Alex Sampirisi finally moved all-in for 25,000 from under the gun. Axel Hallay in middle position raised to 600,000 and all the other players folded.
Alex Sampirisi: K♣10♣
Axel Hallay: A♠K♠
The great come back expected by Sampirisi didn't happen on a board of J♦10♥A♣A♥6♣. He will miss tomorrow's final table but wins €16,200 for his nineth place.
The names of the eight finalists of the WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event are now known! Out of a massive field of 1,433 entries, only 36 players returned for today’s Day 3, all hoping to reach the final table. After hours of intense action, only eight remain, securing their seat for tomorrow’s final showdown.
Alex Sampirisi (9th - €16,200) came close to making it, but two crucial hands at the final table crushed his hopes. Axel Hallay was the one to seal the Italian player’s fate, eliminating him and ending the day with a strong 17,075,000 stack after a dominant run that saw him notch five eliminations. Pierre Merlin (10th – €13,050), who fell just short of the final table, was one of them.
Hallay spent the day at the second table and didn’t encounter the tournament chip leader Julien Bolimowski, who also continued to grow his stack on his side. “I started well, then it got a bit tougher after the two-table redraw, but overall I’m happy,” Bolimowski said after bagging the chip leading stack of 18,900,000.
Final Table Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip count
Big blinds
1
Julien Sitbon
France
2,750,000
11
2
Thierry Amirault
France
12,275,000
49
3
Axel Hallay
France
17,075,000
68
4
Farid Diaf
France
1,575,000
6
5
Cecile Ticherfatine
France
1,525,000
6
6
Aliosha Staes
Belgium
1,925,000
8
7
Julien Bolimowski
France
18,900,000
76
8
David Gradic
Slovenia
14,675,000
59
Third in chips is David Gradic, who remained under the radar for most of the day until a double-up through Julien Sitbon in the closing hands propelled him to 14,675,000 chips. That hand changed Sitbon’s trajectory, reducing the WSOP bracelet winner to just 2,750,000 after a full day spent among the chip leaders.
Sitbon had seized the chip lead early on by making trips, then eliminated Grégory Fournier (25th – €6,500) before the three-table redraw. A flush-over-flush hand later pushed him past the 10-million mark, but a tough stretch after the dinner break saw his stack dwindle. Still, Sitbon finds himself back at another WSOP Circuit Main Event final table, just one year after finishing runner-up in Cannes in a final table that also featured today’s chip leader, Julien Bolimowski.
In contrast to these experienced pros, Thierry Amirault (12,275,000) brings a very different profile. “He’s unbeatable,” one opponent commented, after Amirault pulled off multiple unlikely wins throughout the day. One of the most memorable came against Adrien Burgniard (17th – €8,950), when Amirault came from behind with a stunning runner-runner quads after Burgniard had flopped a straight.
Thierry Amirault
While Bolimowski, Hallay, Gradic, and Amirault return with commanding stacks, three finalists will be entering the final table in a much more precarious position. The 2024 Winamax Poker Open Bratislava champion Aliosha Staes (1,925,000), Farid Diaf (1,575,000), and Cécile Ticherfatine (1,525,000) will all start Day 4 with fewer than 10 big blinds and will be hoping for a quick double-up to get back in contention. “Resilience,” Ticherfatine repeated throughout the day to define her mindset heading into the final table where she could win a second WSOP Circuit Main Event ring.
Cécile Ticherfatine
The final table is set to resume at 1 p.m. local time tomorrow at Pasino Grand, with 30 minutes remaining in Level 32: 125,000/250,000 blinds and a 250,000 big blind ante. Each of the eight finalists is now guaranteed a minimum payout of €20,400, but with the prestigious WSOP Circuit gold ring and the €160,000 first-place prize within reach, the battle is only just beginning.
WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event Payouts
Place
Prize
1
€160,000
2
€110,500
3
€79,250
4
€58,400
5
€43,812
6
€33,500
7
€26,000
8
€20,400
PokerNews will report the final day of the Main Event from start to finish, so tune back in then to find out who becomes the 2025 WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event champion!
