Still, it wasn’t necessarily the day Pagano hoped.
The esteemed Italian pro had a huge Day 4 on Friday as he rocketed himself to 3.5 million in chips and a one million-chip headstart over the pack heading into today.
Things didn’t go quite as smoothly, however, and Pagano ended up droppping 1.5 million in chips and slipping to sixth to enter the final table with 2.010,000.
Instead of a commanding lead, Pagano will be chasing the frontrunners topped by Frenchman Paul Guichard, the new chip leader with 5,955,000.
Guichard is followed closely by Vadzim Kursevich, EPT Berlin final-tablist and part of a five-way chop for last year’s WCOOP Main Event, who sits second with 5,670,000.
Pagano’s seventh EPT final table is still a new record, as is his 20th EPT cash.
Mixed Bag in Final Eight
Rounding out the final eight with Pagano, Guichard and Kursevich are a quintet of players all looking to make a big splash.
Frenchman Olivier Rogez, owner of a cleaning company and among the leaders for the past two days in Deauville, will come in third in chips with 4,415,000.
Bruno Jais, another Frenchman and a 20-year poker vet, will enter fourth with 3,450,000 while 21-year-old Parisian computer science student Vuong Than Trong sits fifth with 2,570,000.
After Pagano in sixth comes Frenchman Yorane Kerignard, an EPT San Remo final-tablist, in seventh with 1,680,000.
Sitting on the short stack is Mick Graydon, the first Irishman to make Supernova Elite, winner of over $1.2 million online and pal of Irish PokerStars pro Jude Ainsworth.
Graydon will have 960,000 chips to start the day.
Bustouts, Big Day Tomorrow
Among the notable players to hit the bricks today were Chris “NigDawG” Brammer, Kevin Vandersmissen, Marc Inizan, and Ignat Liviu.
Action will start up again at noon in snowy Deauville on Monday.
Each player is now guaranteed at least €67,200 with €875,000 earmarked for the winner.
As an interesting side note, French gaming law actually restricts any deal-making at the final table so players will be claiming the prizes as they are listed.
The official final eight and their chip counts, care of the PokerStars blog.
1. Paul Guichard 5,955,000
2. Vadzim Kursevich 5,670,000
3. Olivier Rogez 4,415,000
4. Bruno Jais 3,450,000
5. Vuong Than Trong 2,570,000
6. Luca Pagano 2,010,000
7. Yorane Kerignard 1,680,000
8. Mick Graydon 960,000
Visit www.pokerlistings.com