2008 Partouche Poker Tour - Cannes

€8,500 Cannes Main Event
Day: 4
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Event Info

2008 Partouche Poker Tour - Cannes

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
9♠9♦
Prize
$1,426,645
Event Info
Buy-in
$12,300
Entries
480
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
75,000 / 150,000
Ante
15,000

Welcome to the Final Table

[user66118]
[user66118]
PokerNews welcomes you to the final table of the first annual Partouche Poker Tour Main Event from the Palm Beach Casino in lovely Cannes, France.

After an exceptionally long day yesterday, the 480 players we began the event with has been whittled down to the final eight who are here today to play for the title, along with a hefty €1,000,000 first prize. It wasn't easy though, as the players had to endure a 16-hour day, finally finishing up just before 8:00am local time. Here's the way the table stacks up at the beginning of the day:

Claudio Renaldi: 749,000
Michael Abecassis: 375,000
Jean Philippe Rohr: 750,000
Philippe Narboni: 1,456,000
Antonin Tesseire: 541,000
Stephane Bazin: 2,387,000
[Removed:133]: 1,102,000
Alain Roy: 2,225,000

Play was scheduled to begin at 4:00pm, but it appears that there will be yet another delay today, as the video crew is still preparing the room for play. The Partouche staff has informed us that they anticipate a 5:30 start time, so join us then for our live updates direct from the tournament floor!

Roll Call

[user38449]
[user38449]
The final table emcee
The final table emcee
The players are currently being presented to the crowd one by one, each given a brief introduction before making their way to the impressive final table stage.

Play should be underway momentarily. Stay with us!

Play Begins!

[user66118]
[user66118]
Mr. Partouche himself just addressed the players and the audience, concluding with the famous words known worldwide: "Shuffle Up and Deal!"

The cards are in the air, and we are underway at the final table!

Final Table Seat Assignments

[user38449]
[user38449]
Seat 1: Jean Philippe Rohr
Seat 2: Philippe Narboni
Seat 3: [Removed:133]
Seat 4: Michel Abecassis
Seat 5: Stephane Bazin
Seat 6: Claudio Rinaldi
Seat 7: Antonin Tesseire
Seat 8: Alain Roy

Level: 26

Blinds: 20,000/40,000

Ante: 4,000

Getting to Know the Finalists

MarcC
MarcC
Stephane Bazin has had consistent cashes in tournaments in France since 1999. He has won a total of $113,737 to date with his biggest win coming nearly a year ago for a 3rd place finish at the €3,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the The Hold’em Series, Paris.

The minimum of $111,278 that Alain Roy can win will dwarf the $3,460 he has won to date with two previous cashes. He seems at home on this stage though as he was the most relaxed player yesterday when the tension of making the final table was at breaking point for some.

Philippe Narnboni is another player in new territory at this final table. He has three notable cashes to his name totaling $23,051 and the biggest one of the three was actually in a €300 PLO side event at last year’s EPT Barcelona. He is one of two Swiss players trying to upset the French Party today.

[Removed:133], representing Chili Poker, is one to watch and has impressed since day one here. He will not be daunted by today’s proceedings as has taken down a major in front of cameras before. His 1st place finish at the Paris leg of the €3000 European Poker Masters in 2006 netted him a cool $118,000. His total winnings to date add up to $184,615.

Jean-Philippe Rohr seems to be comfortable playing poker by the sea. His only other cash in a tournament of note came in this year’s EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He’s already way exceeded his 116th place finish for $16,000 here though.

Our second Swiss player at today’s final table is Claudio Rinaldi. He is well known and very successful player on the European tournament circuit. In his short career, he has already amassed $369,731 in winnings with his best result coming earlier this year at the EPT German Open. His 5th place finish netted him $283,249.

This is completely new territory for Antonin Tesseire. Never cashed at a tournament of note before he now finds himself at the final table of the biggest tournament his home country has ever held. Let’s hope he can put all that out of his head and continue to reach new heights.

Michel Abecassis has had major tournament experience before including WSOP and EPT appearances. This is his first cash though and he is making Winamax, the online site he is representing, very proud.

Tags: Scott Freeman

Today's Coverage

[user38449]
[user38449]
View of the final table from the PokerNews desk
View of the final table from the PokerNews desk
While we are set up ringside about ten feet outside the final table stage, the half-moon table design prevents us from seeing most of the action that's taking place at the final table.

Therefore, for the duration of the day we'll be forced to rely on a couple of TV screens positioned near our desk that will be broadcasting a live feed of the action to members of the studio audience.

That said, the PPT website is offering a streaming feed of today's action on a 20-minute table delay. You can access the feed by clicking here.

Abecassis First to Shove

[user38449]
[user38449]
The shortest stack at the final table belongs to Michel Abecassis and he's wasting no time putting his chips in action. On the third hand of play, Abecassis moved all in from under-the-gun and successfully took down the blinds and antes -- a play that earned him 92,000 in chips.

Tags: Michel Abecassis

Michel Abecassis Eliminated in 8th Place ($111,278)

[user66118]
[user66118]
Michel Abecassis - 8th Place
Michel Abecassis - 8th Place
The action for this hand is somewhat cloudy, but here's what we could gather:

It appears that Claudio Rinaldi opened the action from early position with a raise to 110,000. The table passed around to the short-stacked Michel Abecassis who moved all in for the second time here in the early going. Rinaldi instantly called, putting Abecassis at risk of elimination. The hands were shown down:

Abecassis: {7-Spades} {7-Clubs}
Rinaldi: {K-Spades} {K-Hearts}

Abecassis stood up while the dealer determined his fate, spreading out the board: {2-Hearts} {3-Clubs} {8-Diamonds} {3-Spades} {A-Clubs}. Unable to catch any help from the community cards, Michel Abecassis shook the hands of his opponents and made his way to the rail as the spectators applauded his efforts. For his work, he will pocket a respectable $111,278.

Tags: Michel Abecassis

Antonin Tesseire Moves In

[user66118]
[user66118]
[Removed:133] opened with a raise to 120,000. Antonin Tesseire stood up and said, "Tapis!" moving all in. Jean Philippe Rohr tanked for a while before folding, as did Cournut, sending a nice little stack-builder over to the native Frenchman.

Antonin Tesseire is the overwhelming crowd favorite here today. While he was all in awaiting the other players' decisions, Tesseire strolled casually around the stage, talking to the spectators in French. We're not exactly sure what he was saying, but he was apparently putting on quite a comedy routine, drawing boisterous laughter from his supporters several times. Some of his fans are directly behind our reporting table, and our ears are still ringing from their loud cheering.
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