[user66118]
Catherine Hong
Eric Sagne opened the pot with an early-position raise to 4,800. Catherine Hong called a few seats down the line, and they went heads up for a Battle of the Sexes.
The flop came out , and Sagne continued out with a bet of 7,700. Hong didn't waste any time making the call, and fourth street revealed the . Sagne checked this time, and Hong fired out 11,000. The call came quickly, and the last card off the deck was the . Sagne paused for a long while before tapping the felt, and Hong checked behind.
The dealer motioned to Hong to table her hand, but she instead slid her cards into the muck. Sagne flashed his for ace-high as he dragged the pot. "You still win," said Hong with a smile.
She's slipped back to about 165,000 -- less than she had, but still well above average.
[user140525]
PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth is rocking out to his iPod and sitting behind one of the biggest stacks in the room. If you looked up "in the zone" in the dictionary, you'd see his picture.
Ainsworth checked a flop to Antoine Saout, who bet 7,700. Ainsworth called and again checked after the turned. Saout bet 16,000, and Ainsworth insta-shipped. He had Saout covered more than three times over, and Antoine looked a little ill as the press swarmed the table. He tanked under the heat of the video cameras for a solid 3 minutes before giving up the hand.
[user140525]
Arnaud Mattern
Arnaud Mattern won't get to be the local hero this tournament. He was short stacked and found himself on the wrong end of a three-way all in. His couldn't catch against both and , and he quickly dashed out of the tournament room.
During Day 1a, the tournament was paused with one level left for an awards ceremony in the casino. The French Poker Awards drew the attention of everyone in attendance as the poker community came together to recognize the French standouts from 2009. Gloria Balding had a VIP pass to the ceremony, and she managed to catch up with a few of the winners (and one no-show) shortly thereafter. While there's not much happening in Day 2, you might want to scope out this video.
[user66118]
Diane Maarek is still in contention for the Job 2 position
There's an interesting promotion from PokerStars that is coming to a head here at EPT Deauville.
The PokerStars Job 2 Stars contest began with 90 players qualifying through a series of satellites on their online poker client. Another ten players were added from a selection of "job application" videos they submitted. The 100 players first competed in a live semi-final in Paris, consisting of an interview in front of a panel of judges and psychologists, a heads-up challenge against ElkY, and a Sit 'n Go. From that initial interview process came ten finalists, and they were all invited to the EPT Deauville for their final interview -- competing in the Main Event.
What's at stake for these hopefuls? Oh, just a €100,000 salary from PokerStars and €200,000 in live event buyins. That's all.
Eight of the finalists were still alive heading into today's Day 2, including the EPT French co-commentator Pierre Canali and well-known cash gamer Thomas Bichon. The race for the top spot is a close one, and Canali knows it. "At the moment," he says, "there are about four of us who are all at the top and very close in points. We are almost equal, so that doesn't make today very easy."
Bichon seems to be the odds-on favorite, at least in the eyes of Canali. "I think I have a good chance to win, but it will be very hard. This is essentially a last-longer now, and Bichon will be tough to beat."
We'd agree with Canali's summary, but after checking on fellow-finalist Diane Maarek, we think her leather gloves might be too much for the others to overcome.
[user66118]
Just moments after tumbling back down under 100,000, Ludovic Lacay got those remaining chips into the middle preflop with . He found action from a player with , the two men virtually even in chips.
The board ran out safe for Lacay's pocket pair, and he's notched himself a double up to about 200,000 just as the break approaches.
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Sagne continued out with a bet of 7,700. Hong didn't waste any time making the call, and fourth street revealed the 
. Sagne checked this time, and Hong fired out 11,000. The call came quickly, and the last card off the deck was the 
. Sagne paused for a long while before tapping the felt, and Hong checked behind.
for ace-high as he dragged the pot. "You still win," said Hong with a smile.
flop to Antoine Saout, who bet 7,700. Ainsworth called and again checked after the 
couldn't catch against both 
, and he quickly dashed out of the tournament room.
, the two men virtually even in chips.
