Hugo Ouazana and Philippe Souki Top One Million in Paris Main Event Day 1b
The €1,500 WSOP Circuit flight drew 197 entries, lifted the field to 369 and left Day 1c to push the prize pool over the half-million mark.
Hugo Ouazana and Philippe Souki both finished above the one-million-chip mark on Day 1b of the €1,500 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event at Partouche Pasino Club. Ouazana bagged 1,121,000 chips and Souki ended on 1,029,000, after a flight that drew 197 entries and lifted the total field to 369 so far.
As reported in August, the WSOP Circuit returned to Paris this month for a two-week stop at Partouche Pasino Club, with the €1,500 Main Event sitting inside a 13-ring festival, according to PokerNews. The latest flight was a little bigger than Day 1a, which drew 172 entries, and the prize pool was said to be close to the half-million mark, with early Day 1c entries expected to push it over that line.
Souki was out front at the last break, but Ouazana took the lead during the final level and held on to finish top of the counts. Sam Sztarkman followed with 925,000, while Leiqi Chen bagged 597,000. The top ten also included Ankit Ahuja with 497,000, Stephane Gabarre with 481,000, and Antony Saadoun with 465,000 after a big double-up with kings through Ahuja once late registration had closed.
The deeper chip counts also showed how volatile the day was. David Foucault got off to a strong start and climbed to the top of the standings before fading back to 71,000, just above the starting stack. Gabriel Nahum also had a rough run at the bubble, where he was down to five big blinds but still managed to burst it.
Ouazana described the key stretch in simple terms, saying he gave one opponent a “proper hard time” and took almost all of a 500,000-chip stack with a flopped set. He also said he three-bet a lot and kept the pressure on as the bubble approached.
Among the other notables in the bag were Hervé Gouzil with 248,000, Smain Mamouni with 243,000, Luca Bernardi with 236,000, and François Scapula with 202,000. Sandro Carucci, who won the WSOP Circuit Marrakech Main Event earlier this year, will take 155,000 into Day 2 as he tries to add another ring this week.
The 30 players who survived Day 1b get Friday off, and the rest of the field can still join Day 1c, which starts at 1 p.m. local time with 50,000 starting stacks, 40-minute levels, late registration open through the first 12 levels until 11 p.m., and play ending once 15% of the field remains.
