| Result of Satellite
With today's supersatellite having a large field of 149 runners, unlimited rebuys and not just a single but a double add-on possible, it was no surprise that no less than 22 players would qualify for tomorrow's Main Event. After the - for supersatellites not uncommon - tense situations with the short stacks trying to stall their way into the final tables (useless at the final stages of course once the games get dealt hand for hand) and on the other hand players giving much more action than they would need to considering the size of their stack, in the end our final 22 players were:
Sami Torbay
Daniel Gerard
Dan Abouaf
Jean-Paul Benedeth
Martin Cedercrantz
Hawd Kakoin
Roger Hairabedian
Ed de Haas
Chet Hroster
Eric Dalby
Daniel Bargsdorf
Vivian Anseline
Lucien Baggieri
Tony Kendall
Patrick Champagne
Eugene Cummins
Paul Testud
Robert Kojfer
Edgar Skervold
Henning Granstad
Chris Fields
Julian Thew
(Names and nationality as handed to me by casino management.)
Tomorrow, Warren Karp will start off the highly anticipated 2,000 Euros buy-in no-limit hold'em freeze-out with an expected field of over 200 runners.
Whether or not the field will indeed be this big, I will let you all know tomorrow, so make sure you check out my regular updates. From a cold and dreary but beautiful French place called Deauville, I say: Bon soir - and see you all tomorrow.
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Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 1
It's raining outside, the weather's dreary and in Deauville, a fairytale-like little village in the north of France, business is very slow. Tourist season has not started yet meaning quite a few shops are still closed - but the casino is open alright.
The luxurious Barriere Casino Deauville is the stage of the fifth stop of the European Poker Tour, a highly successful series of poker events (in line with the American WPT) that will be reaching its climax with the Grand Final in Monte Carlo next month. The father of this EPT, John Duthie, has been able to get TV-shows of all EPT events aired at Eurosport, making the game accessible to millions of viewers around Europe. Possibly because of these TV-shows, things have gotten much bigger now than when things started, simply because no players wants to miss the opportunity of getting his face on television all around Europe - not to mention the fact that there are huge amounts of money to be won. All of this means that a bunch of poker stars have gathered in Deauville this week, for what is expected to be an interesting and most of all exciting happening.
Because of this growth of poker in Europe, Tina has asked me to become Poker Pages' official European Tournament Reporter, meaning I will be traveling all around Europe to cover all events for you guys. This will include not just the EPT events, but also other events that you may find interesting - like the World Heads Up Championship, for example. Starting with this week's Deauville event, I will provide you with all the necessary information, giving you regular updates of the most important developments, and providing you with live-action photos. I will give you some background info on the tournament and the participating players, I will inform you about the players that are still in and the players that are out, and in general will be discussing anything that may be of interest to you.
The schedule will look as follows. Today, Tuesday February 15th, things have started with a big no-limit hold'em super satellite, buy-in 120 Euros with unlimited rebuys and a double 100 Euro add-on. No less that 17 tables are still in action to win their tickets for the 3-day 2,000 Euro freeze-out that will start tomorrow. (Actually, it is a four-day event, because day one will be played in two flights. Attendance for the main event is expected to be even higher than in previous events, and this way the casino will be able to host some cash games as well, probably.) On the next update, I will try to let you know the winner of this super satellite, and then tomorrow I will start the coverage of the Main Event. A bunch of poker stars, including 'Flying Fox' Marcel Luske and 'Devilfish' Dave Ulliott, have already arrived, meaning we can expect quite a bit of firework. Here on Poker Pages, you guys will be able to follow things closely, with hourly updates on the Final Day, Saturday February 19th. I will do my best to get all the information as fast and as accurate as possible - now I hope you will all enjoy it. Anyway, all the best to you from Deauville, and I will talk to you later - on my next update.
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