World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris Day 2: Defending Champ Matt Salsberg In Front
Day 2 of the 2013 bwin World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris took place on Sunday, and at the end of play it was a familiar face leading the remaining competitors. Defending champion Matt Salsberg found himself bagging up the chip lead following another five levels of play, putting him in excellent position to make another very deep run. Salsberg finished with 212,600 in chips.
According to the WPT live updates, Salsberg is trailed closely by Day 1b chip leader Hicham Hilmi, Vasili Firsau, Connor Drinan, and David Peters. Peters is fresh off a fourth-place finish in the 2013 World Series of Poker Europe €25,600 High Roller for €150,500.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Salsberg | 212,600 |
| 2 | Hicham Hilmi | 200,700 |
| 3 | Vasili Firsau | 193,300 |
| 4 | Connor Drinan | 175,000 |
| 5 | David Peters | 171,200 |
| 6 | Ricardo Manquant | 155,400 |
| 7 | Dimitri Holdeew | 147,700 |
| 8 | Kimmo Kurko | 139,700 |
| 9 | Philippe Ktorza | 139,300 |
| 10 | Bernard Guigon | 134,600 |
Other notables still remaining in the field are Day 1a chip leader Todd Terry, former two-time WPT champion Marvin Rettenmaier, Bryn Kenney, Timothy Adams, and Jason Koon.
While those players are advancing to Day 3, plenty of big names hit the rail on Day 2. Lee Markholt, Steve O'Dwyer, Paul Volpe, Antoine Saout, and Adrian Mateos were just a handful of names to get felted.
Mateos was fresh of a huge win at the 2013 WSOP Europe where he took down the prestigious Main Event for €1,000,000 and his first gold bracelet. In the WPT Paris Main Event, it was Rettenmaier that did him in, though. On a flop of 10♥8♣3♣, the WPT live updates team reported that Mateos moved all in for around 52,000. Rettenmaier made the call with the J♣9♣ for a big draw. Mateos had the A♣Q♣ for a larger flush draw than Rettenmaier's, but it was the 7♠ on the turn that ended up delivering the winning hand as Rettenmaier made a straight. The river was the 3♠ to complete the board.
Following the closing of registration, 187 entries had been tallied, and at the end of Day 2, just 65 remained. From those, the top 21 places will be paid with first place set at €340,000 plus the WPT Championship seat. Day 3 will begin at 2:30 p.m. CET. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for future daily recaps of this event.
*Photo and data courtesy of WPT.com.
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