Day 1a of the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris €5,300 Main Event is in the books. The return of the EPT to the French capital attracted 573 entries to Le Palais des Congrès on the first of two starting days, only a few dozen shy of the record-setting edition of 2024. Including the entries of Day 1b and Day 2, €3,470,400 has already been collected in the prize pool.
At the end Day 1a, 180 players remained, with French native Thomas Cazayous topping the counts. Cazayou recorded his first EPT cash since 2016 earlier this week in the PokerStars Open Cup and is looking to continue his form with a deep Main Event run.
Cazayou entered the final break of the night with a slightly above-average stack, but nearly quadrupled it during the final two levels to end up with 385,000 chips, good for more than 250 big blinds at the start of Day 2. Eduard Litskan and Yaman Nakdali complete the international top three with stacks of 315,000 and 295,000 respectively, while EPT regulars Natan Chauskin, Adrian State, and Nikita Kuznetsov also secured a spot in the top ten.
End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Cazayous | France | 385,000 | 257 |
| 2 | Eduard Litskan | Ukraine | 315,000 | 210 |
| 3 | Yaman Nakdali | Spain | 295,000 | 197 |
| 4 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | 281,000 | 187 |
| 5 | Adrian State | Romania | 262,500 | 175 |
| 6 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russian Federation | 253,000 | 169 |
| 7 | Carlos Rocha | Brazil | 244,000 | 163 |
| 8 | Vincent Lavollee | France | 238,000 | 159 |
| 9 | Adnan Dahic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 210,000 | 140 |
| 10 | Lucas Scafini | Brazil | 208,000 | 139 |
EPT champions Oliver Weis (89,000), Thomas Eychenne (86,000), Derk van Luijk (56,000), and Simon Wiciak (25,500) all found a bag at the end of the night, but none of them could eclipse the average stack of 95,000 in their hunt for their second title. Similarly, Hall of Famer Erik Seidel survived Day 1a with a stack of 42,000, while Julien Dupre, the only remaining representative of Team PokerStars when Day 1a concluded, made it through with a stack of 57,500.
Boatman's Title Defense Ends on Day 1a
Barny Boatman captured the EPT Paris Main Event trophy in 2024, but he will not be crowned back-to-back champion. Boatman fired both of his allowed bullets on Day 1a without success, meaning his Main Event has already come to an end. First-ever two-time EPT champion Victoria Coren Mitchell made a rare appearance on Day 1a, but fell just short of making it to the end. Having only entered once, though, she still has another shot at claiming a historic third title.
Other EPT champions who were sent to the rail include Adrian Mateos, Mike Watson, Tomasz Brzezinski, Artur Martirosian, Hossein Ensan, and Stephen Song, while PokerStars Ambassadors Sebastian Huber, Maria Konnikova, and Kenny Hallaert were also eliminated on Day 1a. Like Coren Mitchell, they all only spent one of their two allowed bullets and will likely try again on Day 1b or Day 2.
Day 1b will be the next and final starting flight, kicking off Tuesday, February 24, at noon local time. It will follow the same structure as Day 1a, with ten 60-minute levels being played. Late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, and each player is allowed two entries in total across the entire tournament.
PokerNews will be back on the floor at the start of Day 1b. A big turnout is expected, so tune back in then for another full day of live poker action from Paris.
