button in SafariSuwei Yang Tops 17 Survivors After Day 1a
With a massive WSOP Circuit ring hanging from the ceiling of the main room, all the players in the 2026 World Series of Poker Circuit Aix-en-Provence all have their sights set on their goal: to capture this WSOP Circuit gold ring in the €1,500 Main Event.
This Thursday, 127 players jumped into the action at the Pasino Grand Partouche and registered for Day 1a. But by the end of the day, only 17 remained.
Julien Sitbon held the chip lead for most of the night and looked set to carry it through to the end. But the French player found himself caught between Eric Sfez and Suwei Yang, both armed with big stacks and unafraid to put them to use.
The approach paid off early for Sfez, who cracked aces, among other hands, to build his stack. However, the next hands didn’t go as well, also with Mathias Bounous (416,000) doubling up through him, and Sfez was left to bag just 108,000.
Meanwhile, Yang’s stack kept growing, even though he was just one card away from elimination after late registration closed. He spiked a two-outer on the river to stay alive and eventually bagged the chip lead with 894,000. Sitbon wasn’t far behind, but after doubling up Jean Patrac (122,000) on the bubble, he ended the day with 755,000.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suwei Yang | Hong Kong | 894,000 | 75 |
| 2 | Julien Sitbon | France | 755,000 | 63 |
| 3 | Luis Sequeira | Argentina | 724,000 | 60 |
| 4 | Jean-Paul Pasqualini | France | 488,000 | 41 |
| 5 | Matthieu Cartillier | France | 486,000 | 41 |
| 6 | Mo Xu | China | 446,000 | 37 |
| 7 | Mathias Bounous | Switzerland | 416,000 | 35 |
| 8 | Gregory Hawes | United Kingdom | 382,000 | 32 |
| 9 | Cedric Chevalme | France | 364,000 | 30 |
| 10 | Tahar Said | France | 352,000 | 29 |
By bursting the bubble and claiming Nicolas Zammataro’s stack, Luis Sequeira is third in chips with 724,000, while Jean-Paul Pasqualini sits in fourth, but twenty big blinds behind (488,000).
Mo Xu eliminated fellow countryman Yuhan Wang during the final level of the night to bag 446,000. He is followed by Gregory Hawes (382,000), who won one of the very first hands of the day, and local players Cédric Chevalme (364,000) and Tahar Said (352,000).
Gregory Teboul (282,000) also qualified for Day 2 and is the only WSOP bracelet winner to do so, alongside PMU PLAY Team Pro Antoine Berruel, who doubled up with aces to finish with 165,000.
Virgile Turchi, who already had a short stack, was unfortunate to run into those aces. He still managed to double up in the following hand but bagged just 60,000, slightly above the starting stack.
After this first flight, the tournament continues on Friday, April 17 at 12:30 p.m. local time with Day 1b. It will follow the exact same structure as Day 1a, with a 50,000 starting stack, 40-minute levels, and 12 levels of late registration available to enter or re-enter the tournament.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to follow this Main Event all the way until the end!