€8,500 Cannes Main Event Day 1a | 2008 Partouche Poker Tour - Cannes

09-04-2008 01:41 UTC+2

Scoreboard Update

Our estimated top five chip stacks look a little like this:

Mickael Cartillier - 118,000
Pierre Eugene Charil - 91,500
Gus Hansen - 81,000
Fabrice Nkoa - 71,000
Jerome Zerbib - 62,000

09-04-2008 01:22 UTC+2

With the clock striking Level 8, we have reached our final round of play for Day 1a. We started play some 10 hours ago with 226 players, and 101 of them have fallen by the wayside so far. That leaves us with 125 players at this very moment, and we expect that number to drop close to the 100 mark by the conclusion of play.

In case you're out of practice on your French, 'Moyenne de Jetons' translates to 'average chip stack.'

Level: 8

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 75

09-04-2008 01:13 UTC+2

Quads Should Just About Do It

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Jean-Pierre Petroli had been nursing a short stack for sometime before he finally found a spot to get all his chips in. He was in bad shape though as his pockets tens were dominated by an opponent's pocket queens. Not to worry though as the first two cards out happened to be the remaining two tens!

Petroli up to 20,000 now.

Tags: Jean-Pierre Petroli

09-04-2008 01:10 UTC+2

Juha Healthy

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Juha Helppi has been down in the danger zone for several hours now, hovering right around the 10-big-blind mark for what has seemed like an eternity. Finally, he has managed to get a little breathing room in the last few minutes. Sitting with just less than 6,000 chips, his patience finally paid off, as he managed a long-awaited double up, giving himself twice as many chips to play with. And he's putting them to good use. Just after acquiring his new chips, Helppi came in raising under the gun, putting out a bet of 1,025. Action passed all the way around to the big blind, who matched the bet.

The flop came out {A-Spades}

. As the dealer dealt the third card, the player in the big blind simultaneously slid his cards quickly into the muck with a slight chuckle, shipping the pot over to Helppi, who also smiled as he pulled in a few more insurance chips.

After sitting very patiently for about four hours, people are now just giving Juha their chips. He sits with 14,800, and has a bit of room to play normal poker once again.

Tags: Juha Helppi

09-04-2008 01:02 UTC+2

The Smart Rack

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

The chip racks being used by the tournament staff here at the Palm Beach Club are different than those we're used to back in the States. They are accompanied by a plastic lid that fits the rack much like the one used in the classic Parker Brothers board game, Boggle.

Pictured here, the rack was designed to aid players in carrying their chips from one table to another when their table breaks. The lid helps minimize messy spills and provides a little extra security when players are transferring their chips from one table to another.

09-04-2008 00:59 UTC+2

Clubbed Around the Head

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Theo Jorgensen and an opponent created a large pot when all the chips went in the middle on a flop containing a king and two clubs. Both players revealed ace-king but Jorgensen wasn't best pleased to see his opponent's two cards were both clubs. The turned bricked out but the river saw a third club fall to send the pot away from the Dane.

Jorgensen very low on 10,000 right now.

Tags: Theo Jorgensen

09-04-2008 00:37 UTC+2

Nasty River

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

I caught up with Ramzi Jelassi, who told me about his unfortunate exit. An opponent bet out for 10,000 on the turn and he moved all in for 14,000 with the board reading {Q-Hearts}

-x-

.

His opponent made the call holding {K-?}

for top pair and gutshot straight draw. Jelassi was in good shape with A- {A-Hearts}

for an over pair and redraw to a flush. Wouldn't you know it, a non-heart jack fell on the river to eliminate the eternally unlucky Swede.

Tags: Ramzi Jelassi

09-04-2008 00:36 UTC+2

Cartillier Takes Control

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Mickael Cartillier has just earned himself a spot atop the leaderboard early on in the seventh level of today's play.

On a board showing {4-Spades}

, Cartillier bet 5,000 after his lone opponent passed the first option. The bet was called and the {K-Clubs}

popped off on fifth street.

Another check gave Cartillier the green light to fire and fire he did, tossing 12,000 chips into the middle. His opponent tanked for a solid minute before reluctantly making the call and Cartillier tabled a pocket pair of kings for a rivered full house. His opponent mucked his cards in disgust.

After the hand, Cartillier stacked up ~110,000 in chips and is currently our suspected chip leader.

Tags: Mickael Cartillier

09-04-2008 00:22 UTC+2

Mercy Me

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Five players made up the 400 big blind before Jason Mercier moved all-in for around 8,000. The first two limpers folded before a player in the cut-off went into the tank. He took a few minutes before eventually making the call which was the only one.

Mercier tabled {K-Diamonds}