Timothee D’Anfray has 23,250,000 chips as the WPO Winamax Basic Event at Casino Grand Cercle nears its finish, leaving him the clear leader and favorite for the €150,000 top prize. The 6-Max tournament had a €500 buy-in, four opening days and a 50,000-chip starting stack. It ran from September 23 to 27, information from official festival announcements and poker series calendars.
Spain started the day with six experienced players in contention: Adrián Mateos, Leo Margets, Adrián Guillamón, Israel García, Ricardo Graells and Nacho Martín. Each was chasing a seat at the final table. The event drew thousands and set a record at Casino Grand Cercle, with 2,876 entries across four starting flights, up from 2,566 last year. The prize pool topped one million euros. PokerIndustryPro reported a total of €1,185,974, with payouts for the top seven places ranging from €18,500 to €150,000.
In just fifteen minutes, Spain’s top names were out. Ricardo Graells busted first; by mid-afternoon, Adrián Mateos, Leo Margets and Adrián Guillamón had followed in quick succession. Mateos and Margets, both Winamax Team Pro stars, left together. Le Dauphiné and other sources noted the strength of the field: ten elite pros played the festival, with nine present during the week. The competition was fierce, and favorites fell early.
Only Israel García remained for Spain. He qualified for the Basic Event through a €10 satellite and arrived in Aix-les-Bains quietly. As his more famous countrymen dropped out, García kept going, surviving deep into the tournament and outlasting seasoned pros. For a time, he became the festival’s surprise hero.
García’s run ended before the final table, ending Spain’s hopes. Seventeen players remain, most of them French or Swiss, alongside one Portuguese player. The last session starts at 12:30, with D’Anfray holding a huge chip lead.
Le Dauphiné called the festival’s scale unprecedented: around 10,000 players took part across all events, with 3 million euros in total prizes and 187 tables in play. The WPO Aix-les-Bains also featured a High Roller with a 1,000 euro buy-in and a Monster Stack for 300 euros, extending the series beyond the Basic Event.
Spain’s spotlight faded in the Basic Event, but Leo Margets continued in the High Roller, starting Day 2 with 700,000 chips. Joaquín Lafoz was knocked out just before 1 a.m. It was a tough day for Spanish poker, with swings at Aix-les-Bains matching the unpredictability of other recent competitions, as earlier coverage in Spain’s sporting and business news reported.
The Basic Event’s final day will test nerves as well as chip stacks, and D’Anfray remains the favorite. Spain’s early exits and García’s underdog run showed how quickly fortunes can change in tournament poker. The festival’s record turnout and unpredictable finishes reflect live poker’s draw across Europe.
