Main Event Day 1a | 2010 EPT Deauville

01-20-2010 09:18 UTC+1

Back in Deauville

The second half of the sixth season of the European Poker Tour is upon us, and this week's stop finds us on the Normandy coast of France for the EPT Deauville. After a three year hiatus, the EPT celebrated its return to Deauville last year, and the support was staggering. An impressive 645 players turned up from 50 different countries to play for a prize pool worth more than €3 million. Outlasting a tough final table, PokerStars qualifier and online pro Moritz Kranich earned himself the championship and €851,400.

The weather is absolutely miserable here this week, but a little rain and wind won't keep the poker world away. All expectations are for another record-breaking turnout at the Casino Barrière de Deauville this time around. We'll be right here on the rail, catching all of the action and bringing it to you live as it unfolds.

Play is scheduled to begin at 12:00 noon CET, so join us in a couple hours for the shuffle-up-and-deal!

Since you've got some time to kill, take a few minutes to let Gloria welcome you to the region. Who knows, you might even learn something useful for impressing French women.

01-20-2010 12:05 UTC+1

Any Minute Now

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Chips and dealers have made their way to the tables, and all we need now is some players.

Speaking of which, we have a fair few big names confirmed for today. Among them are Arnaud Mattern, Peter Eastgate, Katja Thater, Dario Minieri and Mike "Timex" McDonald. Should be fun.

We are now ever so slightly overdue for kickoff, and we are expecting things to happen within a few minutes. Please stand by...

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

01-20-2010 12:36 UTC+1

Shuffle Up & Deal!

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The Kremser has spoken, and the cards are in the air. The plan is to play nine levels today, with a dinner break after level six.

Let's get this EPT party started!

01-20-2010 12:52 UTC+1

The Layout

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We've got 35 tables here in the primary tournament room, with another 14 set up across the hall in the secondary location. Eight of those are in use right now, and the other six dealers are greeting the late registrants as they arrive. The big board shows that 348 players have registered for Day 1a so far with registration open until the first break.

01-20-2010 12:56 UTC+1

Who Else Is Here?

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We should have a full list of entrants fairly soon, but there are a few faces we can recognize without any of that official nonsense:

Ben Vinson
Voitto Rintala
Pierre Neuville
Kai Paulsen
Nicky Evans
Antoine Saout
Mikhail Tulchinskiy
Julien Lang Van

01-20-2010 12:58 UTC+1

Across the Way

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There are only two familiar faces in the secondary tournament room as far as we could tell. It just so happens, however, that Arnaud Mattern and Remy Biechel are sitting right next to each other.

As we were scoping out the room, we saw Mattern open with an under-the-gun raise to 250. Next door, Biechel made the call before a third player squeezed to 900. Mattern ducked out while Biechel made the smooth call once again. When the flop came {10-Spades}

, Biechel check-folded to a bet of 1,100.

Pretty exciting stuff over there across the way.

Tags: Arnaud Mattern Remy Biechel

01-20-2010 13:05 UTC+1

Noble Prize for Marques

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It's amazing how quickly 30,000 chips can disappear when you flop a full house.

We're not sure whether the chips went in on the flop, the turn or the river, but however it played out, by the end of it the cards looked like so:

Victor Marques: {A-?}

Soon-to-be Bustee: {9-?}

Board:

Ouch.

Marques doubles to 60,000, while his hapless opponent takes today's wooden spoon and heads out into the rain.

01-20-2010 13:23 UTC+1

Portal. It's French.

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A player in early position opened the pot with a raise to 250, and Alexia Portal came along as the only caller. Heads up, the flop brought {A-Spades}

. The raiser had checked in the dark, and Portal announced a bet of 450. Her opponent quickly called, and the turn came the {5-Hearts}

. Both players passed this time, and the {9-Clubs}

filled out the board.

The early-position player checked again, and a big smile came across Portal's face. "You check?" asked her opponent, holding his cards outstretched and ready for a showdown. Portal had not checked yet though, and she elected to make a closing bet of 900. Her opponent stared at the pot for a long while before splashing in the call.

"You have an ace?" asked Portal. When she saw the headshake across the table, she showed up {A-Hearts}

and took down the pot.

Tags: Alexia Portal

01-20-2010 13:36 UTC+1

Kabrhel Treating This Like Side Event

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Czech serial do-weller (he took down the $2,000 side events at both EPT Vilamoura and EPT Prague) looks set for a good run in this main event.

We caught up with him on the river of a {K-Clubs}