Paul François Tedeschi Tops Final Seven After Day 3 of PokerStars Open Cannes Main Event

The plan was to reach six players for the final day of the €1,100 PokerStars Open Cannes Main Event at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The day was full of action, but by the end of the night, seven players qualified for Day 4 and are still in contention for the €195,700 first-place prize.

From a total field of 1,202 entries, which generated a €1,153,920 prize pool, Paul Tedeschi leads the way at the end of Day 3 with 10,200,000 in chips. “I had a shaky start today, but after that everything went smoothly,” he explained after he bagged his chips.

Two hands in particular came to his mind when he summed up his day: first, a hero call with king-seven for his tournament life, where he caught Davis Modans (20th - €6,910) bluffing with ace-high; then a straight completed on the turn against Andrew King’s two pair, a pot that "propelled" him into a commanding lead just before the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Paul Tedeschi	France	10,200,000	85
2	Nikolai Mamut	Russian Federation	8,800,000	73
3	Kamel Atoui	France	6,400,000	53
4	Axel Bayout	France	4,475,000	37
5	Julien Sitbon	France	2,850,000	24
6	Adria Diaz Dalmau	Spain	2,075,000	17
7	Michel Marcone	France	1,250,000	10

Slowly but surely, Nikolai Mamut built the second-largest stack of the day with 8,800,000 and now has one goal in mind: pull off an impressive back-to-back after winning the $1,100 PokerStars Open event at NAPT Las Vegas last month for $158,700.

He will, however, face heavy pressure from a French contingent led by Tedeschi and Kamel Atoui (6,400,000), who hit several miracle rivers today. When 35 players remained, Atoui first cracked aces with tens, and later won Giovanni Renna’s big stack by hitting one of the three remaining jacks in the deck, completing a straight to overcome Renna’s flopped set.

WSOP bracelet winners Axel Bayout (4,475,000) and Julien Sitbon (2,850,000) remain among the favorites for the win. But the trophy could also head to Spain, with Adria Diaz Dalmau holding a 2,075,000-chip stack.

Meanwhile, after starting the day second in chips, Michel Marcone had a tough Day 3 but managed to double up multiple times, including in the very last hands of the night. He will return for the restart with the shortest stack at 1,250,000.

After the eliminations of Arthur Lacroix (9th – €18,110) and Gianfranco Ironico (8th – €23,540) at the start of the final table, the seven remaining players have already locked up €30,600 each.

But who will take the trophy and €195,700? The answer will be revealed from 12:30 local time this Sunday, December 21, for the final day of the 2025 PS Open Cannes Main Event.

Play will resume with blinds of 100,000/150,000 and a 150,000 big blind ante. Since the start of the final table, the structure has switched from timed levels to a hands-per-level format, which will continue until a winner is crowned. And same as today, all the action will be to follow on stream.