Live poker tours continue returning at PokerStare Live and the recent Paris stop showed the pent-up demand for more events. The European Poker Tour stop in France produced big numbers with Razvan Belea taking the main event title for $1.2 million.
The win came after the Romanian player won a seat via €530 online qualifier. The tournament saw 1,606 entries at the Hyatt Regency Etoile, the largest turnout for a new destination stop and sixth-largest EPT main event in tour history. Organizers said the stop greatly exceeded expectations.
“We are really pleased to bring live poker to Paris with the EPT and FPS events,” PokerStars head of live events/global operations Cedric Billot said in a news release. “We saw vast numbers and experienced some extremely exciting and impressive poker.”
Romanian becomes country’s first PokerStars EPT champion
Following his online qualification via PokerStars, Belea (pictured in lead image courtesy PokerStars/Manuel Kovsca) became Romania’s first EPT main event winner. The 34-year-old had just over $100,000 in live tournament winnings prior to the EPT victory. He came into the Paris event more accustomed to playing freerolls than big buy-in events.
Belea’s previous best score came in 2021 when he won an 888poker Live Bucharest event for $58,728. He’s certainly now topped that and has an epic bullet point on his poker record.
“This is unreal,” he said after the win. “It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of since I started playing poker.”
Sweden’s Peter Jorgne finished runner-up after only playing his first live event just 10 months ago. He secured $833,645 for second place.
Year of Romania! 🇷🇴
This is how Razvan Belea took down the #EPTParis Main Event, winning €1,170,000. 🏆
He's the first ever Romanian EPT Main Event champion. 👏 pic.twitter.com/G4qpUv5gND
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) February 27, 2023
A look at other events
The series featured numerous other side events as well. The €50,000 Super High Roller attracted 68 entries with American Chris Brewer taking the win for €959,520.
This was the second title of the festival after also winning a €25,000 High Roller for $380,748. Brewer now has $7.8 million in live tournament winnings and was already looking ahead for more high stakes action.
Pretty wonderful last two weeks in Paris. Heading to the airport for @tritonpoker Vietnam today, hopefully I can keep the heater going 🔥🔥
— Chris Brewer (@Chris_D_Brewer) February 27, 2023
The France Poker Series (FPS) also saw that series’ €1,100 Main Event play out at the Pairs festival. The tournament produced a tour record 2,071 entries for a €2 million prize pool.
France’s Alan Gaosdoue emerged victorious for €287,830. Like Belea, he also won his entry into the tournament via a PokerStars online qualifier.
Next stops for EPT, FPS
Monte Carlo on the French Riviera is next up for the EPT and FPS from April 26 – May 6. The €1,100 FPS Main Event, €550 FPS Cup, and €2,200 FPS High Roller events kick off the series.
EPT action then begins on April 29 with the $100,000 Super High Roller followed by the Main Event from April 30 – May 6. A complete EPT schedule will be released soon, but the series highlights include:
- €100,000 Super High Roller – April 29 to May 1
- €5,300 Main Event – April 30 to May 6
- €3,000 Mystery Bounty – May 2-4
- €25,000 High Roller – May 4-6
Following Monte Carlo, the EPT heads to Barcelona before heading to Merit Royal Premium Hotel Casino for the first-ever Stars event in Cyprus.
PokerStars announced the return and complete schedule for the FPS recently as well. For a complete preview of that series, click here.
Players looking to qualify online like Gaosdoue and Belea will also have opportunities in the coming weeks. Many tour stops feature the option to win a seat-only package or a package that includes expenses as well.