There was absolutely no doubt which would be the EPT Live feature table today. Three of four 1m+ stacks were on table 11, one of them belonging to the only Team PokerStars Pro in the field. It was also the last tabled scheduled to break, so it ticked each and every one of the boxes required of a feature table.
However — and there’s always either a “however” or a “but” at the start of the second paragraph — it’s certainly not the only interesting table in the room.
I had decided to rail Ludovic Geilich for the first few hands of Day 4, mainly because he is, in an increasing number of opinions, among the most exhilarating talents in the game at the moment. He had a tricky stack at the beginning of the day. Although it was 41 big blinds (408,000 at blinds of 5,000/10,000), it was less than average and Geilich likes to bully. It seemed pretty clear from the outset that he wouldn’t want to stay at that kind of level and would put his chips to work.
But just as he and his table-mates were becoming acquainted, they were sent scattering across the room. The table broke and Geilich was moved between Eli Heath and JP Kelly, on the table also featuring the overnight leader Ekrem Sanioglu.
There were still more French players (12) in the field today than from any other country this afternoon, but the Brits are now running them close (eight). And with Heath, Geilich and Kelly all in a line, taking on the unpredictable Sanioglu, there’s clear scope for some fireworks.
Geilich, by the way, definitely is in the mood to play. They may have played only about four hands on the first table, but the Scot was involved in three of them. On the very first hand, he opened to 20,000 from early position and Alexandre Amiel shoved from the small blind, a total of 143,000.
Geilich looked him up and down. Amiel started talking. “You think too much, I know I’ll be good,” Amiel said. Geilich tanked some more. “Now I want a call,” Amiel said. Geilich did not take the bait. He folded.
It’s round about this point that this narrative needs to be interrupted. News has just reached the press room that Geilich is out. He got his stack in with aces against Heath’s sevens. There was a seven on the board.
Ah well. That’s a real shame. Geilich will of course be back, and, I think, is a really solid bet to reach another final table on the EPT very soon. This tournament is not quite as exciting as it was.
Follow our coverage from EPT Deauville by heading to the main EPT Deauville page. There’s hand-by-hand coverage in the top panel, plus chip counts, and feature pieces below. EPT Live also starts today, so tune in there for a close-up view of the action.
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