€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2024 PokerStars EPT Paris
€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2024 PokerStars EPT Paris
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€8,385,600
Entries
1,747
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
644
Players Left
222
Eliot Hudon Back on Top of Another Record-Smashing Field on Day 2 of the EPT Paris Main Event
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
There is something about record-setting fields that brings out the best in Eliot Hudon.
In December 2022, the then 25-year-old Canadian burst onto the poker scene when he won the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas for $4.1 million, the largest event ever on that tour. Fast forward 14 months later to the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris Main Event, the sixth-largest EPT field in history and the largest outside of Barcelona, and Hudon is again on top as 222 players advance to Day 3.
Hudon eliminated Ignacio Molina on the bubble with queens versus jacks to take the chip lead (and Molina’s rubber duck card protector) with 955,000 when play resumes tomorrow for Day 3 inside the Le Palais des Congres. Alexios Zervos is in second place with 788,000 after earning a massive double up when his pocket aces held up on the river against Bernhard Binder’s pair, straight, and flush draws. Eero Rantala hit a set of nines on the flop to earn a double knockout and would’ve been the end-of-day chip leader if not for taking a bad beat against Ruida Lin on one of the last hands of Day 2; he ended up still comfortably in the top five with 685,000.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eliot Hudon | Canada | 955,000 | 191 |
| 2 | Alexios Zervos | Greece | 788,000 | 158 |
| 3 | Matthias Lipp | Austria | 714,000 | 143 |
| 4 | David Kaufmann | Germany | 700,000 | 140 |
| 5 | Eero Rantala | Finland | 685,000 | 137 |
| 6 | Farid Jattin | Colombia | 660,000 | 132 |
| 7 | Clement Michaud | France | 606,000 | 121 |
| 8 | Daniel Custodio | Portugal | 587,000 | 117 |
| 9 | Alessandro Minasi | Italy | 574,000 | 115 |
| 10 | Eric Sfez | France | 551,000 | 110 |
Matthias Lipp (714,000) and David Kaufmann (700,000) round out the top five. Other big stacks include Farid Jattin (660,000), Sirzat Hissou (512,000), Barny Boatman (510,000), and Sergi Reixach (469,000). Further down are Leon Sturm (434,000), EPT champion Dimitar Danchev (415,000), Aleksejs Ponakovs (404,000), Alex Keating (391,000), Day 1 chip leader Gregory Fournier (386,000), Sam Greenwood (379,000), and Timothy Adams (279,000).
Past EPT champions Anton Wigg (343,000), Robin Ylitalo (329,000), Arsenii Karmatckii (305,000), Tom Middleton (151,000), Nicolas Dumont (87,000), and Aliaksei Boika (73,000) are also still in the mix. EPT Prague champion Padraig O’Neill survived with 290,000 as he seeks to become the first player ever to go back-to-back on the EPT, while EPT Barcelona champion and the newest Team PokerStars Pro Simon Wiciak bagged up 119,000. Last year’s EPT Paris runner-up Peter Jorgne ended up with 353,000, while Team PokerStars Pro Benjamin Spragg finished near the bottom with 138,000.
Day 2 began with 86 new entries joining 558 Day 1 survivors to create a total field of 1,747 and prize pool of €8,385,600. Notables to bust early included Parker Talbot, Hossein Ensan, EPT champions Kalidou Sow and Steve O’Dwyer, Sam Grafton, Maria Ho, Fintan Hand, Bryn Kenney, and defending champion Razvan Belea. Only the top 255 players would finish in the money, and Hudon took care of that by busting Molina in 256th. Juan Pardo (226th), and last year’s finalist Johan Schultz-Pedersen (253rd) were among those to sneak past the bubble and earn a min-cash.
Day 3 begins at noon local time tomorrow with 60 minutes remaining in Level 16 with blinds of 2,500-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Now that the bubble has burst, players can finally sense that the final table and first prize of €1,287,800 are slowly drawing nearer to being a reality.
PokerNews will be back following all the action on Day 3 as the field continues to whittle down here in the City of Lights.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
955,000 | 25,000 |
|
788,000 | -78,000 |
|
714,000 | 288,000 |
|
700,000 | 100,000 |
|
685,000 | -85,000 |
|
660,000 | 125,000 |
|
606,000 | 9,000 |
|
587,000 | 33,000 |
|
574,000 | 9,000 |
|
551,000 | 393,000 |
|
533,000 | 18,000 |
|
512,000 | 210,000 |
|
510,000 | 123,000 |
|
510,000 | 75,000 |
|
497,000 | -25,000 |
|
495,000 | -5,000 |
|
469,000 | -16,000 |
|
459,000 | 431,500 |
|
454,000 | 257,000 |
|
441,000 | -9,000 |
|
435,000 | 4,000 |
|
434,000 | 14,000 |
|
419,000 | 9,000 |
|
417,000 | 15,000 |
|
415,000 | -5,000 |
Play Concludes
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Day 2 has ended with 222 players remaining.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Last-Minute Exits
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Lin Catches a Miracle to Dent Rantala
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Ruida Lin moved all in for 202,000 in the big blind and Eero Rantala called in the cutoff.
Ruida Lin: J♥J♣
Eero Rantala: A♦K♥
Lin was racing for his tournament life but fell behind as the 8♣A♥10♦ flop gave Rantala top pair. The K♣ turn improved Rantala to two pair and left him poised to collect the pot and end the night with more than 1,000,000, but the Q♦ spiked on the river to give Lin a straight.
"Yes. Let me take a picture, please," Lin yelled out as he snapped a photo of the board.
"Thank you, chip leader," he said to Rantala as he collected the miracle double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
770,000 | -130,000 |
|
|
410,000 | 225,000 |
Wigg Gets It Done on River
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Anton Wigg opened to 10,000 under the gun and Felipe Boianovsky defended his big blind.
On the 7♦4♣7♣ flop Boianovsky check-called a bet of 6,000 from Wigg.
The turn brought the 2♦ and Boianovsky check-called for a second time versus a bet of 13,000 from Wigg.
On the 8♠ river Boianovsky checked for a third time, and Wigg continued to fire, moving all in and putting Boianvosky to the test for the rest of his stack.
Boianovsky thought it over but folded in relatively short order.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
380,000 | 40,000 |
|
32,000 | -44,000 |
No Day 3 for Savinelli
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Amiri Ehsan raised to 10,000 as first to act and Carlo Savinelli shoved in 39,000 chips in the next seat over.
Amiri asked for a count and made the call shortly thereafter.
Carlo Savinelli: K♠J♣
Ehsan Amiri: A♣2♣
Amiri was the only one to pair up on the 3♥7♣10♣2♥9♣ board, sending Savinelli home in the dying minutes of Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
334,000 | |
|
Busted |
Three More Hands
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Tournament officials announced that players will see three more hands before bagging up for the night.
Anand Forces Nixon River Fold
Level 16
: Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Jason Anand opened to 11,000 in early position and Jamie Nixon produced a three-bet to 29,000 in the cutoff. Anand called.
Anand check-called a bet of 15,000 from Nixon on the 4♥7♣4♣ flop.
The J♣ turn was checked through by both players.
On the 10♣ river, bringing one-card flush possibilities, Anand led out with a bet of 25,000, and that was enough to force a fold from Nixon.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
210,000 | -84,000 |
|
142,000 | 22,000 |