Bruno Fuentes Cruises to Chip Lead as Bubble Bursts on Day 2 of EPT Paris Main Event
It took almost the entire second day, but with about half an hour left to play on Day 2 of the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris €5,300 Main Event, the money was reached. The 1,474-entry field was whittled down to 217 when Carlos Ribeiro and Daniel Custodio busted simultaneously while two eliminations away from the money, making them share the title of bubble boy and miss out on a piece of the massive €7,075,200 prize pool.
The post-bubble bust-out bonanza at Le Palais des Congrès went into full swing for the next 30 minutes, resulting in 179 players bagging up at the end of the night, all eyeing the top prize of €1,148,600. Topping the counts is Bruno Fuentes, who became the only player to cross the seven-figure mark. Fuentes came into Day 2 with a big stack and steadily added to it throughout the day. He ended with 1,043,000 in chips, good for over 200 big blinds at the start of Day 3.
Day 1 chipleader Mahersh Selvakumaran continued his dominance as well. He had a mediocre start to the day, but changed course halfway through Day 2 and crushed the final stage to end second in chips, bagging 995,000. Meanwhile, the comeback story of the day belongs to Kayhan Mokri. The Norwegian high-stakes crusher was left with just a single T-500 chip at one point, but spun it up to a massive stack of 750,000 by the end of the night, good for fourth place on the leaderboard.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bruno Fuentes | France | 1,043,000 | 209 |
| 2 | Mahersh Selvakumaran | Netherlands | 995,000 | 199 |
| 3 | Cesar Garcia | Spain | 870,000 | 174 |
| 4 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | 750,000 | 150 |
| 5 | Tsugunari Toma | Japan | 739,000 | 148 |
| 6 | Lyudmil Ivanov | Bulgaria | 695,000 | 139 |
| 7 | Mathieu His | France | 654,000 | 131 |
| 8 | Mario Colavita | Italy | 648,000 | 130 |
| 9 | Zdenek Zizka | Czechia | 607,000 | 121 |
| 10 | Salman Ramzi | Lebanon | 570,000 | 114 |
Other notables who made it through to Day 3 include online crushers Duco ten Haven (318,000) and Joris Ruijs (312,000), Team GRND streamer Felix Schneiders (311,000), French powerhouse Julien Sitbon (176,000), and 2025 PokerStars Live League winner Gerard Rubiralta (115,000).
Bad Day for EPT Champions and Team Pro
During the first break of the day, David Lappin was unveiled as the newest addition to Team PokerStars Pro. Lappin, who did not play the Main Event this time around, had to look on as his now fellow Red Spades Elias Gutierrez, Maria Konnikova, and Julien Dupre were all eliminated well before the money.
Similarly, no fewer than nine EPT champions were sent to the rail before the bubble was reached, including Dominik Panka, Thomas Eychenne, Davidi Kitai, and the legendary two-time winner Victoria Coren Mitchell. Other notables who did not manage to make the money include Ankit Ahuja, Alec Torelli, Kevin Rabichow, and Hall of Famer Erik Seidel.
Once in the money, the last remaining EPT winners Ognyan Dimov and Robin Ylitalo were eliminated and picked up the min-cash of €8,550, and the same fate befell Javier Rodriguez Gonzalez, the who was the final PokerStars Pro standing.
The 179 survivors will return for Day 3 on Thursday, February 26, at noon local time, with blinds restarting at 2,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. The returning players have already secured a pay jump to €9,850, while five-figure payouts are awaiting the top 143 finishers. Meanwhile, the eye-watering six-figure prizes start from the unofficial final table of nine.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,148,600 | 10-11 | €81,650 | 32-39 | €22,850 |
| 2 | €717,350 | 12-13 | €68,050 | 40-55 | €19,800 |
| 3 | €512,400 | 14-15 | €56,750 | 56-71 | €17,200 |
| 4 | €394,150 | 16-17 | €47,250 | 72-95 | €15,000 |
| 5 | €303,150 | 18-20 | €39,950 | 96-119 | €13,000 |
| 6 | €233,200 | 21-23 | €34,750 | 120-143 | €11,300 |
| 7 | €179,350 | 24-27 | €30,200 | 144-179 | €9,850 |
| 8 | €137,950 | 28-31 | €26,250 | ||
| 9 | €106,150 |
PokerNews will be back on the Parisian floor at the start of Day 3, so tune back in then for all the latest from the EPT Paris Main Event.