The European Poker Tour’s return to France was always likely to come under the microscope for a number of reasons. Chief amongst them was the fact that it is a long eight years since the EPT has been to one of the poker hotspots of Europe – the 2015 EPT Deauville Main Event won by Bulgarian Ognyan Dimov for €543,700.

In the years since, PokerStars has gone through a number of changes, but after a long wait, the EPT has returned to something of a legendary country in its history, and Romanian qualifier Razvan Belea won life-changing money.

A Return to France

In the eight years since the EPT has landed in France, three French players have won the EPT Main Event, with Jean Montury winning in Malta in 2015, Kalidou Sow winning in Prague in 2017 and Nicolas Dumont conquering Monte Carlo in 2018. The home country only had one representative at the final table as the EPT Main Event reached the last nine players.

The first player to depart was Moroccan Mehdi Chaoui, who cashed for just over $117,000 when his lost out to Johan Schultz-Pedersen’s , as the board came to reduce the field to seven players. At that stage, the chip leader was Belea, who had just moved into that position after scored a useful pot courtesy of a flopped top pair.

Johan Schultz-Pedersen was the next to go, losing a big pot to Brian Delaney before being ousted by the chip leader. Belea, who qualified for the EPT Paris Main Event via an online qualifier played in his native Romania, held and won the flip against Schultz-Pedersen’s , a board of only providing the shortest of sweats from turn to river.

Delaney Delivered After River Agony

With just half a dozen players chasing the ultimate glory, it was the German player Konstantin Held who left the party next, busting in sixth place for $257,750. Held went into the last of his tournament hands behind, holding to Fabrice Bigot’s . The flop of did nothing to improve Held’s chances, and after the gave both men straight draws, the river was a brick that sank Held’s hopes, sending him home with over a quarter of a million dollars.

Out in seventh was the Dutch player Denzel Spekman. He shoved on the river of a board showing with but it was no good against Belea’s and after deliberating for some time, the Romanian qualifier made the crucial call, sending Spekman home with $198,090 and boosting his chances of victory considerably in the process.

Henri Kasper from Estonia was out in fifth place, earning $334,685 for his efforts at the start of the final day after the last five players were reduced to one over just 81 minutes of action. Kasper’s lost out to Peter Jorgne’s as the king-high flop of left Kasper hoping for a miracle. Once the dropped on the turn it was all over, the insignificant river of reduced the field to four.

Brian Delaney was the final British player to exit the tournament as he busted following two hands where he got his chips in good only to fall foul of lady luck. All-in with the bigger stack when second in chips holding on a board of , Delaney only needed to hold against Fabrice Bigot’s , but a on the river dashed his hopes of closing in on the chip lead.

Instead, Delaney was suddenly short and seconds later, he was on the rail. Calling all-in pre-flop with , Razavan Belea’s aggression with more than paid off as the board came to skittle Delaney in fourth place for $435,130.

Belea’s Belief Takes the Title

With three players remaining, Belea held the chip lead with 31.1 million, Bigot being in second place with 9.75 million and Jorgne with 7.25 million. Despite that, the second-placed Bigot was the next man out.

French hopes ended when Bigot lost a chunk of his chips to Jorgne before shoving for six big blinds as described with to Belea’s . The cruel board of gave Jorgne a runner-runner straight, sending Bigot home with a result worth $565,655, easily his biggest career score, only a month after he won the WPT Prime Main Event in the same city for $193,290.

Heads-up, Belea had a 2:1 chip lead, and there was already a huge pile of chips in the middle of the table by the time Peter Jorgne shoved the river of a board displaying . The Swede held , but after a long time considering his options with before calling with his turned straight and taking the acclaim of all in the French capital.

The European Poker Tour’s long-awaited return to France was ultimately a hugely successful idea, and it is very much “au revoir” rather than goodbye from the capital. EPT will want to quickly return to one of the key battlegrounds for European poker players.