2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

�1,100 FPS Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aq
Prize
€307,160
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,100
Prize Pool
€2,052,480
Entries
2,138
Level Info
Level
42
Blinds
1,000,000 / 2,000,000
Ante
2,000,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
420
Players Left
63

Spragg, Beresford Among Those Advancing After Day 1a in �1,100 FPS Main Event

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Benjamin Spragg
Benjamin Spragg

An action-packed first flight of the �1,100 FPS Main Event as part of PokerStars EPT presented by Monte-Carlo Casino? wrapped up early Thursday morning as 63 players out of 420 entrants advanced to Day 2. Leading the pack is Spain's Adrian Chabbi with 513,000, while Germany's Leon Sturm and France's Francois Vincenti are not far behind with respective stacks of 438,000 and 406,000.

Also in the top 10 end-of-day chip counts are Norway's Jon Kyte (339,000) and the United Kingdom's Conor Beresford (314,000), who brought the day to an end when he eliminated Mathieu His on the stone money bubble.

Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

 RANKPLAYERCOUNTRYCHIP COUNTBIG BLINDS
 1Adrian ChabbiSpain513,000103
 2Leon SturmGermany438,00088
 3Francois VincentiFrance406,00081
 4Rachid El YaacoubiFrance373,00075
 5Jon KyteNorway339,00068
 6Tomas KolarikCzech Republic336,00067
 7Ken OkadaJapan332,00066
 8Dario CannistraItaly327,00065
 9Conor BeresfordUnited Kingdom314,00063
 10Mathias BayerGermany314,00063

Benjamin Spragg is also among the players who will return on Day 2 after the PokerStars ambassador bagged a decent stack of 253,000 worth 51 big blinds. Marle Spragg and fellow PokerStars pro Parker Talbot were both in the Day 1a field as well but neither was able to make it to bag-and-tag time.

Other notables who found bags include Tom Orpaz, Jason Wheeler, Jessica Teusl, Antoine Saout, Ana Marquez and Vicente Delgado, all of whom will return for Day 2 on April 28.

Ana Marquez
Ana Marquez

But there are still two more flights (not including the currently underway Day 1b) that will take place on April 27 and will follow similar structures to today's flights. Day 1c will kick off at 11 a.m. local time, while the turbo Day 1d will get underway at 6 p.m.

Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here on the Monaco coast and will be back tomorrow to provide updates on the FPS action.

Tags: Adrian ChabbiAna MarquezAntoine SaoutBenjamin SpraggConor BeresfordFrancois VincentiJason WheelerJessica TeuslJon KyteKen OkadaLeon SturmMarle SpraggMathieu HisParker TalbotRachid El YaacoubiTom OrpazTomas KolarikVicente Delgado

Nuri Gets Value from "Spraggy"

Level 13 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Benjamin Spragg
Benjamin Spragg

Axel Hallay opened to 5,000 from under the gun and Karo Nuri flat-called on the button before Benjamin Spragg defended out of the big blind.

The flop of 2?4?J? checked through and Spragg and Hallay both checked again on the 4? turn. Nuri bet 10,500 and only Spragg called.

Spragg checked a third time on the 3? river and Nuri bet 15,500. Spragg peeked at his cards and looked over to his opponent before calling. Nuri showed J?9? for a pair of jacks and Spragg mucked.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Benjamin Spragg gb
Benjamin Spragg
140,000
90,000
90,000
Profile photo of Karo Nuri ch
Karo Nuri
130,000
52,000
52,000
Profile photo of Axel Hallay fr
Axel Hallay
70,000

Tags: Axel HallayBenjamin SpraggKaro Nuri

Marquez Chips Up; Talbot Joins

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Ana Marquez
Ana Marquez

Ana Marquez opened to 3,500 from the cutoff and Virgil Grecu defended in the big blind as PokerStars Team Pro Parker Talbot joined the table with a big bottle of Ros�� in hand.

"I was with him at dinner just barely," Jon Kyte said at the next table over. "I didn't think he was going to make it!"

Grecu checked on the flop of 8?6?J? and Marquez continued for 3,000. Grecu laid it down.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ana Marquez es
Ana Marquez
165,000
5,000
5,000
Profile photo of Virgil Grecu ro
Virgil Grecu
85,000
-25,000
-25,000
Profile photo of Parker Talbot ca
Parker Talbot
30,000
30,000
30,000

Tags: Ana MarquezJon KyteVirgil Grecu

Spragg Takes From Trofimov

Level 10 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Benjamin Spragg
Benjamin Spragg

In a heads-up pot with roughly 17,000 in the middle on a flop showing J?3?2?, Benjamin Spragg checked from under the gun to Dragos Trofimov who bet out 2,500. Spragg tossed in chips for the call and the pair saw the 6? turn.

Both players checked their options to the 5? river where Spragg elected to take the betting lead with a size of 14,000. Trofimov quickly let his hand go and the pot was sent to the PokerStars Ambassador.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dragos Trofimov md
Dragos Trofimov
122,000
-13,000
-13,000
Profile photo of Benjamin Spragg gb
Benjamin Spragg
56,000
-4,000
-4,000

Tags: Benjamin SpraggDragos Trofimov

Julien Dislodges a Pot

Level 9 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Harry Lodge
Harry Lodge

Harry Lodge opened to 2,500 in early position and Nicolas Julien called in the hijack to get things heads-up.

Lodge continued for 2,500 on the flop of Q?Q?3? and Julien called. Lodge sized up to 4,000 on the J? turn and Julien again called.

The 5? river completed the board and Lodge slowed down by checking. Julien bet 15,700 and Lodge laid it down.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Harry Lodge gb
Harry Lodge
85,000
22,000
22,000
Profile photo of Nicolas Julien fr
Nicolas Julien
55,000
55,000
55,000

Tags: Harry LodgeNicolas Julien

Duta Continues To Climb

Level 8 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Florian-Dimitrie Duta
Florian-Dimitrie Duta

In a heads-up pot with 4,800 in the middle on a flop showing 5?3?3?, Florian Duta checked from the big blind to Stefan Huber under the gun who bet out 1,200. Duta put in a check-raise to 3,500 and Huber made the call.

The A? hit the turn and Duta kept up the aggression with a bet of 11,000. Huber took some time, but in the end made the fold and another pot was sent to Duta.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Florian Duta ro
Florian Duta
90,000
55,000
55,000
Profile photo of Stefan Huber ch
Stefan Huber
26,000

Tags: Florian DutaStefan Huber

Kyte Cracks Kings To Score Massive Double Up

Level 7 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante
Jon Kyte
Jon Kyte

The action was picked up in a pot of close to 30,000 on a board showing 8?8?5?4?. Josef Huber bet out 10,000 and Jon Kyte moved all in for 44,000 total. Huber made the call with a slightly bigger stack.

Jon Kyte: 7?6?
Josef Huber: K?K?

Kyte turned the nut straight and had Huber in need of a king or an eight to score the pot. The river fell the 9? and Kyte secured the massive double up off Huber.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jon Kyte no
Jon Kyte
110,000
78,000
78,000
Profile photo of Josef Huber cz
Josef Huber
9,000
9,000
9,000

Tags: Jon KyteJosef Huber

Guichard Gets Value On River

Level 6 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Vincent Facquet
Vincent Facquet

In a three-way pot with just under 20,000 in the middle on a board showing Q?10?7?2?, Oliver Huber in the big blind, Vincent Facquet from under the gun, and Florian Guichard on the button all checked their options.

The A? completed the board and action checked to Guichard who tossed out a bet of 7,000. Huber quickly folded and Facquet went deep in the tank. After over a minute of deliberation, Facquet tossed out the chips for a call.

Guichard confidently tabled A?7? for rivered two pair and scored the pot when Facquet mucked his hand.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Vincent Facquet fr
Vincent Facquet
90,000
58,000
58,000
Profile photo of Florian Guichard fr
Florian Guichard
48,000
48,000
48,000
Profile photo of Oliver Huber de
Oliver Huber
27,000
27,000
27,000

Tags: Florian GuichardOliver HuberVincent Facquet

Naydenov Takes Another One

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante
Simeon Naydenov
Simeon Naydenov

In a three-way pot with 3,600 in the middle on a flop of J?8?5?, Gerard Cohen and Simeon Naydenov checked from the blinds over to the under-the-gun player who bet out 1,500. Cohen and Naydenov both called and the 7? hit the turn.

Cohen checked again and Naydenov took the lead with a bet of 4,500, which only Cohen called to see the 7? river. Cohen elected to check a third time and Naydenov put out a small bet of 3,000, which Cohen quickly called.

Naydenov rolled over 9?6? for a turned straight and Cohen tabled K?J? to show his two-pair was no good.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Simeon Naydenov bg
Simeon Naydenov
59,000
11,600
11,600
Profile photo of Gerard Cohen fr
Gerard Cohen
14,000
14,000
14,000

Tags: Gerard CohenSimeon Naydenov

"Always the Israeli:" Koko Cracks Aces to Bust Demlakian

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
Yonatan Koko
Yonatan Koko

An early position player opened to 500 and Yonatan Koko called in middle position before two players called behind him. Ken Demlakian three-bet out of the small blind and only Koko called.

"Always the Israeli!" laughed Demlakian. "When there's a murder, they always say it's the husband or the butler. But here, it's always the Israeli!"

Demlakian checked on the 9?Q?2? flop and Koko bet 2,000. Demlakian called and as he did so, asked his opponent how he got "that bump on your nose."

"You want to know the truth?" asked Koko. "It happened today. I was looking at Google Maps and walked into a pole."

As this conversation took place, Demlakian checked again on the 3? turn and Koko bet 4,000. The conversation died down as Demlakian check-raised all in to send Koko into the tank.

"You had enough of the game? I think you've had enough of the game," Koko said before making the call with his opponent covered.

Ken Demlakian: A?A?
Yonatan Koko: Q?10?

Demlakian was ahead with aces but that changed when the dealer put down the 10? on the river to give Koko two pair to mark the Australian's elimination.

"He said it's always the Israeli!" Koko said after his opponent left.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Yonatan Koko il
Yonatan Koko
70,000
70,000
70,000
Profile photo of Ken Demlakian au
Ken Demlakian
Busted

Tags: Ken DemlakianYonatan Koko