Casimir Seire opened to 120,000 in the cutoff and saw Jorge Abreu flat-call on the button. Raphael Bilger then moved in his 595,000 chips from the small blind for an all-in three-bet.
Seire quickly folded, but Abreu snap-called to put his neighbor at risk.
Raphael Bilger: 5♥5♦
Jorge Abreu: A♦K♣
Bilger's pair remained ahead on the 3♠2♥Q♣ flop and 7♣ turn, but Abreu spiked top pair on the K♦ river to eliminate Bilger in 14th place.
Chady Ojeil moved all in for 835,000 in the hijack and Mihai Tabac called in the big blind.
Chady Ojeil: A♥J♥
Mihai Tabac: A♣Q♣
Ojeil picked up a flush draw on the 4♥2♥2♠ flop, while the A♦ turn improved both players to two pair. Tabac remained in the lead with his queen-kicker, and Ojeil couldn't improve on the 8♣ river as he was eliminated in 15th place.
Julien Mariani raised to 125,000 in middle position, receiving calls from Mitch Garshofsky and Sami Bechahed in the blinds.
Garshofsky checked the 2♦7♥3♦ flop, but Bechahed led out for 140,000. Mariani called before Garshofsky folded.
The 7♦ turn was then checked by both players, but Bechahed piled in about 500,000 on the 4♥ river. Mariani quickly folded his K♠K♣ face up as he relinquished the pot to Bechahed.
Nazar Buhaiov raised to 125,000 in early position and Enrico Coppola called in the big blind. Coppola moved all in for 815,000 on the 10♦9♦2♦ flop, and Buhaiov called to put him at risk.
Enrico Coppola: J♦10♣
Nazar Buhaiov: Q♣10♥
Both players had flopped top pair, but Buhaiov was ahead with his queen-kicker. The 3♣ turn left Coppola a card away from elimination, but he spiked the A♦ on the river to make a flush and double up.
Felix Schneiders raised to 120,000 in the cutoff. Enrico Coppola then moved all in for 625,000 on the button, and Schneiders called after spending a time bank.
Enrico Coppola: A♦5♣
Felix Schneiders: A♠10♣
The players chopped the pot when the 4♦4♥Q♠Q♣K♣ board gave them the same hand, seeing Coppola survive in the Main Event.
One hand later, Coppola moved all in from the cutoff with Q♣9♠, taking down the pot preflop when Tomas Jozonis mucked Q♦J♦ in the big blind.
Pawel Wojciechowski raised to 100,000 in the hijack and Nazar Buhaiov called in the small blind, while Tomas Jozonis also defended A♣5♣.
The flop came A♥A♠9♣ and Wojciechowski bet 70,000. Buhaiov folded, while Jozonis called to see the 5♠ turn.
Wojciechowski then bet another 155,000, and Jozonis raised to 350,000 with his full house. Wojciechowski called, and the K♥ fell on the river.
Jozonis then bet 1,200,000, sending Wojciechowski deep into the tank. He ended up using six time banks as he agonized over the decision for several minutes, eventually folding A♦10♥.
Pawel Wojciechowski raised to 100,000 in the cutoff before Enrico Coppola three-bet to 375,000 on the button. Wojciechowski then moved all in for 1,370,000, and Coppola called.
Pawel Wojciechowski: K♦Q♠
Enrico Coppola: A♥K♣
Wojciechowski found himself dominated and at risk as the K♥8♠4♦ flop gave both players top pair. Coppola remained in the lead with his ace-kicker through the J♠ turn, but the Q♥ river gave Wojciechowski two pair and the fortunate double up.
The penultimate day of the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Paris is about to begin, headlined by Day 5 of the prestigious €5,300 EPT Main Event. Only 16 players from the starting field of 1,474 entries will return to Le Palais des Congrès at noon local time, meaning the final table is within reach for the remaining contenders.
Two players in the field have been here before, as they have already accomplished the dream of making an EPT final table once in their careers. Less than a year ago, Enrico Coppola finished fourth in the most recent edition of the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, while Tomas Jozonis booked a third-place finish in the same tournament in 2018. Both were awarded with just over €300,000 for their tournament runs, but are now hunting an even larger payout: the seven-figure first prize of €1,148,600.
Tomas Jozonis
Jozonis and Coppola will return today in the middle of the pack, with Jozonis being in sixth place with a stack of 2,865,000, just shy of 60 big blinds, and Coppola closing out the top ten with 2,070,000 in chips. Both are trailing Nazar Buhaiov, the chip leader with 7,375,000, as the lion's share of the €7,075,200 prize pool is about to be divided, with Frenchman Thierry Gogniat following at a considerable distance with 4,475,000.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Nazar Buhaiov
Ukraine
7,375,000
148
2
Thierry Gogniat
France
4,475,000
90
3
Joris Ruijs
Netherlands
4,340,000
87
4
Jessica Teusl
Austria
3,150,000
63
5
Mitch Garshofsky
United States
3,140,000
63
6
Tomas Jozonis
Lithuania
2,865,000
57
7
Jorge Abreu
Portugal
2,745,000
55
8
Felix Schneiders
Germany
2,735,000
55
9
Raphael Bilger
France
2,445,000
49
10
Enrico Coppola
Italy
2,070,000
41
Dutch grinder Joris Ruijs completes the podium with a stack of 4,340,000, while Jessica Teusl is looking to become the first female winner of an EPT Main Event in 12 years with her 3,150,000 chips. Popular poker streamer Felix Schneiders is also still in the mix, returning with 2,735,000 in his best-ever EPT Main Event run.
Felix Schneiders
Among the shorter stacks are Romanian regular Mihai Tabac (1,790,000), NAPT winner Sami Bechahed (1,655,000), and online grinder Casimir Seire (1,175,000). Not being the first player eliminated today is vital to them, as the guaranteed payout of €47,250 will jump up to €56,750 when 15 remain.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,148,600
9
€106,150
2
€717,350
10-11
€81,650
3
€512,400
12-13
€68,050
4
€394,150
14-15
€56,760
5
€303,150
16
€47,250
6
€233,200
7
€179,350
8
€137,950
Day 5 of the EPT Paris Main Event will resume with 48 minutes and 26 seconds to go in Level 26, with blinds at 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante. Each level after will be 90 minutes long until the final table is reached. At that point, the tournament will transition to using a set number of hands per level. The plan for today is to play down to the final six, although that remains subject to change.
PokerStars will be streaming the action on their YouTube and Twitch accounts all day, on a 30-minute delay. The updates on PokerNews will follow the same delay to prevent spoilers.
The 2026 EPT Main Event is getting into the business end, and PokerNews will follow the action closely to provide a comprehensive live report. Stay tuned as the cards will go into the air in Paris shortly.
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