2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel just took his seat. He's positioned a couple of spots to the right of Elisabeth Hille who made a deep run in the WSOP Main Event herself last summer when she finished 11th.
Duhamel was just getting situated when he opened with a raise to 250 on the button. The player sitting between him and Hille then reraised to 625 from the small blind, prompting a four-bet by Hille to 1,650. Duhamel considered for just a moment before dropping out, but the small blind called.
The flop came monotone — — and Hille's opponent quickly checked. She took only a few seconds before firing 2,000, and her opponent called. The turn brought the and another hasty check from Hille's opponent. This time she carved out a bet of 5,100, and after considering for 15 seconds or so her opponent folded.
"Too early," he said during the post-hand conversation. "Too early in the morning or too early in the tournament?" asked a player with a grin from across the table.
No answer came. Meanwhile, Hille adds a few to her starting stack.
Lucien Cohen made his name here two seasons ago, as much for waving a plastic toy rat in players' faces, than for taking down the title.
He's back to try and reclaim that title and had made a good start. We saw him bet into Nicolas Chouity on the turn but missed the amount. The final board read and Chouity checked from the small blind to face a 1,100 bet.
He tanked and made the call but mucked upon seeing Cohen's for flush.
Welcome to the northwestern coastal city of Deauville, France where the skies are blue and the temperatures chilly. It's comfortably warm inside the Casino Barrière, however, as staff and dealers currently prep themselves for the entrance of hundreds of poker players. And about a half-hour from now things will be heating up considerably more when cards go in the air for the first of two Day 1 flights of the PokerStars.fr EPT Deauville Main Event.
Vadzim Kursevich of Belarus came away with the Main Event title here in Deauville last year, topping a field of 889 to claim a handsome €875,000 first prize. Most anticipate a similarly-sized turnout for this year's €5,000+€300 buy-in Main Event, with most of Europe's best plus many others from around the world expected to take part in this increasingly popular EPT stop.
Play begins at noon local time, with the schedule calling for eight 75-minute levels with a dinner break coming after Level 6. Join us then for the start of our coverage, and stick with us all week as we watch and discover who will be the next EPT champion.
— and Hille's opponent quickly checked. She took only a few seconds before firing 2,000, and her opponent called. The turn brought the 
and another hasty check from Hille's opponent. This time she carved out a bet of 5,100, and after considering for 15 seconds or so her opponent folded.
and Chouity checked from the small blind to face a 1,100 bet.
for flush.
