Welcome to Day 1a of PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino €5,300 Main Event?
It may have a new — and longer — name, but PokerStars' flagship European event is back.
It's time for PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino? €5,300 Main Event to get going. Dating to the days when the event here was known as EPT Grand Final, this has always been a storied, prestigious tournament that brought out all of the best players from Europe, and often, the world.
Day 1a is set to get going with cards in the air at noon local time here in Monaco. The plan for Day 1a is to play through eight levels lasting 75 minutes apiece. There will be 20-minute breaks after every two levels, plus a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6. Players will start with stacks of 30,000 and blinds at 50/100, progressing to 400/800/100 by day's end. They cannot reenter if they are eliminated.
Day 1 Level Structure
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 min | 50 | 100 | |
| 2 | 75 min | 75 | 150 | |
| 3 | 75 min | 100 | 200 | 25 |
| 4 | 75 min | 150 | 300 | 50 |
| 5 | 75 min | 200 | 400 | 50 |
| 6 | 75 min | 250 | 500 | 75 |
| 7 | 75 min | 300 | 600 | 100 |
| 8 | 75 min | 400 | 800 | 100 |
PokerStars has already been hosting it's former European Poker Tour here in Monaco and below you can find a chart with all previous winners at Le Sporting. The buy-in for the Main Event was lowered to €5,300 last year, and Jan Bendik defeated Adrien Allain heads-up to claim the title. Bendik has already notched up a score during this PokerStars Championship as well after finishing 223rd in the € 1,100 PokerStars National Championship.
| Season | Year | Place | Players | Champion | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2005 | Monaco | 211 | Rob Hollink | Netherlands | €635,000 |
| 2 | 2006 | Monaco | 298 | Jeff Williams | United States | €900,000 |
| 3 | 2007 | Monaco | 706 | Gavin Griffin | United States | €1,825,010 |
| 4 | 2008 | Monaco | 842 | Glen Chorny | Canada | €2,020,000 |
| 5 | 2009 | Monaco | 935 | Pieter de Korver | Netherlands | €2,300,000 |
| 6 | 2010 | Monaco | 848 | Nicolas Chouity | Lebanon | €1,700,000 |
| 7 | 2011 | Madrid | 686 | Ivan Freitez | Venezuela | €1,500,000 |
| 8 | 2012 | Monaco | 665 | Mohsin Charania | United States | €1,350,000 |
| 9 | 2013 | Monaco | 531 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | €1,224,000 |
| 10 | 2014 | Monaco | 650 | Antonio Buonanno | Italy | €1,240,000 |
| 11 | 2015 | Monaco | 564 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | €1,082,000 |
| 12 | 2016 | Monaco | 1,098 | Jan Bendik | Slovakia | €961,800 |
The PokerStars Championship has already crowned Christian Harder, Kenny Smaron and Elliot Smith as champions in 2017. Stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the next few days to see who will be next.