07 Feb 12
Vadzim Kursevich Wins EPT Deauville!
The PokerStars EPT Deauville is in the books, and Belarusian Vadzim Kursevich has earned the title and the €875,000 first-place prize. Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano will have to wait for his eighth EPT final table for another chance at victory.
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| Vadzim Kursevich |
Kursevich was a successful player before this event, with nearly $600,000 in career tournament earnings - including a 3rd place finish in last year's EPT Berlin. His victory in this event alone nearly triples his lifetime earnings.
What happened?
Luca Pagano comes up short - Italian Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano was by far the best-known player at this final table. This was his 7th EPT final table, and unfortunately for him he still couldn't secure a victory. He got all of his chips in preflop with
against Vuong Than Trong's 
, and when the board was no help he exited in 7th place.A huge heads-up lead erased - By the end of the day, Vadzim Kursevich found himself heads-up against French pro Paul Guichard. These two players displayed tremendous skill throughout the tournament as well as at the final table, and it seemed fitting for them to meet. At the start of heads-up play, Kursevich had a massive lead over the Frenchman - 23 million to 3 million. Guichard won each of his first two all-ins and several smaller pots to get the stacks close to even.
The finishing blow - Still holding a slight lead on his opponent, Kursevich opened a pot for 500,000, and Guichard 3-bet to 1,250,000. Kursevich called, and the flop came
.Guichard bet 625,000, Kursevich called, and the
came on the turn. Guichard bet another 1,325,000, and after taking some time to think Kursevich moved all-in for about 10 million chips.Guichard snap-called and showed
for a set of 5's. Kursevich had plenty of outs, however, with the 
. Any 4, 8, or heart on the river would give him the championship. The river 
did just that, and Paul Guichard was out in 2nd place.Congratulations to Vadzim Kursevich, EPT Deauville Champion!
Live Updates Via PokerStars Blog
EPT Deauville
Final Table Payouts |
||||
| Place | Name | Prize | ||
| 1st | Vadzim Kursevich | €875,000 | ||
| 2nd | Paul Guichard | €557,000 | ||
| 3rd | Vuong Than Trong | €328,000 | ||
| 4th | Yorane Kerignard | €260,000 | ||
| 5th | Bruno Jais | €200,000 | ||
| 6th | Olivier Rogez |
€155,000 | ||
| 7th | Luca Pagano | €110,000 | ||
| 8th | Mick Graydon | €67,200 | ||
| Players: 1 (889) | Prize pool: €4,267,200 |
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by Matt Kaufman
