Leo Hourtoulle Leads the Way with 64 Players Left After Day 2
The 2026 Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale sword has never been closer for the remaining players after Day 2, which saw the field shrink from 601 down to just 64 players.
There is still a long way to go, though, but more than 3,500 players have already been eliminated from a massive field of 3,610 entries, which generated a total prize pool of €1,524,864.
Among the remaining players, Samuel Bifarella is no stranger to deep runs, having won a tournament with over a thousand entries last summer in Las Vegas. He has also made final tables here at the Pasino Grand Partouche Aix-en-Provence in the past, but he didn’t expect to double his stack after the dinner break, to reach 10,000,000 and take a commanding lead. "I had dinner twice,” he joked at the end of the day after he eliminated the last player of the day to finish with 9,400,000. “I hope I’ll do the same again tomorrow,” he added.
Seated to his left, Gabin Massard also enjoyed a “magnifique” day, to finish with 8,710,000, looking like a strong contender for the chip lead. However, the top spot ultimately went to Leo Hourtoulle, who bagged 9,855,000 after what he described as a “lucky day,” finding “the right spots at the right time.”
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leo Hourtoulle | France | 9,855,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Samuel Bifarella | France | 9,400,000 | 94 |
| 3 | Gabin Massard | France | 8,710,000 | 87 |
| 4 | Olivier Durand De Grossouvre | France | 6,955,000 | 70 |
| 5 | Quentin Pauly | France | 6,485,000 | 65 |
| 6 | Ernestas Taunys | Lithuania | 6,440,000 | 64 |
| 7 | Yoann Fournier | France | 5,210,000 | 52 |
| 8 | Benjamin Blond | France | 4,995,000 | 50 |
| 9 | Youssef Aananouch | France | 4,800,000 | 48 |
| 10 | Lucien Cervettaz | France | 4,285,000 | 43 |
“The field is still pretty strong,” Samuel Fournier (2,280,000) noted at the end of the day after a “calm and smooth day.” He’s quite right, with several experienced players still in contention like Didier Mambour (3,500,000), Hervé Gouzil (3,090,000), who could win a second trophy this week, Nicolas Antouard (2,665,000), Sacha Cohen (1,945,000) and Remi Derossi (1,760,000), who shared the feature table during the last levels, as well as Virgile Turchi (1,380,000) and Florian Decamps (1,250,000).
Still in the tournament with a Winamax Team Pro patch on his shoulder, Bruno Lopes bagged 3,335,000 and is the last remaining member of his team, after Davidi Kitai (424th - €1,000) was eliminated at the start of the day. Romain Lewis met the same fate not long before the dinner break, finishing 111th for €1,690.
With Ernestas Taunys (6,440,000) appearing to be the only foreign player left in the field, the trophy is likely to stay in France. It could even be won for free by Julien Rey (1,965,000) and Aymeric Bourlier (1,455,000), the only two players who qualified through the live freeroll stops.
French YouTuber Romain Malet, known for his prank videos with his group “Les Inachevés,” is also living the dream. Dressed as a gladiator since the start of the tournament, he bagged 800,000 and now hopes to trade his fake sword for the real one.
The three players qualified for Day 2 who had previously won the event were all eliminated today, including the defending champion Yoann Kaminisky, who finished in 167th place for €1,360. The 2024 winner and last year’s finalist Jérémy Cauchard earned €1,260 for his 251st-place finish, while Olivier Decamps also took home €1,260 after exiting in 227th place.
Play is set to resume this Sunday, March 29, at 1 p.m. local time with 12 minutes remaining in Level 34 at 50,000/100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. Levels will then increase to 50 minutes, and the day will continue until the nine finalists are known.
The 64 remaining players have already secured a minimum cash of €2,070, but all eyes are on the €180,000 top prize.
Remaining payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €180,000 | 10-11 | €14,327 | 40-47 | €2,650 |
| 2 | €130,000 | 12-13 | €11,350 | 48-63 | €2,330 |
| 3 | €95,000 | 14-15 | €9,150 | 64 | €2,070 |
| 4 | €70,000 | 16-17 | €7,400 | ||
| 5 | €55,000 | 18-20 | €6,050 | ||
| 6 | €40,000 | 21-23 | €5,000 | ||
| 7 | €30,000 | 24-27 | €4,200 | ||
| 8 | €24,000 | 28-31 | €3,550 | ||
| 9 | €18,000 | 32-39 | €3,050 |
Be sure to follow PokerNews throughout the entirety of the Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale!