Sil Damstra and Florian Duta were in the blinds and had gathered a pot of 7,500 when they went to a 9♦A♦7♣ flop. Damstra checked to Duta, who placed a bet of 2,300.
Damstra called to the 8♦ turn, which both players checked. Damstra took another peek at his cards when the K♠ river arrived before deciding to blast 11,500 chips into the pot.
Duta mulled things over for several minutes, eventually letting his cards go as he admitted defeat.
Nicolaus Paszkiewicz raised to 300 in the hijack, Jimmy Armougom three-bet to 800 on the button, and Paszkiewicz called.
The flop came 2♦K♦J♦ and Armougom continued for 1,200. Paszkiewicz called and checked over to Armougom on the 5♦ turn, and this time Armougom loudly slammed the table and checked back.
The river was the 6♠ and Paszkiewicz led out for 1,200. Armougom quickly threw in a raise to 4,500, and Paszkiewicz snap-folded.
Erwann Pecheux opened to 300 in the cutoff. Hannes Jeschka made a sizable three-bet to 1,500 in the small blind, seeing his opponent call.
Jeschka continued for 1,100 on the 7♦2♥7♥ flop. Pecheux called to the 4♥ turn, which both players checked. Jeschka checked again when the 3♥ river completed the board, but Pecheux put in a wager of 3,500.
This was enough to drag the pot, as Jeschka mucked his cards after a final glance.
David Kaufmann and Martins Adeniya went to a flop of A♦5♦9♣ with more than 1,000 in the middle when Adeniya bet 500 from the big blind. Kaufmann called in the small blind.
The turn was the J♥ and Adeniya bet another 2,000. Kaufmann again called and checked over to Adeniya on the A♣ river, and this time Adeniya checked back.
Kaufmann turned over A♠7♠ for trip aces as the 2024 EPT Paris runner-up took down the early pot.
The sun has risen above the French capital of Paris, meaning a new day of the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris is on the horizon. All eyes today will be on Day 1b of the prestigious €5,300 EPT Main Event, which kicks off at noon local time.
During the record-setting 2024 edition of EPT Paris, Day 1b of the Main Event crossed the magical number of 1,000 entries. A bumper crowd is thus expected today at Le Palais des Congrès, adding to the 573 entries of Day 1a.
All who enter today will be chasing hometown player Thomas Cazayous, who captured the chip lead on Day 1a with 385,000, just shy of 13 starting stacks. Other notables who bagged big among the 180 survivors on Day 1a include Natan Chauskin, Adrian State and Nikita Kuznetsov.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
Thomas Cazayous
France
385,000
257
2
Eduard Litskan
Ukraine
315,000
210
3
Yaman Nakdali
Spain
295,000
197
4
Natan Chauskin
Belarus
281,000
187
5
Adrian State
Romania
262,500
175
6
Nikita Kuznetsov
Russian Federation
253,000
169
7
Carlos Rocha
Brazil
244,000
163
8
Vincent Lavollee
France
238,000
159
9
Adnan Dahic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
210,000
140
10
Lucas Scafini
Brazil
208,000
139
Thomas Cazayous
Day 1b of the EPT Paris Main Event will follow the same structure as Day 1a, starting each player off with 30,000 chips and playing ten levels of 60 minutes. The blinds will kick off at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante, ensuring deep-stacked play throughout the day. A small break is scheduled after every two levels, with an extended 65-minute dinner break taking place after Level 6, around 6:40 p.m. local time.
Late registration will remain open throughout Day 1b, closing at the start of Day 2. However, all players are allowed just two entries in total across the entire EPT Main Event, including Day 1a and Day 2.
Day 1b Schedule
Level
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
1
60 min
100
100
100
2
60 min
100
200
200
20 min break
3
60 min
100
300
300
4
60 min
200
400
400
20 min break
5
60 min
200
500
500
6
60 min
300
600
600
75 min dinner break
7
60 min
400
800
800
8
60 min
500
1,000
1,000
20 min break
9
60 min
600
1,200
1,200
10
60 min
600
1,200
1,200
PokerNews will be back on the floor for Day 1b from the very start, providing live coverage of exciting hands and chip count updates. Keep your eyes on this page as the EPT Paris Main Event will continue shortly.
