In the first hand coming back from the break, there were four all-in and call on separate tables. They resulted in three seats open and that brought the field down to 164 survivors. All chips are bagged up and the counts as well as a recap of today's action are to follow.
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.