Barny Boatman, with Q♠7♥, raised to put Owen Dodd all-in from the big blind. The latter decided to fold his 5♣2♠ to chip down to 1,325,000.
The following hand, Dodd jammed from the small blind and David Kaufmann called from the big blind.
Owen Dodd: 2♦2♣
David Kaufmann: A♦10♥
Dodd's ducks remained ahead following the K♣9♥6♥ flop and 7♣ turn but Kaufmann paired up on the A♥ river to seal the elimination and bring the EPT Paris Main Event to its final three players.
Peter Jorgne moved all in for 1,375,000 from under the gun and Aleksejs Ponakovs pondered momentarily in the big blind before deciding to call.
Peter Jorgne: A♦9♣
Aleksejs Ponakovs: 8♣7♣
Jorgne was the favorite but Ponakovs picked up an open-ender on the J♦6♣5♠ flop to bring the equities close to even. The 4♠ turn gave the Latvian the straight to lock up the hand and last year's runner-up left the feature table after the 3♠ completed the board.
The action folded to Barny Boatman on the button, who raised to 400,000. Short stack Eric Afriat called in the big blind and a flop of 10♣10♠Q♠ was dealt.
Afriat checked to Boatman, who continued for 250,000. Afriat then jammed all in for 1,175,000 and a snap call followed from Boatman.
Eric Afriat: Q♣8♦
Barny Boatman: K♥K♦
Afriat's top pair turned some extra equity on the 8♣, but the 2♠ river sealed his fate as Boatman's overpair held up.
Afriat gracefully took his exit in sixth place, being the first player to leave the final table on Day 6.
The time has arrived for the finale of the PokerStars 2024 EPT Paris €5,300 Main Event. At 12:30 p.m. local time, six extraordinary players will return to Le Palais des Congrès to decide who will walk away with the eternal glory that comes with capturing the trophy and €1,287,800 first-place prize.
Perhaps the biggest story of the tournament has been that of Peter Jorgne. Jorgne started taking poker seriously late in 2022, and only a few months later finished runner-up during the inaugural EPT Paris in February of 2023. Now, one year later, he finds himself on the same final table, a feat accomplished only seven times before in EPT history.
However, no one on that list has managed to secure the title their second time around, meaning that Jorgne has an opportunity to be the first to ever do so. Unfortunately for him, he will have a long road ahead of him as he comes in today as the shortest stack, with his 2,400,000 chips only equating to 12 big blinds at the start of play.
Meanwhile, immense chipleader David Kaufmann managed to secure a stack of 24,800,000 throughout the five days of play, more than ten times as much as Jorgne. A large portion of that was earned in the final minutes of Day 5, as he knocked out Lorenzo Arduini and Ami Barer from the final table just before the day ended.
Kaufmann has already secured his biggest live cash ever but is no stranger to fighting for seven-figure sums as he was victorious in the online $5,200 WCOOP Main Event on PokerStars back in 2013 for $1,493,499, and is now looking to add an equally jaw-dropping live score to his resume.
David Kaufmann
Kaufmann's nearest contender, high stakes crusher and number one on the Latvian all-time money list Aleksejs Ponakovs, will start today with 10,050,000 chips, less than half of what Kaufmann plays. Meanwhile, British poker veteran Barny Boatman, whose first tournament victory stems from well over two decades ago, sits in third with 9,765,000 chips.
Meanwhile, cash game pro Owen Dodd, who only played this event because his friends convinced him to try out some tournaments, and the well-decorated yet controversial Eric Afriat join Jorgne in the short-stacked department, coming in with 2,950,000 and 2,525,000 chips respectively.
Eric Afriat
EPT Paris Final Table Seating
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Owen Dodd
United Kingdom
2,950,000
15
2
Eric Afriat
Canada
2,525,000
13
3
David Kaufmann
Germany
24,800,000
124
4
Aleksejs Ponakovs
Latvia
10,050,000
50
5
Peter Jorgne
Sweden
2,400,000
12
6
Barny Boatman
United Kingdom
9,675,000
48
By outlasting the vast majority of the 1,747-entry field, the biggest EPT field ever outside of Barcelona, the six finalists have already secured a payday of €261,650 from the €8,385,600 prize pool. However, all eyes will be on the seven-figure sum on top and the stark pay jumps leading up to it.
EPT Paris Main Event Final Table Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
€1,287,800
2
€804,750
3
€574,850
4
€442,150
5
€340,100
6
€261,650
7
Ami Barer
Canada
€201,250
8
Lorenzo Arduini
Italy
€154,800
When play kicks off at 12:30 p.m. local time, the players will play 30 more minutes in Level 32: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 big blind ante. After that, all levels will last 90 minutes until three players are left, at which point they will be reduced to 45 minutes in length.
The PokerNews coverage will commence at 1 p.m. local time, on a 30-minute delay so as to not spoil the cards-up stream on Pokerstars' Twitch and Youtube channels.
So stay tuned to find out who will be victorious in Paris and will be crowned the first EPT champion of the 2024 season during the thrilling conclusion of the EPT Paris Main Event.
