button in SafariJulien Archer Crosses Million-Chip Mark on Day 1a
Another mix of poker and fun began this week at Casino Grand Cercle of Aix-les-Bains with a new edition of the Winamax Poker Open (WPO).
While most of the players had their eyes on the Marble race this Wednesday night, 63 players were focused on the €500 Main Event as they reached the money and qualified for Day 2 after Day 1a. Out of a field of 386 entries, which brought the prize pool to just under €200,000 so far, Julien Archer emerged as the chip leader by the end of the day, being the only player to bag a million-chip stack (1,191,000).
After bagging his stack, he explained that he came to Aix-les-Bains with friends to play and that two hands in which he cracked aces propelled him to the top of the counts. With 861,000, Amilcar Marty is second in chips after bursting the bubble, followed by Titas Gancierius (850,000) and Julien Gadanho (804,000), who was already among the chip leaders after his flight last year.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julien Archer | France | 1,191,000 | 119 |
| 2 | Amilcar Marty | France | 861,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Titas Gancierius | Lithuania | 850,000 | 85 |
| 4 | Julien Gadanho | France | 804,000 | 80 |
| 5 | Laurent Amri | France | 649,000 | 65 |
| 6 | Florian Sebileau | France | 631,000 | 63 |
| 7 | Brice Chervier | France | 622,000 | 62 |
| 8 | Patrick Girard | France | 573,000 | 57 |
| 9 | Richard Barbier | France | 559,000 | 56 |
| 10 | Alexandre Mebs | France | 546,000 | 55 |
Laurent Amri (649,000), Florian Sebileau (631,000) and Brice Chervier (622,000) had big stacks for almost the entire day and maintained them all the way to the end. The same goes for Julien Bidault (491,000) and even Paul Bigot (271,000), who had a strong start at the beginning of the day.
Snowboarder Christophe Charlet (269,000) and Mathieu Salas (268,000), who also burst the bubble, qualified with stacks slightly below average, but they still have way more than former iIPT finalist Florian Vachez (75,000) and Ricardo Graells (56,000), the two shortest stacks of the day.
The 63 players will now enjoy two days off before Day 2, while all the non-qualified players will have to be back at the tables at noon local time this Thursday, September 24, for Day 1b. Among them are all the Winamax Team Pros, as well as defending champion Jeremy Cauchard, streamers Hadrien "zChance33" Gallois and Adrien Dumont, and two-time WPO finalist Matthieu Lamagnere, who all played Day 1a but failed to qualify.
Make sure to keep up with PokerNews’ live updates across the rest of the Winamax Poker Open as well as the remainder of this event.