Julien Dupre was in preflop against Alexandre Correia, who had him well covered as players flipped their cards.
Julien Dupre: 9♥9♣
Alexandre Correia: K♥K♦
The board ran out 9♠3♠8♥9♦Q♠. Correia was well ahead with pocket kings, until the board brought Dupre a set of nines on the flop and quad nines on the turn. He doubled his stack and left end of Day 1c chip leader Correia with just a couple of big blinds.
Matei Lupascu raised 30,000 in middle position, and Maria Konnikova called next to act before Samuel Fournier three-bet 125,000 on the button. The 2023 UKIPT champion Vincent Meli deliberated for a few moments before pushing his last 102,000 across the line from the big blind, and both Lupascu and Konnikova got out of the way.
Vincent Meli: K♣2♣
Samuel Fournier: 9♦8♦
Meli was ahead with his king-high, however, the Q♥8♣4♥ flop gave Fournier a pair of eights to take the lead. The 3♦ turn and 7♠ river were no help as Meli stepped away from the table.
Eric Afriat opened to 24,000 from middle position and called when Conor Beresford jammed for 93,000 from the big blind.
Conor Beresford: 7♣7♠
Eric Afriat: J♥8♥
Beresford made a set on the 10♣7♥4♦ flop and filled up after the J♣J♦ runout. Afriat appeared frustrated at the runout.
The following hand, Blaz Zerjav raised to 25,000 from the cutoff. Beresford push all of his chips into the middle once again and was called by his opponent.
Beresford had K♥Q♥, and had Zerjav's K♣J♣ dominated. The 8♦4♥4♦ flop looked like Beresford would double again until Zerjav paired up on the J♥ turn. The J♠ river gave Zerjav a full house and the checkmark to oust the Englishman.
"Just gave them away," Afriat said as he looked down at his short stack.
Two players created a pot of about 60,000 and the Q♠J♠8♣ flop was already on the flop. Samy Ouellani check-called a bet of 27,000 from Blaz Zerjav and the 5♠ hit the turn.
Ouellani checked once again before Zerjav fired 55,000. Ouellani announced all-in, and Zerjav eyed up the 113,000 before making the call.
Samy Ouellani: A♠8♠
Blaz Zerjav: K♠9♦
Ouellani turned the nut-flush, leaving Zerjav drawing dead and the 7♦ river was just a formality.
Kacper Pyzara opened 20,000 in middle position and Carl Probsting three-bet to 55,000 in the cutoff. Bernard Mendy was in the big blind and made the call, followed by Pyzara doing the same.
The dealer spread a flop of K♦K♥9♠, and the action was checked to Probsting who continued for 20,000. Mendy got out of the way, but Pyzara stuck around with a call.
The J♠ turn was checked through to see the 2♦ river. Pyzara moved all-in for roughly 250,000, and Probsting tank-folded.
The 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour started off by shattering records in the €1,100 France Poker Series Main Event, with a total of 4,149 entries this week at Le Palais des Congrès.
That number almost doubled the previous FPS record, when the 2023 FPS Monte Carlo Main Event saw 2,138 entries. Last year’s Paris stop was the first to ecplise the 2,000 mark, showing impressive growth this time around.
A total of 75 countries were represented among the 1,930 unique entries, with the host country accounting for the vast majority of players this week. France saw 802 entrants chase the PokerStars trophy, making up 41.55% of the field.
Other countries with the strongest representation in the record-breaking player pool include Italy (142 players - 7.36%), Spain (87 players - 4.51%), Germany (71 players - 3.68%) and Romania (59 players - 3.06%).
Further down the list is the United Kingdom with 56 players for 2.90% of the field, The Netherlands with 53 players for 2.75% of the field, and the United States with 31 players for 1.61% of the field.
FPS Paris Main Event Nationalities (Courtesy of PokerStars)
Some of the other countries represented this year include Ireland (15 players - 0.78%), South Korea (9 players - 0.47%), India (7 players - 036%) and Australia (5 players - 0.26%).
A full breakdown of the nationalities represented in the FPS Paris Main Event is available in the table below.
David Ballestero Alvarez raised to 16,000 from early position, the small blind called and Nicolas Betbese moved all in from the big blind. Alvarez called off the bet for his last 150,000 and the small blind folded.
David Ballestero Alvarez: A♥Q♦
Nicolas Betbese: A♣K♠
The first four cards landed the 10♠8♦7♦8♥, but it was the Q♥ river that saved Alvarez and he doubled up.
