Bruno Jais has taken a one-million chip pot off of Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano to start the action.
The hand began with Pagano making it 125k and Jais calling from the button. Both checked the flop and turn, but when the river fell and Pagano checked, Jais bet 325,000.
Pagano called, Jais showed for two pair and collected the pot as Pagano flashed the .
Manager of a Paris PR agency, Jais has been playing poker for nearly 20 years including annual trips – since 2002 - to compete in the World Series in Las Vegas. He plays both cash games and live tournaments and, occasionally, online. His favourite game is PLO8. Jais actually qualified thanks to a miss-click. He was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 satellite to Deauville instead – and he only had a €501 bankroll! Besides poker, Bruno devotes much time to golf and his family.
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.
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."
Computer science student Vuong 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 table, he plans to take part in a lot more live events, as well as continue with his university studies.
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.”
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 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, that 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 join the live poker tournament circuit.
![[user127999]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop and 
turn, but when the 
river fell and Pagano checked, Jais bet 325,000.
for two pair and collected the pot as Pagano flashed the 
.
