VADZIM KURSEVICH WINS EPT DEAUVILLE FOR €875,000
Final table/payouts
Kursevich, who turns 25 on Wednesday, beat young French pro Paul Guichard heads-up to take down the €5,300 event in Normandy, France. Kursevich, who came fifth in last September’s WCOOP Main Event and has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout the tournament, is the first ever EPT champion from Belarus. His biggest live result before today was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000. |
WCOOP finalist Vadzim Kursevich, from Belarus, has won EPT Deauville and a first prize of €875,000 after defeating an 889-strong field. Picture By Neil Stoddart
|
Kursevich, who also wins a bracelet worth more than €10,000 from Shamballa Jewels, said: “I can’t really believe it. It’s like a dream. A lot of times, you finish 28th, fifth, even second – and you think ‘What do I have to do to be the champion’ but when you are, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
PokerStars.fr qualifier Guichard, 19, from Nice, took €557,000 for his runner-up finish. Fellow Frenchman Yorane Kerignard, who came fourth for €260,000, was making his third EPT final table appearance. The 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence also finished fourth at EPT Copenhagen Season 6 earning DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000) and sixth at this season’s EPT San Remo for €130,000.
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano, who finished seventh for €110,000, broke his own record in Deauville with a 20th EPT Main Event cash and seventh final table appearance. His first EPT final was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.
Nearly 200 players won their seats to the event on PokerStars, including more than 80 who qualified on PokerStars.fr. More than 20 members of Team PokerStars Pro also took part including Jonathan Duhamel, Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Julien Brecard, Vanessa Rousso, Richard Toth, Jude Ainsworth, Dario Minieri, Liv Boeree, Vicky Coren, Eugene Katchalov and Vanessa Selbst,
With 477 players, France had more than 50% of the field in Deauville, and five players at the final table. Bruno Jais, who finished fifth for €200,000, won his seat thanks to a mis-click. The 49-year-old advertising executive was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 Deauville satellite instead.
PokerStars.fr qualifier Guichard, 19, from Nice, took €557,000 for his runner-up finish. Fellow Frenchman Yorane Kerignard, who came fourth for €260,000, was making his third EPT final table appearance. The 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence also finished fourth at EPT Copenhagen Season 6 earning DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000) and sixth at this season’s EPT San Remo for €130,000.
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano, who finished seventh for €110,000, broke his own record in Deauville with a 20th EPT Main Event cash and seventh final table appearance. His first EPT final was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.
Nearly 200 players won their seats to the event on PokerStars, including more than 80 who qualified on PokerStars.fr. More than 20 members of Team PokerStars Pro also took part including Jonathan Duhamel, Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Julien Brecard, Vanessa Rousso, Richard Toth, Jude Ainsworth, Dario Minieri, Liv Boeree, Vicky Coren, Eugene Katchalov and Vanessa Selbst,
With 477 players, France had more than 50% of the field in Deauville, and five players at the final table. Bruno Jais, who finished fifth for €200,000, won his seat thanks to a mis-click. The 49-year-old advertising executive was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 Deauville satellite instead.
EPT Deauville champion Vadzim Kursevich celebrates with friends including EPT San Remo champion Andrey Pateychuk (far left) and Konstantin Puchkov (far right)
Picture By Neil Stoddart
It was also a good week for Team PokerStars Pros. Two-time LAPT winner Nacho Barbero won the EPT Deauville €1,000 pot-limit Omaha side event for €37,500. It was his second tournament title in France – and seventh overall, taking his total live tournament winnings close to €2 million. Belgian Team PokerStars Pro Matthias de Meulder scored the biggest live cash of his career by taking down the EPT Deauville €1,500 side event for a €131,000 first prize. De Meulder, 23, from Antwerp, beat French player Michel Kirchner heads-up to win the two-day event. Team PokerStars Pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was runner-up in the €3,200 heads-up event after losing in the final to PCA $5,000 no-limit hold’em turbo winner Kunimaro Kojo from Japan.
EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee won the €5,000 High Roller Turbo for €50,000 after beating fellow American Shaun Deeb heads-up. Anne Le Clainche won the €330 Ladies Event for €7,850 after fighting off competition from a 78-strong field.
The next stop on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is the 35,000 DKK buy-in EPT Copenhagen event running from February 20-25, 2012 at Casino Copenhagen in the Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel. Satellites are running now on PokerStars. For more information, please visit http://www.ept.com.
EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee won the €5,000 High Roller Turbo for €50,000 after beating fellow American Shaun Deeb heads-up. Anne Le Clainche won the €330 Ladies Event for €7,850 after fighting off competition from a 78-strong field.
The next stop on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is the 35,000 DKK buy-in EPT Copenhagen event running from February 20-25, 2012 at Casino Copenhagen in the Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel. Satellites are running now on PokerStars. For more information, please visit http://www.ept.com.
EPT DEAUVILLE – FINAL TABLE PLAYER PROFILES
Seat 1: Bruno "bebesse1" Jais, 49, Paris - PokerStars qualifier.fr - 3,450,000
Manager of a Paris PR agency, Jais has been playing poker for nearly 20 years including annual trips – since 2002 - to compete in the World Series in Las Vegas. He plays both cash games and live tournaments and, occasionally, online. His favourite game is PLO8. Jais actually qualified thanks to a miss-click. He was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 satellite to Deauville instead – and he only had a €501 bankroll! Besides poker, Bruno devotes much time to golf and his family.
Seat 2: Mick Graydon, 26, Dublin, Ireland - 960,000
Although his friend Team PokerStars Pro Jude ‘j.thaddeus’ Ainsworth may be the better known Irishman, Mick Graydon is certainly no slouch at the poker table; the $210,107 he’s won in live tournaments is dwarfed by the $1,126,450 he’s won in online tournaments at PokerStars under the name ‘BIGMICKG’. Graydon was the first player in Ireland to achieve Supernova Elite status, a testimony to his discipline and skill at the tables, although he’s since embraced multi- rather than single-table tournaments.
“I used to play sit-and-gos but I made the transition to tournaments two years ago. I’ve played every EPT this season. It’s brilliant to make the final table. It’s why we play poker,” said Graydon, who was unlucky enough to lose with kings to Ronny Kaiser’s ace-king for the chip lead at EPT Tallinn. Kaiser went on to win the event and €275,000 while Graydon bust in 24th for €7,700. The online qualifier is guaranteed at least €67,200 here at EPT Deauville, his third cash of the season, but with a wealth of virtual experience it would be wrong to write off the short stack.
“Playing a lot online you learn how to play short stacked. I think I’m very strong at that so I won’t be making too many mistakes,” said Graydon.
Seat 3: Olivier Rogez, 34, Paris, France – 4,415,000
Rogez has never cashed in a tournament in his life, and won his seat in a €770 live satellite in Deauville a month ago. Rogez, 34, who runs an office cleaning business in Banlieu, Paris, is amazed he's gone this deep - but is determined not to get flustered. He said: "I'm very very happy. I didn't think I would get
this far. Today was a lot of stress but now I'm going to rest and come
back tomorrow calm and focused."
Seat 4: Vuong Than Trong, 21, Paris, France - 2,570,000
Computer science student Than Trong discovered poker two years ago at a party with friends. He mainly plays mid-stakes online cash games using the screen-name "Canard_laque" but decided to take part in EPT Deauville on the eve of the tournament after being persuaded by his friend Basil Yaïche that he could do well. Throughout the event, he’s been supported by members of the Club Poker French poker forum as well as gaining valuable advice on tournament play from experts such as Flavian Guenan and Clement Thumy. If he does well at the EPT Deauville final, he plans to take part in a lot more live events, as well as continue with his university studies.
Seat 5: Vadzim “VadziMoney” Kursevich, 24, Minsk, Belarus - 5,670,000
Vadzim Kursevich turns 25 on Wednesday – and already has a lot to celebrate having reached the EPT Deauville final table second in chips. Kursevich has been playing poker for five years and normally plays live PLO ring games and MMTs. He also competes in the big online tournament series – and was involved in a five-way chop in last year’s WCOOP Main Event for a $750,000 payday. He has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout EPT Deauville. His biggest live result was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000 and he also came 28th in this season’s EPT Barcelona event. He has played around eight EPTs in total. Away from poker, Kursevich likes to unwind by watching ice hockey and singing karaoke. Regarding tomorrow’s final, he said: “I feel pretty comfortable – and ready to compete against my opponents. I’ve got some chips so we will see.”
Seat 6: Paul "OMGpoloker06" Guichard, 19, Nice, France –PokerStars qualifier - 5,955,000
Guichard, who won his seat to EPT Deauville, is an up-and-coming player who is already getting good results on PokerStars.fr. He started playing poker with friends when he was 13. Once he could go online, he only made two deposits before he building a healthy bankroll. He also started playing live and once he graduated from high school, he decided to dedicate himself to poker and tennis. He says if he had to stop playing poker, then he’d resume his career as a tennis player. His online winnings already total $140,000 including €13,000 for fourth place in the €500 PokerStars.fr “All Star Game".
Live, his best result was winning a side event in Cannes last September for €15,000. Guichard says he owes much to Clement Thumy, his coach for the last two years already. This was Guichard’s first EPT but he says if he finishes in top four tomorrow, he’ll plans to join the live poker tournament circuit
Seat 7: Luca Pagano, 33, Milan, Italy – Team PokerStars Pro - 2,010,000
Pagano was one of the very first members of Team PokerStars Pro, joining in shortly after the very first EPT Deauville event in season 1 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour. Before taking up poker, Pagano studied computer programming and also dabbled in the stock market. After discovering PokerStars, Luca began playing at the free money tables. He swiftly progressed to real money games and hasn’t looked back since. He’s clocked up numerous cashes in PokerStars’ biggest tournaments and also won countless amounts of money at the high stakes cash tables.
But it’s live tournaments where Pagano has really made his name. He has a record 20 cashes in EPT Main Events and this is his seventh EPT final table appearance. His first was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.
Pagano and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier have been juggling first and second place in the EPT All-Time Tournament Leaderboard for years (although Pagano’s performance here in Deauville will certainly put him back on top.)
Pagano’s best live result was sixth place at the EPT4 Grand Final for €337,000; he also came sixth at EPT Dortmund (€153,000) and sixth again at EPT Prague (€100,000) as well as numerous other deep runs. But it was on home soil that the popular Italian finally snagged a major tournament title when he took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event in San Remo last July for €210,000. Pagano has nearly $2 million in overall live tournament earnings and currently lies sixth on Italy's all-time money list. Pagano is being supported in Deauville by his fiancée Elena.
Seat 8: Yorane "viirusss” Kerignard, 26, Aix-en-Provence, France - 1,680,000
Yorane started playing poker after watching a documentary on television in 2007 featuring French singer and film star Patrick Bruel playing against online qualifiers. The 26-year-old industrial design graduate plays on PokerStars under the username "viirusss". Favouring MTT events, Kerignard’s first live cash came in 2009 when he finished fifth in a small buy-in event in Cyprus. But just five months later, he hit the big time, finishing fourth in the Season 6 EPT Copenhagen Main Event for DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000). The biggest cash of his career however came last October when he finished fourth at EPT San Remo for €130,000. He’s also had a number of good EPT side event results including third in the Season 6 EPT Grand Final €1k NL event and fourth in the €2k event the following season. Kerignard spends most of the year in Marrakech, Morocco, which allows him to play on PokerStars.com. Online, his best result was runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday 500 for $78,500; he also won the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $70,000 in 2009.
SUMMARY
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating atotal prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.
Manager of a Paris PR agency, Jais has been playing poker for nearly 20 years including annual trips – since 2002 - to compete in the World Series in Las Vegas. He plays both cash games and live tournaments and, occasionally, online. His favourite game is PLO8. Jais actually qualified thanks to a miss-click. He was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 satellite to Deauville instead – and he only had a €501 bankroll! Besides poker, Bruno devotes much time to golf and his family.
Seat 2: Mick Graydon, 26, Dublin, Ireland - 960,000
Although his friend Team PokerStars Pro Jude ‘j.thaddeus’ Ainsworth may be the better known Irishman, Mick Graydon is certainly no slouch at the poker table; the $210,107 he’s won in live tournaments is dwarfed by the $1,126,450 he’s won in online tournaments at PokerStars under the name ‘BIGMICKG’. Graydon was the first player in Ireland to achieve Supernova Elite status, a testimony to his discipline and skill at the tables, although he’s since embraced multi- rather than single-table tournaments.
“I used to play sit-and-gos but I made the transition to tournaments two years ago. I’ve played every EPT this season. It’s brilliant to make the final table. It’s why we play poker,” said Graydon, who was unlucky enough to lose with kings to Ronny Kaiser’s ace-king for the chip lead at EPT Tallinn. Kaiser went on to win the event and €275,000 while Graydon bust in 24th for €7,700. The online qualifier is guaranteed at least €67,200 here at EPT Deauville, his third cash of the season, but with a wealth of virtual experience it would be wrong to write off the short stack.
“Playing a lot online you learn how to play short stacked. I think I’m very strong at that so I won’t be making too many mistakes,” said Graydon.
Seat 3: Olivier Rogez, 34, Paris, France – 4,415,000
Rogez has never cashed in a tournament in his life, and won his seat in a €770 live satellite in Deauville a month ago. Rogez, 34, who runs an office cleaning business in Banlieu, Paris, is amazed he's gone this deep - but is determined not to get flustered. He said: "I'm very very happy. I didn't think I would get
this far. Today was a lot of stress but now I'm going to rest and come
back tomorrow calm and focused."
Seat 4: Vuong Than Trong, 21, Paris, France - 2,570,000
Computer science student Than Trong discovered poker two years ago at a party with friends. He mainly plays mid-stakes online cash games using the screen-name "Canard_laque" but decided to take part in EPT Deauville on the eve of the tournament after being persuaded by his friend Basil Yaïche that he could do well. Throughout the event, he’s been supported by members of the Club Poker French poker forum as well as gaining valuable advice on tournament play from experts such as Flavian Guenan and Clement Thumy. If he does well at the EPT Deauville final, he plans to take part in a lot more live events, as well as continue with his university studies.
Seat 5: Vadzim “VadziMoney” Kursevich, 24, Minsk, Belarus - 5,670,000
Vadzim Kursevich turns 25 on Wednesday – and already has a lot to celebrate having reached the EPT Deauville final table second in chips. Kursevich has been playing poker for five years and normally plays live PLO ring games and MMTs. He also competes in the big online tournament series – and was involved in a five-way chop in last year’s WCOOP Main Event for a $750,000 payday. He has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout EPT Deauville. His biggest live result was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000 and he also came 28th in this season’s EPT Barcelona event. He has played around eight EPTs in total. Away from poker, Kursevich likes to unwind by watching ice hockey and singing karaoke. Regarding tomorrow’s final, he said: “I feel pretty comfortable – and ready to compete against my opponents. I’ve got some chips so we will see.”
Seat 6: Paul "OMGpoloker06" Guichard, 19, Nice, France –PokerStars qualifier - 5,955,000
Guichard, who won his seat to EPT Deauville, is an up-and-coming player who is already getting good results on PokerStars.fr. He started playing poker with friends when he was 13. Once he could go online, he only made two deposits before he building a healthy bankroll. He also started playing live and once he graduated from high school, he decided to dedicate himself to poker and tennis. He says if he had to stop playing poker, then he’d resume his career as a tennis player. His online winnings already total $140,000 including €13,000 for fourth place in the €500 PokerStars.fr “All Star Game".
Live, his best result was winning a side event in Cannes last September for €15,000. Guichard says he owes much to Clement Thumy, his coach for the last two years already. This was Guichard’s first EPT but he says if he finishes in top four tomorrow, he’ll plans to join the live poker tournament circuit
Seat 7: Luca Pagano, 33, Milan, Italy – Team PokerStars Pro - 2,010,000
Pagano was one of the very first members of Team PokerStars Pro, joining in shortly after the very first EPT Deauville event in season 1 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour. Before taking up poker, Pagano studied computer programming and also dabbled in the stock market. After discovering PokerStars, Luca began playing at the free money tables. He swiftly progressed to real money games and hasn’t looked back since. He’s clocked up numerous cashes in PokerStars’ biggest tournaments and also won countless amounts of money at the high stakes cash tables.
But it’s live tournaments where Pagano has really made his name. He has a record 20 cashes in EPT Main Events and this is his seventh EPT final table appearance. His first was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.
Pagano and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier have been juggling first and second place in the EPT All-Time Tournament Leaderboard for years (although Pagano’s performance here in Deauville will certainly put him back on top.)
Pagano’s best live result was sixth place at the EPT4 Grand Final for €337,000; he also came sixth at EPT Dortmund (€153,000) and sixth again at EPT Prague (€100,000) as well as numerous other deep runs. But it was on home soil that the popular Italian finally snagged a major tournament title when he took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event in San Remo last July for €210,000. Pagano has nearly $2 million in overall live tournament earnings and currently lies sixth on Italy's all-time money list. Pagano is being supported in Deauville by his fiancée Elena.
Seat 8: Yorane "viirusss” Kerignard, 26, Aix-en-Provence, France - 1,680,000
Yorane started playing poker after watching a documentary on television in 2007 featuring French singer and film star Patrick Bruel playing against online qualifiers. The 26-year-old industrial design graduate plays on PokerStars under the username "viirusss". Favouring MTT events, Kerignard’s first live cash came in 2009 when he finished fifth in a small buy-in event in Cyprus. But just five months later, he hit the big time, finishing fourth in the Season 6 EPT Copenhagen Main Event for DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000). The biggest cash of his career however came last October when he finished fourth at EPT San Remo for €130,000. He’s also had a number of good EPT side event results including third in the Season 6 EPT Grand Final €1k NL event and fourth in the €2k event the following season. Kerignard spends most of the year in Marrakech, Morocco, which allows him to play on PokerStars.com. Online, his best result was runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday 500 for $78,500; he also won the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $70,000 in 2009.
SUMMARY
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating atotal prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.
Seat 1: Bruno "bebesse1" Jais, 49, Paris - PokerStars qualifier.fr - 3,450,000
Manager of a Paris PR agency, Jais has been playing poker for nearly 20 years including annual trips – since 2002 - to compete in the World Series in Las Vegas. He plays both cash games and live tournaments and, occasionally, online. His favourite game is PLO8. Jais actually qualified thanks to a miss-click. He was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 satellite to Deauville instead – and he only had a €501 bankroll! Besides poker, Bruno devotes much time to golf and his family.
Seat 2: Mick Graydon, 26, Dublin, Ireland - 960,000
Although his friend Team PokerStars Pro Jude ‘j.thaddeus’ Ainsworth may be the better known Irishman, Mick Graydon is certainly no slouch at the poker table; the $210,107 he’s won in live tournaments is dwarfed by the $1,126,450 he’s won in online tournaments at PokerStars under the name ‘BIGMICKG’. Graydon was the first player in Ireland to achieve Supernova Elite status, a testimony to his discipline and skill at the tables, although he’s since embraced multi- rather than single-table tournaments.
“I used to play sit-and-gos but I made the transition to tournaments two years ago. I’ve played every EPT this season. It’s brilliant to make the final table. It’s why we play poker,” said Graydon, who was unlucky enough to lose with kings to Ronny Kaiser’s ace-king for the chip lead at EPT Tallinn. Kaiser went on to win the event and €275,000 while Graydon bust in 24th for €7,700. The online qualifier is guaranteed at least €67,200 here at EPT Deauville, his third cash of the season, but with a wealth of virtual experience it would be wrong to write off the short stack.
“Playing a lot online you learn how to play short stacked. I think I’m very strong at that so I won’t be making too many mistakes,” said Graydon.
Seat 3: Olivier Rogez, 34, Paris, France – 4,415,000
Rogez has never cashed in a tournament in his life, and won his seat in a €770 live satellite in Deauville a month ago. Rogez, 34, who runs an office cleaning business in Banlieu, Paris, is amazed he's gone this deep - but is determined not to get flustered. He said: "I'm very very happy. I didn't think I would get
this far. Today was a lot of stress but now I'm going to rest and come
back tomorrow calm and focused."
Seat 4: Vuong Than Trong, 21, Paris, France - 2,570,000
Computer science student Than Trong discovered poker two years ago at a party with friends. He mainly plays mid-stakes online cash games using the screen-name "Canard_laque" but decided to take part in EPT Deauville on the eve of the tournament after being persuaded by his friend Basil Yaïche that he could do well. Throughout the event, he’s been supported by members of the Club Poker French poker forum as well as gaining valuable advice on tournament play from experts such as Flavian Guenan and Clement Thumy. If he does well at the EPT Deauville final, he plans to take part in a lot more live events, as well as continue with his university studies.
Seat 5: Vadzim “VadziMoney” Kursevich, 24, Minsk, Belarus - 5,670,000
Vadzim Kursevich turns 25 on Wednesday – and already has a lot to celebrate having reached the EPT Deauville final table second in chips. Kursevich has been playing poker for five years and normally plays live PLO ring games and MMTs. He also competes in the big online tournament series – and was involved in a five-way chop in last year’s WCOOP Main Event for a $750,000 payday. He has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout EPT Deauville. His biggest live result was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000 and he also came 28th in this season’s EPT Barcelona event. He has played around eight EPTs in total. Away from poker, Kursevich likes to unwind by watching ice hockey and singing karaoke. Regarding tomorrow’s final, he said: “I feel pretty comfortable – and ready to compete against my opponents. I’ve got some chips so we will see.”
Seat 6: Paul "OMGpoloker06" Guichard, 19, Nice, France –PokerStars qualifier - 5,955,000
Guichard, who won his seat to EPT Deauville, is an up-and-coming player who is already getting good results on PokerStars.fr. He started playing poker with friends when he was 13. Once he could go online, he only made two deposits before he building a healthy bankroll. He also started playing live and once he graduated from high school, he decided to dedicate himself to poker and tennis. He says if he had to stop playing poker, then he’d resume his career as a tennis player. His online winnings already total $140,000 including €13,000 for fourth place in the €500 PokerStars.fr “All Star Game".
Live, his best result was winning a side event in Cannes last September for €15,000. Guichard says he owes much to Clement Thumy, his coach for the last two years already. This was Guichard’s first EPT but he says if he finishes in top four tomorrow, he’ll plans to join the live poker tournament circuit
Seat 7: Luca Pagano, 33, Milan, Italy – Team PokerStars Pro - 2,010,000
Pagano was one of the very first members of Team PokerStars Pro, joining in shortly after the very first EPT Deauville event in season 1 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour. Before taking up poker, Pagano studied computer programming and also dabbled in the stock market. After discovering PokerStars, Luca began playing at the free money tables. He swiftly progressed to real money games and hasn’t looked back since. He’s clocked up numerous cashes in PokerStars’ biggest tournaments and also won countless amounts of money at the high stakes cash tables.
But it’s live tournaments where Pagano has really made his name. He has a record 20 cashes in EPT Main Events and this is his seventh EPT final table appearance. His first was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.
Pagano and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier have been juggling first and second place in the EPT All-Time Tournament Leaderboard for years (although Pagano’s performance here in Deauville will certainly put him back on top.)
Pagano’s best live result was sixth place at the EPT4 Grand Final for €337,000; he also came sixth at EPT Dortmund (€153,000) and sixth again at EPT Prague (€100,000) as well as numerous other deep runs. But it was on home soil that the popular Italian finally snagged a major tournament title when he took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event in San Remo last July for €210,000. Pagano has nearly $2 million in overall live tournament earnings and currently lies sixth on Italy's all-time money list. Pagano is being supported in Deauville by his fiancée Elena.
Seat 8: Yorane "viirusss” Kerignard, 26, Aix-en-Provence, France - 1,680,000
Yorane started playing poker after watching a documentary on television in 2007 featuring French singer and film star Patrick Bruel playing against online qualifiers. The 26-year-old industrial design graduate plays on PokerStars under the username "viirusss". Favouring MTT events, Kerignard’s first live cash came in 2009 when he finished fifth in a small buy-in event in Cyprus. But just five months later, he hit the big time, finishing fourth in the Season 6 EPT Copenhagen Main Event for DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000). The biggest cash of his career however came last October when he finished fourth at EPT San Remo for €130,000. He’s also had a number of good EPT side event results including third in the Season 6 EPT Grand Final €1k NL event and fourth in the €2k event the following season. Kerignard spends most of the year in Marrakech, Morocco, which allows him to play on PokerStars.com. Online, his best result was runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday 500 for $78,500; he also won the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $70,000 in 2009.
SUMMARY
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating atotal prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.
Manager of a Paris PR agency, Jais has been playing poker for nearly 20 years including annual trips – since 2002 - to compete in the World Series in Las Vegas. He plays both cash games and live tournaments and, occasionally, online. His favourite game is PLO8. Jais actually qualified thanks to a miss-click. He was planning to compete in a €10 tournament on PokerStars.fr but accidentally registered for a €500 satellite to Deauville instead – and he only had a €501 bankroll! Besides poker, Bruno devotes much time to golf and his family.
Seat 2: Mick Graydon, 26, Dublin, Ireland - 960,000
Although his friend Team PokerStars Pro Jude ‘j.thaddeus’ Ainsworth may be the better known Irishman, Mick Graydon is certainly no slouch at the poker table; the $210,107 he’s won in live tournaments is dwarfed by the $1,126,450 he’s won in online tournaments at PokerStars under the name ‘BIGMICKG’. Graydon was the first player in Ireland to achieve Supernova Elite status, a testimony to his discipline and skill at the tables, although he’s since embraced multi- rather than single-table tournaments.
“I used to play sit-and-gos but I made the transition to tournaments two years ago. I’ve played every EPT this season. It’s brilliant to make the final table. It’s why we play poker,” said Graydon, who was unlucky enough to lose with kings to Ronny Kaiser’s ace-king for the chip lead at EPT Tallinn. Kaiser went on to win the event and €275,000 while Graydon bust in 24th for €7,700. The online qualifier is guaranteed at least €67,200 here at EPT Deauville, his third cash of the season, but with a wealth of virtual experience it would be wrong to write off the short stack.
“Playing a lot online you learn how to play short stacked. I think I’m very strong at that so I won’t be making too many mistakes,” said Graydon.
Seat 3: Olivier Rogez, 34, Paris, France – 4,415,000
Rogez has never cashed in a tournament in his life, and won his seat in a €770 live satellite in Deauville a month ago. Rogez, 34, who runs an office cleaning business in Banlieu, Paris, is amazed he's gone this deep - but is determined not to get flustered. He said: "I'm very very happy. I didn't think I would get
this far. Today was a lot of stress but now I'm going to rest and come
back tomorrow calm and focused."
Seat 4: Vuong Than Trong, 21, Paris, France - 2,570,000
Computer science student Than Trong discovered poker two years ago at a party with friends. He mainly plays mid-stakes online cash games using the screen-name "Canard_laque" but decided to take part in EPT Deauville on the eve of the tournament after being persuaded by his friend Basil Yaïche that he could do well. Throughout the event, he’s been supported by members of the Club Poker French poker forum as well as gaining valuable advice on tournament play from experts such as Flavian Guenan and Clement Thumy. If he does well at the EPT Deauville final, he plans to take part in a lot more live events, as well as continue with his university studies.
Seat 5: Vadzim “VadziMoney” Kursevich, 24, Minsk, Belarus - 5,670,000
Vadzim Kursevich turns 25 on Wednesday – and already has a lot to celebrate having reached the EPT Deauville final table second in chips. Kursevich has been playing poker for five years and normally plays live PLO ring games and MMTs. He also competes in the big online tournament series – and was involved in a five-way chop in last year’s WCOOP Main Event for a $750,000 payday. He has been proudly wearing his WCOOP final table jacket throughout EPT Deauville. His biggest live result was third place at EPT Berlin last season for €300,000 and he also came 28th in this season’s EPT Barcelona event. He has played around eight EPTs in total. Away from poker, Kursevich likes to unwind by watching ice hockey and singing karaoke. Regarding tomorrow’s final, he said: “I feel pretty comfortable – and ready to compete against my opponents. I’ve got some chips so we will see.”
Seat 6: Paul "OMGpoloker06" Guichard, 19, Nice, France –PokerStars qualifier - 5,955,000
Guichard, who won his seat to EPT Deauville, is an up-and-coming player who is already getting good results on PokerStars.fr. He started playing poker with friends when he was 13. Once he could go online, he only made two deposits before he building a healthy bankroll. He also started playing live and once he graduated from high school, he decided to dedicate himself to poker and tennis. He says if he had to stop playing poker, then he’d resume his career as a tennis player. His online winnings already total $140,000 including €13,000 for fourth place in the €500 PokerStars.fr “All Star Game".
Live, his best result was winning a side event in Cannes last September for €15,000. Guichard says he owes much to Clement Thumy, his coach for the last two years already. This was Guichard’s first EPT but he says if he finishes in top four tomorrow, he’ll plans to join the live poker tournament circuit
Seat 7: Luca Pagano, 33, Milan, Italy – Team PokerStars Pro - 2,010,000
Pagano was one of the very first members of Team PokerStars Pro, joining in shortly after the very first EPT Deauville event in season 1 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour. Before taking up poker, Pagano studied computer programming and also dabbled in the stock market. After discovering PokerStars, Luca began playing at the free money tables. He swiftly progressed to real money games and hasn’t looked back since. He’s clocked up numerous cashes in PokerStars’ biggest tournaments and also won countless amounts of money at the high stakes cash tables.
But it’s live tournaments where Pagano has really made his name. He has a record 20 cashes in EPT Main Events and this is his seventh EPT final table appearance. His first was also here – at the very first EPT Deauville in Season 1.
Pagano and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier have been juggling first and second place in the EPT All-Time Tournament Leaderboard for years (although Pagano’s performance here in Deauville will certainly put him back on top.)
Pagano’s best live result was sixth place at the EPT4 Grand Final for €337,000; he also came sixth at EPT Dortmund (€153,000) and sixth again at EPT Prague (€100,000) as well as numerous other deep runs. But it was on home soil that the popular Italian finally snagged a major tournament title when he took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event in San Remo last July for €210,000. Pagano has nearly $2 million in overall live tournament earnings and currently lies sixth on Italy's all-time money list. Pagano is being supported in Deauville by his fiancée Elena.
Seat 8: Yorane "viirusss” Kerignard, 26, Aix-en-Provence, France - 1,680,000
Yorane started playing poker after watching a documentary on television in 2007 featuring French singer and film star Patrick Bruel playing against online qualifiers. The 26-year-old industrial design graduate plays on PokerStars under the username "viirusss". Favouring MTT events, Kerignard’s first live cash came in 2009 when he finished fifth in a small buy-in event in Cyprus. But just five months later, he hit the big time, finishing fourth in the Season 6 EPT Copenhagen Main Event for DKr 1,050,000 (around €120,000). The biggest cash of his career however came last October when he finished fourth at EPT San Remo for €130,000. He’s also had a number of good EPT side event results including third in the Season 6 EPT Grand Final €1k NL event and fourth in the €2k event the following season. Kerignard spends most of the year in Marrakech, Morocco, which allows him to play on PokerStars.com. Online, his best result was runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday 500 for $78,500; he also won the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $70,000 in 2009.
SUMMARY
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating atotal prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano leads Day 5 of the EPT Deauville Main Event with 3,561,000
|
LUCA LEADS EPT8 DEAUVILLE!
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano is leading EPT Deauville as the €5,300 EPT Deauville Main Event goes into Day 5. Pagano's performance here in France gives him a record EPT Main Event 20th cash and an 11th appearance in the final 24. Pagano's nearest rival in chips - but certainly not in experience - is Frenchman Olivier Rogez. Rogez has never cashed in a tournament in his life, and won his seat in a €770 live satellite in Deauville a month ago. Rogez, 34, who runs an office cleaning business in Banlieu, Paris, is amazed he's gone this deep - but is determined not to get flustered. He said: "I'm very very happy. I didn't think I would get this far. Today was a lot of stress but now I'm going to rest and come back tomorrow calm and focused." |
DAY 5 SEAT DRAW
Olivier Rogez, France, 2,668,000, 1/1
Vuong Than Trong, France, 871,000, 1/2
Andre Corredoira, Spain, 1,310,000, 1/3
Paul Guichard, France, PokerStars qualifier .fr, 1,700,000, 1/4
Sergey Baburin, Russia, 438,000, 1/5
Antonio Guerrero, France, PokerStars qualifier .fr, 519,000, 1/6
Christopher Brammer, UK, PokerStars qualifier, 1,262,000, 1/7
Kevin Vandersmissen, Belgium, 737,000, 1/8
Marc Inizan, France, 481,000, 2/1
Luca Pagano, Italy, Team PokerStars Pro, 3,561,000, 2/2
Bruno Jais, France, PokerStars qualifier .fr, 970,000, 2/3
Vadzim Kursevich, Belarus, 1,815,000, 2/4
Patrick Nataf, France, 360,000, 2/5
Rob Stain, UK, PokerStars qualifier, 816,000, 2/6
Christian Togsverd, Denmark, 1,271,000, 2/7
Etienne Moudaress, France, 650,000, 2/8
Denis Cheremisin, Russia, 1,117,000, 3/1
Yorane Kerignard, France, 1,124,000, 3/2
Karim Lehoussine, France, 382,000, 3/3
Artem Litvinov, Russia, 1,193,000, 3/4
Nikolaus Teichert, Germany, 471,000, 3/5
Ignat Liviu, Romania, 1,303,000, 3/6
Rumen Nanev, Bulgaria, 1,052,000, 3/7
Mick Graydon, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, 723,000, 3/8
Olivier Rogez, France, 2,668,000, 1/1
Vuong Than Trong, France, 871,000, 1/2
Andre Corredoira, Spain, 1,310,000, 1/3
Paul Guichard, France, PokerStars qualifier .fr, 1,700,000, 1/4
Sergey Baburin, Russia, 438,000, 1/5
Antonio Guerrero, France, PokerStars qualifier .fr, 519,000, 1/6
Christopher Brammer, UK, PokerStars qualifier, 1,262,000, 1/7
Kevin Vandersmissen, Belgium, 737,000, 1/8
Marc Inizan, France, 481,000, 2/1
Luca Pagano, Italy, Team PokerStars Pro, 3,561,000, 2/2
Bruno Jais, France, PokerStars qualifier .fr, 970,000, 2/3
Vadzim Kursevich, Belarus, 1,815,000, 2/4
Patrick Nataf, France, 360,000, 2/5
Rob Stain, UK, PokerStars qualifier, 816,000, 2/6
Christian Togsverd, Denmark, 1,271,000, 2/7
Etienne Moudaress, France, 650,000, 2/8
Denis Cheremisin, Russia, 1,117,000, 3/1
Yorane Kerignard, France, 1,124,000, 3/2
Karim Lehoussine, France, 382,000, 3/3
Artem Litvinov, Russia, 1,193,000, 3/4
Nikolaus Teichert, Germany, 471,000, 3/5
Ignat Liviu, Romania, 1,303,000, 3/6
Rumen Nanev, Bulgaria, 1,052,000, 3/7
Mick Graydon, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, 723,000, 3/8
EPT8 DEAUVILLE - DAY 4 - CHIPS END LEVEL 23
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano now has a massive lead at EPT Deauville at the end of Level 23 on Day 4. This is the Italian's 20th EPT Main Event cash. There are 28 players left and we're playing down to 24.
Luca Pagano Italy Team PokerStars Pro 3,387,000 Olivier Rogez France 2,513,000 Vuong Than Trong France 1,538,000 Ignat Liviu Romania 1,480,000 Yorane Kerignard France 1,460,000 Paul Guichard France PokerStars qualifier .fr 1,372,000 Denis Cheremisin Russia 1,305,000 Christopher Brammer UK PokerStars qualifier 1,281,000 Bruno Jais France PokerStars qualifier .fr 1,172,000 Vadzim Kursevich Belarus 975,000 Mick Graydon Ireland PokerStars qualifier 931,000 Andre Corredoira Spain 898,000 Rumen Nanev Bulgaria 829,000 Julien Ehrhardt France 692,000 Rob Stain UK PokerStars qualifier 667,000 Marc Inizan France 611,000 Herve Boulan France 605,000 Patrick Nataf France 594,000 Kevin Vandersmissen Belgium 583,000 Nikolaus Teichert Germany 580,000 Christian Togsverd Denmark 529,000 Etienne Moudaress France 479,000 Artem Litvinov Russia 478,000 Sergey Baburin Russia 459,000 Karim Lehoussine France 435,000 Antonio Guerrero France PokerStars qualifier .fr 374,000 Herve Halfon France 366,000 Yoni Journo France 192,000 |
Luca Pagano leads Deauville!!!!!!
|
French player Samphane Phomveha has snatched the lead at EPT Deauville Picture By Neil Stoddart
|
EPT8 DEAUVILLE - PHOMVEHA SNATCHES LEAD FROM VINKLAREK AT END OF DAY 3
French player Samphane Phomveha has snatched the lead from Ondrej Vinklarek in the very last moments of Day 3 of EPT Deauville. Vinklarek, known as "the Czech Chris Moorman", shoved king-five off-suit pre-flop into the 32-year-old Frenchman's pocket kings. Phomveha how has 1.4 million while Vinklarek is down to 224,000. |
EPT8 DEAUVILLE - VINKLAREK STILL DOMINATING FOR LAST LEVEL OF DAY 3
Czech pro Ondrej Vinklarek, who is currently top of the EPT Player of the Year table, is dominating EPT Deauville as we go into the last level of Day 3. 68 players at last break (end of Level 19)
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating a total prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000. . EPT Deauville is running from January 31 to February 6 at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels. |
Ondrej - dubbed the "Czech Chris Moorman" - is now leading at EPT Deauville
|
Lacay still leads at EPT Deauville
|
EPT8 DEAUVILLE - LUDO STILL LEADS - CHIPS ON DAY 3, END LEVEL 16
French pro Ludovic Lacay is still in the lead at EPT Deauville ahead of Czech player Ondrej Vinklarek (who is currently top of the EPT Player of the Year table). London pro Martins Adeniya, the overnight chip leader and 7th at EPT London, is currently in third place.
129 players remain, 9 off the money |
EPT8 DEAUVILLE - ADENIYA LEADS GOING INTO DAY 3
|
Londoner Martins Adeniya is leading EPT Deauville at the end of Day 2 with 512,200. 178 players remain. The 26-year-old former Lloyds insurance broker Adeniya first came to media attention when he was the overnight Day 1a chip leader at EPT7 Snowfest. He finished 15th at Snowfest but massively improved on that result last September when he finished seventh at EPT London for £86,350
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating a total prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000. EPT DEAUVILLE PARTY AT BRUMMEL CLUB TONIGHT PokerStars is holding a fantastic party for all EPT players tonight (Thursday, February 2) from 22:00 at the Brummel Club at Casino Deauville. There’s a free bar – until it runs out!! – and lots of dancing! Media can use their orange/pink wristbands to get in. |
Londoner Martins Adeniya is leading EPT Deauville going into Day 3 of EPT Deauville, with 512,200 chips
|
EPT8 DEAUVILLE
French player Amir Salhani is leading EPT Deauville at the end of Day 1b with 191,000. 325 players made it through today which, combined with yesterday's 221 Day 1a survivors, means 546 are coming back for Day 2 tomorrow.
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating a total prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.
.
EPT Deauville is running from January 31 to February 6 at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels worth more than €10,000, plus gorgeous Gamble hoodie, shirt and sweater from JAQK, the first clothing brand inspired by poker players. All the other seven finalists will also receive JAQK apparel.
A total of 889 players from 51 countries competed in this season's €5,300 EPT Deauville creating a total prize pool of €4,267,200. This is just two short of last year's 891 total. 128 places are being paid; first prize is €875,000.
.
EPT Deauville is running from January 31 to February 6 at Casino Barriere. In addition to title and cash prize, the EPT Deauville champion will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels worth more than €10,000, plus gorgeous Gamble hoodie, shirt and sweater from JAQK, the first clothing brand inspired by poker players. All the other seven finalists will also receive JAQK apparel.
JAN 31st - FEB 6th 2012
EPT Deauville is running at Casino Barriere from January 31 to February 6, 2012. For the first five days, the tournament will be in an annexe of Casino Barriere at The Deauville International Centre.
In addition to their title and cash prize, the winner of EPT Deauville will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels worth more than €10,000. Skrill is the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8.
More than 20 members of Team PokerStars Pro are competing in Deauville. They include Argentinan Nacho Barbero and Ana Marquez from Spain; both won their seats on PokerStars. Also playing are Team PokerStars Pros ElkY, Eugene Katchalov, Fatima Moreira De Melo, 2012 world champion Jonathan Duhamel – who won last season’s EPT Deauville High Roller event, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Theo Jorgensen, Julien Brecard, Alexander Kravchenko, Arnaud Mattern, Henrique Pinho , Jude Ainsworth, Luca Pagano, Marcin Horecki, Matthias de Meulder, Richard Toth, Toni Judet and Vanessa Rousso.
In addition to their title and cash prize, the winner of EPT Deauville will receive a stunning bracelet from Shamballa Jewels worth more than €10,000. Skrill is the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8.
More than 20 members of Team PokerStars Pro are competing in Deauville. They include Argentinan Nacho Barbero and Ana Marquez from Spain; both won their seats on PokerStars. Also playing are Team PokerStars Pros ElkY, Eugene Katchalov, Fatima Moreira De Melo, 2012 world champion Jonathan Duhamel – who won last season’s EPT Deauville High Roller event, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Theo Jorgensen, Julien Brecard, Alexander Kravchenko, Arnaud Mattern, Henrique Pinho , Jude Ainsworth, Luca Pagano, Marcin Horecki, Matthias de Meulder, Richard Toth, Toni Judet and Vanessa Rousso.
