2008 Partouche Poker Tour - Cannes

€8,500 Cannes Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2008 Partouche Poker Tour - Cannes

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
99
Prize
$1,426,645
Event Info
Buy-in
$12,300
Entries
480
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
75,000 / 150,000
Ante
15,000

Nice Flop

James Dempsey's stack had dwindled down to about 30,000 before he made a standard raise from middle position. He found a caller in the big blind before the flop came {3-Clubs} {3-Hearts} {6-Clubs}.

It was checked to Dempsey who continued his aggression with a 3,050 bet. His opponent promptly made this 7,000 to play. Not deterred by this move, Dempsey re-raised up to 23,000 signaling his intent to play for his whole stack. The message must have beamed across loud and clear as the big blind player duly folded.

Dempsey told me after wards that he was holding {4-Clubs} {5-Clubs}. So, not a bad flop to play back at an opponent!

Tags: James Dempsey

Testud Flunks Out

Paul Testud - Eliminated
Paul Testud - Eliminated
Action before the flop has become somewhat more passive in the last level or so. We pick up a hand following that trend at the table of Paul Testud.

Five people limp into this particular pot, and they see the dealer spread the flop: {6-Diamonds} {3-Diamonds} {4-Hearts}. Testud puts out a bet of 5,000, approximately the size of the pot. Action folds all the way back around to the player on his right, who makes the call.

Heads up, the turn brings the {Q-Diamonds}. Testud again fires away, pushing out 20,000 chips. His opponent check-raises him all in, and Testud makes the call. With his tournament life on the line, Testud and his opponent show down their hands:

Testud: {7-Diamonds} {7-Spades}
Opponent: {8-Diamonds} {9-Diamonds}

It is bad news for Testud as he is drawing dead to the river, which is a meaningless {5-Spades}. He is eliminated from the field in the closing minutes of Day 1a.

Tags: Paul Testud

Ferguson Straightened Out

Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson
There would be no miracle river card for Chris "Jesus" Ferguson to save him from elimination -- the end result of a six-way limped pot.

On a flop of {10-Hearts} {4-Hearts} {8-Spades} the action checked around to a player in late position who made it 1,200 to go. Four players made the call including Ferguson and Jacques Zaicik.

The {9-Spades} fell on the turn and a player in the small blind passed the first action to Ferguson who moved all in for a total of 10,825. The player to Chris' immediate left then quickly put in a raise in an effort to try and isolate Ferguson. The player who bet the flop folded as did Zaicik, which brought the action to the small blind who surprised practically everyone at the table when he shoved all in over the top, having both Chris and the player to his left covered. The call was made and at the showdown the following hands were revealed:

Ferguson: {10-Spades} {5-Spades}
Small blind: {Q-Diamonds} {J-Clubs}
Unknown: {Q-Spades} {J-Hearts}

Needing a spade to stay alive, Ferguson rapped the table conceding defeat when the {5-Hearts} fell on the river, enabling his opponents to take back their all-in bets and split the main pot.

Tags: Chris Ferguson

Cedric Torrent Eliminated

Cedric Torrent
Cedric Torrent
We spotted Cedric Torrent over by the bar area which is generally a good indicator that a player is no longer in the tournament. When asked about his status, Torrent confirmed that he had indeed been eliminated from the tournament. Short-stacked, he looked down at {A-?} {J-?} and moved all in over the top of an opponent's 2,000 pre-flop raise. His opponent made the call and tabled a pocket pair of jacks, leaving Torrent drawing quite slim. Unable to improve, Torrent was eliminated from the Main Event and headed straight for the bar.

Tags: Cedric Torrent

Last Level Regret

Nearing the close of play, Jacques Zaicik raised to 1,800 from the hijack position and found one caller from the small blind.

The flop came {8-Clubs} {7-Clubs} {A-Diamonds} before the small blind player open-shoved for 15,500. Zaicik snap-called with {A-Spades} {3-Spades}. The small-blind player looked very sheepish as he revealed {K-Hearts} {J-Diamonds} for king high!

Running queens confirmed the pot was heading Zaicik's way as his opponent headed out of the room, afer lasting all but ten minutes of the day.

Zaicik on 65,000 now.

Day 1a Complete

The clock has struck 00:00, signaling the end of play for Day 1a. We began the event nearly 12 hours ago with 226 players, and that number has been whittled down to about 100, as we have lost more than half of our runners. The presumed overnight chip leader is Mickael Cartillier, although we were unable to make a final tally as the players bagged and tagged their stacks. Full chip counts will be made available sometime in the morning, and we will post them in our Chip Counts page as soon as we have them.

Some of the notable names who made it through the first day include Juha Helppi, Gus Hansen, Arnaud Mattern, James "Flushy" Dempsey, and the lone woman in the Day 1a field, Julie Donnaz. Some of the pros were not so lucky though. Among the casualties of today's action were pros Chris Ferguson, Theo Jorgensen, Ramzi Jelassi, Fabrice Soulier, Dario Minieri, Anthony Lellouche, and Jason Mercier.

Tomorrow will bring a fresh set of faces for Day 1b, including all of the Poker Battle crew. We expect to have approximately the same number of players tomorrow as we did today, which should bring the total number of entrants well over the 400 mark. Play begins again at 3:00pm sharp, and we hope you'll join us then. Goodnight from Cannes!

Top 5 Day 1a Stacks

The top dawgs at the end of Day 1 are as follows:

1.) Fabrice Nkoa - 121,700
2.) James 'Flushy' Dempsey - 107,400
3.) Mohamed El Berrak - 102,000
4.) Jean Luc Angleraud - 91,400
5.) Pierre Eugene Charil - 86,300

€8,500 Cannes Main Event

Day 1a Completed