Summary:
- Mateusz Moolhuizen has bagged a record-breaking top prize of $508,496 at the EPT Paris Main Event
- The event took place at Le Palais des Congrès and attracted 4,149 entries, another EPT Paris main event field record.
- The massive turnout generated a $4,292,921 prize pool paid out among the top 619 finishers.
Kicking off the 2024 European Poker Tour, the FPS Paris €1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event held at the iconic Le Palais des Congrès triggered a field-size record compared to last year’s turnout at Monte Carlo.
The event registered more than double the number of tournament entries at 4,149 entries. This automatically led to a massive prize pool that was set at $4,292,921 and paid to the best 619 players.
At the end of six starting flights and three additional days of mixed-field action, it was Dutch poker pro Mateusz Moolhuizen who came out with flying colors, the coveted title in the Texas Holdem event, and a top prize of $508,496.
Second-Largest Score for Moolhuizen
This way, the 34-year-old poker star marked his second-largest score. The player also earned $597,362 at the 2022 World Series of Poker ‘Monster Stack’ event as a runner-up.
At the moment, he is boasting more than $1.8 million in lifetime tournament earnings.
Commenting on the win, Moolhuizen said he couldn’t sleep more than four hours and that he used meditation to keep his adrenaline rush under control. “But the adrenaline just keeps you going anyway, right?”, he added.
His new champion title also brought him 1,320 Card Player Player of the Year points, catapulting him straight into the 12th position of the prestigious standings featured by Global Poker.
On the final day of the event, he was joined by five other real money poker contenders. While Enis Rouissi was in the lead, Moolhuizen used his six blinds when the second day began, spun his stack back up, and made it to the final table.
The first runner-up was Slovenian Blaz Zerjav who grabbed a prize of $318,092 and 1,100 Player of the Year points, followed by French pro Yassine Baqal who scooped up $227,038 and 880 points, Enis Rouissi from Franc with $174,647 and 660 points, Polish Kacper Pyzara with $134,341 and 550 points, and UK’s Scott Margereson with $103,334 and 440 points.
