Main Event | 2010 EPT Deauville

01-25-2010 11:58 UTC+1

Seat 4: Teodor Caraba - 21, Timişoara, Romania – PokerStars qualifier - 6,915,000 chips

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Caraba has been playing poker since childhood but seriously for around 18 months. He mainly plays online but also visits local casinos where he plays in cash games. This is his first EPT. “I know I’m good and the field was really weak to start with,” he said. “I’m satisfied with what I’ve done so far – now I just hope I win.” Caraba won his Deauville seat in a $530 satellite on PokerStars a few weeks ago.

Bios courtesy of PokerStars

01-25-2010 11:58 UTC+1

Seat 3: Michael "Fratton" Fratty, 34, Paris, France - 1,595,000 chips

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Fratty is an exuberant personality who has been thoroughly enjoying his time at the EPT. It only cost him €250 to enter after he won a Casino Barrière satellite held before the main event. Fratty is an optician for a living but has been playing poker for fun with friends for the last 20 years. He prefers playing online and his favorite game is Omaha. He has won two $55 tournament on PokerStars; his best live result was second place in a €500 NLHE event in Paris. He has staged a great comeback at this EPT – at one point he was down to just three big blinds and he is delighted to have made it this far. He joked that if he wins, he will “buy a big flat and stop playing poker”! His wife Jessica is supporting him at home where she is caring for the couple’s two children.

Bios courtesy of PokerStars

01-25-2010 11:57 UTC+1

Seat 2: Jake “neverbluff67” Cody, 21, Rochdale, UK - 4,650,000 chips

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Former psychology student Cody came to EPT Deauville – his first ever EPT – with friends. He mainly plays online where he has a string of good results including a recent second-place finish in a $1,500 event for $198k. He went to the PCA, played loads of side events but failed to cash; he also competed in the first PokerStars Italian Poker Tour event which was won by his friend Matt Perrins and had a min-cash at the recent PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour event in Galway.

Bios courtesy of PokerStars

01-25-2010 11:56 UTC+1

Seat 1: Claudius Secara, 35, Brasov, Romania - 795,000 chips

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Romanians have certainly made an impression at this tournament, a sign of this country’s growing presence in international poker. There are two Romanians on the final table and a third Romanian - Robert Cezarescu – was knocked out in 13th place. Secara has played a number of EPTs and made it to Day 2 of the EPT Grand Final last year. His best result so far however was 12th place at EPT Prague in December for €31,400. Poker is not a full-time occupation for Secara – by day he’s the general manager of a timber company but as his wife Csila puts it: “He’s not surprised to get this far. He’s a good player and he’s worked hard for this. He hopes to go even further.”

Bios courtesy of PokerStars

01-25-2010 11:52 UTC+1

The Last and Final Table

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Good morning once again, and welcome back to the Normandy coast for the final day of the EPT Deauville.

What began with a record-breaking 768 runners six days ago has been cut down to just one lonely table containing the eight remaining survivors. They've all done well to make it this far, but seven of them will still meet with disappointment before the lights and the cameras can be switched off and the set deconstructed.

The tournament staff is toiling away, making last-minute preparations for today's big show. The chip bags are coming out, the dealers are suiting the decks, and a man with an oversized headset is tidying up the felt with a lint brush. Pretty soon, the spotlights will come on, and the eyes of the French poker world will fall upon these final eight players.

We're scheduled for a noon starting time, but then again, we're in France. It's a safe guess that you've got at least a half hour or so to kill, so we'll post some bios of the finalists for you to look at in the meantime. If you're a quick reader, move on to PokerNews TV and check out all of Gloria Balding's videos from this week at the EPT.

Sit tight, we'll be back as soon as the players file into their chairs.