The FPS Main Event is now at Level 14. Day 1a will close upon the completion of this level and the remaining players will bag and tag their stacks for Saturday's Day 2.
As it stand, 214 remain but that number will fall over the next 40 minutes.
American David Kaye spoke with PokerNews about his journey from a small-town Michigan poker player to becoming a poker player and PokerStars ambassador.
He also gave insight into the current poker scene in Michigan, and the potential of online poker in the state.
“We know the end goal isn't just two states,” he said. “Two states is great, but this is just the groundwork to get where we really want to be when we have all the states under one umbrella — or as many states as possible.”
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Mauricio Sanchez opened to 6,000 from the small blind and Ivan Zhechev three-bet to 17,000 in the big blind. Sanchez called.
Sanchez checked on the flop of 
and Zhechev continued for 13,500. Sanchez called. Sanchez checked again on the 
turn and Zhechev announced "all in" before being met with a snap from his opponent, who had him covered.
Ivan Zhechev: 
Mauricio Sanchez: 
Zhechev had aces but his opponent had turned trips and, to make matters worse, held an ace to have Zhechev drawing to just one out. It didn't come as the river brought the 
and Zhechev hit the rail after suffering the brutal beat.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
180,000 | |
|
Eliminado |
Andrew Hulme opened to 6,500 from the button and was called by Jean Labryga from the big blind.
Labryga called bets of 6,000 and 18,500 on the flop and turn for the final board to read 
.
On the river, Labryga led out for 30,000 and Hulme called. The Frenchman, who has appeared to have not lost a hand all day, tabled his 
for the nut straight. Hulme tapped the table before mucking his hand.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
500,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
||
|
90,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
The floor has instructed dealers to deal four more hands before players bag for the evening in Day 1a.
PokerStars is back in the United States – in New Jersey, as well as in the largest online poker network in the US after Michigan and Pennsylvania player pools were merged at the start of this year.
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Joao Tomas opened to 6,000 from the hijack and Jean Labryga called from the cutoff. [Removed:510] jammed for 63,500 from the big blind which then prompted Tomas to move all in for 83,500. Labryga agonized over the decision before calling.
[Removed:510]: 
Joao Tomas: 
Jean Labryga:
Tomas remained best following the 
flop but Trofimov then had both of his opponents drawing to a chop after he made a wheel on the 
turn.
The 
river caused some commotion as all three players ended up with six-high straight. It was a cruel river for Trofimov as he was denied a massive triple up.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
505,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
|
||
|
85,000
51,500
|
51,500 |
|
|
65,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
After 14 levels of play, Day 1a of the FPS Main Event has closed.
The first starting flight has seen 796 entries, and 179 of those have survived the first stage. They're now bagging and tagging their stacks and will return on Saturday for Day 2.
Chip Counts and recap to follow shortly.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
526,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
|
||
|
428,000
267,000
|
267,000 |
|
402,000
402,000
|
402,000 |
|
362,000
214,000
|
214,000 |
|
346,000
346,000
|
346,000 |
|
343,000
78,000
|
78,000 |
|
304,000
44,000
|
44,000 |
|
290,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
281,000
131,000
|
131,000 |
|
281,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
274,000
104,000
|
104,000 |
|
271,080
1,080
|
1,080 |
|
263,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
262,000
72,000
|
72,000 |
|
260,000
212,000
|
212,000 |
|
|
257,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
|
252,000
252,000
|
252,000 |
|
249,000
249,000
|
249,000 |
|
249,000
69,000
|
69,000 |
|
240,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
||
|
239,000
239,000
|
239,000 |
|
|
237,000
91,000
|
91,000 |
|
235,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
222,000
222,000
|
222,000 |
|
222,000
51,000
|
51,000 |
It has been another action-packed day at the inaugural PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris, as the €1,100 FPS Main Event kicked off with its first of three starting flights.
Day 1a of the tournament attracted 796 entries and contributed €764,160 to the prize pool. The overall prize pool currently stands at €1,572,480 thanks to the entries in Day 1b and those who have already registered for Day 1c.
Day 1a wrapped up after 14 levels of play and saw 179 players bag and tag a stack for Day 2. Topping the chip leaderboard from the first heat of the FPS Main Event was Jean Labryga, who ended the night with 526,000.
Steeve Sultan (428,000) and Vardan Zakaryan (402,000) round out the top three chip counts but are still way behind Labryga's monster stack.
Other notable players to make it through to Day 2 include Kenny Hallaert (128,000), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (240,000), and Michael Rocco (362,000).
However, there were some other famous faces such as William Kassouf, Samuel Ju, and Tobias Peters who weren't so lucky and fell at the first hurdle. PokerStars Ambassador Ramon Colillas was also among the Day 1a casualties.
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean Labryga | France | 526,000 | 132 |
| 2 | Steeve Sultan | France | 428,000 | 107 |
| 3 | Vardan Zakaryan | Armenia | 402,000 | 101 |
| 4 | Michael Rocco | United States | 362,000 | 91 |
| 5 | Alan Ouegoasd | France | 346,000 | 87 |
| 6 | Damien Luis | France | 343,000 | 86 |
| 7 | Willem de Jong | Netherlands | 304,000 | 76 |
| 8 | Djamel Boutaleb | France | 290,000 | 73 |
| 9 | Dorian Decauche | France | 281,000 | 70 |
| 10 | Dawid Smolka | Poland | 281,000 | 70 |
There were some big hands and massive coolers throughout the session. David Vedral slow-played his aces and flopped a set against Quentin Roussey who had flopped top two pair.
Petar Kalev and David Hareuveni also tangled in one of the biggest pots of the early stages. Kalev, who finished eighth in the 2023 PSPC, had some kicker issues which saw a 90-big blind pot head to his opponent.
Herve Mary then went from a below-average stack to one of the chip leaders. He was the winner of a three-way all-in, where he ended up with quad queens to crack an opponent's pocket aces.
French poker superstar Antoine Saout tried pulling off an ambitious bluff jam with ace-high but was picked off by Sweden's Alexander Ivarsson.
Chip leader Labryga nearly lost a chunk of his stack towards the end of the night. He was in a three-way all-in which ended up in a three-way chop to the dismay of [Removed:510] who was a huge favorite to triple up heading into the river.
The PokerNews live reporting of the FPS Main Event continues on Friday, February 17 at 12 p.m. for Day 1c, the tournament's final starting flight. After Day 1c is completed, the fields will merge for Day 2 which takes place the following day.
