Scott Margereson opened 12,000 and Timo Kamphues three-bet to 30,000 from a couple of spots to his left. The action folded back around to Margereson and he jammed for 69,000. Kamphues snap-called.
Scott Margereson: K♠K♦
Timo Kamphues: A♣Q♦
The J♠10♦8♥ flop gave Kamphues a double gutshot straight draw but Margereson was able to fade it as the Q♥ hit the turn, and the 4♦ landed on the river.
Kenny Haellaert opened to 13,000 from under the gun and called when Thomas Saminadin three-bet to 28,000 from two seats over. Hallaert called.
Hallaert check-called bets of 16,000 and 43,000 on the flop and turn for the final board to read J♦8♠K♣4♠2♠. Hallaert, the slightly bigger stack, checked once more and quickly called when Saminadin jammed for around 200,000,
Saminadin could only show a pair of eights with his 8♥7♥ and Hallaert had the winner with a set of fours as he tabled 4♥4♣.
The hand after, Denis Vladimirov was all in and at risk to Pasquale Grimaldi. Vladimirov had pocket queens but ran into aces and was eliminated after failing to find his two-outer.
An interesting situation developed close to the bubble when Mirand Murseli raised preflop and Miika Toyras moved most of his chips into the middle for 82,000, leaving a single 5,000 chip behind.
Murseli made the call, but thought his opponent had moved all-in and so revealed his hand, A♦K♣ prematurely.
Floor was called and ruled that the betting action stands and that the hand would continue. The flop came 5♦K♥J♥ to give Murseli a face-up top pair. Murseli bet for Toyras' last chip, sending Toyras deep into the tank.
"I have some outs," said Toyras as he deliberated how next to act.
"Fold! Fold, my friend!", said Murseli.
Eventually, time was called and Toyras was given 30-seconds to act. He timed out and his hand was folded, giving Murseli the pot. Toyras was left with less than one big blind, but with another chance to survive the bubble.
Benny Glaser raised to 16,000 in early position, leaving just 1,000 behind. The action folded around to Taran Parmar in the small blind who made the call, followed by Antony Lellouche in the big blind.
The Q♦5♥5♣ flop was checked through to see the 8♣ turn. Parmar checked once more, but Lellouche fired 17,000. Glaser called off his last 1,000 chip, and Parmar mucked his hand.
Benny Glaser: A♦K♥
Antony Lellouche: K♦8♠
Lellouche turned his eight, and Glaser couldn't catch an ace as the 7♥ rolled off on the river, eliminating him only a couple of spots from the money.
Sylvain Mazza shoved 35,000 in early position and only Abderrashman Habhab called in the hijack.
Sylvain Mazza: A♥K♣
Abderrashman Habhab: Q♣Q♥
It was the classic race but Mazza couldn't connect as the board ran out J♣10♣9♠4♣3♠, eliminating him on the stone bubble.
One table over, Yota Mitsui had jammed the button for the last 145,000 and he was called by Fabian Bartuschk in the big blind.
Yota Mitsui: A♠10♦
Fabian Bartuschk: A♣K♠
The kicker played on the 9♣7♠2♥A♥Q♥ runout for Mitsui to also bust.
That left another two all-in and call to run and one of them included PokerStars ambassador Parker Talbot, who was involved in a preflop raising war in which he was the player at risk for around 215,000 against Marcelo Manfredini.
Parker Talbot: Q♦Q♣
Marcelo Manfredini: A♣A♦
There was no escape for Talbot on the J♦6♠3♥K♥A♥ runout as Manfredini further improved to a set of aces. Since players need to physically bag up chips upon completion of their Day 1, Talbot also missed out on the min-cash as well.
The 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris series at the Palais de Congres has reached another milestone in the opening France Poker Series (FPS) €1,100 Main Event, as the record attendance for the regional series in France was further extended. During the penultimate starting day, a total of 1,104 entries were recorded and that figure came up just short of yesterday's strongest flight while the final turbo heat drew another 783 entries.
Both of these figures have now been smashed as the 2024 FPS Paris €1,100 Main Event attracted 4,149 entries across six starting days, generating a prize pool of €3,983,040. All survivors of the six flights have locked up a min-cash that will be announced prior to the start of Day 2 on Saturday, February 17, 2024.
The second-largest starting day saw a total of 164 players advance and it came to a thrilling conclusion with three eliminations on the bubble. Unfortunately. one of the three casualties was none other than PokerStars ambassador Parker Talbot who ran with queens into aces. This propelled Uruguay's Marcelo Manfredini to 537,000 in chips, the fifth largest tally for the night.
Belgian poker pro and tournament director Kenny Hallaert topped the leaderboard with 703,000 followed by Nicolas Maniable (600,000), whereas David Kaufmann and Simon Gautschi both bagged up 537,000. Another familiar name in the top ten is perhaps better known from the football pitch, as Bernard Mendy made it through with a very healthy stack of 494,000.
Day 1e Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Kenny Hallaert
Belgium
703,000
2
Nicolas Maniable
France
600,000
3
David Kaufmann
Germany
597,000
4
Simon Gautschi
Switzerland
597,000
5
Marcelo Manfredini
Uruguay
537,000
6
Ramzi Bsaibes
United Arab Emirates
521,000
7
Lukas Hafner
Austria
513,000
8
Georgi Sandev
Bulgaria
507,000
9
Bernard Mendy
France
494,000
10
Vincent Meli
France
473,000
Bernard Mendy among the big stacks on Day 1e
Further notables with above-average stacks include Frederic Normand (443,000), Daniel Barriocanal (368,000), Gerard Rubiralta (318,000), Jaesung Lee (288,000), Aliaksandr Hirs (270,000) and Scott Margereson (195,000) to name all but a few.
All those who bagged up chips across the six starting days will return the following day at noon local time to collect their cash prizes. How large those will be remains to be seen, as the payout information will be revealed prior to the start. Returning blinds will be 3,000-6,000 with a big blind ante of 6,000 and another three tournament days are scheduled to determine the winner of the record-setting 2024 FPS Paris €1,100 Main Event.
Stay tuned right here on PokerNews to find out who fights for six-figure prizes and the elusive golden shard trophy.
