There are an extraordinary 80 tables in the cavernous tournament room, and although not all the seats have been filled so far, we are already at around 400 players and looking good to smash last year's field.
As the lady on the mic said just now, this year's EPT is, "Bigger and better," than last year's. Most notably they've added a couple Omaha tournaments to the mix, so if two cards just aren't enough for you, Deauville is still the place to be this week.
Good morning and welcome to drizzly, overcast Deauville. The Normandy resort town is somewhat off-season as far as the regular tourists are concerned, but things are simply buzzing in the roomy annex of the Casino Barriere, where one of Europe's largest and most prestigious tournaments is on the verge of kicking off.
Last year 768 runners competed, and the eventual victor was one Jake Cody - the first big live win in what turned out to be an extraordinary year for the British youngster. This year we're expecting an even bigger turnout, with an extra day added and the venue somewhat larger to accommodate the hordes eager to hand over 5,000 of their hard-earned Euros to take a shot at EPT glory. The cap has been set at 1,000, and we reckon we're not going to be far off that.
Play is due to start at noon; we suspect that it will in reality be a little after that - but seeing as we're playing a very manageable eight levels today with no dinner break, the slight delay in starting shouldn't affect anyone's dinner plans. We'll be standing by on the floor to catch all the action, though, so don't go anywhere.
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