It seems like EPT6 Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee has drawn a tough table given that it contains fellow EPT champion Martin Schleich and EPT6 Kiev runner-up Alex Dovzhenko.
It’s Day 1B of the EPT10 Deauville Main Event, so it’s a case of "once more, just like before" today, just with a lot more players. Check out last night’s wrap, the overnight chip counts, and how to best follow today’s coverage (all in a bite-sized chunk) by clicking through to the PokerStars Blog.
Govert Metaal has been busy for just 45 minutes but already gathered a lot of new chips. Metaal got three streets of value with pocket aces on a board full of low cards. His opponent had pocket queens and wasn't able to get away from them.
Metaal is sharing the table with Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier who still has around starting stack.
It’s very early in the day and a lot of hands are being played quite cautiously as the tables fill up and players begin to suss out their opponents tendencies, playing styles and, as overheard already, “Your range.” But where there are poker players there will always be action and for the short time we observed one table it seems that PokerStars Qualifier Jack Melki from France doesn’t want to hang around.
Melki took a decent 10k pot from another PokerStars Qualifier, Ukrainian Albert Mykhaylyuta. On a final board of Mykhaylyuta had flopped two pair with but was out flopped by Melki who held . Not long after Melki took another pot from the same player when running sixes on the turn and river counterfeited Mykhaylyuta’s flopped two pair. He was not amused.
Many of the tables haven't quite filled up yet but that hasn't stopped some of them being filled with a few interesting draws.
Mat Frankland, who has had two deep runs in this event in the last three years, is sitting next to EPT London finalist Ludovic Geilich. Elsewhere Jamila Von Perger, who won the Ladies' Event last night is sharing a table with Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano. Von Perger's other half, Manig Loeser is sitting on the same table as Bulgarian bracelet winner Simeon Naydenov.
PokerStars Tournament rules state that at least three players must have their stacks in play before the dealer can start dealing. This means that some of the early risers might as well have stayed in bed. Whilst most tables meet this requirement there's quite a few tables where only one or two players have shown up. At one particular table the solitary arrival looked on forlornly as a hand went on at an adjacent table.