Yet more not-so-good news
The
European Poker Tour third season concluded in a beautiful manner last March in luxurious Monte Carlo. All records were broken during what became the biggest tournament ever held outside the United States: attendance (706 players), prize pool (a staggering €6,636,400), first-place reward (€1,825,00), and price for a single hamburger at the bar (only €20). American Gavin Griffin was the eventual winner, meaning that the most coveted title in Europe will go to the other side of the Atlantic for the second year in a row, after Jeff Williams' victory in 2006. As for the French competitors, a hundred of them entered the Monte Carlo
Grand Final (15 percent of the total field!), and an astonishing number of four of them made it into the money. Obviously, I'm kidding about the "astonishing" aspect of that performance, after having to suffer from all of the jokes and the "French are fishes" banter during my stay at the Bay & Resort Hotel.
However, while this column was being filled over the past few months with more and more bad news regarding the state of poker in my country, several fellow Frenchmen were putting on a good show on the European circuit. It started in January when online legend Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier made his first live breakthrough with his runner-up finish at the Copenhagen
EPT, after Swede Magnus Peterson rivered a two-outer. His buddy Alexandre Poulain was also one of the finalists. Former Magic: The Gathering player Farid Meraghni came out of nowhere in Warsaw two months later, also finishing in second position, playing one of his first live events. The new
European Poker Tour stop in Dortmund, Germany, offered the viewers one of the best stories so far this year: Thomas Fougeron. Granted, the hirsute Frenchman, a regular on the tour, was the first to exit the final table, in eighth position. Not a big deal, right? Well, consider this: Three days earlier, Fougeron was heading to the exit doors after being outdrawn in a big pot during the fifth level of play. The dealer called him back. After counting the pot, Thomas still had six black 100 chips. The big blind was 300 at that stage, but 600 in chips was all the Frenchman needed to make an impressive comeback, which ultimately ended at the final table.
WPT exits Paris
Now, back to the regular bad news. Last April, France's stance against illegal gambling reached epic heights of stupidity, with the announcement of WPT Enterprises' renunciaton of filming the
Grand Prix de Paris at the Aviation Club de France. The official statement said: "Due to gaming regulations in France, we did not receive assurances in the time needed to proceed with filming the event."
After Deauville's
EPT cancellation, this news came as another tremendous blow for poker in France, as the
World Poker Tour Paris tournament was the only European stop on the tour, and one of the most popular venues, providing great entertainment for viewers around the world during the past five seasons, including the epic battle between Surinder Sunar and Tony G in 2004 and David Benyamine's win the year before.
The
Grand Prix de Paris remained on schedule despite the abscence of the cameras. At the time of this writing, we don't know if the event was a success or not, but it's highly likely that the event will have drawn far fewer players than in previous years, especially now that wearing any sponsored gear is prohibited within French cardrooms.
The Aviation Club and the
WPT said their relationship will stay "as strong as ever," but many can suspect that the
WPT is already looking for a more welcoming country to settle its camera crews on.
In their never-ending battle against any gamble that's not state-owned, French authorities' new target is now the
World Poker Tour, guilty of operating and promoting an online cardroom. Despite the fact that WPTonline.com actually stopped serving French customers a year ago, and is therefore not guilty of any crime on French territory, the decision stood firm. As we already discussed in previous columns, French authorities keep ignoring European directives about online betting. This is a matter of politics, obviously, as another rumour is spreading among the poker community: France's state-owned gambling company, La Française des Jeux, will soon launch its own online poker room, in a similar move made by countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands.
Benjamin Gallen is a reporter for www.clubpoker.net.
