French News

Amateur Tournaments

In last month's column, I related the current ban on public amateur tournaments in France. However, that doesn't mean all hope is lost. Players are making assaults of creativity to find a way to keep playing their favourite game legally. Take Emmanuel Vanglabeke, for example. This dedicated player from Lille has set up, with the financial help of Poker770, a series of freeroll tournaments throughout the country. The online poker room provides the prize pool. That way, it keeps everybody happy: The tournaments get publicity, the fields are huge, the sponsor attracts new customers, and the law is respected. Other initiatives such as the Campus Poker Master have been launched. Antoine Dorin and Charles Traounouez, the guys already behind the highly successful France Poker Tour, created a competition between students from all the major schools and universities of France, culminating with a final held at the Aviation Club de France. In addition to the cash prizes provided by Unibet, the best-ranked school also received 30 brand-new computers. Without any places to play outside of Paris, these freerolls are a nice alternative for frustrated live-poker addicts. They are also appealing to novice players.

A Furious Frenchman Gets a Sponsor

Sponsorship is making its way for French players. Ironically, the first player ever to get a contract is an amateur: Thomas Fougeron. Despite not having captured any major title (yet), the 31-year-old Frenchman is very popular among the community of amateur players. That may be the reason why Poker770 signed him last January to represent them at all of the major European events, plus the World Series of Poker.



"I started from the ground, so people can relate to my experience," he said. Indeed, when he qualified for his first big buy-in tournament at Bellagio in December of 2004, he was a virtual unknown. "The tournament was covered hour by hour on the ClubPoker online forum, with hundreds of people following my results. While I failed to make a good finish, I stood up against the pros and proved that it was possible to compete against them." Thomas got hooked. "The next year, I made it into the money in various tournaments in Europe, including three final tables in three days at the Paris Open of Poker at the ACF, and two cashes at my first World Series of Poker." Then, the "Furious Frenchman" (as he was quickly nicknamed because of his aggressive style and antics at the table) finished 13th in the Barcelona EPT event, barely missing the final table after having the chip lead. "Things started to get serious at that point." With his new sponsorship, does the Frenchman consider himself a professional player? "I have never fancied myself as a pro, before or after signing the contract. However, I have to admit that I'm thinking about getting into poker full time now."



Thomas has since proven to be good for his sponsor, making the money in Deauville and at the Paddy Grand Slam, then winning three matches at his first heads-up tournament in Barcelona. There is little doubt that he will someday reach his goal – capturing a major title.



Trouville Showdown Poker Tour

The Showdown Poker Tour French stop is right around the corner, beginning Aug. 6. Just like its EPT rival, it will be held at the Barriere Casino in a seaside resort, Trouville – which is actually located within miles of Deauville. It is uncertain whether the tournament will be a success, with previous events sadly having turned out to be non-events. (To make things worse, the French festival is scheduled during the $10,000 main event of the World Series of Poker.) This is too bad, because we can't actually say that Europe is suffering from an overdose of big tournaments right now.



Card Player France

Let's wish the best of luck to the new embodiment of Card Player in a foreign language. Poker Magazine is published in French under Card Player's official licence and is available on newsstands throughout France.



Benjamin Gallen is a reporter for www.clubpoker.net.