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Anthony Apicella Takes the Overall Chip Lead After Day 1c
With 303 entries in today's Day 1c and 122 more in Day 1d Turbo, a total of 783 entries were recorded in the 2026 edition of the World Series of Poker Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event. This figure is below last year’s total, but the 50% increase in the buy-in helps to explain the drop. Nevertheless, the prize pool reached €1,014,768 and will be shared among the 105 remaining players on Day 2.
In Day 1c alone, 41 players managed to qualify for Day 2 led by Corsica's Anthony Apicella who bagged the chip lead with 1,390,000.
Apicella is no stranger to success in Aix-en-Provence, having won his second FPS at the Pasino Grand Partouche in 2022 and a WSOP Circuit ring last year in the Superstack event. Today, he cracked kings to build his stack then hit the nut flush on the bubble to scoop another massive pot. Day 1a bubble-boy Nicolas Zammataro made a big fold with queens in that hand and this time found a bag with 392,000.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Apicella | France | 1,390,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Albakri Ahamada | France | 1,011,000 | 67 |
| 3 | Mitchell Johnson | United Kingdom | 1,003,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Mickael Muselli | France | 942,000 | 63 |
| 5 | Radoslaw Kopec | Poland | 885,000 | 59 |
| 6 | Christian Spitalas | France | 731,000 | 49 |
| 7 | Frédéric Delval | France | 598,000 | 40 |
| 8 | Sonny Franco | France | 567,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Jose Koistinen | Finland | 559,000 | 37 |
| 10 | Miika Toeyraes | Finland | 504,000 | 34 |
Albakri Ahamada burst the bubble to end the day with 1,011,000, followed by Mitchell Johnson, who is the third millionaire of the day (1,003,000).
Mickael Muselli (942,000) held the chip lead until the final minutes but allowed Alexis Tremblay (359,000) and Eric Bouhallier to double on the bubble to lose a few chips.
Radoslaw Kopec (885,000) also held a big stack for most of the day, while Frédéric Delval flopped a straight to take a massive pot but later ran his ace-jack into Jose Koistinen’s queens, finishing with 598,000.
Pasino Grand Team Pro Sonny Franco is also in the Top 10 with 567,000 and qualified for Day 2, along with streamer Mathieu Choffardet (389,000) and the Spanish couple Marta Guixeras (352,000) and Adria Diaz (282,000), who were seated next to each other at the end of the night.
Matthieu Mary (222,000) and Maher Achour (196,000) are also in contention, along with Julien Bolimowski (165,000), who is looking to go back-to-back-to-back after final-tabling the 2024 WSOP Circuit Cannes and last year’s WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Events.
WSOP bracelet winner Thibault Perissat (146,000), Youssef Zereg (145,000), who doubled up several times today, Pierre Calamusa (114,000), and €750 PKO ring winner Clément Michaud (96,000) will be players to watch on Day 2, along with Eric Geraume (83,000) and Sebastian Trela (55,000), who bagged the shortest stack.
Omar Lakhdari had to top a flight and he did so in the final one, Day 1d Turbo. With 1,000,000 chips, he leads the 13 remaining players ahead of Adrien Amorella (721,000) and Houssem Meftahi (694,000).
Adem Can (351,000), Jérémy Routier (313,000), two-time WSOP bracelet winner Manig Loeser (307,000), Gilles Silbernagel (182,000), Maksym Mamon (174,000), Mehdi Rebai (171,000), and Jean Souprayenmestry (150,000) also had to wait until 3:30 a.m. to secure their tickets for Day 2.
Play is set to resume this Sunday, April 19 at 1 p.m. local time, with blinds at 6,000/12,000, a 12,000 big blind ante, and 60-minute levels.
The 105 remaining players are already in the money, but the full payout structure will only be revealed once play resumes.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates and continued coverage of the 2026 WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event!