The WPT Grand Prix de Paris and the Aviation Club de France (ACF) will always have a special place in WPT folklore because it was the first event to be hosted by the WPT in Europe. Christer Johansson, David Benyamine, Surinder Sunar, Roland de Wolfe, Christian Grundtvig and Theo Jorgensen have all won the title, but for the first time ever it returns to American soil after Matthew Waxman defeated Hugo Lemaire in only two hands of their heads up encounter.
312 players entered the competition and today we saw the final six fight it out for the first prize of €500,000 and all of the trappings that accompany a WPT title win. The final table short stack was Martin Jacobson and as so often happens he was also the first player eliminated. Jacobson moving all-in on the button with 
and Mikko Sundell calling in the big blind with 
meaning it was all over for the man with over $2.5 million in career earnings. Then we had the shock of the final table when the promising chip leader, Mikko Sundell, was eliminated. It was a standard raised pot on a board of 
when the two big stacks decided to play for keeps. Sundell bet 85,000, Waxman raised to 210,000, Sundell moved to 680,000 and then Waxman moved all-in and was called. Sundell was holding 
and Waxman 
. Clubs would prove to be very kind to Waxman and the board ran out diamond-diamond, Waxman took a dominating lead while Sundell was left with mere chip dust and was eliminated in the very next hand by Byron Kaverman.
Byron Kaverman was also trying to take the title back to the U.S but Frederic Magen had other plans for the American. In a hand that seemed to demonstrate how tired the players were, Magen made a 5x raise on the button making it 250,000 to play, Byron Kaverman was in the big blind and he moved all-in and Magen called. Magen was holding 
and Kaverman 
. The flop propelled Kaverman into the lead when the dealer gave us 
but the turn of reversed the tables and Magen eliminated Kaverman in 4th place.
Frederic Magen was next to leave the table. He raised to 160,000 and after Waxman made it 410,000 to play Magen moved all-in for over 3,000,000 and Waxman made the call. It seemed a rash move from the Frenchman and it was especially so when the cards were turned over – Waxman dominating Magen with [ax] v 
. The board stayed clean with no queens or spades and Magen was out in 3rd.
So we were heads up with the American, Waxman, versus the Frenchman, Hugo Lemaire. Anyone hoping for a heads up classic was to be disappointed after the contest lasted two hands. On a flop of 
Waxman check-raised all-in and Hugo Lemaire called. Lemaire may have had the lead but Waxman had the draw and all of the luck – 
for Waxman and 
for Lemaire. The turn was the 
but the river was the 
and Waxman won the title and €500,000 in change. Lemaire, who had a fantastic tournament, had a consolation of €311,100.
All of the day’s hand-by-hand action can be found here.
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