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Patrick Bruel, the most famous man in France that is playing poker here today, has just doubled up against Kimmo Kurko.
"Please have jacks!" said Kurko as he flipped 
but Bruel showed 
and managed to hold on a 
board
Isabelle Mercier had to pick a card from one to six on the number of hands we have left to play and she chose five.
Five more hands to go then and then play will end for the day.
The last five hands have been announced (chosen, actually, from a selection of cards offered to Isabelle Mercier by the TD), but some players are eking every last bit of play out of this long day.
Just now I caught a hand at the end during a very lengthy dwell as David Lascar faced a river raise by Mattsson of his 6k bet out with the board reading 
. He really took his time, looking at his stack which would not take a 17,500 hit too well. At long last, as other tables looked to finish their last five hands before this one had started, Lascar threw his hand away, showing the table the 
he was laying down. In return, Mattsson turned over his 
with a cheeky smile. On the plus side, he's not got long to tilt if he's at all tiltable.
With the registration complete, the return of the WPT Grand Prix de Paris saw 247 total runners, creating a prize-pool of over €2.3 million to be spread out amongst 27 players. The winner of the event will pocket a hefty €633,902 for their efforts along with the coveted World Poker Tour title, but there's a long way to go.
The remaining 74 players surviving today's six 90-minute levels will combine with those who've had today to spend in springtime Paris (the life's not all bad) tomorrow. Joining the top of the combined pack will be Iulian Iacob (180,900) and Ilan Boujenah who've vied in the last two levels for the title of Chip Leader. Also stacked up heading to tomorrow are Theo Jorgensen, Jonathan Layani, and Eric Sadoun, who all have breached the 100,000 chip mark. Andrew Feldman, Patrick Bruel, Alexander Kravchenko and Isabelle Mercier have made it through too and will join the 53 day 1a survivors right here at the Aviation Club.
The action gets back under way at 3 p.m. tomorrow here in Paris at the Aviation Club de France, so be sure to keep your browser locked to PokerNews for up-to-the-minute live coverage.
Main event
Day 1b Completed
