€5,300 EPT Paris Main Event
Ziua 3 terminat
Ziua 3 terminat
Live Highlights
Konstantin Held Holds Big Lead After Day 3 in EPT Paris Main Event
The European Poker Tour is one day closer to crowning the first-ever EPT Paris Main Event champion after five and a half 90-minute levels of play on Day 3 that saw Germany's Konstantin Held bagging a big chip lead with 2,935,000. Held's nearly 150 big blinds put him atop the remaining field of 47 players and in front of big stacks Fabrice Bigot (2,235,000), Brian Delaney (2,180,000) and Denzel Spekman (2,075,000).
The German held up better than his brother, Justus Held, who was also in the Day 3 field but bowed out in 109th place for €14,100. The other Held looks for his first major title as, Bigot, the player second in chips, seeks to continue this month's heater after he took down the €1,100 WPT Prime Paris Main Event for €177,240.
There are still plenty of big names fighting for the top prize of €1,170,000 in the €5,300 buy-in event, which drew the largest-ever EPT Main Event field outside of Barcelona. EPT champion Manig Loeser bagged a stack of 1,670,000 as he looks for a second title, while online crusher Niklas Astedt and high-stakes stars Ben Heath and Alex Kulev are also in contention after Kulev eliminated fellow high-roller Mike Watson in the final minutes of play.
€5,300 EPT Paris Main Event End of Day 3 Top Ten
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 4 Big Blinds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konstantin Held | Germany | 2,935,000 | 147 | |
| 2 | Fabrice Bigot | France | 2,235,000 | 112 | |
| 3 | Brian Delaney | United Kingdom | 2,180,000 | 109 | |
| 4 | Denzel Spekman | Netherlands | 2,075,000 | 104 | |
| 5 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 1,795,000 | 90 | |
| 6 | Harry Lodge | United Kingdom | 1,775,000 | 89 | |
| 7 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 1,670,000 | 84 | |
| 8 | Miroslav Alilovic | France | 1,610,000 | 81 | |
| 9 | Daniel Wilson | Ireland | 1,550,000 | 78 | |
| 10 | Arthur Conan | France | 1,550,000 | 78 |
Stars Fall on Day 3
The Day 3 field started off sizeable enough with 174 players and, like in the days that came before it, it didn't take long for that number to drop drastically. Some of those who fell early in the day included Fabian Gumz (172nd - €10,650), Sam Greenwood (154th - €10,650), Day 1a chip leader Omar Gonzalez (148th - €10,650) and Nick Petrangelo (135th - €12,250).
Popular French poker vlogger Johan Guilbert, who was roundly criticized on social media for his excessive tanking on Day 2, had to adapt his strategy a bit on Day 3 with 30-second shot clocks coming into play. "YoH ViraL" took a tough beat on the feature table when he got it in with ace-king against the ace-nine of Alexandros Kolonias, who managed to turn a nine to eliminate Guilbert ahead of the dinner break.
Benny Glaser was seeking another big score after the Brit finished runner-up in December 2022's WPT World Championship for $2.8 million. The recent millionaire had to settle for €18,650 this time as he went out in 69th place when he couldn't pair his ace-jack against the pocket eights of recent EPT Prague €3,000 Mystery Bounty champ Mathieu Di Meglio.
EPT Main Event champion Roberto Romanello was after his second title but fell in 62nd place before the final break of the day when his ace-four couldn't pull ahead of the queens of Murad Akhundov, despite the Welshman flopping a backdoor flush draw.
Others who were unable to survive the day include Orpen Kisacikoglu, Jonathan Pastore, Paulina Loeliger, Andrew Lichtenberger and Masato Yokosawa.
Day 4 will commence at noon local time on Feb. 24 with blinds of 10,000/20,000/20,000 and the tournament is scheduled to play two more days after that before a winner takes home the trophy and the lion's share of the €7,708,800 prize pool.
That's all the action for Day 3, but stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site tomorrow here at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile as the march continues to an inaugural EPT Paris Main Event champion being crowned.
Day 4 Seat Draw
| TABLE | SEAT | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BIG BLINDS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | 1,195,000 | 60 | |
| 1 | 2 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 1,670,000 | 84 | |
| 1 | 3 | Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 700,000 | 35 | |
| 1 | 4 | Elias Fisz | Netherlands | 925,000 | 46 | |
| 1 | 5 | Michael Rodrigues | Portugal | 470,000 | 24 | |
| 1 | 6 | Timo Kamphues | Germany | 735,000 | 37 | |
| 1 | 7 | Hala Karam | Lebanon | 675,000 | 34 | |
| 1 | 8 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | 670,000 | 34 | |
| 2 | 1 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 1,795,000 | 90 | |
| 2 | 2 | Aurelien Russo | France | 1,130,000 | 57 | |
| 2 | 3 | Denzel Spekman | Netherlands | 2,075,000 | 104 | |
| 2 | 4 | Gaelle Baumann | France | 665,000 | 33 | |
| 2 | 5 | Miroslav Alilovic | France | 1,610,000 | 81 | |
| 2 | 6 | Konstantin Held | Germany | 2,935,000 | 147 | |
| 2 | 7 | Daniel Wilson | Ireland | 1,550,000 | 78 | |
| 2 | 8 | Bernard Vu | France | 355,000 | 18 | |
| 3 | 1 | Klemens Roiter | Austria | 335,000 | 17 | |
| 3 | 2 | Nicolae Paunescu | Romania | 770,000 | 39 | |
| 3 | 3 | Fabrice Bigot | France | 2,235,000 | 112 | |
| 3 | 4 | Chaofei Wang | Hong Kong | 575,000 | 29 | |
| 3 | 5 | Mathieu Di Meglio | France | 1,170,000 | 59 | |
| 3 | 6 | Harry Lodge | United Kingdom | 1,775,000 | 89 | |
| 3 | 7 | Arthur Conan | France | 1,550,000 | 78 | |
| 3 | 8 | Carlos Ribeiro | Brazil | 470,000 | 24 | |
| 4 | 1 | Razvan Belea | Romania | 975,000 | 49 | |
| 4 | 2 | Henri Kasper | Estonia | 580,000 | 29 | |
| 4 | 3 | Malo Latinois | France | 1,055,000 | 53 | |
| 4 | 4 | Karim Abdelmoumene | France | 505,000 | 25 | |
| 4 | 5 | Sergei Petrushevskii | Russia | 1,470,000 | 74 | |
| 4 | 6 | Askar Bekbayev | Kazakhstan | 400,000 | 20 | |
| 4 | 7 | Brian Delaney | United Kingdom | 2,180,000 | 109 | |
| 4 | 8 | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | 515,000 | 26 | |
| 5 | 1 | Saar Wilf | Israel | 420,000 | 21 | |
| 5 | 2 | David Tous | Spain | 680,000 | 34 | |
| 5 | 4 | Sven Stok | Netherlands | 730,000 | 37 | |
| 5 | 5 | Corentin Ropert | France | 1,065,000 | 53 | |
| 5 | 6 | Peter Jorgne | Sweden | 1,240,000 | 62 | |
| 5 | 7 | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | 1,475,000 | 74 | |
| 5 | 8 | Wooseok Kim | South Korea | 840,000 | 42 | |
| 6 | 1 | Sachin Joshi | United Kingdom | 420,000 | 21 | |
| 6 | 2 | Florent Estegassy | France | 865,000 | 43 | |
| 6 | 3 | Guy Taylor | United Kingdom | 585,000 | 29 | |
| 6 | 4 | Frederik Brink | Denmark | 735,000 | 37 | |
| 6 | 5 | Mehdi Chaoui | Morocco | 1,500,000 | 75 | |
| 6 | 6 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | 393,000 | 20 | |
| 6 | 7 | Mark Roovers | Netherlands | 500,000 | 25 | |
| 6 | 8 | Johan Schultz-Pedersen | Denmark | 875,000 | 44 |
End of Day 3 Chip Counts (complet)
|
|
2,935,000 | -15,000 | ||
|
|
2,235,000 | 105,000 | ||
|
|
2,180,000 | 380,000 | ||
|
|
2,075,000 | -650,000 | ||
|
|
1,795,000 | 170,000 | ||
|
|
1,775,000 | 75,000 | ||
|
|
1,670,000 | 70,000 | ||
|
|
1,610,000 | 185,000 | ||
|
|
1,550,000 | 25,000 | ||
|
|
1,550,000 | 50,000 | ||
|
|
1,500,000 | |||
|
|
1,475,000 | -135,000 | ||
|
|
1,470,000 | -210,000 | ||
|
|
1,240,000 | 540,000 | ||
|
|
1,195,000 | 555,000 | ||
|
|
1,170,000 | 115,000 | ||
|
|
1,130,000 | 377,000 | ||
|
|
1,065,000 | 65,000 | ||
|
|
1,055,000 | -145,000 | ||
|
|
975,000 | 450,000 | ||
|
|
925,000 | 590,000 | ||
|
|
875,000 | 358,000 | ||
|
|
865,000 | 85,000 | ||
|
|
840,000 | 132,000 | ||
|
|
770,000 | -218,000 |
Voila, C'est Tout!
Well, that's all for Day 3. The final 47 players are bagging up for the night. They'll return at noon Friday for Day 4.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for complete end-of-day chip counts and a full recap of the day's action.
Brink Busts Bechahed
On the second of four final hands of the day, Sam Bechahed got all in for 265,000 from early position, getting action from Frederik Brink on the button.
Sam Bechahed: 
Frederik Brink: 
Board: 
Bechahed failed to connect with the board and Brink's pocket tens help up to earn him the pot late on Day 3. Brink headed for the exit, leaving 47 players still in action as the last hands play out.
|
|
735,000 | 410,000 | ||
|
Eliminat |
Watson Eliminated by Kulev
Mike Watson moved all in for his last 165,000 from the cutoff and was called by Alex Kulev in the small blind.
The PokerStars TV crew gathered to capture the potential elimination of the multi-time EPT event winner.
Mike Watson: 
Alex Kulev: 
The board came 
, bringing no help to the Canadian star as his elimination brought the field under 50 as the night wound down.
|
|
|
1,610,000 | 220,000 | ||
|
|
Eliminat |
Last Four Hands
The tournament director has paused the clock and it has been announced that there will be four more hands before the players bag up for the evening.
Malinov's Tens Cracked As Day 3 Winds Down
Atanas Malinov raised from early position, Carlos Ribeiro reshoved from the big blind and Malinov called. Players flipped their cards.
Atanas Malinov:
Carlos Ribeiro: 
The two players were flipping, with Malinov at risk. The board ran out 
. The flop gave Ribeiro a pair of queens and by the river he had further improved to a full house. Malinov was eliminated in 50th place.
|
|
400,000 | -200,000 | ||
|
|
Eliminat |
Chaoui Chips Up to Around 1.5 Million
Mehdi Chaoui raised from under the gun and Fabio Sperling reraised from the big blind. Chaoui called.
The flop came 
. Chaoui stared across at Sperling as both players checked. The turn was the . Sperling led for 30,000 and Chaoui called.
The river was the . Sperling used a time bank card before checking. Chaoui, his eyes having never really left his opponent, made a bet of 250,000, which was, for all intents and purposes, Sperling's entire stack. Sperling folded the hand.
Chaoui has had an excellent day at the tables, building his stack from being relatively short to around 1.5 million.
|
|
|
1,500,000 | 200,000 | ||
|
|
260,000 | -60,000 |