"So fuckin' sick," a stunned Peter Moore said after his stack was counted and he had vaulted out of his seat already. Once all was said and done, the Canadian was left empty-handed and with a bad beat story to tell.
Moore had gotten it in with the and he was up against Johan Schultz-Pedersen with the .
Schultz-Pedersen flopped the top pair and top kicker with a flush draw on . The turn propelled Schultz-Pedersen into the lead as Moore was left with a single out only, which never came on the river.
Mourad Falfoul shoved for around 80,000 and Daniel Wilson called. Falfoul shoved over the top for 278,000 and Wilson folded. Two players flipped their cards for the race, with Falfoul at risk.
Mourad Falfoul:
Evaldas Aniulis:
The board ran out . Falfoul failed to improve and Aniulis held up with his pocket jacks to win the pot. Falfoul was eliminated from the tournament in 181st place, right as play has reached the end of Day 2.
Day 2 has come to an end in the €5,300 Main Event at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris, and Rostyslav Sabishchenko is the chip leader after the day's five and a half levels of play.
A total of 1,606 entries made for a prize pool of €7,708,000, making this the sixth-biggest EPT Main event ever in terms of entries. Of the total entrants, 174 remain and all players who return for Day 3 are now guaranteed at least €10,650. The prize pool is set and the eventual winner will walk away with €1,170,000.
Sabishchenko is the current chip leader with 900,000 chips and he'll be looking for his biggest live poker score yet when he returns on Thursday. Close behind is Harry Lodge, followed by Niklas Astedt.
Frederik Thiemer, Fabrice Bigot, and Omar Del Pino all have over 700,000 chips. Also in the top ten chip stacks are Alexandros Kolonias, who has over $4.1 million in live winnings and Andrew Lichtenberger, who has over $14 million in winnings.
2023 EPT Paris Main Event Top 10 Day 2 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 3 Big Blinds
1
Rostyslav Sabishchenko
Ukraine
900,000
180
2
Harry Lodge
United Kingdom
845,000
169
3
Niklas Astedt
Sweden
812,000
162
4
Frederik Thiemer
Germany
786,000
157
5
Fabrice Bigot
France
764,000
153
6
Omar Del Pino
Spain
703,000
141
7
Alexandros Kolonias
Greece
653,000
131
8
Aurelien Russo
France
633,000
127
9
Andrew Lichtenberger
United States
631,000
126
10
Mark Roovers
Netherlands
624,000
125
Harry Lodge
Day 2 Notables
Lodge had an incredible run throughout Day 2, and he managed to spin up from his 18,000 starting stack to his current spot in second place. His turning point came when he found trip fours on the river to bust Andrew Hulme to join the big stacks. He later picked up a flush on the river to eliminate Pavel Plesuv on the bubble. Lodge will return with 845,000 chips and the chance to make a run at his first EPT title.
PokerStars AmbassadorSam Grafton had a decent run, doubling up just before the dinner break when he picked up pocket aces to beat Marc Uzan's Big Slick. Grafton ultimately made it into the money before he bowed out, but his fellow ambassadors Benjamin Spragg, Alejandro Lococo, Laurie Tournier, and Parker Talbot all fell before the bubble.
Among the other notables in the field with stacks above average are Manig Loeser and Teun Mulder. The latter started the day as the chip leader and he will be looking to climb back up to the top when play resumes on Day 3. Loeser is one of many former EPT champions that will return on Day 3—a list that also includes Adrian Mateos, Frederik Brink, Roberto Romanello, Simon Brandstrom, Piotr Nurzynski, and Mike Watson.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,170,000
10-11
€85,400
40-55
€21,450
2
€780,100
12-13
€71,150
56-71
€18,650
3
€535,850
14-15
€59,300
72-95
€16,200
4
€412,200
16-17
€49,550
96-119
€14,100
5
€317,050
18-20
€43,100
120-143
€12,250
6
€244,000
21-23
€37,450
144-174
€10,650
7
€187,650
24-27
€32,600
8
€144,300
28-31
€28,350
9
€111,000
32-39
€24,650
Players will return for Day 3 at 12:00 local time with blinds at 2,500/5,000 with a 5,000 ante and approximately 45 minutes remaining in Level 16. Be sure to tune in to PokerStars for live streaming on YouTube and Twitch, and keep it with PokerNews for live coverage straight from the tournament floor.
and he was up against Johan Schultz-Pedersen with the 
.
. The 
turn propelled Schultz-Pedersen into the lead as Moore was left with a single out only, which never came on the 
river.
. Falfoul failed to improve and Aniulis held up with his pocket jacks to win the pot. Falfoul was eliminated from the tournament in 181st place, right as play has reached the end of Day 2.
