The field of day 1B in Deauville this afternoon is as full of stars as a clear night sky. From our perch on the stage at the end of the Grand Ballroom, we need only move our eyes as if a spook behind a painting in a Scooby Doo haunted house to notice a wide array of former champions, rising stars, online phenoms, and established pros.
Clowns to the left: Julian Thew, Thomas Fougeron, Maria Mayrinck, Stephen Chidwick. Jokers to the right: Noah Boeken, Salvatore Bonavena, Mats Iremark, Vikash Dhorasoo, Alex Fitzgerald. And straight down the middle: Dario Minieri, Dave Ulliot, Luca Pagano.
Furthermore, there are a bunch whose names are scrolling across the main projection screens in the ballroom, confirming their presence in the field, who are as yet unseen: Gavin Griffin, Tony "Anatas Guoga" G, Andy "Andrew" Black, Apstyles "Jon Van" Fleet, and Worldchampion "Peter" Eastgate.
It's going to be a day of stiff competition on the Normandy coast. And it has now begun.
Remember, we're scheduled to play eight one-hour levels, following the established EPT blind structure. We'll be updating the chip counts page with approximate counts throughout the day. (There's also a full list of day 1A survivors.)
There's also coverage from Deauville in French, German or Swedish.
Enjoy. (Or just read, at least.)
