French Tales From Las Vegas

It's 3 p.m. at the Rio, Sunday, Aug. 6. I am sure the sun is shining, but I have not seen a single ray in more than two days. There are 100 players left in the "big one." Shellshocked, I am trying to pull my notes together for this Card Player Europe column. Players have been bustin' out like bullets from a Gatling gun. Another deadline missed, another deadline missed; oh well, this time I have a good reason. I could not miss the play of the last French player left standing in the main event.



The Prodigal Son


Dan Abouaf – the new prodigal son of the French poker scene – nephew of Jan Boubli, is the most successful French player at the World Series of Poker this year. I got to talk to the affable guy moments before he started his fifth day of play with 135 players left and a whopping $1 million in chips. He was smiling and relaxed. "I'm not a pro like my uncle is. He's the one who convinced me one night to try to qualify via a double-shootout tournament on PokerStars. Hours later, I had my entry ticket – after my first try." I asked how his experience had been thus far. "It's been like a living dream. The first day was so tough. At one point I was down to $5,000, but then I fought back with the help of some good cards. The next two days were easier – I was in the zone. On the fourth day, I couldn't get dealt any good starting hands, so I built most of my chips with big bluffs. Now, everything is possible: Nobody is safe; this is no-limit, after all." Maybe it was a bad sign of things to come. The Frenchman was all in numerous times right after play started, and finally exited in 104th position, cashing $51,129. Abouaf beat more than 8,600 players, including all of the French contenders, not bad for a first-time participant in the most prestigious poker event in the world.



Mixed Results for the Frenchmen



Every big French name you can think of was here, as well as a lot of semipros and ClubPoker members who qualified online. Most of them were staying at Bellagio. (Surprisingly – or not – no one bothered to stay at the Paris Las Vegas. Are the fake Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe too over the top for the French taste?) As I'm writing this, I'm sad to report that no bracelet has been taken by a French player this year. We'll have to wait another year to see repeated the stunt of Claude Cohen, Patrick Bruel, and Gilbert Gross. Some good performances were witnessed, though. François Charles Scapula cashed three times in no-limit hold'em events. Aviation Club manager Bruno Fitoussi made the final table of the highly competitive $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event (with rebuys), finishing fifth. The convivial Patrick Bueno took sixth place in the $5,000 seven-card stud event, and also cashed in the big one. Philippe Rouas, the San Francisco-based French expatriate, made two final tables, the $1,000 no-limit hold'em rebuy event and the tough deuce-to-seven rebuy tournament, finishing in 10th and third place, respectively.



Last but not least, Fabrice Soulier – considered by many to be the best French tournament player, as well as a fierce cash-games competitor, and now a full-time Las Vegas resident – had high hopes entering this year's World Series of Poker. Alas, in his own words, "It seems like I couldn't win a pot these past two months." Apart from a small cash finish in an early pot-limit event, Fabrice's WSOP looked like a long and dry nightmare, until he finally saw a ray of light in the form of a final table in one of the consolation events. Obviously disappointed by his fourth-place finish (after all, any place but first place is disappointing), Fabrice did not want to complain, though: "It feels good anyway. I started the second day with so few chips. It's good to finally catch a break after these two months I had." Don't worry, Fabrice, it's only a matter of time before you catch the title you deserve.



Breaking News: Poker is Making Its Way to the French Casinos



The authorizations have finally been given to casinos for introducing poker rooms in their premises. At 6 p.m. on Aug. 4, Casino Barriere in Deauville (home of one of the EPT stops) launched three cash-game tables of pot-limit hold'em, with buy-ins ranging from €50 to €15,000 (ouch!). Right now, this is only an experiment, under strict government control, and if successful, there will be a nationwide launching in about six months. Expect more news to come later on this subject: This is historic news, folks. Finally, we'll be able to play our favourite game legally outside Paris. I can't wait.



Benjamin Gallen is a reporter for http://www.clubpoker.net/.