Jorge Abreu Rides Quads to the Chip Lead on Day 3 of the EPT Paris Main Event
Jorge Abreu seized the chip lead on Day 3 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris Main Event in grand style.
Abreu was faced with a bet of 400,000 on the river in a pot against fellow big stack Cesar Garcia. Abreu, though, was lying in wait with flopped quads and shoved on Garcia, who eventually called off his last 700,000 with a flush as Abreu scooped the massive pot. He ended the day with 2,250,000 and atop the leaderboard over the remaining 49 players.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Abreu | Portugal | 2,250,000 | 150 |
| 2 | Pawel Wojciechowski | Poland | 2,180,000 | 145 |
| 3 | Hugo De La Fouchardiere | France | 2,040,000 | 136 |
| 4 | Jessica Teusl | Austria | 1,875,000 | 125 |
| 5 | Felix Schneiders | Germany | 1,725,000 | 115 |
| 6 | Daniel Moran | United Kingdom | 1,685,000 | 112 |
| 7 | Lyudmil Ivanov | Bulgaria | 1,555,000 | 104 |
| 8 | Ricardo Alves | Portugal | 1,500,000 | 100 |
| 9 | Zdenek Zizka | Czechia | 1,455,000 | 97 |
| 10 | Julien Mariani | France | 1,400,000 | 93 |
Pawel Wojciechowski is in second place with 2,180,000, while Hugo De La Fouchardiere rounds out the podium with 2,040,000. De La Fouchardiere was fortunate not to be one of the first casualties of the day. He was down to just 66,000 and all in with ace-seven against Georgios Vrakas’ ace-king, but he found a seven on the flop to double up. He then outflopped Viet Vo’s ace-king with ace-five in a four-bet pot to score the knockout and continue his ascent up the leaderboard.
Jessica Teusl is the lone woman remaining in the field. She snapped off Hanan Tabrichi with two jacks earlier in the day, then spiked an ace on the flop to crack the two kings of Day 1a chip leader Thomas Cazayous for another knockout. She ended up in fourth place with 1,875,000 as she tries to become only the fourth woman to win an EPT title, and first in 12 years.
Followed along by his GRND on Tour crew throughout the day, Felix Schneiders built up a big chip stack when he bet 350,000 on the turn in a pot against Enrico Coppola, then shoved the river for 696,000 as Coppola finally surrendered. Schneiders ended up with 1,725,000 and in fifth place to end Day 3.
Other top stacks include Czech backgammon prodigy and blossoming poker star Zdenek Zizka (1,445,000), Mitch Garshofsky (1,275,000), Casimir Seire (1,225,000), Tsugunari Toma (1,115,000), 2023 NAPT champion Sami Bechahed (1,045,000), and Alex Keating (1,025,000). Further down the leaderboard are Joris Ruijs (945,000), EPT Monte Carlo finalist Coppola (880,000), Endrit Geci (775,000), Adrian State (665,000), 2024 EPT Prague runner-up Paul Runcan (610,000), Yuliyan Kolev (425,000), and Boris Kolev (300,000).
Day 3 began with 179 players out of a starting field of 1,474. Antoine Saout (176th), EPT Barcelona runner-up Sebastian Ionita (172nd), and Dietrich Fast (150th) were among the first to be sent off to the payout desk. Neil Channing, a popular figure during the height of the poker boom but who last cashed in an EPT event 16 years ago, lost a classic race with queens to Thierry Gogniat’s ace-king to bust in 86th place. Mathew Frankland (83rd), Vo (75th), Day 1b chip leader Mahersh Selvakumaran (67th), Kayhan Mokri (65th), Michael Perrone (62nd), Angelina Rich (60th), and Leo Worthington-Leese (59th) also fell throughout the day.
The remaining 49 players will return tomorrow to Le Palais des Congres at noon local time. The action picks up with 45 minutes remaining in Level 21 with blinds of 10,000/15,000 and a 15,000 big blind ante. Everyone left has locked up €19,800, but they are all chasing a guaranteed €106,150 payday for making it to the final table and €1,148,600 top prize for the eventual champion.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow to provide live updates throughout the day as the field continues to march down towards the final table.