601 Players Advance to Day 2 of the Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale
After the madness of seven starting flights and a record-breaking 3,610 entries, it’s now time for the big reunion, with 601 remaining players returning for Day 2 of the 2026 Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finale at the Pasino Grand Partouche Aix-en-Provence.
All 601 runners are already in the money and have secured a minimum cash prize of €1,000 from a total prize pool of €1,524,864. But a min-cash is not what they are aiming for. All eyes are on the sword trophy, especially among the four chip leaders Valentin Pallix (1,306,000), Ruben Bellaiche (1,200,000), Thibaut Garcia (1,174,000), and Nihat Bektas (1,000,400), the only players to have crossed the million-chip mark.
Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentin Pallix | France | 1,306,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Ruben Bellaiche | France | 1,200,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Thibaut Garcia | France | 1,174,000 | 84 |
| 4 | Nihat Bektas | France | 1,000,400 | 71 |
| 5 | Kevin Dupland | France | 996,000 | 71 |
| 6 | Yoann Fournier | France | 993,000 | 71 |
| 7 | Amin Benfalami | France | 982,000 | 70 |
| 8 | John Thao | France | 962,000 | 69 |
| 9 | Paul Dupin | France | 954,000 | 68 |
| 10 | Patricia Almeras | France | 932,000 | 67 |
Three Winamax Team Pros are still in contention to try to keep the sword in the team. They are led by Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes (873,000), closely followed by Romain Lewis (867,000), while Davidi Kitai (292,000) will have more work to do.
The path to victory is well known however to defending champion Yoann Kaminisky (336,000) and former winners Jérémy Cauchard (185,000) and Olivier Decamps (169,000). Meanwhile, last year’s finalists Jean-Yves Lestrade (508,000), Florian Vachez (408,000), and Pierre-Louis Quandalle (230,000) will be aiming to go one step further.
The Battle Royale champion Hervé Gouzil (745,000) is also in the mix to claim a second title this week and has built a big stack, along with Sacha Cohen (675,000), Sonny Franco (617,000), Hugues Mazerolle (564,000), Aurélie Réard (550,000), and Virgile Turchi (505,000).
Julien Mariani (414,000), Timothée Rey (373,000), Anthony Dasbourg (303,000), Alexandre Le Vaillant (282,000), Rémi Derossi (255,000), Cécile Ticherfatine (240,000) are also players to watch.
The same goes for WSOP bracelet winners Antonin Teisseire (170,000), Axel Bayout (162,000), and Mourad Amokrane (154,000), as well as Philippe Ktorza (155,000), Clément Michaud (78,000), Hadrien Gallois (73,000), Simon Wiciak (66,000), and Erika Moulet (54,000).
Things look much more difficult, however, for Daniel Rouge, who will return with just a single 1,000 chip at the restart.
Play is set to resume at noon local time featuring 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 but the full payouts will be revealed at the beginning of the day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor as we continue coverage of the Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finale!