2010, was an excellent year for British poker and judging by the numbers of people who have made the trip to Deauville let's assume that they want to start 2011 with a bang as well.
Team Pokerstars Pro Victoria Coren, Praz Bansi, last years Champion Jake Cody, Matt Perrins and Jack Elwood are a few of the Brits looking to add early success in Deauville to their 2010 triumphs.
But have you ever wondered what they do with themselves when the dust has settle on the felt?
Well if you are Jake Cody, Jack Elwood, Matt Perrins, James Mitchell and Tom MacDonald the answer is simple - get over to Disneyland Paris. Yes, the young starlets of the UK poker scene are planning a day out to see Mickey Mouse tomorrow. But until then they will all be trying their hardest to get through Day 1a without ending up being Goofy.
EPT Player of the Year frontrunner Fernando Brito has run into a spot of bother.
He and one opponent saw a flop and said opponent bet 350. Brito raised to 1,200 and the other gentleman called.
The chips all went in on the turn, Brito only covering his opponent by 4,000 or so, and Brito was well ahead with a set of kings against the other player's set of deuces. But the fourth deuce dropped on the river making the other gentleman quads, and Brito was left with mere pocket change.
Nevertheless we've seen Brito come back from this kind of setback before, and indeed he since seems to have more than doubled his stack to 10,000 already.
New players just keep on appearing in the vast tournament room - today's field is already guaranteed to comprise at least 400. Among the newly-spotted is double WSOP bracelet winner Chris Bjorin, who got the bloggers terribly excited when he called his opponent's push on an board. But somewhat disappointingly, Bjorin's and his opponent's had both made a full house, the river changed nothing, and they duly chopped it up.
There is a grand old history of poker media turning players - Roland de Wolfe, and Team PokerStars Pro Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck, for instance, both used to be on the reporting end of things, before hitting the felt with a vengeance.
This EPT is looking to be particularly good for the journos - former EPT media room fixture Julien Brecard, now a Team PokerStars Pro, is playing today, as is Ronan Monfort who came 41st in Prague, his first ever EPT.
And tomorrow we are in for a special treat - Frank "webjoker" Op de Woerd, best known for his tireless work blogging at pokernews.nl, will be taking his seat on the right side of the rope on Day 1b for his very first EPT. Good luck to all...
It is very quiet actually; so quiet in fact that Team Pokerstars Pro, Victoria Coren, is managing to catch a few power naps in between hands. Obviously her trips on the London Tube have in come in for handy power napping practice.
Team Pokerstars Pro, Theo Jorgensen, is in the house and getting involved. We caught up with him getting involved in the following hand. A player from early position raised to 150 and there were four callers including Jorgensen. The flop was and the early position raiser made it 300 to play and there were three callers including Jorgensen. The turn was a very interesting and the action was checked over to Vytautas Milvydas in the cut-off who made it 1,100 to play and it was enough to take down the pot.
Over at table 5 we have the reigning champion Jake Cody and EPT Prague 7th place finisher Manuel Bevand are sitting side by side. We caught up with them both in this hand. There was an early position raise for 400 and Bevand called in the cut-off before Cody also called on the button; both blinds also came along for the ride. The flop was and the Small Blind led out with a bet of 1,325 and everyone but Bevand folded; Bevand made the call.
The turn was the and again the Player is the Small Blind led out, this time for 2,325. Bevand again made the call. The river was the and the Small Blind made it 5,000 to play and Bevand finally surrendered his hand.
French poker veteran Michel Abecassis has not had the best start to this year's home-turf EPT.
We found him earlier in the day calling a bet of 800 on an flop, but folding to a 1,200 bet on the turn. His opponent showed him the for some reason. Just a small hit, but it can't have done much for the confidence of "The Abacus".
And just now he suffered a rather larger hit. We only caught the action on the river, the board reading . There was around 13,000 in the pot, and the gentleman in the hijack was betting out 6,000. Abecassis tanked up long enough to have the clock called on him, but eventually he gave it up and was left with 17,000, roughly half his starting stack.
Press room hero Ronan Monfort is another player whose starting stack has been bisected - and this despite him winning a smallish hand as we strolled by his table.
The hand he won consisted of him calling a 1,300 bet on the river of a board; his opponent could only boast and Monfort's was good enough to win the pot.
Concerning the hand he lost, all he would tell us was, "I lost 20k on a bluff. But I am a grinder, I can make it back." For the sake of morale in the media room, we hope he does.
Thor Stang, finished a very impressive 6th place at EPT Barcelona recently and he has arrived at Deauville looking to prove that it was no fluke.
He was involved in a hand facing a raise from early position. The early position raise was for 350 and Stang three-bet making it 1,050. The early position raiser made the four-bet and it was now 3,000 to play. Stang looked up at the clock, noting that we had three minutes left, then called.
Flop:
The four-bettor made it 4,000 to play and Thor brought down the hammer making it 12,000 to play thus forcing the fold.
![[user169505]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop and said opponent bet 350. Brito raised to 1,200 and the other gentleman called.
turn, Brito only covering his opponent by 4,000 or so, and Brito was well ahead with a set of kings against the other player's set of deuces. But the fourth deuce dropped on the river making the other gentleman quads, and Brito was left with mere pocket change.
board. But somewhat disappointingly, Bjorin's 
and his opponent's 
had both made a full house, the 
river changed nothing, and they duly chopped it up.
and the early position raiser made it 300 to play and there were three callers including Jorgensen. The turn was a very interesting 
and the action was checked over to Vytautas Milvydas in the cut-off who made it 1,100 to play and it was enough to take down the pot.
and the Small Blind led out with a bet of 1,325 and everyone but Bevand folded; Bevand made the call.
and again the Player is the Small Blind led out, this time for 2,325. Bevand again made the call. The river was the 
and the Small Blind made it 5,000 to play and Bevand finally surrendered his hand.
turn. His opponent showed him the 
for some reason. Just a small hit, but it can't have done much for the confidence of "The Abacus".
. There was around 13,000 in the pot, and the gentleman in the hijack was betting out 6,000. Abecassis tanked up long enough to have the clock called on him, but eventually he gave it up and was left with 17,000, roughly half his starting stack.
board; his opponent could only boast 
was good enough to win the pot.
