After a little under a week's worth of poker, the 768 player initial starting field of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Deauville main event has been brought down to only one table of players, each within a hair's breadth of a first prize worth EUR847,000 (about $1.2 million USD).

Numerous established players made it close to that final table including Nicolas Levi (28th), Bruno Fitoussi (14th), Freddy Deeb (12th) and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (9th) but by the end of yesterday's play, only a select few remained to shoot for what's widely considered the real money of the tournament.

No doubt two of the most well known players still sitting with chips are Canadian poker pro Mike "Timex" McDonald and former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Peter Eastgate, though both begin the day with below average chip stacks and significant work a head of them if they want to claim another title.

The chip counts at the start of the final table of the EPT Deauville main event:

Seat 1- Claudiu Secara 795,000

Seat 2- Jake Cody 4,650,000

Seat 3- Michael Fratty 1,595,000

Seat 4- Teodor Caraba 6,915,000

Seat 5- Peter Eastgate 695,000

Seat 6- Craig Bergeron 3,135,000

Seat 7- Stephane Albertini 3,555,000

Seat 8- Mike "Timex" McDonald- 1,815,000

For more information on the EPT Deauville final table, or to catch updates of the action as it unfolds, visit the PokerStars blog (www.pokerstarsblog.com).


Story by Mark Anderson