21:23
Final Day Chip Counts
Franck Pepe – 432,000
Christophe Lesage – 401,000
Dori Yacoub – 370,100
Alexandre Brivot – 339,400
Mikko Sundell – 334,500
McLean Karr – 323,400
Matthew Waxman – 285,300
Ivan Freitez – 282,100
Ali Daher – 269,400
Ahmed Debabeche – 253,700
Nesrine Kourdourli – 240,400
Frédéric Magen – 214,200
Guillaume Darcourt – 207,000
Eric Rabl – 206,800
Andras Kovacs – 200,000
Farzad Bonyadi – 192,600
Tyler Bonkowski – 192,200
Bjorn Artursson – 187,000
Ami Alibay – 185,000
Joe Cassidy – 178,900
Heinz Kamutzki – 175,400
Carl Fleming – 169,000
Stéphane Benabida – 156,300
Byron Kaverman – 154,700
Jani Sointula – 152,600
Rebecca Gerim – 151,500
Elio Fox – 148,700
Gabriel Nassif – 145,900
Hichem Ben Halina – 139,000
Hugo Lemaire – 138,900
Martin Jacobson – 138,700
Metaal Govert – 122,400
Benny Spindler – 122,300
Max Silver – 117,400
Marc-David Delimal – 116,300
Christophe Benzimra – 115,500
Franck Bouer – 114,700
Evgeny Zaytsev – 110,500
Pim Van Wieringen -106,800
Hocine Aït-El-Djoudi – 106,200
Nicolas Cardyn – 101,500
Dmitry Stelmak – 94,500
Lucien Cohen – 94,300
Shawn Cunix – 93,800
Yves Farges – 81,600
Jean-Noël Thorel – 80,200
Jérôme Brion – 80,100
Per Linde – 78,800
Daniel Kloc – 76,300
Elmar Dirnberger – 75,200
Jean-Louis Tepper – 72,800
Jean-Jacques Mars – 72,200
Alexandre Viard – 55,400
Marcelo Pohmajevic – 53,300
Mario Puccini – 51,300
Jean-Philippe Rohr – 49,700
Alain Goldberg – 45,400
Adrien Partaud – 43,300
Syzmon Grzela – 38,300
Julian Sheuhu – 35,500
Jimmy Ostensson – 24,400
20:51
The End of Days (Well Day 2 Anyway)
The Tournament Director felt that 61 players was enough to commence day three with and therefore called a halt to proceedings at the end of level 12. The players are now in the bar and we can confirm that the final chip leader for the day was Franck Pepe with 432,000 chips. The full recap can be read here.
20:00
Top Chip Counts
- Christophe Lesage 420,000
- Franck Pepe 410,000
- Alexander Brivot 350,000
- Mathew Waxman 320,000
- McLean Karr 320,000
- Mikko Sundell 290,000
- Fred Magen 280,000
- Ivan Freitez 250,000
- Guillaume Darcourt 200,000
- Dori Yacoub 200,000
19:45
Interview With Olivier Busquet
Black Friday really affected the world’s poker playing community. When you are one of the worlds greatest online HU specialists how do you react? Come inside and have a listen to Olivier Busquet talking candidly about it.
19:15
Sundell Still Going Strong
How often do we see a chip leader at the start of the day slowly fade away towards the end of the day? Mikko Sundell started the day as the chip leader and although he is not our current chip leader he is still going strong at the top of the charts.
Sundell opened up a hand from under the gun. The price to pay was 4,000 and three people paid it. The flop of 
was checked through by all the players and the dealer gave us the 
turn. Once again it looked like all the players would check until the player seated in the last position bet 13,200. The big blind folded and Sundell popped it up to 37,000 and the original bettor called. The river was the 
and both players folded and Sundell picked up another decent sized pot with 
and his opponent mucked his hand unseen.
18:35
Eliminations
Here are some eliminations we have learned of during our break with the players.
McLean Karr has busted Olivier Busquet after his set held on against the two pair, flush draw and gutshot straight draw of Busquet. Tony Dunst, Joe Ebanks and Jeff Vertes made it a set of quads for American evictees just before the break. Another person who has been eliminated is Casey Kastle. Kastle, who couldn’t keep his eyes open all morning, was shooting the short stack most of the day, and we have been told he has been eliminated.
18:20
Top Chip Counts
- Christophe Lesage 370,000
- McLean Karr 310,000
- Alexander Brivot 270,000
- Mikko Sundell 250,000
- Fred Magen 240,000
- Guillaume Darcourt 200,000
- Franck Pepe 175,000
- Hugo Lemaire 175,000
18:15
Govert Metaal Eliminates Ilan Rouah
We are not sure if Ilan Rouah was still steaming after his loss at the hands of Christophe Lesage but his elimination hand was a bit of a mess.
There was a raise to 2,600 from early position and several callers (including Rouah) before Govert Metaal made a move from the small blind. The man from Holland squeezed out a 8,200 three-bet and with a stack of 28,000 Rouah made the call. The flop had more clubs on it that Captain Caveman’s bedroom closet:
Flop: 
Metaal checked, Rouah shoved and Metaal snap-called. When the hands were turned over their were clubs everywhere.
Metaal: 
Rouah: 
Turn: 
River: 
Metaal was up to 115,000 and Rouah was left with a lonely walk.
17:59
Lesage Shows Everyone Why He Is Just So Damn Good
The recent winner of the France Poker Tour Grand Final is playing some great poker here in the ACF. If anyone was in doubt that this kid could handle the pressure then this hand demonstrates his ability to make sound decisions at vital moments. It also cemented his place as the tournaments chip leader.
It was a three-bet pot between Christophe Lesage and Ilan Rouah. Both players were in late position with Rouah holding the position on Lesage.
Flop: 
Lesage bet 15,600 and Rouah made the call.
Turn: 
Both players checked.
River: 
Lesage checked and Rouah bet 42,200 and Lesage went into the tank. When Lesage emerged he had decided to make the call and it was good. As the last aggressor Rouah had to show his bluff and Lesage turned over the winning hand with a pair of sevens.
Lesage: 
Rouah: 
Lesage ~ 370,000
Photo: Lesage in the tank moment before making the call on the river.
17:42
Jason Mercier Forced to Fold
The worlds top tournament player Jason Mercier has just had a little skirmish with the Russian Evgeny Zaytsev. Zaytsev is a regular on the European tour but has yet to cash in a WPT event.
Mercier raised to 2,000 from under the gun and there were several callers including Zaytsev on the button. The dealer brandished a flop of 
and it was Mercier who started off the betting when he flicked out 3 yellow and 3 black chips worth 3,300. Each player folded in turn until Zaytsev called on the button and two went to the turn.
The turn was the 
and Mercier check-called a 6,700 bet off a 38,000 stack. The last card to be flung onto the felt was the 
and Mercier checked to Zaytsev who bet 11,600 forcing the American to fold. Mercier was moved to another table just after that hand – much to the relief of his table mates.
Photo: Merciers view of the Zaytsev river bet
17:30
The ACF is a Nice Playground For Brivot
The last time the WPT sponsored an event in the ACF, Alexandre Brivot finished in second place for a €147,170 payout. That tournament was the EFOP Diamond Championship/WPT Regional Series and thus far in the WPT Grand Prix de Paris Brivot is setting himself up nicely for a repeat performance.
Brivot raised to 2,600 in late position and Hugo Lemaire defended his big blind. The two huge stacks clashed on a flop of 
and Lemaire went straight for Brivot with a bet of 3,200 and Brivot made the call. The turn was the and Lemaire continued to take the aggression away from Brivot with a second bet worth 7,000. Brivot pulled a few chips off the top of his pack of cigarettes and threw them in the middle for the call. The river was the and both players tapped the felt and as the last aggressor Lemaire decided to simply muck his hand and Brivot turned over to pull in the pot.
Brivot ~ 270,000
Lemaire ~ 175,000
Photo: Alexandre Brivot
17:20
King on the River Crushes Helppi
Juha Helppi moved his final 18,000 into the middle of the pot and he was called by big-stack Hugo Lemaire in the big blind.
Helppi: 
Lemaire: 
It was looking a good bet for a Finnish double up until a King on the river sent him reeling.
Board: 
Lemaire ~ 190,000
17:10
Where is Tony G?
The legendary Tony G was due to play at the WPT Grand Prix de Paris but he seems to have vanished from the tournament poker world. Some of the best poker players in the world voice their opinion, including his only son John Eames.
16:45
Ellwood and Mercier
Jason Mercier is a machine. The man finished day 1b yesterday and headed straight for the cash game tables and was still plying his trade at 03.30 this morning when we finally left the ACF. He is currently sat on around 70,000 after finding the winning hand against Jack Ellwood to leave the Brit extremely short heading to the break.
Mercier opened to 2,000 from under the gun and Jack Ellwood three-bet to 5,000 on the button. Mercier had a good look at the young Brit before making the call and they shared a flop of 
which they both checked. A lady showed up on the turn in the shape of the and Mercier bet 4,800 and Ellwood made the call from a 30k stack. The river was the 
and Mercier checked to Ellwood and he bet 8,400 and Mercier made the call.
Mercier:
Ellwood: Mucked
16:35
Marvin Rettenmaier Has Been Eliminated
He started the day as a centurion but in his own words, “he didn’t win a pot all day.”
We don’t know the complete story, because Marvin is still a little sore, but we know he moved his last 12bb across the line with jack-deuce suited on the button and it didn’t have a happy ending.
16:25
Sundell Actually Loses a Pot
The overall chip leader from day one, Mikko Sundell, has just lost a pot!
Ali Daher raised to 3,000 from middle position and there were three callers including Sundell in the hijack seat. The flop came down and everyone checked to the pre flop raiser who made a 8,000 bet. Sundell was next to act and he moved a tower of yellow chips across the line and it amounted to a 22,000 three-bet. Everyone else folded with the exception of Daher who was sat behind a stack of 40,000 and he pulled out a call. The turn was the and Daher checked to Sundell who moved all-in and Daher couldn’t get his chips in fast enough. The pained expression on the face of Sundell said it all.
Sundell:
Daher:
The river card was inconsequential and Daher had doubled up and it had left a little dent in the side of the Sundell stack.
Photo: Daher moving his chips all-in on the river after Sundell verbally announced all-in
16:05
Two of the Top Chip Leaders Sat Side-by-Side
Here is a photo of Mclean Karr and Mikko Sundell. The two of them have proved to be worthy challengers for this title and €500,00 first prize and they are currently seated right next to each other.
16.00
Pascal LeFrancois Is Out
Pascal LeFrancois is making plans to return to Montreal after being eliminated from WPT Grand Prix de Paris by fellow WSOP bracelet holder Max Lykov.
LeFrancois was on the button holding [ax][kx]and Lykov was in the big blind holding [kx][kx]. It was a tough spot for LeFrancois, given the hand range that Lykov could have in that spot, and after the inevitable pre flop raising war they got it all in and Lykov’s hand held.
LeFrancois is now heading back to Montreal to play in a charity poker event with poker players and NHL superstars so we wish him luck
16:30
Szymon Grzela Gives Describes his WPT Experience
Here is Szymon Grzela describing his WPT experience so far.
16:00
Mike Sexton is Out
The PartyPoker Amabassador Mike Sexton has been eliminated at the hands of Yori Dacoub. This is Mike Sexton’s twitter feed.
“Just got broke. I had Aces in SB. Guy raised, I re-raised. Flop 9-3-2 all clubs. I bet, he called. K on turn – me all-in. he had Q-J clubs.”
15:55
Five Bet Action
Pim van Wieringen raised to 3,100 in early position, there was a call, Marvin Rettenmaier made it 5,100 from the hijack seat, Ludovic Lacay raised to 10,100 from the button and van Wieringen ended all of the fuss with a five bet of 25,000 (from a stack of 45,000) and everyone folded.
15:45
Top Chip Counts
- McLean Karr 270,000
- Fred Magen 250,000
- Mikko Sundell 250,000
- Guillaume Darcourt 220,000
- Dori Yacoub 220,000
- Vadim Markushevski 190,000
- Alexander Brivot 180,000
- Jean Noel Thorel 165,000
- Andrew Badecker 155,000
- Hichem Benhalima 150,000
15:15
Dominik Nitsche – Owned!
“Dom, what are you doing here?” Intrepid reporter.
“I am out!” Says Nitsche.
“How?” Intrepid reporter.
“I just got owned by a French guy,” says Nitsche.
The French guy was Fred Magen and this is the tale of “ownage” from the mouth of the German himself.
From a starting stack of 70,000 Dominik Nitsche opened up to 1,600 from under the gun, holding pocket nines, and Fred Magen three-bet to 7,600 in late position and Nitsche called. The flop was [qx][7x] [3x] (2 x spades) and Nitsche check-called a 12,000 Magen bet. On the turn of [7x] Nitsche checked again and Magen moved all-in and Nitsche called. Magen turned over pocket queens.
“I mean what the hell is he doing with pocket queens in that spot?” Said Nitsche.
14:50
Some Eliminations to Report
We don’t know the exact details but former November Niner Joseph Cheong is wandering around looking for something to do, current November Niner Sam Holden was seen heading outside to the Champs Elysee and Natalya Nikitina is sat in the lounge reading a magazine.
14:45
Jacobson Loses With Ace-King
We caught the action on the flop. The hand involved nearly everyone on the table but it was Joel Constantin who bet the flop making it 6,000 to play from middle position and Martin Jacobson was the only player to call from early position. The turn of the was checked through before we saw the 
on the river. Jacobson fired out a bet of 14,000 from a 45,000 stack and Constantin made the call and it was good.
Jacobson:
Constantin: 
Photo: Martin Jacobson making his river bet versus Joel Constantin
14:30
Lundmark and Lykov Clash
EPT champion and WSOP bracelet winner Max Lykov raised from under the gun making it 1,800 to play and EPT Champion Kent Lundmark called from the small blind.
Flop:
Lundmark had to be told that it was his turn to act making us believe that he thought he was possibly raising on the button and not seated in the small blind. He checked and then so did Lykov.
Turn:
Lundmark checked again and Lykov bet 2,700 and Lundmark called.
River:
Both players checked and when the cards were turned over it was Lundmark who won the pot and we do believe he actually thought he was playing the button at the beginning of the hand.
Lykov: 
Lundmark: 
14.15
John Eames Eliminated
Not a lot of journalists even knew John Eames was here because he was shown on the chip count list as John Games. But we spotted the young Tony G look-a-like lurking around on table 15. For Eames day two didn’t last very long despite finding pocket kings on the button. There was an early position open to 1,600 and Eames moved all-in on the button for 14,000 and his opponent called holding . The board ran out 
and Eames (or Games as the ACF know him) was looking for an open top bus tour until the High Roller starts in a few days time.
14.05
Praz Bansi Doubles Up
“Lets spin this up!” Said Bansi as he took his seat and unpacked his paltry looking 5,500 chips from his bag.
In his second hand he moved all-in from the late position and Jean Noel Thorel inspected his stack in the big bind.
“I waited all day yesterday. Just for this hand. I blinded away to nothing just to find this hand,” said Bansi.
Thorel believed the banter and folded his hand but the player in the big blind didn’t and he made the call.
“Oh No!” Joked Bansi.
Bansi:
Big Blind:
Board: 
The player in the big blind was gutted as Bansi hit his eight.
“Told you I had it,” said Bansi with a rye smile.
13.35
Day Two
In a mere 30-minutes time, 167 players will encroach on the Aviation Club de France to start playing in day two of the WPT Grand Prix de Paris.
The chip leader is Mikko Sundell who is one of two Finnish players starting in the top ten with Jani Sointula lying in 7th place. Hot on his heels is the PartyPoker qualifier Yann Dion and the pink haired Guillaume Darcourt.
There is also a larger than normal American contingent in the house with the red hot McLean Karr currently leading the way. Karr has already won two events in August alone amassing over $200,000.
13.00
Seat Draw
The festivities begin at 14.00 (CET). In the meantime here is today’s table draw and chip counts.
Table 1
1. Andres Martin 16,200
2. Joe Cassidy 69,500
3. Loic Bobillier-Monnot 8,200
4. Mehdi Mouhoubi 15,100
5. Nesrine Kourdouru 20,000
6. Matias Ruzzi 47,100
7. Rodolphe Olelhiere 52,700
8. Emile Petit 30,800
9. Tony Dunst 23,100
10. Mario Puccini 75,400
Table 2
1. Gabriel Nassif 24,500
2. Jean-Phillipe Rohr 106,000
3. Rebecca Gerim 54,100
4. Tomasz Wrzeszinski 52,300
5. Samer Ramman 67,00
6. Ivan Freitez 88,000
7. Dmitry Vitkind 45,400
8. Julien Rouxel 33,000
9. Christian Jeppson 76,900
10. Artem Kobyllynski 13,000
Table 5
1. Stefan Olofsson 56,900
2. Martin Jacobson 52,100
3. Marvin Rettenmaier 104,600
4. Joel Constantin 50,500
5. Ludovic Lacay 97,400
6. Raphael Kroll 39,900
7. Olivier Busquet 20,800
8. Stephane Benabida 62,800
9. Michel Pomaret 63,200
10. Mikhail Shokhnovich 19,00
Table 6
1. Adrian Bussman 35,000
2. Christophe Lesage 114,700
3. Ilan Rouah 79,100
4. Govert Metaal 54,500
5. Joe Ebanks 142,600
6. Corey Hochman 66,600
7. Avidir Hamama 24,400
8. Guillaume Darcourt 198,500
9. Byron Kaverman 65,000
10. Andrew Badecker 51,500
Table 7
1. Yves Farges 52,400
2. Tobias Wagner 35,400
3. Slobodan Savic 52,400
4. Anatoly Gurtovoy 19,500
5. Nichlas Mattson 51,300
6. Heinz Kamutzki 74,300
7. Jani Sointula 135,400
8. Jean-Louis Perez 61,900
9. Diego Zeiter 28,400
10. Eugeniy Zaytsev 12,400
Table 8
1. Benjamin Spindler 92,100
2. Nicolas Cardyn 63,100
3. Damien Rony 42,400
4. Max Silver 124,100
5. Bjorn Artursson 44,800
6. Jeremy Ballois 61,200
7. David Lascar 55,000
8. Wieringen Van 80,000
9. Jacques Vergnaud 30,600
10. Jason Mercier 28,400
Table 9
1. Alain Goldberg 42,700
2. Benoit Bianchi 23,000
3. Julian Shehu 74,300
4. Gwennael Grand Moulin 24,800
5. Jean-Jacques Zeitoun 14,700
6. Aku Joentausta 16,700
7. Patrick Hirvonen 20,400
8. Kent Lundmark 107,700
9. Pascal Le Francois 36,500
10. Max Lykov 48,700
Table 10
1. Emeric Marcia 38,300
2. Gordon Huntly 45,900
3. Jeff Vertes 86,100
4. Marc-David Delimal 77,400
5. Ahmed Debabeche 65,300
6. Oleksandr Vaserfiker 89,500
7. Jean-Louis Tepper 44,500
8. Loic Henroit 63,800
9. Adam Geyer 125,300
10. Salman Behdehani 30,400
Table 11
1. Alexandre Bricot 103,800
2. Yann Dion 201,400
3. Patrick Manoteau 24,000
4. Mattew Waxman 45,600
5. Hugo Lemaire 80,300
6. Karim Abdelmoumene 36,300
7. Guillaume Marechal 41,600
8. Natalia Nikitina 12,500
9. Juha Helppi 59,600
10. Ciro Hanisch 60,300
Table 12
1. Jimmy Ostenson 35,300
2. Pierre Canali 18,400
3. Elmar Dirnberger 59,800
4. Christophe Benzimra 89,600
5. Eric Rabl 24,100
6. Laurent Vigne 35,700
7. Joseph Cheong 16,700
8. Michael Sebban 43,300
9. Guy Halmi 63,000
10. Domantas Klimciauskas 61,100
Table 15
1. Yann Brossolo 23,600
2. John Eames 14,600
3. Anzor Makhtsev 18,400
4. Andrew Borrok 78,700
5. Chjris Lastiwka 29,700
6. Dario Pavan 13,600
7. Per Linde 52,200
8. Erich Kollmann 10,400
9. Casey Kastel 33,300
10. McLean Karr 133,200
Table 16
1. Jussi Nevaulinna 79,700
2. Mounin Mechtaoui 52,600
3. Carl Flemming 43,900
4. Tyler Bonkowski 41,800
5. Adrian Partaud 33,300
6. Ali Daher 31,300
7. Julien di Pace 24,400
8. Mikko Sundell 203,800
9. Gangzhou Hu 92,200
10. Ami Alibay 129,000
Table 17
1. Frederic Magen 156,300
2. David Sonelin 64,600
3. Franck Boyer 36,900
4. Alexandre Viard 57,400
5. Dominik NItsche 24,800
6. Hocine Ait-El-Djoudi 50,100
7. Sam Holden 12,900
8. Andras Kovas 41,500
9. Franck Pepe 83,700
10. Igor Kurganoc 11,900
Table 18
1. Dmitry Stemak 37,500
2. Jean-Jacques Mars 35,000
3. Marcelo Pohmajevic 30,000
4. Marc Addad 14,500
5. Steven Kelly 68,900
6. Jack Ellwood 55,400
7. Vadim Markushevski 88,600
8. Daniel Kloc 57,900
9. Fabian Quoss 51,000
10. Leandro Csome 43,600
Table 19
1. Farzad Bonyadi 57,000
2. Guillaume Diaz 53,600
3. Valentin Messina 92,900
4. Maksim Kolosov 34,100
5. Anael Le Boedec 8,500
6. Elio Fox 77,100
7. Dori Yacoub 106,000
8. Shawn Cunix 115,100
9. Didier Mazairac 58,600
Table 20
1. Praz Bansi 5,500
2. Hichem Benhalima 93,300
3. Manual Bevan 95,900
4. Jean Noel Thorel 186,000
5. Jeremy Chenarin 6,600
6. Damien Cayet 25,400
7. Szymon Grzela 46,700
8. Bruno Benveniste 25,900
9. Jean-Paul Pasqualini 50,600
Table 21
1. Paul RIbaud 13,200
2. Stephane Crozat 51,000
3. Jonathan Azoulay 18,600
4. Frederic Pomme 12,800
5. Lucien Cohen 74,800
6. Jerome Brion 107,900
7. Bruno Louy 58,100
8. Mike Sexton 67,500
9. Surinder Sunar 39,900
[miniflickr photoset_id=”72157627615300988″]
