February 04 2012, Mickey Doft

The PokerStars.fr European Poker Tour Deauville Main Event resumed on Saturday with 54 players remaining from the starting field of 889. After three levels and change, the final three tables were reached. Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano began the day in 36th place, but finished on top of the chip counts with 3,561,000.

Pagano began the day with 344,000, but chipped up nicely to about 700,000 before things really took off. It started when he picked up and eliminated Balazs Botond who held . That put Pagano at about the million chip mark, leading to the hand that changed everything.

Pagano tangled with Samphane Phomveha, the chip leader at the start of Day 4, toward the end of the day’s first level. After raising under the gun to 28,000, Pagano called Phomveha’s three-bet to see an flop. Pagano bet 125,000 Phomheva called, and the hit the turn. That didn’t slow Pagano down as and made it 325,000 to play. Phomheva called and the dealer delivered the river, where once again Pagano fired – this time 600,000. Phomheva called, but could not beat Pagano’s with his .

Shortly thereafter, Phomheva busted. Joining him on the rail were Mohsin Charania, Koen De Visscher, Martins Adeniya, and many others.

Following Pagano in the chip counts are Olivier Rogez (2,668,000), Vadim Kursevich (1,815,000), and Paul Guichard (1,700,000). Here is the table and seat draw for the 24 returning players Sunday.

Play will resume at 1200 CET (0300 PST) Sunday and will continue until the final table is reached.

To follow all the action, check out our PokerNews’ EPT Live Updates from start to finish. Also, follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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February 02 2012, Marc Convey

Day 2 of the PokerStars.fr European Poker Tour Deauville played out over six 75-minute levels Thursday and the field was reduced greatly. Day 1 is all about survival whereas Day 2 is seen as a day to move up through the field. The combined field of 546 returned Thursday, and that number was culled down to 178 players.

Martins Adeniya moved to the top of the pack and bagged up 512,000, up from 115,200 at the beginning of play. Other players who also moved in the right direction included Brahim Oubella (452,000) Ludovic Lacay (377,300), Julien Ehrhardt (363,600), and Chris Brammer (321,900).

Adeniya, no stranger to leading an EPT, gets there by applying relentless pressure on his opponents. He took over the chip lead after he busted Philipe Ma over the course of two hands. Ma was caught bluffing in one hand and then ran into the Adeniya’s full-house in his exit hand.

Adeniya relinquished the lead for a while but had a storming last level. He told PokerNews that he won a 100,000-chip pot when his tens held to bust an opponent holding pocket nines. Apart from that, he won a series of small to medium pots, often forcing opponents to fold. One example of that was when he bet 8,000, 20,000, and 50,000 on a board. His opponent finally gave up on the river.

It will come as no surprise to see Luca Pagano still in. The Team PokerStars Pro in fact the only Team Pro left, is an almost unmovable force through these stages of an EPT. He will be looking for a record extending 20th cash. He finished with 172,400 chips.

Those extra chips at the top had to come from somewhere though. Amir Salhani was the clear chip leader coming into play but he departed in four levels. Nacho Barbero lost his six-figure stack within the first level, and he was joined on the rail by Kevin MacPhee and Arnaud Mattern, both former EPT champions. MacPhee came in short and had a great chance to get back into the tournament when he flopped a set of aces, but he was helpless as an opponent made a baby flush to oust him.

It was a bad day, all-in-all, for former EPT champions, as well as Team PokerStars Pros. Liv Boeree, Jake Cody, and Zimnan Ziyard won’t be the long-awaited double EPT winners. Matthias De Meulder, Vanessa Rousso, Marcin Horecki, Fatima Moreira de Melo, and Henrique Pinho were also all eliminated.

Kara Scott, Praz Bansi, Christopher Mclung, Ruben Visser, and Scotty Nguyen will be missed as much for their personalities, as well as their prowess at the table.

Top 10 Chip Counts Headed into Day 3

Play will begin at 1200 CET (0300 PST) Friday and we fully expect the field to shrink enough to burst through the bubble. One hundred and twenty-eight players will be guaranteed a minimum “7,500.

To follow all the action live, as it happens, tune into PokerNews’ Live Updates. Our team will be here throughout the day, bringing you all the news you need to know and more.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.