Mulder Tops Day 1b as 2023 EPT Paris �5,300 Main Event Soars Beyond 1,500 Entries
It was a busy day in the conference room of the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile in the heart of the French capital, which was bursting with poker enthusiasts from all over the world. The second and final starting day of the �5,300 Main Event at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris surpassed the attendance of the previous flight and attracted 909 entries, bringing the total field size so far up to 1,570 entries for a prize pool of �7,612,800.
Another 16 players have already pre-registered to enter the competition prior to the start of Day 2 on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at noon local time. That's the cutoff time for everyone wishing to join as the late registration will close at the start of level 11. All late entrants at the very last minute will enter with 20 big blinds at 1,000-1,500 and a big blind ante of 1,500.
During the ten 60-minute levels of Day 1b, a new overall chip leader was crowned in Teun Mulder. The Dutchman already had a successful series so far as he won an �25,000 Single-Day High Roller a few days ago after knocking out all opponents on his final table. Nobody could beat the 347,000 of Mulder today either, as Oshri Lahmani (301,000) and Marcin Jaworski (275,000) finished behind the Dutchman on the leaderboard.
Other notables in the overnight top ten include Benjamin Chalot, Niklas Astedt, and Bogdan Berinde.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1b
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | 347,000 | 231 |
| 2 | Oshri Lahmani | Israel | 301,000 | 201 |
| 3 | Marcin Jaworski | Poland | 275,000 | 183 |
| 4 | Sebastian Gahl | Germany | 250,000 | 167 |
| 5 | Justus Held | Germany | 247,000 | 165 |
| 6 | Benjamin Chalot | France | 230,500 | 154 |
| 7 | Nikolaos Lampropoulos | Greece | 230,500 | 154 |
| 8 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 227,500 | 152 |
| 9 | Bogdan Berinde | Romania | 220,500 | 147 |
| 10 | Alexis Lucarini | France | 219,500 | 146 |
Several PokerStars ambassadors were also involved in the action throughout the day. Parker Talbot advanced with 153,500, Sam Grafton (78,500), Alejandro Lococo (78,000) and Benjamin Spragg (30,000) on his second bullet also made it through as well. Not as fortunate were Team Online's Sebastian Huber, Ramon Colillas, and Lex Veldhuis, as they were among hundreds of casualties during an action-filled day.
Some EPT Main Event champions such as Manig Loeser, Hossein Ensan, Roberto Romanello, and Dimitar Danchev retained their chances of becoming the third two-time champion of the popular live poker series whereas Antonio Buonanno, Jordan Saccucci, and Remi Castaignon saw their attempts come up short of reaching Day 2. Steve O'Dwyer was eliminated by the very same opponent who also claimed his chips at the EPT Prague Main Event as well.
Chris Brewer experienced a very successful day at the poker tables as he first took down the �50,000 EPT Paris Super High Roller for his biggest score on the live circuit to then late register Day 1b and claim an above-average stack of 134,500.
Berinde joined the big stacks during the late stages when he was part of a spectacular three-way all-in during which pocket kings held up against the pocket queens of Jonathan Fhima and the flush draw of Ankit Ahuja. Neither short stack could improve and the Romanian finished the day inside of the top 10.
Another memorable all-in showdown brought the elimination of Omar Lakhdari, who came up short with pocket aces against a flopped set. Many notable casualties took advantage of the single re-entry to try and run up a stack once more. Numerous WSOP bracelet winners and EPT regulars came up short as the Day 1b field was cut into more than half.
All those who have not exhausted their maximum of two entries yet can take another shot before the cards go in the air at noon local time. The live stream action from Paris will commence as of Day 2 on the PokerStars Twitch and YouTube channels and the PokerNews live reporting team will continue to deliver updates from the floor in the flagship tournament of the stop.