Hugues Girard Bests 1,242 Entries In 2024 WPT Prime Paris Championship

The second edition of the World Poker Tour Prime Paris Championship €1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at Club Circus Paris attracted 1,242 entries, resulting in a prize pool worth nearly $1.3 million.

While 156 players earned a share, nobody walked away with a larger chunk than eventual champion Hugues Girard. The Frenchman emerged victorious with the trophy and the top prize of $183,294. This was his second six-figure payout of the year, having finished second from a field of 3,448 entries in the €500 event at the Winimax Poker Tour Grand Finale for $137,340 back in March.

This was the first title and fourth final-table finish of the year for Girard. The 960 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned for the win moved him into 123rd place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

Girard now has recorded tournament earnings in excess of $583,000, with the majority of that haul being secured this year.

After five starting flights and one day of combined-field action, there were just eight contenders remaining in this event. Girard sat atop the leaderboard, with Etienne Oliveira in second chip position and Mathieu Goncalves rounding out the top three.

Oliveira’s A-K held against the A-Q of Samuel Fournier (8th – $26,416) to narrow the field to seven. Ludovic Amblard (7th – $32,777) was the next to fall, with his fives and queens bested by the jacks and queens of Baptiste Audoli.

Girard’s first knockout of the final day pitted his bottom pair and gutshot against the flush draw and open-ended straight draw of Oleksii Ievchenko. A blank river ended Ievchenko’s run in sixth place ($41,079). Shortly after that, Girard’s pocket sevens held against the pocket sixes of Oliveira (5th – $52,508) to leave just four players remaining.

Girard’s surge continued when his QQ held against the K9 of Baptiste Audoli. The flop came down 876 to give Audoli an open-ended straight flush draw, but the 4 turn and 8 river were of no further help. Audoli was awarded $68,681 for his fourth-place showing.

Kostya Zaks last 17 or so big blinds went in preflop with A9 as an open-shove from the button. Girard reshoved from the small blind with JJ to get heads-up. The two saw a runout of 874K9, giving Girard a flush and the pot. Zaks earned $91,863 for his podium finish.

Heads-up play began with Girard holding roughly a 5:1 lead over Goncalves. The final two went on to play more than 100 more hands, with Goncalves even fighting his way into the lead for a bit along the way. Girard pulled back out in front ahead of the final hand, though. Goncalves shoved from the button with K9 for a handful of big blinds and Girard called with K7. The board ran out 77454, giving Girard sevens full and the title. Goncalves cashed for $126,279 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: World Poker Tour.