28 Jan 12

PokerStars EPT Deauville: Preview

The European Poker Tour returns to Deauville, France, for the sixth time since 2005. We take a look at the history of the EPT Deauville and what we can expect from the tournament in 2012.

Jake Cody's EPT title in Deauville, 2010, sparked off a run to WPT and WSOP bracelets.

The PokerStars EPT Deauville returns to France's Hotel Du Golf Barriere for the sixth European Poker Tour event to take place in the seaside resort. The event will take place from January 31 - February 6.

The event first featured on the EPT circuit in 2005, as a €2,000 buy-in that attracted a modest field of 243 and awarded a first prize of €144,000 to US grinder Brandon Schaefer.

Since then, the tournament has gone from strength to strength. In 2010 it was the event that put the name Jake Cody on the map when the young Brit defeated a 768-strong field to claim the first slice of his Triple Crown, as well as a first place prize of €847,000.

The Deauville leg of the EPT vanished from the schedule in 2007/8 before returning with a bang on the 2009 EPT circuit, where PokerStrategy.com member Moritz Kranich defeated a field of 645 to win €851,400.

A History of the EPT Deauville
Year	Buy-in	Field	Winner	Prize
2005	€2,000	243	Brandon Schaefer	€144,000
2006	€4,000	434	Mats Iremark	€490,000
2009	€5,300	645	Moritz Kranich	€851,400
2010	€5,300	768	Jake Cody	€847,000
2011	€5,300	891	Lucien Cohen	€880,000

This time last year...

Lucien Cohen and his rat victorious at EPT Deauville 2011.

The 2010 EPT Deauville attracted a record field of 891 players, generating a prize pool of more than €4.45 million. Lucien Cohen, the clear underdog of the final table, defeated Martin Jacobson heads-up to award an EPT title to a Frenchman for the sixth time.

Cohen, the owner of a pest control company in Paris, annoyed and enthralled the audience in equal measure with his loud, some might say obnoxious, antics and his Humberto Brenes-like use of a rat mascot.

The final hand saw Jacobson shove in his last 1.5 million (around 15 big blinds) with . Cohen called instantly and tabled , putting him ahead by some margin.

The board ran out to give Jacobson a small sweat, but a lack of eights, sixes or sevens on the river meant Cohen's ace high was good to take down the tournament and €880,000.

The 2012 EPT Deauville, Jan. 31 - Feb. 6

This year we are not sure what to expect from the EPT Deauville. While it is very likely that last year's 891-record will still stand when all is said and done, the success of the WSOPE Cannes and the booming poker market in France means we would not be surprised to see only a very small decrease in numbers.

Of course, we will be providing you with updates throughout the tournament.