€5,300 Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2026 PokerStars EPT Paris
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1b
Players Left 464 / 1,411
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
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Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Mahersh Selvakumaran left the last PokerStars European Poker Tour stop with two shiny gold trophies to add to his collection. That momentum carried over to today on Day 1b of the EPT Paris Main Event, when Selvakumaran put himself in position for another deep run by building a massive chip lead.
Selvakumaran ended the day with 448,500, 100,000 clear of the rest of the 284 players to survive Day 1b, putting him in the overall chip lead through the two opening flights. Selvakumaran came to Paris on a hot streak, winning two events at EPT Prague in December, including the €10,300 EPT High Roller for €477,000. He also finished 11th in the PS Open Main Event two months ago.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mahersh Selvakumaran | Netherlands | 448,500 | 299 |
| 2 | Endrit Geci | United Kingdom | 348,500 | 232 |
| 3 | Graeme Newman | United Kingdom | 345,000 | 230 |
| 4 | Gabriel Nahum | France | 334,500 | 223 |
| 5 | Bruno Fuentes | France | 316,500 | 211 |
| 6 | Luis Faria | Portugal | 316,000 | 211 |
| 7 | Julien Mariani | France | 290,000 | 193 |
| 8 | Manuel Carvalho | Portugal | 265,000 | 177 |
| 9 | Benjamin Gros | France | 264,500 | 176 |
| 10 | Ekrem Sanioglu | France | 255,000 | 170 |
Far behind him on the leaderboard is Endrit Geci (348,500), while Graeme Newman rode a double knockout holding two jacks all the way to 345,000 and third place. Gabriel Nahum (334,500) and Bruno Fuentes (316,500) round out the top five.
Other top stacks include past WCOOP Main Event champion Luis Faria (316,000), Alec Torelli (230,000), and Joris Ruijs (213,000). Further down the leaderboard are Mehdi Chaoui (163,500), Felix Schneiders (157,000), Elias Gutierrez (115,500), and Zdenek Zizka (111,500). Cheng Zhao earned a late double up when he made a hero call for his last 48,800, holding two jacks on a king-queen-high board and picked off Tobias Kirby-Hogarty’s bluff. The 2023 EPT Prague finalist ended up with 152,500.
Masato Yokosawa (97,500), Jessica Teusl (93,500), Ole Schemion (62,500), Davidi Kitai (59,500), Robin Ylitalo (47,500), Nate Silver (44,000), Maria Konnikova (43,500), and Juan Pardo (35,500) were also among the players who secured their spots for Day 2. Those who weren’t so fortunate included two-time EPT champ Mike Watson, EPT Monte Carlo champion Aleksandr Shevliakov, EPT Prague runner-up Bora Kurtulus, Kenny Hallaert, Eric Afriat, Dominik Panka, Adrian Mateos, Jon Kyte, Boris Angelov, Stephen Song, and Jason Wheeler.
The 838 players who packed Le Palais des Congrès on Day 1b brought the field up to 1,411 entries through the two starting flights. A total of 464 will return for Day 2 tomorrow at noon local time. Late registration remains open until the start of the day, so there is still a chance for the field to grow much larger by the time the prize pool is confirmed. Blinds will be 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante at the start of the day, and levels will be extended to 90 minutes from this point on.
The money bubble should burst towards the end of the day tomorrow, and PokerNews will be back following all the action and providing live updates as players try to secure a payday.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
448,500
8,500
|
8,500 |
|
||
|
348,500
26,500
|
26,500 |
|
345,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
334,500
28,500
|
28,500 |
|
316,500
108,000
|
108,000 |
|
316,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
290,000
119,600
|
119,600 |
|
265,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
264,500
141,900
|
141,900 |
|
255,000
255,000
|
255,000 |
|
230,000 | |
|
||
|
228,000
46,000
|
46,000 |
|
213,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
|
208,500
56,500
|
56,500 |
|
206,500
61,500
|
61,500 |
|
205,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
|
202,000
107,000
|
107,000 |
|
201,000
139,000
|
139,000 |
|
200,500
45,500
|
45,500 |
|
197,000
197,000
|
197,000 |
|
197,000
111,700
|
111,700 |
|
193,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
182,000
116,000
|
116,000 |
|
179,500
39,500
|
39,500 |
|
177,000
177,000
|
177,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The bags have been brought out on all tables, spelling the end of Day 1b. Throughout the day, 838 entries have been made, of which 284 players made it through to Day 2.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
With just a couple of hands to play on Day 1b, two-time EPT winner Victoria Coren Mitchell three-bet jammed her final 10,200 chips and was called by Rokas Asipauskas.
Victoria Coren Mitchell: A♦9♣ 
Rokas Asipauskas: K♠10♥
Coren Mitchell flopped a pair and a flush draw on 6♦9♦4♦. Although the Q♥ turn provided Asipauskas with some more outs, the 2♠ river remained safe for Coren Mitchell to secure a double-up in the dying minutes of Day 1b.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
182,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
23,400
3,400
|
3,400 |
|
||
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Heads-up on a flop of 9♣A♣3♣, Ankit Ahuja moved all in for his last 30,000 from under the gun and Joris Ruijs snap-called in the big blind.
Ankit Ahuja: A♠10♠
Joris Ruijs: K♣6♣
Ahuja showed top pair, but Ruijs had flopped the nut flush to leave him drawing thin. The board ran out K♥3♠ and Ahuja was sent to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
200,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Tournament officials announced that players will see three more hands before bagging up their chips for the night.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Tomas Kostic open-raised to 3,600 under the gun. Ufuk Kortan tossed in a small three-bet to 8,900 in middle position, after which the action folded back to Kostic.
Kostic moved all in, and Kortan quickly called off his stack of roughly 50,000.
Ufuk Kortan: Q♦Q♣
Tomas Kostic: K♠K♦
Kostic's kings remained superior on the J♣6♦9♥4♣8♣ runout, knocking Kortan out at the tail end of Day 1b.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
375,000
138,000
|
138,000 |
|
|
321,000
111,000
|
111,000 |
|
|
210,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
|
|
145,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Aleksandr Shevliakov moved all in for 30,000 from the hijack and Chun Kit Kwan put him at risk on the button.
Aleksandr Shevliakov: 8♦8♣
Chun Kit Kwan: Q♣J♣
Kwan hit top pair on the Q♠4♦3♣ flop, while the rest of the board ran out 6♠5♠ and the EPT Monte Carlo champion was sent to the rail in the closing moments of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
95,000
37,000
|
37,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
