Amateur poker player Lucien Cohen has won EPT Deauville for a first prize of €888,000 after besting a record-breaking 891-strong field.
Cohen, who has been playing poker for 20 years as a hobby, beat some of the best players in the world to snag the coveted EPT champion’s title and a seat into the EPT Grand Final. The 47-year-old, who runs a pest control company in Paris, beat Swedish pro Martin Jacobson heads-up to snag the giant prize. For Jacobson, the runner-up finish was a bitter disappointment – he also came second at EPT Vilamoura back in September.
Cohen said: “I’m very proud to be the first French EPT Deauville winner. It’s a very emotional moment. I want to say thank you to the organisers, the EPT and my opponents. This is one of the best days of my life after my wedding and the day my children were born. I’m happy, happy, happy.”
A total of 146 players won their seats to the event on PokerStars including runner-up Jacobson, third-placed Alex Wice from Canada, serial qualifier David Sonelin from Sweden and Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville. More than 20 members of Team PokerStars Pro also took part including world champion Jonathan Duhamel, Viktor Blom, Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso. In-the-money finishers included Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Thomas Bichon and Juan Manuel Pastor.
Belgium was thwarted in its hopes of having its first EPT champion when Kenny Hallaert, a casino tournament organiser from Namur, was eliminated in sixth place. France had over 55% of the field in Deauville but Belgium had the next biggest showing with 36 players. Despite this only making up 4% of the field, eight Belgians reached the final 24. The six-day event at Casino Barrière generated a record prize pool of €4,276,800.
World champion and Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel won the EPT Deauville €10k event for €200,000 after besting a 58-strong field. The win came when short-stacked Alain Confino went all in with AJ and found himself up against Duhamel’s AK. Duhamel, who was attending his first EPT Deauville, said: “I’m so happy right now. I love poker!” The total prize pool was €556,800.
Former poker dealer Anais Lerouge from Cannes, France won the €330 Ladies Event for €8,600 after fighting off competition from an 86-strong field which included four men. It was her second victory in EPT Season 7 – she also won the EPT London Luxury Ladies Event in October.
EPT spokesperson Kirsty Thompson said: “EPT Deauville has been a huge success yet again and the move to an annex of the casino – giving us tons more space – had a great effect on boosting numbers. We had a record-breaking turnout with 891 players and there were some incredible performances – especially from our winner Lucien Cohen as well as runner-up Martin Jacobson and third-place Alex Wiced who both won their seats on PokerStars.”
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