Yesterday the PokerStars.fr EPT Deauville Main Event played four full 90-minute levels, disregarding the initial goal of playing down to 16 players. And so one more player got eliminated; Adrien Guyon missed his flush draw and couldn't out run Matas Cimbolas' flopped trips. When level 23 ended there were 15 players left, lead by flamboyant France Poker Series regular Joseph Carlino.
The goal for today is to at least play down to a final table of eight, but they just might play on when that milestone is reached. As this is not a televised event like Monte Carlo or the PCA, there's no set stage to be made here today. During recent EPT's they played on till only six players remained, so that just might happen today as well.
Here are the next five levels on the schedule:
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
24
12,000
24,000
3,000
25
15,000
30,000
4,000
26
20,000
40,000
5,000
27
25,000
50,000
5,000
28
30,000
60,000
10,000
The remaining fifteen players are already guaranteed a big pay day. With €27,850 already locked up, it's just looking ahead for them right now, all glancing at that first prize of €543,700.
Position
Prize
Position
Prize
1
€543,700
7
€85,530
2
€338,700
8
€58,820
3
€242,390
9
€46,400
4
€187,550
10 - 11
€38,080
5
€147,760
12 - 13
€31,830
6
€115,650
14 - 15
€27,850
Play starts at noon local time, so in about an hour. PokerNews will bring you updates all day long from both the feature table and the outer table. On top of that you can again enjoy the live stream right here on PokerNews.com, with commentary by James Hartigan and the ever so funny Joe Stapleton.
Andrius Bielskis opened the cutoff and his countryman Matas Cimbolas in the big blind was the sole caller.
Cimbolas check called a bet of 55,000 on before things got interesting on the turn. Cimbolas tanked for a bit and eventually lead out for 123,000. Bielskis made the call.
The river came the and Cimbolas again needed some time before making up his mind. He eventually slid 220,000 forward and Bielskis needed some time. After about a minute or two Bielskis folded, and Cimbolas quietly mucked while stacking his newly won chips.
Olivier Piechaczyk was in early position and he cut out a raise to 50,000. Action folded to Matas Cimbolas two seats over who three-bet to 118,000. Action trickled all of the way back around to Piechaczyk who instantly four-bet all in for 521,000. Cimbolas called and the hands were turned over.
Piechaczyk:
Cimbolas:
The flop came down , putting out the case ten and giving Cimbolas bottom set. He filled up with the , ensuring that Piechaczyk would be eliminated from play. The finished the board and Piechaczyk took his leave from the tournament area. He collected €27,850 for his efforts.
Cimbolas, on the other hand, now has about 2.675 million to his name.
Julien Duveau shoved all in from early position for his remaining 333,000. His next door neighbor Carlo Savinelli tossed in a single 25,000 chip to indicate he was calling. The floor got involved and instructed the dealer to tell Savinelli to add 308,000 so everyone saw that he had called.
Right next to him was Dany Parlafes who glanced at his cards, and then took some time before doing anything. He grabbed two 20-high stacks of 25,000 chips, playing with 1,000,000 in chips now. He eventually decided against making it a million, instead just announcing all in.
Action folded back to Savinelli who folded his with a big sigh.
Julien Duveau:
Dany Parlafes:
"If you win you triple up" said Matas Cimbolas. "I hope I do" laughed Duveau.
The flop came and Cimbolas again stated the obvious; "Bad flop for you".
After the fell on the turn players were knocking on the table, saying good game to Duveau. The fell on the river and Duveau headed to the exit.
"Lucky" said Savinelli. "If I was lucky you would have had kings" laughed Parlafes. "That's just greedy" added Piechaczyk. "You got 300 for free and it isn't enough for you?" laughed Cimbolas.
Ognyan Dimov limped in from the small blind and Georgios Kapalas checked his big blind.
The flop came and both Dimov and Kapalas checked their option.
The fell on the turn and Dimov checked again. Kapalas now bet out 32,000, Dimov just called.
The completed the board and Dimov checked once more. With 130,000 in the pot it was Kapalas who bet 62,000 with 344,000 behind.
Dimov took his time before announcing all in.
Kapalas called it off, but would soon get the bad news. While Kapalas had a full house with , it wouldn't be enough as Dimov showed for the better boat.
"Good hand" said Kapalas as he made his exit. Kapalas went to pick up €31,830, the remaining 11 players are now guaranteed €38,080.
Benjamin Buhr opened for 80,000 under the gun and Joseph El Khoury shoved all in for 370,000 from the cutoff. The button and both blinds folded and the decision was on Buhr again. Buhr made the call and it turned out things were looking pretty good for El Khoury.
Joseph El Khoury:
Benjamin Buhr:
As good as things looked before the flop, so bad was the situation for El Khoury after it: . Buhr flopped the straight and El Khoury needed some help on the turn to even keep a little bit of hope. The as the fourth community card actually gave El Khoury some outs, but the on the river wasn't one of them.
Joseph El Khoury eliminated in 10th place, netting him €38,080.
The remaining nine players are now redrawing for the unofficial final table of nine and are all guaranteed €46,400. One more player needs to fall before the official final table of eight is formed, no redraw will be done at that time. Play won't stop for the day when the final table is reached, play continues till only six players remain or a certain amount of levels are played.
Carlo Savinelli opened the action with a raise to 80,000 from the hijack. It folded to Benjamin Buhr who flatted out of the small blind. The big blind folded, leaving the duo heads up to the flop.
The dealer put out a flop of and both players checked to see the on fourth street. Buhr checked it once again and Savinelli followed suit. The finished the board on the river and Buhr led out for 230,000. The fireworks began when Savinelli reached deep into his stack and came out with a raise to 530,000. Almost instantly after seeing Savinelli's raise, Buhr reached for raising chips as well. He double fisted 1.2 million into the middle, putting the pressure back on Savinelli.
In the end, Savinelli announced a call but mucked his hand after seeing Buhr's for the wheel. Buhr scooped the massive pot and now has about 4.055 million in chips.
Action folded all of the way around to Carlo Savinelli in the small blind. He raised it up to 135,000, putting Dany Parlafes into the tank in the big blind. After almost two minutes, Parlafes came out with a three-bet to 315,000.
Savinelli responded to the raise by four-betting all in for 1.385 million. Parlafes snapped him off and the hands were revealed.
Savinelli:
Parlafes:
Parlafes was in a dominating position with his two aces and it was very likely that Savinelli would become the official final table bubble boy. The flop came down , giving Savinelli a glimmer of hope with a pair of kings. He would need to improve further, however, to stay alive at the final table.
The bricked out for Savinelli on the turn, leaving him searching for one of the two remaining kings on fifth street. The river was the , ensuring that Parlafes aces would hold and that Savinelli would be the official final table bubble boy. He collected €46,400 for his efforts.