WSOP 2026 Day 44: French Players Shine Across Events

WSOP 2026 Day 44: France makes its presence felt

While the poker world is naturally focused on the Main Event, there is plenty happening in the side events as well, and France is once again showing real depth across the schedule. Day 44 of WSOP 2026 highlighted an important trend: the French contingent is not relying on one marquee result, but producing competitive stacks in very different tournament formats.

That matters for players because WSOP success is rarely about one lucky run. It is about adapting to structure, stack depth, field size, and pressure over long sessions. On this day, French players delivered exactly that kind of versatility: some bagged healthy stacks, some survived with enough room to fight, and others were reminded how brutal tournament variance can be.

$1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO: a solid French showing

The $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO event wrapped up Day 1A. From a starting field of 1,922 players, 288 advanced, and several French names made the cut with above-average stacks.

Julien Sitbon led the French pack with 399,000 chips. Right behind him came Adem Can with 387,000 and David Lichentinrubintin with 262,000. Cécile Ticherfatine also moved on with 182,000, giving her a workable stack for Day 2.

One of the more dramatic stories of the day was Nicolas Milgrom. With only a few hands left, he was sitting 6th in the chip count and had more than 600,000 chips, but a late collapse sent him all the way down to 46,000. That is the essence of PLO at the highest level: big edges can vanish quickly when pots get huge and equities run close.

Mathieu Choffardet also survived, though his 40,000 chips leave him in a much more fragile position going forward.

For readers who want to understand tournament formats and bankroll paths better, it is worth exploring poker rooms and poker school, where the fundamentals behind these structures become much easier to apply in practice.

Ultra Stack NLH: Bernat Carreras Moragrega bags a monster stack

The $600 Ultra Stack NLH is also tightening up fast. On Day 1C, 4,217 players entered and only 321 made it through, which is exactly the kind of attrition that defines a fast-paced WSOP event.

From a French perspective, the standout performance came from Bernat Carreras Moragrega, who finished second in chips with 2,205,000. Only Israeli player Ron Arnon was ahead of him with 2,495,000. In a format like Ultra Stack, that kind of pile is more than a comfort blanket — it is a weapon that allows pressure, aggression, and wider opening ranges against shorter stacks.

• Moundir Zoughari — 1,125,000
• Audrey Verlomme — 1,120,000
• Ugo Taurines — 990,000
• Erwann Pecheux — 840,000
• Sarah Ramirez — 400,000
• Benjamin Bruneteaux — 280,000

Zoughari’s stack, in particular, gives him plenty of maneuverability. In a field this large, a seven-figure stack can quickly turn into a deep run if the player keeps applying pressure at the right nodes.

Main Event: more than 100 French players move on to Day 3

The Main Event also delivered a major French turnout. Day 2D has now ended, and Day 3 is next on the schedule. At the start of the day, 4,458 players took their seats, and 2,034 survived the full grind.

American Michael Rossito topped the day with 770,500 chips. No French player cracked the top 10, but that does not tell the whole story: more than 100 French players successfully navigated one of the toughest and longest stages of the tournament and are now back for another shot.

The biggest French stack belongs to Iris Liu with 458,500. Mohamed Kerkeni is also in excellent shape with 418,000, good enough for 38th place overall. Sacha Cohen ended the day with 374,000 and remains in strong position as well.

• Benjamin Chalot — 249,500
• Kalidou Sow — 235,000
• Virgile Turchi — 220,000
• Johan Guilbert — 210,500
• Leo Soma — 195,000
• Julien Martini — 170,000
• Leo Lombardozzi — 135,000
• Axel Bayout — 135,000
• Antoine Labat — 129,200
• Antoine Goutard — 129,000
• Bruno Lopes — 129,000
• Nicolas Tytgat — 127,000
• Julien Mariani — 120,000
• Malcom Franchi — 114,000
• Nicolas Vayssières — 105,000
• Tristan Clémençon — 103,500
• Benjamin Pollak — 101,600
• Samy Dubonnet — 82,500
• Antonin Teisseire — 66,300
• Emilien Pitavy — 57,800
• Samy Boujmala — 38,500

That kind of list reflects more than volume. It shows a national player pool capable of surviving massive fields and adapting to many different stack dynamics. For readers following the broader poker ecosystem, poker clubs and promotions & bonuses are useful places to connect live poker preparation with the value players can extract online.

Expert analysis: why this matters for tournament players

From a strategic standpoint, Day 44 of WSOP 2026 is a useful snapshot of what modern tournament poker demands. One country can now be competitive in PLO, fast-structure NLH, and the Main Event all at once — but only if its players are prepared for very different pressure points.

• PLO magnifies variance, so even a huge stack can disappear in a couple of hands. Milgrom’s swing is a perfect reminder.
• Ultra Stack rewards stack accumulation early: once you move into seven-figure territory, you gain leverage over the middle stacks and can force more mistakes.
• The Main Event is about endurance and precision: more than 100 French players advancing is not just a numbers story, it is a sign of depth, patience, and structural awareness.

The broader industry lesson is equally clear: strong national pools are built through consistent study, live experience, and a solid foundation from poker school. That is how players turn one good run into repeatable results, especially at a festival like WSOP where every edge is tested under maximum pressure.

Final thoughts: a strong day for France at WSOP 2026

Day 44 ended with France firmly in the conversation across multiple events. Some players are sitting on stacks that can fuel deep runs, others are hanging on with workable chips, and a massive group is still alive in the Main Event.

The headline is simple: French poker is not just present at WSOP 2026 — it is competing. And if these stacks continue to convert, the next few days could bring even bigger results for the French team.

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