Van Leeuwen Wins FPS Deauville For €175k

Dutch poker pro Niels Van Leeuwen has won the France Poker Series Deauville, after beating 1,095 players over five days on his way to lifting the trophy, and collecting the €175,000 (US$237,031) first place prize.
The €1,100 Main Event attracted an almost record sized field to create a prize pool worth €1,051,200, and by the last day of the tournament just eight players were left to compete for the title. Incredibly,  Van Leeuwen was the only non-Frenchman still remaining in the competition with the remaining finalists then lining-up as follows:
1 Jean-Paul Vasseur     5,960,000
2 Christophe Leroux     4,055,000
3 Niels Van Leeuwen     3,790,000
4 Fahd Kaabat             3,415,000
5 Corentin Ropert     3,015,000
6 Erwann Pecheux     2,585,000
7 Yehoram Houri     2,255,000
8 Mathieu Mariani     2,170,000
Niels Van Leeuwen subsequently lost a big pot holding pocket tens to Erwann Pecheux’s A-K to be reduced to a short-stack, but was then able to wrestle some of his chips back from the same opponent in a J-J versus 5-5 hand. A little later, Niels Van Leeuwen (A-Q) eliminated Pecheux (4-4) from the tournament in 6th for a €33,000 payday.
Van Leeuwen (A-10) then did likewise to Christophe Leroux (A-9) in 5th (€45,000), before being dealt K-Q and taking care of Corentin Ropert (A-8) in 4th for €60,100. After van Leeuwen bounced Yehoram Houri out in 3rd (€82,100), the heads-up phase of the competition got underway with Jean-Paul Vasseur holding a 16.025m to 11.190m chip advantage over Niels Van Leeuwen.
Not long later, Van Leeuwen took a massive chip lead after shoving all-in with A-A and getting a call from Vasseur with pocket fives, with the defining hand eventually coming when Van Leeuwen’s K-K made short work of Vasseur pre-flop A-7 shove. Jean-Paul Vasseur then collected €115,000 for his hard-fought efforts, while Van Leeuwen was crowned the 2014 FPS Deauville main event champion.
Final Table Payouts:
1 – Niels van Leeuwen – €175,000
2 – Jean-Paul Vasseur – €115,000
3 – Yehoram Houri – €82,100
4 – Corentin Ropert – €60,100
5 – Christophe Leroux – €45,000
6 – Erwann Pecheux – €33,000
7 – Mathieu Mariani – €25,000
8 – Fahd Kaabat – €21,580