The 25-year-old poker pro from New York started the final table as the chip leader and proceeded to put his unassailable big-stack to good use, eventually defeating UK pro Chris Moorman heads-up to win the prestigious tournament.

The professional attitude which helped Elio Fox take down the Main Event was reflected in the controlled manner in which he received his huge prize and his comment afterwards, as he explained:

“I think the most important thing to me is knowing whether I played well, or not…Obviously, I am ecstatic that I won this. It’s an amazing feeling. But it’s also important to keep the important stuff in mind. I mean, winning a big title isn’t everything.”

Elio Fox first started playing poker while studying at Bard College before then pursuing the game full time after graduating. Having cashed in at his first live tournament in 2010 at the NAPT $4,700 NL Main Event for $23,000, this year has really seen Fox’s results skyrocket.

In June, 2011, Fox won the $1,590 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III for $87,192, followed by victory at the $10k Bellagio Cup VII for $669,692, then a 31st place finish at the €7,500 WPT Grand Prix de Paris for $16,025. His fledgling live tournament poker career has now reached a new milestone after his victory in Cannes which sees his live earnings reach $2,804,141.

However, Elio Fox was an internet pro before he took to the live circuit and also has another $2,538,930 in online winnings under the screen name ‘smokrokbyflock’ to add to his career winnings which now exceeds $5 million.

There is little doubt the talented US pro will continue thriving in his chosen career, which has rewarded him so well over just a few short years, and as he explains:

“I like living a lifestyle that involves a lot of freedom. I don’t like being on a set routine. The idea of going to the same job every day over and over for 10 hours a day sounds like horrible to me. Poker is just the opposite of that. It is also extremely interesting. You are constantly learning new things. There is always more to learn.”

After a slow start to the day, there was then a flurry of high profile eliminations as Tony G (24th), Eric Seidel (21st), John Eames (20th), and John Duthie (18th) hit the rail in quick succession.

With just 16 players remaining, the venue was then changed to the stunning Majestic Room #3 where two tables of eight awaited the players. Before long a short-stacked Michael Drummond was out in 16th (€43,000) after moving all-in on a K-Q-7-7-2 board holding pocket sixes only to be picked-off by Brian Roberts with K-Q.

As the action rolled on, Frenchman Thibaud Guenegou found himself eliminated in 12th (€67,500), having pushed pre-flop with Qh-8d into Elio Fox’s pocket eights. Soon after the last Frenchman left in the competition Arnaud Mattern also was gone in a double knock-out, which propelled Elio Fox into an impressive lead.

In the monster hand, Arnaud Mattern holding pocket aces was all-in against
Alex Dovzhenko (A-K) and Elio Fox (10-10). Despite his confidence pre-flop, Mattern’s optimism soon foundered on a 9-10-6 flop and with no help on the following streets Alex Dovzhenko was out in 11th (€67,500) and Mattern in 10th (€90,000).

One more elimination was all that was now needed for the Final Table to be set and unfortunately for Patrik Antonius, he saw his WSOPE 2011 come to a conclusion in a dramatic fashion.

After an escalation in betting where Antonius (A-Q) three-bet Chris Moorman (A-7), the UK pro then decided to four-bet his opponent all-in with his remaining stack of 940,000. Antonius made the call but seemed annoyed when the board ran out 8-6-6-8 for the split pot, only for a 7 to then fall on the river reducing Antonius’ stack to just 80,000.

Soon after Patrik Antonius was out in 9th (€90,000) and the 2011 WSOP Europe Final Table was set as follows:

1  Elio Fox (USA)  3,990,000 
2  Jake Cody (UK) 2,685,000 
3  Dermot Blain (IRE)  2,405,000 
4  Chris Moorman (UK)  2,230,000 
5  Brian Roberts (USA) 2,000,000 
6  Max Silver (UK) 1,825,000 
7  Moritz Kranich (GER) 1,660,000 
8  Shawn Buchanan (CAN) 1,015,000

Despite not being an official bracelet event, Barbara Martinez’ victory still puts France on the WSOP Europe winners list in an otherwise disappointing year so far for the host country. Up until now France had managed just one 3rd place finish out of six WSOPE events.

Barbara Martinez hails from St. Gratien, a northern suburb of Paris. She is also a member of Team Pro BarrierePoker.fr  and did her sponsors proud on Saturday by winning the Ladies Event while playing at the casino Barrière Croisette in Cannes.

The €550 Event managed to attract a whole host of top players to the tournament, all hoping to be Europe’s first WSOP Ladies Champion and the biggest beneficiary of the €53,760 prize pool. Amongst those notable names falling short of their WSOP Europe ambitions were Claire Renaut, Erika Moutinho, Isabelle Mercier, Cathy Hong, Céline Bastian, and Lucile Cailly.

By the the time the final table of nine had been reached, seven players at the table were from France. After two hours of play Barbara Martinez was then able to lift her arms up in victory, with the final positions as follows:

1: Barbara Martinez €16,128 (France)
2: Eleanor Gudger €9,968 (UK)
3: Magali Fabron €7,097 (France)
4: Isabel Baltazar €5,156 (France)
5: Feliciana Cannillo €3,820 (France)
6: Susanne Kaufer €2,883 (Germany)
7: Sylvie Isabelle €2,217(France)
8: Marie Cieutat €1,737 (France)
9: Marion Montovani €1,385 (France)

Barbara Martinez cashed in at her first live tournament back in November 2009, and with her latest victory in Cannes now takes  her live tournament earnings to $193,229. She was also the last French player standing at the 2010 WSOP Main Event in Vegas, where she finished 527th for a $27,519 payday.

At stake is not only the most coveted gold bracelet of the poker series but also a top prize of €1.4 million ($1.9 million), which is testimony to the popularity of Cannes as a venue for the event. As a WSOP spokesperson commented:

“Not many tournaments can ever claim to jump up 71 percent in attendance from one year to the next. But as is typical, the World Series of Poker stands as the exception to just about everything.”

So far, leading the remaining field is Dutch pro Constant Rijkenberg, famous for having won the EPT Remo in 2009 for $2,139,921. Rijkenberg currently has a 462,800 chip stack with 2-times WSOP winner Hoyt Corkins not far behind on 429,900.

Other notable big stacks left in the competition include Jake Cody (323k, 4th), Erik Seidel (292k, 9th) and Shawn Buchanan (292k, 10th), while players with middling stacks include James Dempsey (231,100), Patrik Antonius (228,100), Liv Boeree (202,300), Barny Boatman (185,200), Chris Moorman (167,800) and Victor Ramdin (156,900).

Top pros still left in the hunt, but hoping for a good start to Day 3 include Tony G (135,400), Freddy Deeb   (133,200), Robert Mizrachi (110,600), Barry Greenstein (105,600), James Bord  (70,000) and Carlos Mortensen (32,400, 112th).

Amongst those top names having to wait another year for WSOP Europe glory are
Leo Margets, Peter Jetten, Scotty Nguyen, Johnny Chan, Bruno Fitoussi, David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott, Sami Kelopuro, David Sands, Nenad Medic, Men Nguyen, Filippo Candio and Randy Dorfman.

Day 3 of the WSOPE Main Event will resume today at 1200 CET when 64 players are expected to make it into the money. Payout will begin at €20,000 for players finishing 57th to 64th, going up to €90,000 for 9th and 10th place finshers.

Commenting after his remarkable second bracelet win, Mizrachi, who also had a 2nd place finish at WSOP 2011 at the Omaha & 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better event for $158,148 explained to PokerListings:

“Any time’s a good time to win a poker tournament. But the poker economy isn’t exactly what it used to be in the US right now with online poker and everything so I feel fortunate to be able to get this win.”

“I had a second-place finish this summer at the WSOP and I was right there with a huge chip lead so coming back and getting that second bracelet means a lot to me.”

With his latest bracelet win in Cannes, Mizrachi has now amassed $11,700,754 in live tournament winnings, taking him into 7th spot on poker’s all-time live tournament money list. The 30 year-old has also been playing poker for over half his life, having cashed in at his first live event in 2004.

During that time, Mizrachi’s WSOP achievements include 25 cashes at the WSOP with 13 final tables accounting for $5,085,725 of his winnings. In addition to his 2 WSOP bracelets, he also has 2 WPT titles to his credit.

Finally, talking about his blessed poker career thus far, Michael Mizrachi commented:

“I’ve been playing since I was 15 years old and I knew from the first day that things would go well. I’ve been a winner since day one and you have your ups and downs but I feel like I’ve seen it all in poker, high in the sky and rock bottom. I actually enjoy the swings a bit and even though I hope I can avoid them, I like the action.”

The 27 year-old from Florida is Director of Training  at the Deepstacks University, who now has $979,662 in live earnings to go with his  $1,457,157 won online playing under the screen name “Cre8ive.”

Tristan Wade also made two final tables at WSOP 2011 which, combined with his WSOPE victory in Cannes, has now propelled the seasoned pro into 7th spot on the 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year board. Commenting on his remarkable victory in Cannes, Wade said:

“The World Series of Poker is the best tournament series in the world. So, winning a gold bracelet in one of these events is a feat that most people will never accomplish…I would rather win a World Series bracelet rather than any other tournament. I am so glad I did. Now, I hope I can knock down some other tournaments, as well.”

As Tristan Wade reached the final table of the €3,200 NL Shootout, he was accompanied by two WSOP bracelet winners; Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and James Dempsey. He was also one of 5 Americans at the final table, which further included 2 Brits, a Canadian, a French and a Hungarian player.

Eventually, Tristan Wade (985k) went heads-up against Michael Watson (1.378m). Soon, however, Wade was able to move to a 2-to-1 chip advantage before the defining hand of the tournament was played.

Watson raised and then four-bet shoved holding Ah-5h into Wade’s pocket jacks, only for the board to then run out Qs-Qd-4h-10c-2h. Consequently, Michael Watson collected €112,526 for his runner-up finish, while Tristan Wade was crowned the champion.

Here are the finishing results at the final table:

1st: Tristan Wade (US) €182,048
2nd: Michael Watson (US) €112,526
3rd: Richard Toth (Hungary) €84,016
4th: Max Silver (UK) €63,151
5th: Bertrand Grospellier (France) €47,763
6th: Steve O’Dwyer (US) €36,357
7th: Emil Patel (US) €27,842
8th: Taylor Paur (US) €21,459
9th: James Dempsey (UK) €16,637
10th: John Armbrust (US) €12,981

Back in 2007, Billirakis won the WSOP $5k Mixed Hold’em Championship in Las Vegas for $536,287 aged just 21. Now the US pro has doubled his bracelet haul with his victory in Cannes, and commenting on his remarkable feat, said:

“I am happy that I did this. Five years went by without winning, which is a long time. Back then, you don’t know as much and you think you are going to win the very next tournament that you play. But then as you go on you realize it’s tough and you even begin to wonder if you are ever going to win one of these again. I now realize that I can win, if I am dedicated enough and put in enough effort.”

The 25 year-old cashed at his first tournament back in 2004, and has now gone on to amass $2,296,954 playing live, as well as a further $1,241,346 playing online under the screen name “MrSmokey1.”

As the final table of the €5,300 PLO event got underway, UK pro Sam Trickett was leading the nine man table with Billirakis close behind in second spot. As the other players exited the arena, Trickett and Billirakis were able to maintain their big stacks but with five players remaining their positions reversed as they ended up at the bottom of the chip counts.

Whereas Sam Trickett was subsequently eliminated in 4th place (€77,642), Billirakis did enough to go through to heads-up play against Italian player Michele di Lauro. Two hands later and it was all over, as Michele Di Lauro was relegated to a runner-up finish worth €147,171 ($196,600), while Steve Billirakis was crowned the WSOPE  €5.300 PLO Champion.

The final finishing positions were as folows:

1st: Steve Billirakis – €238,140
2nd: Michele Di Lauro – €147,171
3rd: Ramzi Jelassi – €105,937
4th: Sam Trickett – €77,642
5th: Jerome Bradpiece – €57,912
6th: Konstantin Uspenskiy – €43,950
7th: Erich Kollmann – €33,922
8th: Sam Chartier – €26,610
9th: Eoghan O’Dea – €21,221

The Australian poker pro cashed in at his first live tournament in 2009, but 2011 has really seen his bankroll sky rocket. In addition to his latest victory in Cannes, the 23-year-old also finished 23rd at this year’s WSOP Main Event in Vegas for $302,005, taking his career earnings to $761,270.

Commenting on his golden year, Andrew Hinrichsen said:

“It’s a significant achievement, for sure…This year has been really amazing. I had a bit of an up and down year last year. I spent some time away from poker. But this year has been really good for me and I have done really well.”

As the final table of the €1,090 NL event got underway, Hinrichsen was second in chips, but way behind table leader Gianluca Speranza from Italy. Speranza then proceeded to use his big stack to good effect, first eliminating Gregory Lejolivet in 9th (€13,982) and later Eric Baudry (USA) in 6th (€28,977), whose pocket fives lost to the Italian’s A-K. 
 
Next to leave was the biggest name at the table Welshman Roberto Romanello, who was seeking a WSOPE bracelet to go with his EPT and WPT titles already won this year. However, things didn’t go all that well for Romanello who soon found himself all-in holding A-2 to Bernard Guigon’s A-K. Romanello was then eliminated in 5th place for €37,874.

Guigon himself was next to fall in 4th (€50,146) and after Tarcisio Bruno hit the rail in 3rd (€67,281), Andrew Hinrichsen and start of the day chip leader Gianluca Speranza went heads-up for the championship.

However, the 26 year old Italian ran badly losing two all-ins first with A-10 v 10h-9h, and later with pocket fives v 10h-8h and he was eliminated soon after in 2nd spot for €91,262.

Meanwhile, Andrew Hinrichsen was crowned the champion and reflecting back on the first two days of the four day event, said:

“I got a bigger stack early, so I was never really in jeopardy, until the second day. On Day Two, the key hand for me was when I got into a big hand against Vanessa Selbst. I four-bet called with ace-ten. It was for like 40 big blinds. She had ace-eight, so I was fortunate to run into the bottom end of her range…my read was right on the hand but I was also a bit lucky since she could have had a better hand than me at that point.”

Aside from coming as a blow to UK poker at losing the largest event this side of the Atlantic, the players themselves seemed pleased enough at the idea of a change of locale. Now, with the 2011 WSOPE fully underway in Cannes, this is being backed-up by the number of positive tweets coming from the pros.

In terms of attendance figures, Event 1 in Cannes attracted 360 players up from the 244 last year in London, while Event 2 set a WSOPE record for attendance with the field of 771 way above the 582 field attracted to the equivalent event in London in 2010.

Event 3 was also up from 120 last year in London to 180 in Cannes, adding further confirmation that the WSOPE management team made the right decision in moving the venue to France.

One top player obviously delighted to be currently competitng in Cannes is Canadian pro Terrence Chan, with $829,199 in live earnings to his credit. Singing his praise of the Cote d’Azur resort from his blog, Chan first qualified his bias against the UK capital by explaining:
 
“I’m not really the biggest fan of London either, which I’ve always found expensive, lacking in quality mid-range priced food, and not terribly interesting.”

He then went onto explain that he found the whole pre-event wiring and pre-registering procedure smoother in Cannes, and was pleased to have more local/amateur people playing in the tournaments, reflected in the larger player fields.

Summing up his feeling from the south of France, Chan concluded his lengthy but interesting blog in the following way:

“Cannes is less expensive (though still plenty expensive), prettier, boasts a superior climate, has great food for all budgets, and there’s way more value in the tournament itself. Easy win, n’est-ce pas?”

Four days later and the nine man final table has been set with the big name at the table none other than Roberto Romanello.

The Welsh pro first started playing poker in 2005 after a soccer injury forced him out of the game, and he has been making an impact on the poker circuit ever since.

During his short time as a pro, Romanello has notched up an impressive $2,157,142 in live tournament earnings. Counted amongst his poker victories is a win at the 2010 EPT Prague for €640,000, as well as victories in 2011 at the WPT Bratislava for $197,861, and EPT Barcelona Turbo Six Max for €110,250.

Now with the possibility of a WSOPE bracelet and a Triple Crown within reach, the affable poker pro noted for his well-honed trash-talking skills will be the headline at this year’s Event 2 final table.

However, if Roberto Romanello is to realise a Triple Crown he will first have to navigate his way through a final table of solid players also intent on capturing a coveted gold bracelet, as well as the €148,030 ($201,257) top prize.

As the final table of Event 2 resumes today in Cannes, this is how the players currently line-up:

1. Gianluca Speranza – 757k
2. Andrew Hinrichsen – 434k
3. Roberto Romanello – 253k
4. Nabil Nedjai – 250k
5. Eric Baudry – 232k
6. Tarcisio Bruno – 153k
7. John Eames – 106k
8. Gregory Lejolivet – 95k
9. Bernard Guigon – 53k

Meanwhile, notable names falling short of the final table but cashing in at the WSOP Europe event included Matthew Waxman (74th), McLean Karr (72nd), Randy Dorfman (53rd), Joseph Cheong (48th), Toby Lewis (44th), Dan Kelly (39th), Kevin MacPhee (33rd), Vanessa Selbst (32nd), and Erik Cajelais (20th).