Julien Bolimowski Leads Final 36 of the WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event

Day 2 of the €1,000 World Series of Poker Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event was expected to be a long one, with the field shrinking from 356 players down to the final 32. However, by the end of Level 24, 36 players were still in contention, so all of them bagged their chips to return for tomorrow’s Day 3.

These survivors are the last ones standing from a total field of 1,433 entries, each with their eyes on the WSOP Circuit gold ring and the €160,000 first-place prize.

Max Neugebauer was in the best position this morning to try to reach this goal, but the chip leader at the beginning the the day didn't even make it to the money. Now, it’s Julien Bolimowski who tops the chip counts with a massive stack of 5,900,000. “I played a lot of hands today,” he said simply, visibly exhausted after a long grind.

Second in chips is Cécile Ticherfatine (4,600,000) who discretely built a big stack while other players at her table were flighting hard, like her friend Julien Mariani who lost a 3 million-chip pot against Michael Dogliani (2,660,000) during the last levels of the day.

Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Julien Bolimowski	France	5,900,000	148
2	Cécile Ticherfatine	France	4,600,000	115
3	Axel Hallay	France	4,200,000	105
4	Farid Diaf	France	4,160,000	104
5	Cyril Monbrun-Massot	France	3,335,000	83
6	David Gradic	Slovenia	3,100,000	78
7	Julien Sitbon	France	2,880,000	72
8	Fabien Motte	France	2,865,000	72
9	Constantin Lau	France	2,850,000	71
10	Michael Dogliani	France	2,660,000	67

Even more discreetly, Axel Hallay quietly bagged 4,200,000 chips after winning a final pot against Grégory Fournier (2,260,000), who had been one of the main driving forces throughout the day. Fournier made his presence known during the bubble, allowing several short stacks to double up in a stadium-like atmosphere. Then after Lorenzo Murgia was eliminated on the bubble and the field headed to dinner break, he scooped a massive pot with aces to climb to the top of the chip counts.

Among other big stacks during the day, Farid Diaf became the first player to surpass the 3 million mark, and Hafid Blal impressed early with a set-over-set victory. Both will return for Day 3 with 4,160,000 and 1,280,000 chips respectively.

Regarding players who already have known WSOP trophies, bracelet winner Julien Sitbon secured 2,880,000 chips, while last year’s WSOP Circuit Paris Online ring winner Constantin Lau bagged 2,850,000. Alban Beysson will also be back with a nearly identical stack of 2,650,000 after spending the latter stages of the day alongside Cédric Chevalme, who doubled up with aces during one of the final hands and ended with 1,825,000.

Other familiar names to watch on Day 3 include Laurent Michot (920,000), Frédéric Delval (905,000), Pierre Merlin (830,000), and Jérémy Surinach (705,000). Meanwhile, Mercedes Osti, with 410,000, will return as the shortest stack in the field.

Day 3 was scheduled to be the last day of the main event, but Texapoker and the Pasino Grand decided to add a Day 4 on Tuesday. It means that tomorrow's day 3 will start at 1 p.m. local time, then end when 6 or 8 players will remain (depending on the pace) with the final table being played on Day 4. Both days will be to follow on stream.

WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event Payouts

Place	Prize	Place	Prize
1	€160,000	9	€16,200
2	€110,500	10-11	€13,050
3	€79,250	12-13	€10,700
4	€58,400	14-17	€8,950
5	€43,812	18-23	€7,600
6	€33,500	24-31	€6,500
7	€26,000	32-36	€5,550
8	€20,400