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The Aviation Club de France once again played host to the World Poker Tour’s Grand Prix de Paris poker tournament yesterday, this time for the second and final starting flight of the event. Organizers’ expectations were exceeded when 172 players arrived to pay their buy-ins, bringing the total number of competitors to 312 and generating an incredible $3.16 million prize pool. A total of 167 players remain from Day 1a and 1b, and the race for the $730k first-place prize is on.

After a full day of action, the Day 1b competitor pool was reduced to 97, and Guillaume Darcourt finished the day strongest of all with just over 198k chips. He faced some tough competition throughout the day, including current November Niners Sam Holden and Phil Collins. Holden survived the day handily, while Collins was sent to the rail early in the action. Other notable Day 1b eliminations including Jean-Robert Bellande, Michael Tureniac and Anton Wigg.

Darcourt still has a long road ahead of him to the final table, though his credentials speak for themselves. Most recently, he finished in 46th at EPT Barcelona, and this past summer he earned an impressive $243k in the WSOP Main Event after landing in 35th.

Plenty of other big name pros including Tony Dunst, Jason Mercier, McLean Karr, Martin Jacobson and Joe Ebanks escaped Day 1b with bountiful chip stacks as well. Darcourt will be third on the overall leaderboard heading into Day 2, as his chip stack is eclipsed by both Mikko Sundell and Yann Dion who amassed piles totaling 204k and 201k, respectively, on Day 1a.

Although it’s still too early to say just when the money bubble will be broken, it is known that cash is reserved or the top 36 finishers. The player landing in the 36th position will receive just under $16k for his or her efforts.