Main Event
Day 1a Started
2013 PokerStars.fr EPT Deauville
Main Event
Day: 1a
A New Day in Deauville
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.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The cards are in the air here and the EPT Deauville main event is under way!
People involved in Poker-based Shenanigans
![[user76023]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Where's the Rat, Man?
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
31,500 | 31,500 |
|
28,000 | 28,000 |
Early Aggression from Hille
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
34,000 | 4,000 |
|
|
29,000 | -1,000 |
Early Pot For Frankland
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Yann Loreau opened to 250 from middle position and Laurent Olive called to his immediate left. British pro, Mathew Frankland, was next to act and he raised to 700. This was enough to force out the remaining active players, including the two players already with chips invested in the pot.
Luck of the Irish
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
John O'Shea and his fellow countryman David Kilmartin are seated over on Table 3 and have engaged in some friendly banter with one another. The look on their table mates' face is priceless as they try to decipher the Irish twang from O'Shea and Kilmartin!
Manji Marches Out of Here
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The first level of play is yet to be completed, but that has not stopped Portugal's Ayaz Manji losing his entire stack!
We joined the action with Balazs Botond seated on the button with 900 chips in front of him. Filip Mans had raised to 2,400 in the hijack and Manji raised to 6,300 on the button. Botond folded but Mans called.
The dealer fanned out the all-heart 8h-2h-7h flop, a flop that Mans initially checked. Manji moved all-in for around 25,000 and Mans snap-called!
Manji: 
Mans:
A disgusted Manji slammed his cards onto the table and stood from his chair. The turn and river were the 
and 
respectively, busting Manji and leaving Mans to stack his new found chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000 | |
|
Busted |