Rustem Muratov qualified for EPT Deauville on PokerStars for €82 and is already in massive profit. Not only is he guaranteed €63,900 for making the final table, being the last man standing with a Skrill patch he also assured himself of €5,300 in his Skrill account for winning the Skrill Last Longer.
Muratov, who works as a distributor for the electrical equipment company Schneider, is playing his first ever EPT, only his fourth live tournament and the biggest buy-in event he’s competed in. He has only two recorded live cashes to date, the biggest being $2,356 for 18th place at a tourney in Cyprus.
He said: “I’m already very happy. My best result before now was winning the seat for this event! I like Deauville, it looks like a fairytale place (apart from the rain).” Muratov and his wife Svetlana are soon to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary and have two older daughters and a nine-month old son. Svetlana couldn’t come to Deauville but is following all the action on EPTLive back home. Muratov is being supported here by his friend Ilyas who came along to play the cash games.
The final tables of the High Roller and the Main Event are taking place opposite one another at Casino Barrière today. You need eyes in the back of your head to keep up with all the action, or a neck that swivels 180 degrees. Alternatively, there's the PokerStars blog.
The commentary trio of James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton and Marc Convey were aghast at the fold that Carlo De Benedittis just made.
The chip leader, Sotirios Koutoupas, raised to 80,000 from the hijack with , it passed to De Benedittis in the small blind and he folded from his 15 big blind stack. "Did he really fold?" said Hartigan. "It's automatic, I think that's a spot where many players are going to get it in," added Convey, "The chip leader raises in late position, you're just going to have the best hand there a lot of the time," said Stapleton.
At the very start of the EPT10 Deauville Main Event, Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov talked to the PokerStars blog about his journey over the last two years to becoming physically fit via exercise and eating well. The "before" and "after" pictures of him are striking. So, too, is there a sharp contrast between the 30,000-chip stack with which he began the tourney and the 3.28 mllion he brought to today's final table, making for a compelling sequel to Katchalov's story.
Action folded around to Eli Heath on the button. He raised it up to 80,000 with . The small blind folded but Sotirios Koutoupasin in the big blind made the call holding . The first flop was about to be dealt!
and Koutoupas checked to Heath. Heath checked behind and picked a free turn. The was good for Heath who was now in the lead. Koutoupas checked and called as Heath bet 95,000.
The river was the and Koutoupas checked again. 200,000 by Heath and Koutoupas made the call.
Seeing Heath's hand Koutoupas had no other option than to muck his hand though.
Two hands in a row Sotirios Koutoupas got an opponent to lay down a better hand that dominated him. First he raised with and Carlo De Benedittis folded . On the next hand Koutoupas raised from under-the-gun+1 and next to act Oliver Price folded .
![[user265690]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and took the blinds and antes.
, it passed to De Benedittis in the small blind and he folded 
from his 15 big blind stack. "Did he really fold?" said Hartigan. "It's automatic, I think that's a spot where many players are going to get it in," added Convey, "The chip leader raises in late position, you're just going to have the best hand there a lot of the time," said Stapleton.
. The small blind folded but Sotirios Koutoupasin in the big blind made the call holding 
. The first flop was about to be dealt!
and Koutoupas checked to Heath. Heath checked behind and picked a free turn. The 
and Koutoupas checked again. 200,000 by Heath and Koutoupas made the call.
and Carlo De Benedittis folded 
from under-the-gun+1 and next to act Oliver Price folded