The leader at the end of either Day 1 flight is unlikely to win EPT Deauville, or any major tournament for that matter. So what is the target on the opening day of an event like this? PokerStars Blog explores, with a little help from Dominik Nitsche.
It was four-way to the flop on a board of 
, James Akenhead and Team PokerStars Pro Jose 'Nacho' Barbero both checked, Mikael Guenni fired out 550 into the middle, Guilhem Delaporte made the call before Akenhead and Barbero also called.
On the 
turn, it was checked across to Delaporte who bet 1,400 but this time only Akenhead called to see the 
river where the Englishman checked a third time. Delaporte bet 2,600 and Akenhead quickly called but mucked when the Frenchman showed him 
for a full house.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
24,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
Lex Veldhuis lost a few chips during the early going, although he just now managed to claim a few back.
The hand started with a raise to 400 by Veldhuis from middle position, the bet earning him one caller a couple of seats over. The flop came 
and Veldhuis bet 550, and his opponent stuck around. Both then checked the 
turn and 
river.
Veldhuis showed his hand — 
for sixes and fours — and his opponent mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
21,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
||
Vicky Coren was caught, “at it” by Michel Abecassis who took the pot control line from the turn onwards in a heads up hand between the two.
We approached the table as Coren check-called a 1,000 bet on a 
flop. The Team PokerStars Pro was under the gun and Abecassis was on the button in this pot that must’ve been three-bet pre flop. Both players checked the 
turn before Coren led for 2,000 on the river.
Abecassis took around 15 seconds to call and he knew he was good before the cards were revealed as Coren was helpless to prevent a cheeky looking smile spreading east to west across her face. She opened 
and lost out to Abecassis’ 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
32,400
2,400
|
2,400 |
|
29,500
-500
|
-500 |
|
|
||
21K folded a set of jacks on the river, guy showed me turned flush #goodreads #mpsquadFebruary 04 2013Follow
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
21,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
Gaelle Baumann is here. She originally hails from Strasbourg (over on the east coast of France), though currently resides in Malta. She's been getting involved in hands fairly frequently during the first level-and-a-half, and just now we caught up with a hand at a decision point for the 2012 WSOP Main Event 10th-place finisher.
The board read 
and with about 6,500 in the middle Baumann's lone opponent had fired 1,625. Baumann sat riffling chips in between two small figurines — a panda and a donkey — as she broodingly contemplated what to do. Finally after a couple of minutes, she let her hand go.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
23,000
-7,000
|
-7,000 |
|
||
Patrick Braga won the French Poker Series last night but his EPT main event has already come to an end. He had three-bet preflop with Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and another player calling to see a 
flop. Elky check-called on the flop before doing the same on the 
turn when Braga shoved. Elky's had Braga's 
drawing dead and the sent him on his way.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
45,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Konstantinos Nanos fired 500 on a flop of 
only for former EPT winner Salvatore Bonavena to make it 1,200 behind him. Nanos called to see the turn and called another 2,025 from the Italian.
The river was the and both players checked, Bonavena showed 
and it was good enough to win the pot.
As play began, we joked with Jeff Sarwer to let us know if he gets dealt aces because he has a terrible track with them and we wanted to catch him busting out with them once again. Although he hasn't found the bullets yet, he had run into some trouble with an unknown player who we will refer to as Monsieur Unconventional.
We joined the action to see Sarwer open to 375 and our unconventional anti-hero three-bet to 2,000. No, that is not a typo, the three-bet was six-times the original raise. Sarwer called and a flop reading 
came into view. Sarwer checked, Mr Unconventional bet 3,000 and Sarwer called.
The turn was the and Sarwer checked again and had to face a 10,000 bet. Sarwer responded by moving all in and was quickly called.
Sarwer: 
Mr Unconventional: 
The river was the and Sarwer had to hand over 22,600 of his chips.
After quizzing both Sarwer and Jeremy Nock about the size of the initial three-bet, Nock explained that our anti-hero had been raising five or six times since the start of play, sometimes with weak hands and, obviously, sometimes with stronger hands.
Anyone want to take bets on Mr Unconventional not making it through Day 1b?
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,225
-22,775
|
-22,775 |
