Two-time European Poker Tour champion Vicky Coren-Mitchell is thriving to start the day, having worked her starting stack up a significant amount in the first two levels.
When we arrived at her table, Sweden's Gustav Nordh opened the action with a raise to 450 from the hijack. Coren-Mitchell was in the hijack and she came along for the ride. The button and blinds folded, leaving the two heads up to a flop. Nordh continued out for another 450 and Coren-Mitchell instantly tossed out a call.
The fell on the turn and the Swede slowed with a check. Coren-Mitchell immediately pounced by moving out a bet of 750. This was enough to get Nordh to fold, allowing Coren-Mitchell to take down the pot. She's off to a solid start here on Day 1, increasing her stack to 42,700 by the conclusion of this hand.
That's the sound we heard coming from Michael Gathy's table a couple of minutes ago. Johnny Nedved had 4,000 in front of him on , but was busy adding 7,500 as Gathy had 11,500 in front of him and Nedved had called.
The frustrated sounds were heard because Gathy had while Nedved sympathy showed . Gathy, the Belgian two-time bracelet winner, is up to 55,000.
Yves Boutin raised to 400 preflop and got four callers including Govert Metaal and Guillaume Diaz to see the flop of . The action was checked to Metaal and he bet 900 which was called by Diaz before Boutin raised to 2,300. Metaal now reraised to 6,300 and Diaz shoved. Boutin called with less chips and Metaal found a fold.
Boutin:
Diaz:
Neither the turn nor the river changed anything and Boutin was gone whereas Diaz now has more than double the starting stack. Boutin was the fourth player to hit the rail in level two already.
On Day 1a of the EPT 11 stop in Deauville we caught up with PokerNews reporter and PokerNews.nl editor in chief Frank Op de Woerd to talk about the action. While the Main Event was fairly quiet there were more than 20 men playing in the Ladies Event, and Op de Woerd gave his opinion on this.
Plenty of time for Eames to text during hands (photo: Neil Stoddart)
Not everyone likes short-handed live poker it seems, so it was a slow start in more ways than one for John Eames in Deauville The PokerStars Blog reports.
They are down to a final table in the FPS €2k High Roller after a very late finish last night (around 4am). Still in the running for the €141,000 first prize are PCA High Roller runner-up Vladimir Troyanoskiy and Portuguese pro Rui Ferreira who have most of the chips.
There were 415 entries in the event creating a €796,800 prize pool with 55 paid. Among the 47 players who have already cashed in the event are Brazilian star Nicolau Villa-Lobos, British pro John Eames, EPT Prague champion Salvatore Bonavena, WSOP runner-up Martin Staszko, TV producer Alexandre Amiel, Sebastian Buonomo, Greek pro Stavros Kalfas and Benjamin Pollak. Last year French pro Kamel Tir won the event for €131,000.
The final of this event will be played tomorrow evening, right after the Main Event finishes. This is done so the players can play the Main Event today. Jean Montury, Saoud Mnahi, Miguel Use and Vladimir Troyanovskiy are in the field today, we're not sure about the others.
Sofia Lovgren's stack has been waning in the early stages of the day, but she is back on the rise after winning a pot against Lithuania's Egidijus Dovidaitis.
The two took a flop of and Dovidaitis led out for 550. Lovgren came over the top with a raise to 1,250 and Dovidaitis called to see a turn.
The dealer produced the on fourth street, prompting a check from Dovidaitis. Lovgren continued her aggression by moving out a bet of 1,850. Dovidaitis thought for a moment before opting to stay in the hand. The paired the board on the river and both players checked their option.
Dovidaitis showed but was outclassed by Lovgren's for a higher two pair. She took down the pot and is now inching closer back toward starting stack. Lovgren currently has roughly 26,000 to her name.
After a raise to 400 and two callers, Konstantin Puchkov bet the flop for 1,000 and received two folds to claim the pot. The Russian is still around starting stack whereas the two big stacks on his table are quite well known names.
Neil Strike was in the hijack and he opened the action to 300. PokerStars Team Online Pro Gabriel Nassif called from the cutoff and the players on the button and in the big blind came along for the ride as well.
The four players watched on as the flop hit the felt. The big blind checked and Strike continued for 750. Nassif thought for about 30 seconds before tossing out a call. The other two players folded, leaving the duo heads up.
The came down on the turn and Strike kept the pressure on with a bet of 1,500. Nassif thought for about 30 more seconds on this street, ultimately opting to lay his hand down. Strike showed and was pushed the pot.
Despite this small hit, Nassif is still sitting well over starting stack with around 39,500 in chips.
flop. Nordh continued out for another 450 and Coren-Mitchell instantly tossed out a call.
fell on the turn and the Swede slowed with a check. Coren-Mitchell immediately pounced by moving out a bet of 750. This was enough to get Nordh to fold, allowing Coren-Mitchell to take down the pot. She's off to a solid start here on Day 1, increasing her stack to 42,700 by the conclusion of this hand.
, but was busy adding 7,500 as Gathy had 11,500 in front of him and Nedved had called.
while Nedved sympathy showed 
. Gathy, the Belgian two-time bracelet winner, is up to 55,000.
turn nor the 
river changed anything and Boutin was gone whereas Diaz now has more than double the starting stack. Boutin was the fourth player to hit the rail in level two already.
for a higher two pair. She took down the pot and is now inching closer back toward starting stack. Lovgren currently has roughly 26,000 to her name.
flop for 1,000 and received two folds to claim the pot. The Russian is still around starting stack whereas the two big stacks on his table are quite well known names.
flop hit the felt. The big blind checked and Strike continued for 750. Nassif thought for about 30 seconds before tossing out a call. The other two players folded, leaving the duo heads up.
came down on the turn and Strike kept the pressure on with a bet of 1,500. Nassif thought for about 30 more seconds on this street, ultimately opting to lay his hand down. Strike showed 
