Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier had developed quite a rail in the far corner, but anyone hoping that he would be having a deep run in the French Poker Series will now be sorely disappointed. ElkY had pushed all in preflop from the button with both blinds calling and the latter pair checked down a [2s][7c][7s][3d][9h] board the whole way.
ElkY turned over [Ac][8c], Damien Busnel in the small blind flashed [Qc][Tc] into the muck but Ali Zrari turned over [As][Qh] for a slightly better ace to knock out his fellow Frenchman. Zrari is one of the first players over the 400,000-mark and among the chip leaders.
The floor staff are now reducing the tables from ten-handed to nine-handed, a frantic amount of work when combined with a steady stream of exits and the bubble around 20 eliminations away.
Elsewhere the €700 Super Satellite to the EPT Main Event has begun with 244 players in the tournament so far. Among those playing are Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki, Alex Goulder and Marcin Wydrowski.
FPS Deauville update:
- 224 players remain
- Team PokerStars Pro Julian Brecard and Team PokerStars Pro Ronan Monfort are among those still in
- 199 players will be paid a minimum of €1,800 with €197,000 for the winner.
- Recent bustouts include Anton Wigg, last year's winner Niels van Leeuwen, PokerStars TV Star Vanessa Brie, Joao Vieira, Paul Berende, Bart Lybaert and Clement Thumy.
- I'll now be switching to a more traditional form of reporting as this tournament