From one beach to another. The Bahamas to the “Parisian Riviera.” It has been over two weeks since the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure adjourned, but now it is time for the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Deauville stop. The Casino Barriere at The Deauville International Centre is the destination this week, as EPT Deauville kicked off Tuesday with the first of two starting days for the €5,000 + €300 Main Event.
It was a very solid turnout for Day 1A, as 339 runners found their seats in the casino’s new tournament area. Leading the remaining 221 players are Lithuania’s Kristijonas Andrulis and France’s Philippe Ma with almost identical chip stacks – 162,600 and 162,200, respectively. Day 1B will need to improve on Tuesday’s attendance numbers to eclipse last year’s record of 891 players, but considering later starting days typically have larger fields than earlier ones, it looks like there is a fighting chance to set a new EPT Deauville record.
As we mentioned in our EPT Deauville preview yesterday, this tournament was on a forced hiatus for a couple years starting in 2007 because of problems with the gambling laws in France. Obviously, everything has been resolved, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some quirks to tournament play in the country. As the good people over at the PokerStars Blog have pointed out, there are no final tables deals of any kind allowed. At all. No exceptions. While some might be slightly annoyed by this, it won’t affect many people, and frankly, most players, even those who like making deals, are probably a bit relieved by this. It can be stressful trying to strike a deal, especially for those who don’t have any experience at it. It is hard enough to figure out if you are getting a fair shake, but if there are others involved who are aggressive or impatient, the process can be quite intimidating. In France, players can just concentrate on the game at hand.
Another rule difference involves raising rules. In French gambling, the minimum raise permitted is one that is twice the previous bet, rather than twice the previous raise. While this shouldn’t be a problem most of the time, it would not be surprising to see a little confusion at least once late in a tournament if someone wants to make a traditional min re-raise.
Day 1B of the EPT Deauville Main Event will start at noon local time (6:00am EST) Wednesday as a new batch of players look to join the 221 Day 1A survivors for Thursday’s Day 2.
EPT Deauville – End of Day 1A Chip Leaders
1. Kristijonas Andrulis – 162,600
2. Philippe Ma – 162,200
3. Elie Payan – 141,800
4. Julien Claudepierre – 128,200
5. Marchel Masaladzhiu – 114,600
6. Yoann Amaudry – 111,600
7. Denis Patout – 102,500
8. Pavel Perfilov – 100,300
9. Pierre Barthelemy – 99,800
10. Jean Marc Rigaill – 97,400
