Impressive! That one word succinctly summed up the bonanza turnout that mosied into the Barrière Casino to take its shot at EPT glory today.

Although 300 plus partook of Day 1a, Day 1b's roster trumped even that, as 343 players sat down, bringing the total for the tournament to a giant 645.

The EPT organizers will no doubt be delighted at the popularity Deauville has garnered, given its recent reintroduction into the EPT schedule.

The massive collection of players contributed to a bloated and highly attractive prize pool of €3,096,000, with €851,400 the mouthwatering first prize on offer for the man or woman who could best the other 644 hopefuls.

The cavernous hall in the Barriere casino, bedecked on all sides by luxurious drapes and illuminated by ornate chandeliers, played fitting host to a day filled with exciting, aggressive poker.

The field was principally composed of French players, keen to showcase their poker skills in their home country. Two of the better-known Frenchmen involved were Winamax player Anthony Roux, short in stature but big in talent, and Bruno Fitoussi, the man who finished second in the $50k WSOP H.O.R.S.E. tournament to Freddy Deeb in 2007.

Super Dario busted out.

Fitoussi was to succumb before the end of the day, though, as the fast pace that was the hallmark of the action took its toll on the Frenchman, whereas Roux endured slightly better fortunes, making the cut for Day 2, albeit with a short-ish stack.

Other big-name players sprinkled into the mix included EPT Baden winner Julian Thew, WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate, Team Pokerstars Pro's Noah Boeken and Luca Pagano, and celebrated bracelet winner Dario Minieri, still searching for his first EPT title despite many close calls.

Minieri wasn't to break his duck here today, busting out to a cooler in a blind-on-blind confrontation where his turned straight was no good versus his opponent Michael Fratty's turned flush.

The day proved similarly fruitless for those other prominent names, as they all crashed out on their first day at the felt, unable to add to their already success-packed histories.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for the pros though, as Freddy Deeb, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Ivo "The Chessmaster" Donev and Jesper Hougaard all navigated their way through the day successfully.

Of these, Devilfish and Donev were the most successful, with Donev running his stack up to $45,000 while the Devilfish created a story of his own. The celebrated U.K. player finished the day top of the pile with a whopping $120,000, good enough to lead the pack when the players sit down for Day 3.

Two hundred and forty-eight survivors from the opening two days will line up tomorrow as the quest for EPT glory continues. It should prove an exciting day here in France, and we can't wait to see who will bag-uette the title!

If you can stomach more sickening puns like that, then make sure you hook up with us from 12 p.m. local time tomorrow, as we bring you all the stories of carnage from the felt in our unique PokerListings style.

See you there!