VADZIM KURSEVICH WINS EPT DEAUVILLE FOR €875,000

Kursevich, who turns 25 on Wednesday, beat young French pro Paul Guichard heads-up to take down the €5,300 event in Normandy, France. Kursevich, who came fifth in last September’s WCOOP Main Event and has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout the tournament, is the first ever EPT champion from Belarus. His biggest live result before today was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000.

Kursevich, who also wins a bracelet worth more than €10,000 from Shamballa Jewels, said: “I can’t really believe it. It’s like a dream. A lot of times, you finish 28th, fifth, even second – and you think ‘What do I have to do to be the champion’ but when you are, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

PokerStars.fr qualifier Guichard, 19, from Nice, took €557,000 for his runner-up finish. Fellow Frenchman Yorane Kerignard, who came fourth for €260,000, was making his third EPT final table appearance. The 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence also finished fourth at EPT Copenhagen Season 6 earning DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000) and sixth at this season’s EPT San Remo for €130,000.

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano, who finished seventh for €110,000, broke his own record in Deauville with a 20th EPT Main Event cash and seventh final table appearance. His first EPT final was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.

Nearly 200 players won their seats to the event on PokerStars, including more than 80 who qualified on PokerStars.fr. More than 20 members of Team PokerStars Pro also took part including Jonathan Duhamel, Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Julien Brecard, Vanessa Rousso, Richard Toth, Jude Ainsworth, Dario Minieri, Liv Boeree, Vicky Coren, Eugene Katchalov and Vanessa Selbst.

With 477 players, France had more than 50% of the field in Deauville, and five players at the final table. Bruno Jais, who finished fifth for €200,000, won his seat thanks to a mis-click. The 49-year-old advertising executive was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 Deauville satellite instead.

It was also a good week for Team PokerStars Pros. Two-time LAPT winner Nacho Barbero won the EPT Deauville €1,000 pot-limit Omaha side event for €37,500. It was his second tournament title in France – and seventh overall, taking his total live tournament winnings close to €2 million. Belgian Team PokerStars Pro Matthias de Meulder scored the biggest live cash of his career by taking down the EPT Deauville €1,500 side event for a €131,000 first prize. De Meulder, 23, from Antwerp, beat French player Michel Kirchner heads-up to win the two-day event. Team PokerStars Pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was runner-up in the €3,200 heads-up event after losing in the final to PCA $5,000 no-limit hold’em turbo winner Kunimaro Kojo from Japan.

EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee won the €5,000 High Roller Turbo for €50,000 after beating fellow American Shaun Deeb heads-up. Anne Le Clainche won the €330 Ladies Event for €7,850 after fighting off competition from a 78-strong field.

The next stop on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is the 35,000 DKK buy-in EPT Copenhagen event running from February 20-25, 2012 at Casino Copenhagen in the Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel. Satellites are running now on PokerStars. For more information, please visit http://www.ept.com.

EPT DEAUVILLE – FINAL TABLE PLAYER PROFILES

Seat 2: Mick Graydon, 26, Dublin, Ireland - 960,000
Although his friend Team PokerStars Pro Jude ‘j.thaddeus’ Ainsworth may be the better known Irishman, Mick Graydon is certainly no slouch at the poker table; the $210,107 he’s won in live tournaments is dwarfed by the $1,126,450 he’s won in online tournaments at PokerStars under the name ‘BIGMICKG’. Graydon was the first player in Ireland to achieve Supernova Elite status, a testimony to his discipline and skill at the tables, although he’s since embraced multi- rather than single-table tournaments.

“I used to play sit-and-gos but I made the transition to tournaments two years ago. I’ve played every EPT this season. It’s brilliant to make the final table. It’s why we play poker,” said Graydon, who was unlucky enough to lose with kings to Ronny Kaiser’s ace-king for the chip lead at EPT Tallinn. Kaiser went on to win the event and €275,000 while Graydon bust in 24th for €7,700. The online qualifier is guaranteed at least €67,200 here at EPT Deauville, his third cash of the season, but with a wealth of virtual experience it would be wrong to write off the short stack.
“Playing a lot online you learn how to play short stacked. I think I’m very strong at that so I won’t be making too many mistakes,” said Graydon.

Seat 3: Olivier Rogez, 34, Paris, France – 4,415,000
Rogez has never cashed in a tournament in his life, and won his seat in a €770 live satellite in Deauville a month ago. Rogez, 34, who runs an office cleaning business in Banlieu, Paris, is amazed he's gone this deep - but is determined not to get flustered. He said: "I'm very very happy. I didn't think I would get this far. Today was a lot of stress but now I'm going to rest and come back tomorrow calm and focused."

Seat 4: Vuong Than Trong, 21, Paris, France - 2,570,000
Computer science student Than Trong discovered poker two years ago at a party with friends. He mainly plays mid-stakes online cash games using the screen-name "Canard_laque" but decided to take part in EPT Deauville on the eve of the tournament after being persuaded by his friend Basil Yaïche that he could do well. Throughout the event, he’s been supported by members of the Club Poker French poker forum as well as gaining valuable advice on tournament play from experts such as Flavian Guenan and Clement Thumy. If he does well at the EPT Deauville final, he plans to take part in a lot more live events, as well as continue with his university studies.

Seat 5: Vadzim “VadziMoney” Kursevich, 24, Minsk, Belarus - 5,670,000
Vadzim Kursevich turns 25 on Wednesday – and already has a lot to celebrate having reached the EPT Deauville final table second in chips. Kursevich has been playing poker for five years and normally plays live PLO ring games and MMTs. He also competes in the big online tournament series – and was involved in a five-way chop in last year’s WCOOP Main Event for a $750,000 payday. He has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout EPT Deauville. His biggest live result was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000 and he also came 28th in this season’s EPT Barcelona event. He has played around eight EPTs in total. Away from poker, Kursevich likes to unwind by watching ice hockey and singing karaoke. Regarding tomorrow’s final, he said: “I feel pretty comfortable – and ready to compete against my opponents. I’ve got some chips so we will see.”

Seat 6: Paul "OMGpoloker06" Guichard, 19, Nice, France –PokerStars qualifier - 5,955,000
Guichard, who won his seat to EPT Deauville, is an up-and-coming player who is already getting good results on PokerStars.fr. He started playing poker with friends when he was 13. Once he could go online, he only made two deposits before he building a healthy bankroll. He also started playing live and once he graduated from high school, he decided to dedicate himself to poker and tennis. He says if he had to stop playing poker, then he’d resume his career as a tennis player. His online winnings already total $140,000 including €13,000 for fourth place in the €500 PokerStars.fr “All Star Game".

Live, his best result was winning a side event in Cannes last September for €15,000. Guichard says he owes much to Clement Thumy, his coach for the last two years already. This was Guichard’s first EPT but he says if he finishes in top four tomorrow, he’ll plans to join the live poker tournament circuit

Seat 7: Luca Pagano, 33, Milan, Italy – Team PokerStars Pro - 2,010,000
Pagano was one of the very first members of Team PokerStars Pro, joining in shortly after the very first EPT Deauville event in season 1 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour. Before taking up poker, Pagano studied computer programming and also dabbled in the stock market. After discovering PokerStars, Luca began playing at the free money tables. He swiftly progressed to real money games and hasn’t looked back since. He’s clocked up numerous cashes in PokerStars’ biggest tournaments and also won countless amounts of money at the high stakes cash tables.

But it’s live tournaments where Pagano has really made his name. He has a record 20 cashes in EPT Main Events and this is his seventh EPT final table appearance. His first was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.

Pagano and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier have been juggling first and second place in the EPT All-Time Tournament Leaderboard for years (although Pagano’s performance here in Deauville will certainly put him back on top.)

Pagano’s best live result was sixth place at the EPT4 Grand Final for €337,000; he also came sixth at EPT Dortmund (€153,000) and sixth again at EPT Prague (€100,000) as well as numerous other deep runs. But it was on home soil that the popular Italian finally snagged a major tournament title when he took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event in San Remo last July for €210,000. Pagano has nearly $2 million in overall live tournament earnings and currently lies sixth on Italy's all-time money list. Pagano is being supported in Deauville by his fiancée Elena.

Seat 8: Yorane "viirusss” Kerignard, 26, Aix-en-Provence, France - 1,680,000
Yorane started playing poker after watching a documentary on television in 2007 featuring French singer and film star Patrick Bruel playing against online qualifiers. The 26-year-old industrial design graduate plays on PokerStars under the username "viirusss". Favouring MTT events, Kerignard’s first live cash came in 2009 when he finished fifth in a small buy-in event in Cyprus. But just five months later, he hit the big time, finishing fourth in the Season 6 EPT Copenhagen Main Event for DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000). The biggest cash of his career however came last October when he finished fourth at EPT San Remo for €130,000.
He’s also had a number of good EPT side event results including third in the Season 6 EPT Grand Final €1k NL event and fourth in the €2k event the following season. Kerignard spends most of the year in Marrakech, Morocco, which allows him to play on PokerStars.com. Online, his best result was runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday 500 for $78,500; he also won the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $70,000 in 2009.

SUMMARY

EPT Deauville is running from January 31 to February 6 at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels.

Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8, is running a Last Longer for Main Event players. All players have to do is sign up at the Skrill Welcome Desk; the winner gets his €5,300 buy-in credited back into his Skrill account.

EPTLIVE CONTINUES TOMORROW

EPT8 DEAUVILLE - PHOMVEHA SNATCHES LEAD FROM VINKLAREK AT END OF DAY 3

A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating a total prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.

EPT Deauville is running from January 31 to February 6 at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels.

Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8, is running a Last Longer for Main Event players. All players have to do is sign up at the Skrill Welcome Desk; the winner gets his €5,300 buy-in credited back into his Skrill account.

EPTLIVE STARTS SUNDAY!!
Whoo hoo!! EPTLive starts Sunday for the final two days of EPT Deauville. We'll be in the main Casino by then with the webcast providing live coverage direct from the gorgeous Salles des Ambassadeurs. Expert commentary will be provided in English and French.

End of Day 3 Players and Chip Counts

EPT8 DEAUVILLE - SALHANI LEADS GOING INTO DAY 2

A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating a total prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.

. EPT Deauville is running from January 31 to February 6 at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels worth more than €10,000, plus gorgeous Gamble hoodie, shirt and sweater from JAQK, the first clothing brand inspired by poker players. All the other seven finalists will also receive JAQK apparel.

Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8, is running a Last Longer for Main Event players. All players have to do is sign up at the Skrill Welcome Desk; the winner gets his €5,300 buy-in credited back into his Skrill account.

End of Day 1A+B Players and Chip Counts

EPT8 DEAUVILLE - KRISTIJONAS ANDRULIS LEADS AFTER DAY 1A

The €5,300 EPT Deauville Main Event is taking place January 31 to February 6 at at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels worth more than €10,000, plus gorgeous Gamble hoodie, shirt and sweater from JAQK, the first clothing brand inspired by poker players. All the other seven finalists will also receive JAQK apparel.

Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8, is running a Last Longer for Main Event players. All players have to do is sign up at the Skrill Welcome Desk; the winner gets his €5,300 buy-in credited back into his Skrill account.

EPT DEAUVILLE PARTY AT BRUMMEL CLUB ON THURSDAY
PokerStars is holding a fantastic party for all EPT players on Thursday, February 2 from 22:00 at the Brummel Club at Casino Deauville. There’s a free bar – until it runs out!! – and lots of dancing! Players can get their party wristbands from the PokerStars welcome desk; media can use their orange or pink media wristbands.

End of Day 1A Players and Chip Counts