€25,000 NL Hold'em I
Day 1 Completed
2024 PokerStars EPT Paris
€25,000 NL Hold'em I
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2024 PokerStars EPT Paris
Buy-in
€25,000
Prize Pool
€1,199,520
Entries
51
Level
22
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
60,000
Entries
51
Players Left
1
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The first of six €25,000 buy-in NL Hold'em tournaments on the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris schedule attracted 38 of the world’s most renowned poker players to Le Palais des Congrès in the French capital. Together, they put 51 entries on the clock by the time late registration closed, creating a prize pool of €1,199,520. They battled for over 14 hours, but in the end, it was Stephen Chidwick who was the last one standing.
He defeated Adrian Mateos during a heads up battle which lasted only one hand, capturing the top prize of €389,820 and another EPT trophy to add to his ever-growing collection. Mateos, meanwhile, had to make do with the consolation prize of €257,900, while players like Jesse Lonis and Mike Watson were also among the seven players who secured a cash in the tough field.
EPT Paris €25,000 NL Hold'em Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | €389,820 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | €257,900 |
| 3 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | €173,900 |
| 4 | Mike Watson | Canada | €131,900 |
| 5 | Jesse Lonis | United States | €102,000 |
| 6 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | €81,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | €63,000 |
Early Play
The tournament knew a strong start, with 25 players already in their seats when the “shuffle up and deal” sounded. Each player had one reentry at their disposal, and the likes of Tamas Adamszki, Artur Martirosian, and Timothy Adams had gone through both allowed bullets before the late registration closed after the dinner break had ended.
Notable players such asJoao Vieira, Santhosh Suvarna, and Ben Heath got a little further but bowed out soon after dinner, while Steve O’Dwyer, PokerStars’ Sam Grafton, and online phenom Niklas "Lena900" Astedt were among the players who said their goodbyes at the final two tables. Eventually, it was Orpen Kisacikoglu who was the last person to miss out on the final table, finishing in tenth place after his queens could not beat the kings of Aleksejs Ponakovs.
Final Table
With only seven players paid, two more aspirants for the title had to depart before any cash could be distributed. First to go was Alex Kulev, who fell into Jean-Noel Thorel’s preflop trap and could not make a miraculous escape. Bubble play then lasted a while, but not for a lack of all-ins. The chips flew back and forth across the table as different players doubled up and others lost big parts of their stack.
Eventually, though, after a relatively calm period in play, it was the same Thorel who burst the bubble when he eliminated Ponakovs. Thorel’s king-queen outflopped Ponakov’s ace-queen, which spelled the end for him despite starting the final table second in chips.
Daniel Dvoress had gotten critically short during the bubble phase and picked up the min-cash of €63,000 when he got his final few blinds in the middle with an outclassed pocket pair that could not catch up. Not much later, Watson won a flip for the chip lead that left Sam Greenwood very short. Greenwood would bust shortly thereafter as he was nearly forced all in in the big blind and could not spin it back up.
Next to go was Lonis, who caught a few payjumps before committing his short stack in the middle with queen-ten. Watson called with a dominating ace-queen and consequentially won the pot to eliminate his opponent. His reign would not last much longer, however, as he would lose a flip to Chidwick for the chip lead and busted not long thereafter when he went for value with two pair but ran into the higher two pair of Mateos.
France’s all-time money list leader Thorel then said his goodbyes a few moments later in third place, when he chose the wrong timing to attack Chidwick’s open-raise, having his king-three lose to Chidwick’s ace-queen. Chidwick and Mateos began heads up play with nearly even stacks, but after they went all in the first hand, it was Chidwick who became victorious as he made two pair against the ace-high of Mateos.
Thus concludes the PokerNews coverage of the first €25,000 buy-in tournament of 2024’s EPT Paris, but be sure to check back tomorrow the second one will be played out then, along with the other tournaments in the coverage hub.
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Adrian Mateos and Stephen Chidwick went all in on the very first hand of the heads up.
Adrian Mateos: A?7?
Stephen Chidwick: J?3?
Chidwick paired his jack on the J?K?5? flop and ended up with two pair as the board ran out 5?3?. He had Mateos' last 2,300,000 covered and secured the trophy.
"Good day at the office," Mateos said.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,100,000
2,400,000
|
2,400,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Stephen Chidwick raised to 120,000 from the button and Jean-Noel Thorel jammed in his stack of 800,000 or so chips from the big blind. A snap call followed from Chidwick, and the cards were tabled.
Jean-Noel Thorel: K?3?
Stephen Chidwick: A?Q?
Chidwick flopped two pair on 8?A?8?, and the 5? turn had Thorel drawing dead. He graciously took his exit as the 4? river rolled off, leaving Chidwick and Adrian Mateos to battle heads up with nearly even stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,700,000
900,000
|
900,000 |
|
|
2,400,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Stephen Chidwick put Mike Watson all in from the small blind and Watson committed his last 65,000.
Mike Watson: 9?2?
Stephen Chidwick: 5?3?
The flop came 6?4?7? to give Chidwick a straight. "Good game, guys," Watson said as he prepared to get out of his seat. The turn was the 8?.
"Okay, maybe not," Watson added as he picked up his own straight draw. The 4? river was no help and Watson was sent to the rail in fourth place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,800,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Mike Watson was automatically all in from the small blind and was heads up against Stephen Chidwick.
Mike Watson: A?K?
Stephen Chidwick: A?8?
Watson's Big Slick reigned supreme on the 3?10?6?10?2? runout, and he doubled up to two big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,665,000
-335,000
|
-335,000 |
|
|
125,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 22
Blinds: 30,000/60,000
Ante: 60,000
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Adrian Mateos raised to 100,000 on the button and Mike Watson called in the big blind.
The flop came 2?2?10?] and Mateos continued for 65,000. Watson raised to 150,000 and Mateos called.
The turn was the 7? and Watson led out for 145,000. Mateos again called.
The J? fell on the river and Watson bet 225,000, leaving just one 25,000 chip behind. Mateos snap-called and turned over Q?Q? as Watson sent 10?8? into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,500,000
750,000
|
750,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
25,000
-540,000
|
-540,000 |
|
|
||
Level 21
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Stephen Chidwick raised his button to 100,000 before Mike Watson three-bet jammed from the small blind, covering Chidwick's stack of 950,000. Jean-Noel Thorel quickly folded the big blind, after which Chidwick snap called.
Stephen Chidwick: J?J?
Mike Watson: A?Q?
No ace or queen appeared on the 4?7?8?8?K? runout, securing the double-up for Chidwick. He conquered the chip lead while Watson was left with just 11 big blind.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,000,000
925,000
|
925,000 |
|
|
565,000
-1,295,000
|
-1,295,000 |
|
|
||
Level 21
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Stephen Chidwick raised to 100,000 on the button and Jean-Noel Thorel defended the big blind.
Thorel then went on to check-call Chidwick's 75,000-chip bet on the J?4?8? flop and did so too when Chidwick sized up to 125,000 on the K? turn.
On the 10? river Chidwick unleashed his third bet, this time putting 395,000 chips in the middle, putting himself virtually all in.
Thorel pondered his options for a bit but ended up folding his hand, leaving himself just over 12 big blinds to play with.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,075,000
195,000
|
195,000 |
|
|
620,000
-310,000
|
-310,000 |