Timothee d’Anfray Leads Final 17 in Winamax Poker Open Aix-Les-Bains Main Event
A 2,873-entry field has been reduced to 17, with €150,000 awaiting the winner of the €500 event.
Timothee D’Anfray carried the chip lead into the final 17 of the €500 Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains Main Event after a Day 2 that cut a 2,873-entry field to its last contenders. D’Anfray bagged 21.725 million, with every remaining player guaranteed at least €6,300 and the winner set to receive €150,000.
PokerNews reported that 475 players returned for Day 2 to play for a €1.186 million prize pool. The final turnout was 12% higher than the previous year’s field, according to Winamax.
Benjamin Goudard was D’Anfray’s closest challenger on 19.4 million, followed by Lucas Archeny with 13.825 million. Goudard built his stack in a major pot against Raphael Bilger, who ended the day with 6.4 million, while Archeny had held a large stack throughout the day and eliminated Matthieu Rigolot with a full house holding pocket fours.
D’Anfray sealed his lead by eliminating Loris Corbelli in 19th place in the last hand of Day 2. Corbelli moved all-in with ace-five and lost to D’Anfray’s pocket jacks, earning €5,000. Pierre Labitte had departed in 18th for the same payout after Mathieu Pontin called his 3.25 million-chip shove with pocket aces.
Aymane Mamoun entered the final day fifth in chips after a two-outer river card sent Laurent Amri out in 24th. Etienne De Soultrait also remained near the top after eliminating 2023 WiPT finalist Remi Debord in 28th. Defending champion Jeremy Cauchard had been knocked out earlier, in 145th place, after losing a coin flip.
Among the other notable stacks, Nicolas Marin held 8.525 million after doubling with aces, and Quentin Le Dissez had 6.475 million after a feature-table double. Sebastien Studer, Leo Viales, Nicolas Ehrath, Dimitri Callonnec and Maxence Vie were returning with between 10 and 20 big blinds, while Herve Ponthet and Boris Dupuis were shortest with 2.1 million and 1.9 million respectively.
The final day was set to resume in the Casino Grand Cercle theater with 24 minutes left in Level 39, at blinds of 125,000/250,000 and a 250,000 big blind ante.
