Table chip leader Lewis Spencer opened the button to 30,000 with 3♠3♦ and Peter Jorgne defended Q♥5♥ in the big blind. What followed were two barrels worth 20,000 on the Q♠J♦7♠ flop and 100,000 on the 6♣ turn, both of which Jorgne called.
They checked the 7♣ river and Jorgne won the pot with the superior two pair.
A massive pot of around 500,000 was already in the middle as Fabian Niederreiter and Tom Middleton went to the river on a board of Q♣9♦10♥Q♠5♦.
Niederreiter then bet 320,000 from the big blind, leaving himself one 5,000 chip behind. Middleton, on the button, moved all in and Niederreiter snap-folded.
"You fold?" Middleton asked in amazement.
"Show the bluff," a tablemate said to Middleton, who revealed the J♣ as he dragged in the pile of chips that pushed his stack above 2,000,000.
On the last hand at this table of Day 3, Byron Kaverman and Mathias Siljander built a pot of around 300,000 as they headed to the turn on a board of Q♣2♥9♥4♦.
Siljander then bet 140,000 on the button and Kaverman called in the cutoff. The river was the 3♠ and Kaverman checked.
Siljander then moved all in and Kaverman, who had 300,000 remaining, used up his entire 30-second clock before tossing his cards into the muck while the bags were being placed on the table.
On a flop of 9♥7♥7♦, Eric Sfez on the button and Eric Afriat in the hijack raised each other and ended up moving all in, with Sfez being the player at risk for 900,000 chips.
Eric Sfez: A♠A♦
Eric Afriat: 7♠6♠
Afriat flopped trips, and it held on the turn 5♥ and the river Q♠.
When he saw the river land on the felt, Afriat stood up, saying "Yes, I smashed him." Sfez, who heard this sentence, didn't like it at all and became furious. He eventually left the tournament area as he was eliminated.
After he bagged his chips, Afriat had a talk with the tournament director and received a one-round penalty for the beginning of Day 4.
Of the 222 players who sat down for Day 3 of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris Main Event, just 57 remain with Panagiotis Mavritsakis emerging as the chip leader after bagging 2,930,000 in chips here at Le Palais des Congrès. Hot on his heels is Canadian pro Eric Afrait (2,300,000) and rounding out the top three is none other than Tom Middleton, who won the EPT Main Event in Barcelona back in 2013 for a cool €942,000. Middleton will be looking to be the fourth person in history to win two EPT Main Event titles.
Mavritsakis only shows live tournament cashes dating back to last year per The Hendon Mob, but already has over €200,000 in career earnings. His biggest score came last April after finishing in third place in the Irish Open Main Event for €161,500. A win for Mavritsakis would be his first EPT title.
End of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Panagiotis Mavritsakis
Greece
2,930,000
147
2
Eric Afriat
Canada
2,300,000
115
3
Tom Middleton
United Kingdom
2,190,000
110
4
Lorenzo Arduini
Italy
2,050,000
103
5
Mathias Siljander
Finland
1,750,000
88
6
David Kaufmann
Germany
1,645,000
82
7
Sindre Hansen
Norway
1,590,000
80
8
Hans Erlandsson
Sweden
1,550,000
78
9
Peter Jorgne
Sweden
1,475,000
74
10
Florian Duta
Romania
1,305,000
65
Day 3 Action
With all players already having made the money, it didn't take long for chips to start flying in Paris. By the first break of the day, a third of the field had already hit the rail. Day 1a chip leader Eero Rantala had an unfortunate start that saw him fall to under 20 big blinds within the first level of play. Rantala was unable to recover and was eliminated shortly thereafter.
Pokerstars AmbassadorBenjamin Spragg also landed on the bad side of variance early after flopping two pair against Olivier Rebello's set to bust on the feature table.
The Day 3 field contained no shortage of EPT Main Event champions aiming for a second title, including Pokerstars AmbassadorSimon Wiciak, Aliaksei Boika, Arsenii Karmatckii, Middleton, Robin Ylitalo, Anton Wigg, Dimitar Danchev, and the most recent champion Padraig O'Neill, who won in Prague last December. Of those, just Middleton, Wigg (1,250,000), and Danchev (285,000) earned a Day 4 berth to continue their pursuit of a second EPT Main Event title.
Last year's EPT Paris runner-up Peter Jorgne continued his deep run to end with a top ten stack, along with Barny Boatman (635,000), Day 2 chip leader Eliot Hudon (635,000), and Byron Kaverman (290,000) - who lost a big pot on the final hand of the night despite having over one million in chips earlier in the day.
Some notables who fell short of Day 4 include Jerry Odeen (186th - €9,900), Sam Greenwood (111th - €15,000), Benny Glaser (69th - €19,850), and Alex Keating (65th - €19,850), who found himself short and shoved queen-nine preflop only to run into Diego Montone's pocket tens.
Tensions flared at the end of the night after Afrait cracked Eric Sfez's aces to bust him. Afrait commented, "Yes, I smashed him," after winning the pot, which upset Sfez. Following a short discussion with the tournament director, it was ruled that Afriat would receive a one-round penalty at the start of Day 4.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€ 1,287,800
12-13
€ 76,300
2
€ 804,750
14-15
€ 63,550
3
€ 574,850
16-17
€ 53,000
4
€ 442,150
18-20
€ 46,050
5
€ 340,100
21-23
€ 40,000
6
€ 261,650
24-27
€ 34,800
7
€ 201,250
28-31
€ 30,250
8
€ 154,800
32-39
€ 26,350
9
€ 119,100
40-55
€ 22,900
10-11
€ 91,550
56-57
€ 19,850
All remaining players will return tomorrow, February 23 at noon local time for Day 4. Play will resume on Level 22, which features 10,000/20,000 blinds with a 20,000 big blind ante, and will continue for five additional 90-minute levels.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action leading to the next EPT Paris Main Event champion! Feature table action can also be viewed on the PokerStarsTwitch and YouTube channels.