“That was a long and hard contest,” said Natalia, “three hours before the end I was actually finding it hard to stay awake and keep concentrating on my game but I am delighted to win. I am going to celebrate by buying a BMW 6 Series!”

Nikatina beat experienced Parisian pro Alexandre Brivot after a gruelling heads-up that went on all night. The chip lead swung a number of times but it was to be second place for Brivot, who finished 14^th at WPT Amneville in 2010. The chip leader going into the final table was another popular Parisian in the form of Benjamin Pollak but all eyes were definitely on the UK’s Sam Trickett, who, fresh from big cashes at the 100K and 250k tournaments at the Aussie Millions, is on the run of his life.

One person who had something to say about Natalia’s win was Tony G. “I hosted a PartyPoker.fr challenge at the WPT Paris National Series to prove that the French are the second worst players in the world after the Russians. What can I say now? The Russians are coming – the French are definitely the worst.”

Editor's note to Tony G:  I think you mean the "women are coming." :)