 536,000 |
| 151 | Francesco Natale | 480,000 |
| 153 | Pasquale De Stefano | 478,000 |
| 163 | Antonio De Lucia | 458,000 |
| 192 | Sabri Goci | 414,000 |
| 195 | Francesco Brondi | 412,000 |
| 206 | Pietro Lettieri | 401,000 |
| 211 | Roberto Di Giuseppe | 395,000 |
| 221 | Luca Selmin | 379,000 |
| 222 | Mirko Sirigu | 378,000 |
| 225 | Davide Filieri | 373,000 |
| 228 | Davide Abbate | 373,000 |
| 229 | Andrea Proietti | 372,000 |
| 233 | Franco Giuseppe Lasia | 370,000 |
| 237 | Walter Accardi | 366,000 |
| 275 | Mario Scalia | 327,000 |
| 281 | Vincenzo De Angelis | 325,000 |
| 284 | Gianfranco Locci | 320,000 |
| 290 | Michele Tocci | 315,000 |
| 295 | Samantha Catia Algeri | 307,000 |
| 296 | Riccardo Rosella | 307,000 |
| 297 | Lorenzo Iaquinto | 307,000 |
| 298 | Giorgio Soceanu | 307,000 |
| 299 | Salvatore Lavolpe | 306,000 |
| 306 | Thomas Parrotta | 301,000 |
| 312 | Giuseppe Lamparella | 298,000 |
| 316 | Nicola Lestingi | 294,000 |
| 321 | Nicola Sasso | 289,000 |
| 324 | Giovanni Erminio Colombo | 286,000 |
| 329 | Michele Capasso | 280,000 |
| 332 | Fabio Salvador | 275,000 |
| 333 | Giovanni Maria Socci | 274,000 |
| 343 | Paolo Palmisano | 262,000 |
| 348 | Mihai Szilveszter (ITA) | 256,000 |
| 362 | Eugenio Cupellini | 246,000 |
| 375 | Tonino Cardia Puddu | 235,000 |
| 381 | Lucio Dangelo | 228,000 |
| 388 | Luigi Percossi | 217,000 |
| 393 | Alexandru Ciprian Craciun (ITA) | 212,000 |
| 421 | Giosue Colucci | 195,000 |
| 423 | Domenico Bozza | 192,000 |
| 430 | Alessandro Luccheddu | 188,000 |
| 435 | Antonella Masala | 184,000 |
| 442 | Giorgio Silvestrin | 176,000 |
| 446 | Claudio Daffina | 172,000 |
| 451 | Remo Massarenti | 169,000 |
| 452 | Silvio Gruppuso | 169,000 |
| 459 | Giuseppe Cangemi | 156,000 |
| 460 | Giancarlo Panariello | 152,000 |
| 462 | Roberto Manfredi | 148,000 |
| 467 | Vincenzo Bortone | 143,000 |
| 474 | Luciano Frezza | 133,000 |
| 482 | Luca Beretta | 122,000 |
| 484 | Ciro Carvagno | 120,000 |
| 488 | Alfonso Mannoni | 116,000 |
| 492 | Luciano Perrone | 105,000 |
| 494 | Mauro Pugliesi | 104,000 |
| 498 | Luca Congiu | 102,000 |
| 503 | Ivo Conci | 100,000 |
| 510 | Daniele Pascarella | 73,000 |
| 511 | Flavio Salvatore Bonaventura | 73,000 |
| 520 | Antonio Turco | 53,000 |
Cover image: Wissam Ouertani (archive Eloy Cabacas & RHL)
