The World Poker Tour has chosen the difficult task of playing in Paris, France, this weekend as the 2012 WPT Grand Prix de Paris is in full swing at the Aviation Club on the edges of the Champs-Elysees in the City of Light.
After three days of play (two Day Ones got the action going earlier this week), 63 players were still alive from the 228 runners who started the tournament on Monday. Sitting atop the mountain at the start of play on Thursday was Philip Gruissem, who held 280K in chips in his hunt for his first major championship. With “only” 63 players remaining, it was hoped that the field would be whittled down to close to the unofficial final table of ten before the night ended, but the players wouldn’t cooperate.
The day didn’t start well for Gruissem, as he went to battle with Tristan Wade in one of the first hands of the day. After calling a raise from Wade, the duo saw a J-8-3 flop, which both players checked to see a six on the turn. Gruissem bet out at this point, only to see a quick call from Wade, and the twosome went off to the river. When a seven came, Gruissem attempted to force out Wade again with a bet, but Wade made the call and tabled a 5-4 for a runner-runner straight, knocking a sizeable chunk of chips out of Gruissem’s stack.
With only 27 players getting a return on their investment in Paris, the action was predictably measured as the players jostled for position. Taking advantage of that – for a time – was Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, who moved all in with his short stack on several occasions in the early going to attempt to rebuild his stack. Unfortunately for the poker Triple Crown club member, he finally fell victim to his aggression, dropping from the tournament at the hands of Michael Kwierk in the late afternoon.
As Gruissem battled on his patch of felt, the chip lead swung to various players. Andrew Lichtenberger was able to take the lead for a short period of time before being passed by Matt Salsberg after a particularly interesting hand. Salsberg and Fabrice Soulier got their chips to the center of the felt and, when the cards were revealed, both held A-Q with Salsberg’s in diamonds and Soulier’s in spades. The flop was a tournament-ending experience for Soulier, coming with three diamonds to immediately leave the French professional drawing dead and catapult Salsberg into the lead.
Darkness fell on the Aviation Club as players exited the tournament arena following Soulier. Antanas ‘Tony G’ Guoga, former Grand Prix de Paris champion David Benyamine, Antoine Saout and Wade all were eliminated before the dinner break and, following what probably was an excellent meal (they are in Paris, after all), Dominik Nitsche and Peter Jetten were shown the door. As the money bubble approached, the players ramped up the action.
After getting devastated in a hand against Raphael Abitbol, Jason Mercier looked to be the unfortunate “bubble boy,” but he was able to hold on long enough to make it into the money. That dubious distinction would fall upon Antony Lellouche, who pushed in a four bet pre-flop after Fabian Quoss and Bryan Colin built the pot in front of him. While Quoss got out the way, Colin moved all in and was called by Lellouche, who was dismayed to see his pocket Kings had run into the ultimate cooler – Colin’s pocket Aces. Once no King came on the board to save him, Lellouche was out of the tournament and everyone was in the money.
The hour growing late, tournament officials allowed play to only go on for a short time following Lellouche’s departure. Mercier, WPT L. A. Poker Classic champion Sean Jazayeri and Giacomo Fundaro would hit the rail in 27th through 25th places, respectively, during that time, meaning 24 players will return this afternoon (Paris time) with Gruissem still at the helm of the tournament ship:
1. Philip Gruissem, 1.06 million
2. Matthew Salsberg, 980K
3. Jerome Douieb, 880K
4. Idris Ambraisse, 591K
5. Joe Serock, 411K
6. Mohsin Charania, 380K
7. Fabian Quoss, 320K
8. Gregoire Boissenot, 299K
9. Florian Leconte, 266K
10. Raphael Abitbol, 263K
Two former WPT champions remain in the tournament and one is also the only former champion of this tournament still alive. Juha Helppi will start the day down the leaderboard a bit, but former Paris champion Theo Jorgenson is in twelfth place (201K) behind 2012 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Timothy Adams. Kyle Julius and Lichtenberger will have some work to do if they are to come back from their respective stacks (122K for Julius, 54K for Lichtenberger) to make a run at the title.
Friday’s action will take some time as the 24 players left work their way down to the WPT six-handed final table. The championship will be determined on Saturday at the Aviation Club as the WPT looks to crown its latest victor of its Season XI schedule.
