Main Event - Day One Reports
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 1
Its raining outside, the weathers 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.
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 2
With todays 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 tomorrows 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
�?�¯?? E. 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 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.
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 3
OK guys - the action is finally heating up. For those who dont know, this is the fifth stop of the European Poker Tour, the New Kid on the European Poker Block. The previous four events have had the following winners:
Event No. 1: Barcelona - Winner: Alexander Stevic (Sweden)
Event No. 2: London - Winner: John Shipley(England)
Event No. 3: Dublin - Winner: Ram Aswan (England)
Event No. 4: Copenhagen - Winner: Noah Boeken(Netherlands)
As I am writing this, it is not certain yet if we can play the first day of the Deauville EPT Main Event in one seating, or if there will be two flights. If my information is correct, we will do things in one seating if there are no more than 250 entrants. We already have over 200 seats that are paid for already, so it will be a close call. At the next update, I will provide you with all the necessary details, and I will discuss both the structure of the event and the people who are playing.
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 4
We have just begun with what looks like a total of 243 players - not bad, considering they all have put up 2,000 Euros. The initial chip count is 10,000, blinds start at 25-50 and of course it is a no-limit hold�?�¢??em freeze-out. A short impression of the action:
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 5
Just before the dinner break, lots of players are still remaining: No less than 190 players are still in. But unfortunately for the Dutch, two of their main trumps have already left the building. Grand Chien Ed de Haas was the first player to leave the arena, and Europes Player of the Year 2001 & 2004 Marcel Luske is also an early casualty. When looking at the tables, it struck me that in contrast to other tournaments, there is a large number of relatively unknown players today. While usually I will know at least 50% of the field by name, there were now one or two players where I could not recognize any of the players! Many French players are competing in this event, a fairly large contingent of relatively unknown Americans is here, and the Scandinavians are ready to strike as usual. But a large number of tournament veterans are missing. For instance, the entire Hendon Mob is missing, and I did not see previous EPT winners Alexander Stevic, John Shipley or top pros like Erik Sagstrom, Surinder Sunar or Ben Roberts. In fact, I could not see any players from Austria, not even Markus Golser or Pepe Klinger. Of course, I simply may have missed a few, but combined with the exits of Ed and Marcel it is clear that there are simply not as many familiar faces as usual.
When looking at some of the favorites, both Isabelle Mercier and Devilfish Dave Ulliott (united on one photo, though they dont seem to be in the same kind of mindset) are hanging on, and Camel Keith Hawkins has even amassed a freight load of chips. There are some French players who are in very good shape right now, and knowing how well they tend to play on home territory, we may well be in for a huge upset. Anyway, I will inform you about all the developments, and when day 1 is over I will provide you with a complete list of the names and chip counts of all remaining players.
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 6
This is the last update before the final chip count of the first day, so its about time to play a few hands. After all, this is a poker blog, so a few hands here and there couldnt hurt, could they?
Well, I have told you about the early exit by Ed de Haas, but I did not tell you how he went down. Well, in his own words: he played it like a total sucker. (He used much stronger language than this actually, but Im afraid Tina wont allow me to put his exact quotes in this place.) Against a (to him) unknown Asian player from the U.S., he decided to check-raise his opponents 1,000 bet to 4,000 on the turn, the board being AKT8 with three of a suit. Eddie had the Dead Mans Hand, aces and eights, and paid off when his opponent came over the top all-in to 9,000, only to stare into the nut flush. Young rising star Julian Thew also went out early, busting out in a classic manner, holding kings against aces. Another young and rising star, Noah Boeken, winner of the last EPT event in Copenhagen, busted out on the exact same table as Big Eddie, meaning that all three Dutch major trumps are now out. In absence of the other Dutch star, Chief Rob Hollink, it is now up to a few Dutch unknowns who are still in to grab yet another EPT win for The Netherlands.
In the meantime, weve got quite a bit of exciting action on Table 4. The highly aggressive Isabelle Mercier has been in dire straits from the beginning, but she is holding her own very well, and now has a 7,800 stack. The average chip count is about 16,000 right now, an amount her neighbor Dave Ulliott had just acquired when he lost valuable ammunition on two consecutive hands. First, he lost about 2,000 with A6 of hearts against an opponent, all-in with 77. And then on the immediate next hand he raised the 300 big blind from early / middle position to 1,200, and got called in three (!) places. The Devils jacks had become toilet paper when the flop came A65, and two players managed to come up with Big Slick. All in all, he probably could have lost a lot more on that hand had someone played back at him before the flop (not impossible considering the hand distribution), and with a slightly below par stack Dave is still in fairly good shape.
Anyway, thats about it for this update. In a couple of hours, I will try to have the names and chip counts of all players who are still in contention.
Ace Speaks From Deauville - EPT Update No. 7
After a long and exciting day, Day 1 of the Main Event is over. We have lost way over 50% of the field, and there are now only 104 players remaining. They will be battling for a 144,000 Euros first prize, with people all over Europe watching them - now, this is many a poker players wet dream, no doubt. Either way, this is how things look; again, names and chip counts are as handed to me by casino management. All players are listed in random order, with the seat they will have tomorrow - not the seat they were playing in today.
L. Atheas, 11/5, 8,650
Peter Carlsson, 4/3, 12,150
M. Zajdenberg, 5/2, 17,325
L. Dumont, 9/6, 4,000
Bob Coombes, 3/4, 30,450
Ezra Galston, 2/7, 53,225
John Mercado, 12/7, 6,525
M. Leibgorin, 7/5, 35,125
Lemercier, 12/9, 27,775
Choquet, 9/2, 19,825
Dam, 8/3, 78,175
Westberg, 4/2, 29,875
Justin Bonomo, 10/3, 49,500
Eugene Cummins, 1/3, 3,175
Adrian Creagh, 4/4, 29,175
Zerbib Jerome, 8/2, 43,450
Dan Abouaf, 1/5, 22,725
Patrick Bueno, 5/7, 11,375
Xuyen Pham, 7/7, 13,950
Jonatan Svartback, 1/8, 5,000
Melanie Lofthouse, 8/9, 37,750
Jerome Douieb, 6/9, 10,550
Dave Ulliott, 10/9, 36,750
Isabelle Mercier, 6/6, 24,450
Phy Pham, 12/6, 18,300
Ronnie Debaulox, 1/7, 12,625
Torbey, 10/7, 23,700
Beretti, 10/1, 13,250
Jeff Duvall, 5/9, 56,050
Rory Liffey, 10/6, 31,800
Tony Kendall, 11/3, 8,600
Henning, 9/3, 34,425
Kakoun, 10/2, 26,625
Patrik Mortesson, 2/5, 13,100
John Coldwell, 9/1, 22,125
Patrick Barnay, 7/8, 23,625
Michael Aiken, 2/1, 6,425
Antony Lellouche, 1/9, 32,575
Tony Cascarino, 3/2, 12,725
Henric Nilsson, 8/1, 36,775
Jean-Claude Perreira, 4/8, 25,075
Eric Sindelar, 12/2, 24,725
Mark Wraith, 11/2, 20,775
Tellef Aune, 1/1, 5,325
Mark Ristine, 5/5, 20,250
Erik van den Burg, 9/4, 36,000
Emile Petit, 4/9, 7,625
Jean-Marc Thomas, 12/8, 15,925
Frank Baston, 6/1, 30,450
Ivo Donev, 11/7, 20,475
Eric Dalby, 9/5, 24,325
Joseph Mreten, 3/5, 17,825
Jean-Pierre Petroli, 5/8, 34,325
Audrey Audet, 6/5, 11,600
Franck Sonigo, 8/6, 11,100
Carl Olson, 5/4, 16,675
Todd Wenzel, 3/9, 25,800
Peter Dalhuijsen, 8/8, 26,775
Chister Lovas, 2/4, 11,825
Howard Chow, 11/6, 39,575
Y. Fressenon, 8/4, 3,075
A. Poulain, 8/7, 28,700
B. Shaeffer, 4/7, 33,525
K. Gregersen, 10/5, 10,675
P. Eichhardt, 2/6, 62,500
Nassif Gabriel, 3/3, 38,075
Steve Stolzmann, 5/6, 6,450
Thomas Mathiesen, 5/1, 58,750
David Amelie, 6/4, 12,675
Aki Metsa, 6/3, 10,000
Jeremy Tuckman, 2/9, 23,250
F. Scapula, 11/8, 7,500
Janne Wilhelm, 3/1, 16,000
Arshad Hussein, 12/4, 18,325
Patel Jiger, 12/3, 3,750
Paul Testud, 7/4, 7,475
Steve Vladar, 7/6, 4,700
Luca Pagano, 6/2, 34,950
Andrew Ferguson, 9/7, 3,825
John Galf, 7/9, 71,075
Keith Hawkins, 11/9, 67,850
Sam Orams, 10/4, 101,975
Fred Eskelid, 6/8, 14,475
Philip Albion, 7/1, 13,375
Renaldo Quesala, 1/2, 4,850
Jerome Boutillieri, 4/1, 20,475
Ilja Hony, 11/1, 20,675
Bambos Xanthos, 4/5, 7,250
Mike Luumi, 1/4, 46,000
Morten Sembach, 5/3, 7,450
Jonas Jerlstrom, 3/6, 22,750
Charles Reseuyhr, 7/7, 20,525
Guy Sitbom, 3/7, 8,025
Mike Lacey, 2/3, 54,575
Willie Tann, 7/8, 9,475
Patrick Champagnol, 3/8, 6,100
Keith Francis, 11/4, 17,250
Peter Davidson, 9/8, 23,675
Gilles Haddad, 8/5, 28,625
Daniel Falk, 4/6, 21,100
Chi Che Portiche, 6/7, 20,375
Julian Fariolo, 12/5, 50,100
James Hartigan, 12/1, 11,075
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