Laurent Polito finished the day as chip leader with an astonishing 806,000. Stephan Ouzilou is in second with an almost as impressive 729,500 and some way behind them in third is Gregory Benac with 435,000.
This really was Polito’s day. He is the only player to hold two WPT National Titles, namely the PMU.fr WPT National Cannes back in May this year and the Euro Finals of Poker 2013, Paris and he had a spectacular day in the hunt for his third title.
For a short time it was a tousle between Polito and Stephan Ouzilou for the chip lead but Polito went on an absolute tear, twice busting two players at once for significant pots. In the first instance there was a three way all-in when Polito held aces against tens and jacks which propelled him to over 500,000. Not too long after that he got it in with queens against and and held to propel him to the 800,000 mark.
Ouzilou gained ground towards the end of the day but he couldn't quite find the big hands at the right time in the way that Polito did.
The three players who began at the top gradually fell away. Omar Lakhdari started in the lead but he ended up with 270,000. Gregory Fournier started in second place but failed to make Day 3, while Day 1a chip leader Guillaume Wilhelm managed to make it through with 288,000.
There were 181 players who started the day and 50 survived the seven one-hour levels to battle it out on Day 3 when the two Day 2s will merge. At stake is the WPT National title and first place prize money of €140,000.Second place will receive €94,500 with third getting €61,000. Tomorrow will be the money bubble day with 81 places paid and a min-cash worth €2,000.
Can Laurent Polito make it an extraordinary three World Poker Tour National titles? The only thing guaranteed in poker is that PokerNews will be there to bring you the coverage. Be sure to join us as the two fields finally join together with all the competitors finally in the same room at the same time.
Cards are in the air at 4 p.m. local time and the plan is to play down to a final 14 so be sure to join us then.
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We returned to Laurent Polito’s table to see that he was stacking even more chips. Here’s what happened.
There was an open to 8,000 and Polito made the call. Another player shoved for 45,000 holding and a player tank-folded before the original raiser shoved for 140,000 with . Polito called to put them at risk with his .
The queens held and Polito’s amazing day just kept on getting better.
In a hand that was related to us there was an open to 7,000 and Laurent Polito three-bet from the small blind to 15,000. The big blind then moved all in for 45,000 holding what turned out to be and the original raiser re-shoved for over 200,000 holding . Polito made the call with and bust two players in one hand to take the chip lead.
In a hand we just witnessed Polito opened for 7,000 and called a three-bet from a late position player to 15,000. Polito then proceeded to check-call bets down to the river on a final board of for a 100,000 pot. His opponent turned over and lost out to the of Polito.
With a huge tower of chips stacked in front of him it’s hard to give an exact count at the moment but for sure it is approaching 600,000.
Omar Lakhdari is the man to catch as Day 2a gets underway returning with 212,000 chips. Gregory Fournier is in second place with 181,100 and Day 1a chip leader Guillaume Wilhelm returns in third with 177,700.
This is the first of two Day 2s and 181 players are set to take their seats for this flight here at the Cercle Clichy Montmartre with their dream of capturing a World Poker Tour National title still alive.
Action is likely to be fast and furious in the first few levels of play as there is a raft of sub-twenty big blind stacks in play who will no doubt be looking for a good spot to get their chips in the middle
The prize pool details will be released today and we will bring you the full breakdown as soon as we get it and the players will find out just how much they will be playing for. There is still a long way to go before a winner is decided though with the money bubble set to burst sometime on Day 3 tomorrow.
Cards are in the air at 10 a.m. again today and the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to chart the tournament’s progress as we follow all the drama on the continuing road to crowning a new champion who is set to walk away with a big payday.
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and 
and held to propel him to the 800,000 mark.
for a 100,000 pot. His opponent turned over 
and lost out to the 
of Polito.
