An enormous chip lead coming into an EPT final table can be both a blessing and a burden. It brings with it great responsibility. Of course it is expected that you will mop up the short stacks to ensure a brief day for players and spectators alike, but it is...more

In a few hours all this will be over. The poker tables will be packed up, the players will make their way to the station to catch trains or to Paris to connect with flights home, and the European Poker Tour itself will pack into boxes, be loaded onto a...more

Whoever from our final four wins EPT9 Deauville this week, there can be little doubt which two countries can rejoice their nation's performances most jubilantly. Our hosts France demonstrated the extremely healthy state of Gallic poker by putting forward almost half our field--and translating quantity into the high quality of...more

If it's ever appropriate to say that this might not have been the final table line up we were expecting, now might be the time to say it. Of the 23 players who returned to the Casino Deauville this afternoon, six specifically had less than $10,000 in career earnings, and...more

It's silly season at EPT Deauville, where the main event has entered level 28 and still 11 players remain. We have been playing for more than ten hours and the EPT Live commentators are now singing songs to one another and lapsing into delirious gibberish. Sorry, what? They've been doing...more

One of the more conspicuous sights on the rail right now is that of Andrey Gulyy, a tall Russian player in an orange baseball cap railing one of the players. He stands, mostly, but sometimes he sits. But when he does his leg bounces a little and he's soon back...more

Sometimes in the run up to a main event final table you count on several players reaching the latter stages, guaranteeing an entertaining conclusion. Usually they're big names, with proven track records and a knack for flair and conspicuous skill. Other times they're simply the players who have impressed most...more

There was a very healthy smattering of young British pros in the EPT Deauville Day 4 field, including James Mitchell, Sam Grafton, Mat Frankland and Luke Reeves. As they either continue to ride the roller-coaster of a high-risk variance-fuelled strategy, their slightly older countryman Gordon Huntly is happy to take...more

It doesn't take much more than a glance to mark Sam Grafton out as a player that likes to tread his own path, most obviously in what he puts on in the morning. Yes, there is a certain similarity to the standard online grinder uniform; baseball cap, occasional hoody and...more

The tournament room at EPT Deauville was today filled to capacity almost from start to finish. Every seat in the house seemed to be occupied for all of the eight hours we played. Was this a never-ending tournament from which no one ever bust? The short answer to that is:...more

What do you do with a problem like Lucien Cohen? The fanatical Frenchman, adored by his railbird friends standing inches away behind him, delights in every misfortune, either his own or that of others. One player made clear his opinion: "I hate this guy," said Hugo Pingray, shortly after Cohen...more

The viewers of EPT Live appear to have got used to watching table Mitchell, Koon and Bonavena and continue to elect it for live-streaming coverage in their viewers' vote. That's democracy. But Table 7, which has now twice lost that crucial poll, really is a belter, so much so that...more

To delve into the history of Deauville is to examine a glinting portrayal of society, aristocracy and money, all of which have been coming to the town in droves since the half-brother of Napoleon III, Charles the Duke of Morny, built a racecourse and called the place home in the...more

Day 2 in Deauville is coming to a close, and we have raced ever onwards towards the money. With only about 177 players now left, we are almost certain to hit the cash early on Day 3. There will be 120 players paid, so only a handful to be left...more

The PokerStars Blog team has been making regular appearances on the EPTLive lite webcast this week and, bar us making some grievous blunder*, we'll be popping up for the odd 20-30 minute stint throughout this festival. The idea is not only to make Stephen Bartley feel as uncomfortable as possible,...more

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Day 1B of an EPT main event will feature more players than Day 1A. There will be more big names among them, there will be more stories to tell from the tables and, most importantly, everyone will find out what they are actually...more

The dealer's shirt is white. Live Boeree's face is whiter. Boeree, playing through an acute case of food poisoning, plays on, with about as much life left in her as earlier today, when every move took extraordinary effort. Kevin MacPhee, whose idea it was to eat mussels the night before,...more

Yesterday's EPT Live coverage rapidly became the Vanessa Rousso show. The Team PokerStars Pro's table was moved beneath the cameras sometime during level four, with Rousso holding slightly more than her starting stack. She then proceeded to play what seemed to be every hand. Rousso built her stack up to...more

There was a different perspective available to anyone following the opening day of EPT Deauville today. For the first time ever followers of the tour could watch the action for themselves on EPT Live, which broadcast coverage from a small selection of tables, bringing a unique first day look at...more

Day 1A is drawing to a close in Deauville and it seems as though about half the starting field of 307 will have departed by the time the curtain comes down. That is roughly on par for these events, even though players started with 30,000 chips -- or 300 big...more

With two levels to play on the first day at EPT Deauville, the starting field of 307 will begin to eye a spot on Day 2, which for them is less than two levels away, provided nothing too dramatic occurs with them involved. The size of the Day 1B field...more