Main Event Day 1a | 2010 EPT Deauville

01-20-2010 23:06 UTC+1

May the Gorce Be With You

A preflop raising war between Guillaume de la Gorce (button) and Katja Thater (small blind) resulted in de la Gorce all in and Thater with not a great deal left behind.

Showdown!

De la Gorce: {A-Hearts}

Thater:

Board: ding! {K-Hearts}

"Bon chance," sighed de la Gorce as he headed for the rail. Thater is on around 60,000 now.

Tags: Guillaume de la Gorce Katja Thater

01-20-2010 23:13 UTC+1

Uzan Your Daddy

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A very large pot had formed by the turn of the {J-Hearts}

board, not because the bets were overly large, but because there were four players still in by that point, of whom one bet and three called.

Come the {9-Spades}

river, though, only two made it through - Marc Uzan bet 2,500, and Rui Cao raised to 5,100. The two other players got out of their way, and Uzan announced all in. After some short moments of squirming, Cao folded, and was rewarded by Uzan flashing him {Q-Spades}

for a flopped full house.

Cao is reduced to 32,000.

Tags: Rui Cao

01-20-2010 23:25 UTC+1

Maistriaux Plays the Right Tune

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Antoine Saout raised preflop, and two callers came along for the ride.

Flop: {8-Spades}

First to act, Jamel Maistriaux fired out 4,700. The next player got out of the way, and Saout flatted.

Turn: {6-Spades}

Maistriaux carefully bet 7,800, and after a moment of consideration, Saout called again.

River: {K-Diamonds}

Maistriaux checked as soon as the dealer burned and turned. Saout took a stab at the pot to the tune of 10,700. Maistriaux made the call, and as soon as he slid out the chips, Saout shook his head and tossed his cards into the muck. With the pot already in front of him, Maistriaux showed {A-Clubs}

for a busted nut flush draw and second pair.

The hand left Saout with 51,000 and gave Maistriaux a boost in his quest to near the top of the chip counts.

Tags: Antoine Saout Jamel Maistriaux

01-20-2010 23:30 UTC+1

Arnaud Mat-turned the Winner

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Arnaud Mattern was getting a little short on chips when he got it all in with AK against two players with pocket pairs. The Frenchman connected with an Ace on the turn to triple up, giving him a respectable 60k near the end of play on Day 1A.

Tags: Arnaud Mattern

01-20-2010 23:36 UTC+1

Final Four

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The clock has hit 13:32 left in the last level, and that's apparently the cue to pause the action. A card was drawn, and it was a four, so we'll play that many hands at each table before calling it a night.

01-20-2010 23:59 UTC+1

Day 1a Ends Just Before Midnight

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A remarkable field of 339 runners was assembled for Day 1a of the EPT Deauville, putting the event easily on pace to eclipse last year's record-setting field once again.

In all honesty, there weren't too many familiar faces in the crowd when the cards went flying shortly after noon. Those we did spot right away included Team PokerStars Pros Katja Thater, Arnaud Mattern, and Vlad Zguba, along with a few other notables. Mike "Timex" McDonald made the trip over from Canada, and even American Craig Bergeron came out to play.

The action was fairly measured and calm to start the day, but things accelerated to a blistering pace by the time the clock hit zero. A few players had their hands on significant chip leads today, but only one of them can take that title into the overnight hours. Tonight, that honor appears to belong to the late-surging Robert Cezarescu. His count of 216,900 should put him ahead of the trailing pack that includes Vladimir Geshkenbein, Jamel Maistriaux, and Martin Kabrhel.

That's about all we have for you from Day 1a. We'll be right back here in the casino at noon tomorrow for the second flight of starters. We expect a full house, and we hope you'll join us right back here for Day 1b.

Until then, bonsoir from Deauville!

Main Event

Day 1a Completed