Valentin Pallix Leads Day 1f of Record-Breaking Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale
Numbers are now official. After seven starting flights, the 2026 Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finale recorded a total of 3,610 entries, breaking last year’s mark of 3,503 at the Pasino Grand Partouche Aix-en-Provence.
Reaching that figure required a big Day 1f, and a massive one there was with 1,100 runners at the start and 1,456 entries recorded by the end of late registration.
From this field, only 242 players advanced to Day 2 after 23 levels of play. And at the top of the counts, the battle for the chip lead was tight between a few players.
But thanks to a magical flop that allowed him to crack aces on the bubble, Valentin Pallix bagged the biggest stack with 1,367,000 chips. The 28-year-old from Normandy not only leads the field but also qualified for the event almost for free after winning his local club league. A prize that he already converted into a min-cash, hoping for more.
Pallix is closely followed by Ruben Bellaiche, who ended the day with 1,200,000. “I only had 25,000 when I came back from dinner,” he explained. “Then it was luck, luck, luck,” he added, noting that a rivered full house against a straight was one of the key hands that propelled him among the chip leaders.
Nihat Bektas also crossed the million mark with 1,000,400, ahead of John Thao (962,000), Paul Dupin (954,000), and Patricia Almeras (932,000), who also bagged a big stack.
Day 1f Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentin Pallix | France | 1,306,000 | 82 |
| 2 | Ruben Bellaiche | France | 1,200,000 | 75 |
| 3 | Nihat Bektas | France | 1,000,400 | 63 |
| 4 | Kevin Dupland | France | 996,000 | 62 |
| 5 | John Thao | France | 962,000 | 60 |
| 6 | Paul Dupin | France | 954,000 | 60 |
| 7 | Patricia Almeras | France | 932,000 | 58 |
| 8 | Adrian Marcone | France | 925,000 | 58 |
| 9 | Romain Lewis | France | 867,000 | 54 |
| 10 | Corentin Viaud | France | 821,000 | 51 |
Winamax Team Pro Romain Lewis was also in contention for the chip lead until the final break of the night. However, after peaking at around a million chips, he slipped slightly to end the day with 867,000. Still, it was an overall very positive day for him: “It’s an amazing tournament. I had 400,000 when I was moved to the feature table and ran it up to 1,100,000, and I still have 70 big blinds for tomorrow,” he said. Lewis is the only member of his team to qualify through today’s main flight.
In a corner of the room, Sacha Cohen built a stack of 675,000 and will be looking to follow in his father’s footsteps after Claude Cohen won a side event in Marrakech just a few hours ago.
With almost the same stack, Alexandre Pinto (672,000) spent the day seated next to Virgile Turchi (505,000). Hugues “Chotec” Mazerolle however moved a few times and even had to double up earlier to stay alive but eventually bagged 564,000, while Eric Nakache finished close behind with 538,000.
The 2023 SISMIX runner-up Christophe Beyer (309,000) also made his way to Day 2, along with last year’s finalists Pierre-Louis Quandalle (230,000) and Jérémy Cauchard (185,000), who is still hoping to win a second WiPT sword. The 2015 champion Olivier Decamps is chasing the same dream but had a rollercoaster day. After dropping to just 1,000 chips at one point, he doubled up many times to bag 169,000.
Olympic biathlete Florent Claude (257,000), Philippe Ktorza (155,000), Florian Decamps (153,000), Arnaud Peyroles (120,000) and EPT champion Simon Wiciak (66,000) also advanced to Day 2. The same goes for Marion Bocher, who thought she would be eliminated on the bubble but managed to survive with 19,000 chips.
Finally, 402 entries were recorded in Day 1g Turbo, the final flight of the tournament. From that field, 67 players advanced to Day 2, led by Kevin Dupland (996,000), Corentin Viaud (821,000), and Lucas Charpenne (819,000).
This last flight also allowed players like the €750 Battle Royale winner Hervé Gouzil (745,000) to build a solid stack, while defending champion Yoann Kaminisky (336,000) keeps his hopes alive for a back-to-back title.
Ugo Taurines (406,000), Timothée Rey (373,000), Anthony Dasbourg (303,000), Ariel Sebban (253,000), Clément Michaud (78,000), and Ludovic Amblard (30,000) are among the other players to secure their seats for Day 2.
A total of 601 players have qualified for tomorrow’s Day 2 and will return at noon local time to play 40-minute levels, starting with blinds at 7,000/14,000 with a 14,000 big blind ante.
All the remaining players are in the money and have secured a minimum cash prize of €1,000, with the full payouts set to be revealed at the restart.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor as we continue coverage of the Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finale!