Ukraine's Nazar Buhaiov Leads Final 16 in EPT Paris Main Event
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After the fourth day of the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris €5,300 Main Event, only 16 players of the 1,474 entries remain who get to divide the lion's share of the €7,075,200 prize pool.
Ukraine's Nazar Buhaiov entered the tournament room inside Le Palais des Congrès today as one of the shortest stacks with only 23 big blinds to his name, but after a grind of over ten hours, he ended as the chipleader of the final 16, putting him in pole position in the hunt for the top prize of €1,148,600.
Buhaiov bagged 7,375,000 at the end of the night, good for nearly 150 big blinds at the start of Day 5. His closest contender is hometown player Thierry Gogniat. Gogniat provided back-to-back bust-outs near the end of the night, propelling him to a stack of 4,475,000, still a significant distance behind Buhaiov. Gogniat is closely followed by Dutch pro Joris Ruijs, who knocked out Joachim Meisolle to wrap up Day 4 with 4,340,000.
Jessica Teusl is the last woman standing and is fourth with a stack of 3,150,000, while the lone remaining American, Mitch Garshofsky, completes the top five with 3,140,000 in chips. Start-of-day chipleader Jorge Abreu and GRND on Tour captain Felix Schneiders can also be found in the upper half of the leaderboard, while NAPT champion Sami Bechahed (1,665,000) and online grinder Casimir Seire (1,175,000) are among the shorter stacks.
End of Day 4 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nazar Buhaiov | Ukraine | 7,375,000 | 148 |
| 2 | Thierry Gogniat | France | 4,475,000 | 90 |
| 3 | Joris Ruijs | Netherlands | 4,340,000 | 87 |
| 4 | Jessica Teusl | Austria | 3,150,000 | 63 |
| 5 | Mitch Garshofsky | United States | 3,140,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Tomas Jozonis | Lithuania | 2,865,000 | 57 |
| 7 | Jorge Abreu | Portugal | 2,745,000 | 55 |
| 8 | Felix Schneiders | Germany | 2,735,000 | 55 |
| 9 | Raphael Bilger | France | 2,445,000 | 49 |
| 10 | Enrico Coppola | Italy | 2,070,000 | 41 |
Day 4 Victims
Day 4 knew plenty of casualties. Timothy Chung (49th - €19,800) came back with one big blind but lost it on the very first hand, while American regular Alex Keating (44th - €19,800) ran into Garshofsky's set at the start of the day and could not come back. EPT regulars Manuel Carvalho (31st - €26,250) and Boris Kolev (28th - €26,250) fell before the final three tables, while the final Japanese player, Tsugunari Toma, was eliminated in 22nd for €34,750.
Day 2 chipleader Bruno Fuentes and backgammon Grandmaster Zdenek Zizka fell victim to Gogniat's late-night wrath, placing 19th and 18th, respectively, for €39,950 each. Meisolle was the final elimination of Day 4, and he took home €47,250 for his 17th-place finish.
The final 16 players have locked up the same amount, although a pay jump to €56,750 is only one elimination away. The unofficial final table of nine will be reached on Day 5, meaning the eye-watering six-figure payouts are in sight for the remaining players.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,148,600 | 9 | €106,150 | |
| 2 | €717,350 | 10-11 | €81,650 | |
| 3 | €512,400 | 12-13 | €68,050 | |
| 4 | €394,150 | 14-15 | €56,760 | |
| 5 | €303,150 | 16 | €47,250 | |
| 6 | €233,200 | |||
| 7 | €179,350 | |||
| 8 | €137,950 |
Day 5 is the penultimate day of the tournament and will start on Saturday, February 28, at noon local time. The 16 remaining players will come back with 48 minutes and 26 seconds left to play in Level 26: 25,000/50,000 (50,000), after which each level will last for 90 minutes.
When the final table is reached, the tournament will transition to playing a set number of hands per level instead. Day 5 is scheduled to play down to six players, subject to change.
