September 07 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 1b of the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris took place on Monday at the Aviation Club de France. Another 172 players joined the event to bring the field to 312 entrants. At the end of the day, 97 players were left and Guillaume Darcourt was leading the charge with 198,500 in chips.

Darcourt is having a solid second half of the year after having made a very deep run in the World Series of Poker Main Event. There, Darcourt placed 35th for $242,636. He followed that performance up with a 46th-place finish at the European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event and looks to have another go at a title here.

One of the early pots Darcourt raked in to help build his stack came during the second level of the day. According to the WPT Live Update Team, Darcourt called an opening raise from Sam Holden before Zaydsev Evgeuy three-bet to 1,650 out of the small blind. Holden folded, but Darcourt came along to see the flop, which produced the . Evgeuy bet 1,850 and Darcourt made the call to see the land on the turn. Evgeuy opted to check this time, and Darcourt checked behind. The river then completed the board with the . After Evgeuy checked, Darcourt bet 2,250. Evgeuy folded and Darcourt showed for a heart flush.

Holden wasn’t the only 2011 WSOP November Niner to play Day 1b. He was joined by Phil Collins. Holden went on to advance while Collins was eliminated very early in the day. A few others that joined him on the rail included Anton Wigg, Michael Tureniac and Jean-Robert Bellande.

Advancing to Day 2 are notables Joe Ebanks, Martin Jacobson, McLean Karr, Jason Mercier and the WPT’s own Tony Dunst. We’ll see them back in action as part of the remaining 167 players returning for Day 2.

A prize pool of $3,160,710 was generated with nearly $730,000 going to the winner. The top 36 places will pay out and making it to the money will capture a minimum of $15,632. Day 2 will start at 1400 CEST (1300 BST) on Wednesday and you can be sure to check right back here on PokerNews for the recap.

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