German wins PokerStars.com EPT Deauville

This year's edition of PokerStars.com EPT Deauville marked the triumphant return of the European Poker Tour to France, but it ended up being a German who stole the show.

Moritz Kranich, a 28-year-old online pro from Hamburg, outlasted a record field of 645 players to win a staggering €851,400. It was the first time in three years that the EPT had rolled into picturesque Deauville to host a world-class tournament.

"It's amazing to win this event," said Kranich. "I never imagined when I got here on Tuesday that this would happen. I'm very, very happy."

Moritz, who married six months ago, now plans to buy an apartment for his wife Jessica while playing more EPT tournaments and the WSOP this summer.

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It is perhaps fitting that this year European players have been dominating the EPT. Michael Martin is the only U.S. player to win an event (although he did so in dramatic fashion by coming back from a nearly insurmountable chip deficit).

French poker fans very nearly got to see a hometown hero triumph, with Arnaud Esquevin and Tristan Clemencon coming in second and third respectively.

There was a distinct lack of well-known players in the top 100, although David "Devilfish" Ulliott came in 23rd for €15,500 (you might remember that Ulliott won a Euro Finals event earlier in the week for €151,000).

Some of the other notable players to make the money were Tony Ojala, Surinder Sunar, Freddy Deeb, Joao Barbosa and Team PokerStars Pro's Isabelle Mercier.

The event was heavily dominated by French players, who made up more than 50% of the total field. Italian players came in a distant second, comprising 10% of the field. To see a complete wrap-up of the event click here. If you're more interested in an interview with the winner you can check it out here.

Thanks to this year's success there is a strong chance that the EPT will return to Casino de Deauville another €5,350 buy-in tournament next year.

In the meantime, the next stop on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is EPT Copenhagen in Denmark. The €5,300 event takes place Feb. 17-21 at Casino Copenhagen in the Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel.

For your shot at qualifying for an EPT event, head to PokerStars.