Category: The Third Rail

Given Randall Emmett’s online feud with the bad boy rapper 50-Cent, the poker table must be a landscape the TV and film producer welcomes. He’s undoubtedly spending more time there.

The stardust of the 2019 Poker Masters is not due to sparkle until 4 November. The PokerGO production team have kept the rust from their equipment by hosting three consecutive $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em events at the esteemed venue. Emmett won the first two.

The first event attracted a field of 20-entrants, and Emmett took the $108,000 first prize after beating Sean Winter, heads-up, for the title. The only other player to make a profit was Dylan Linde, who finished third. The win was Emmett’s best since racking up his first-ever live tournament score in 2012, finishing third for $196,000 in an invitational event at the Wynn.

It was Winter’s first in the money (ITM) finish since winning a $5,250 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) in August. It’s a rare foray to a poker table for Winter, who is dedicating more time at home with his expectant wife. Winter currently leads the Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year rankings but didn’t pick up any extra points due to the minuscule size of the field.

ITM Finishes

1. Randall Emmett – $108,000
2. Sean Winter – $60,000
3. Dylan Linde – $32,000

The next day, Emmett returned to the PokerGO Studios and defeated 19-entrants to win his second $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em title. If Winter wasn’t a tough enough opponent for Emmett, how about Sam Soverel?

Soverel currently leads the Poker Central Player of the Year race and won the British Poker Open (BPO) a few weeks back, so he is in banging form. Emmett bested him, however, to take the $102,600 first prize. Kristina Holst finished third.

ITM Finishes

1. Randall Emmett – $102,600
2. Sam Soverel – $57,000
3. Kristina Holst – $30,400

Emmett has now earned a smidgen over $500,000 playing live tournament poker. He will need to up his game if he’s going to fill the $1m gap repaying a debt to 50-Cent created.

After his second win, Emmett celebrated by taking his partner, Lala Kent, on a date to the Sugar Factory. The Vanderpump Rules star recently stoked 50-Cent’s molten core after claiming on ‘What Happens Live’ that her previous social media spat with 50-Cent got under his skin.

The Grammy Award winner reacted by poking fun at Kent’s problems with addiction and also firing a few fresh shots at our back-to-back ARIA High Roller winner.

Emmett might be crushing people at the poker table, but he wants no piece of Jackson. According to press reports, Emmett responded to the attack on his lady, by posting an Instagram post begging Fofty to stop attacking his good woman.

50-Cent never responded, but has taken down some of his posts directed at Kent’s past issues with addiction.

Back to poker, and Emmett has now won four live poker tournaments. The first came in June of last year when he stomped his Nike’s on 314-entrants to win the $200 No-Limit Hold’em Daily DeepStack at the RIO during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $11,355.

In February, Emmett beat 31-entrants to win the first prize of $12,320 in a $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em DeepStack at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood. He also came tenth in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in this year’s WSOP.

Gagging sounds replace the echoes of ankle chains clanking against computer tables as the oesophagus becomes reacquainted with food.

PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is over.

The $5,200 WCOOP Main Event attracted 2,236-entrants (inc. 599 re-entries), and would you Adam and Eve it, Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi, led the final nine as temperatures soared to boiling point.

Fountains pens belonging to poker poets bled black ink as Shakerchi attempted to become the first player to win both Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and WCOOP Main Event titles.

The hedge fund manager from the land of Jack the Ripper didn’t make it, but his sojourn was more chrysanthemums than cacti, finishing a respectable third place, for $846,528.35.

After Shakerchi fell in third, the heads-up action pitted ‘BigBlindBets’ against Brazil’s Danilo ‘dans170’ Demetrio. The former had a huge chip lead and quickly banished the Brazilian to the rail. Both players earned seven-figure scores with Demetrio winning $1,187,553.01, and ‘BigBlindBets’ banking $1,665,962.04.

According to an ‘About Me’ page on the PokerMarket.com forum, ‘BigBlindBets’, is a high stakes cash game player on PokerStars, and has played poker since 2010.

Final Table Results

1 – BigBlindBets (UK) – $1,665,962.04
2 – Danilo “dans170′” de Lima Demetrio (Brazil) – $1,187,553.01
3 – Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi (UK) – $846,528.35
4 – NeedBeat (Estonia) – $603,434.91
5 – 19Pistike93 (Hungary) – $403,148.26
6 – XMorphineX (Belgium) – $306,624.91
7 – Leitnant (Estonia) – $218,572.35
8 – moglimiranda (Germany) – $155,805.59
9 – TheMakrill7 (Sweden) – $111,063.23

WCOOP Stats

Events: 219
Entries: 1,219,969
Prize pools: $104,733,898.76
First prizes so far: $15,765,054.94
In-the-money finishers: 173,364

Russia won the most titles with 28, and Brazil took second place with 23.

Here are the individual leaderboards.

High buy-in:

1 – Rui ‘RuiNF’ Ferreira Netherlands 705 — $7,500 plus trophy
2 – Felipe ‘Zagazaur’ Oliveira Netherlands 700
3 – Jussi ‘calvin7v’ Nevanlinna Finland 675
4 – Joao ‘Naza114’ Vieira UK 600
5 – Yuri ‘theNERDguy’ Martins Brazil 495

Overall:

1 – Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna Finland 1,400 – $20,000 plus trophy
2 – Felipe ‘Zagazaur’ Oliveira Netherlands 1,345
3 – Rui ‘RuiNF’ Ferreira Netherlands 1,280
4 – Timothy ‘TruthBeTold7’ Rutherford Canada 1,205
5 – Shaun ‘shaundeeb’ Deeb Mexico 1,150
6 – Konstantin ‘krakukra’ Maslek Russia 1,050
7 – Dimitry ‘Colisea’ Urbanovich Latvia 1,040
8 – Mike ‘goleafsgoeh’ Leah Canada 955
9 – FONBET_RULIT Russia 880
10 – WTFOMFGOAO Russia 845

Weekend High Roller Winners

Igor Kurganov enjoyed another productive weekend, online.

The PokerStars Ambassador topped a field of 100 entrants (inc, 39 re-entries) in the $2,100 Sunday High Roller on PokerStars. Kurganov won $46,086.94 after conquering a final table that included Michael Addamo (6th), Dominik Nitsche (4th), Jorryt van Hoof (7th) and Ole Schemion (9th). Kurganov beat Luke Reeves, heads-up, for the title.

Addamo then followed up his sixth place with a victory in the $2,100 Sunday Cooldown Turbo PKO for $68,301.12. Addamo, who plays from Thailand, also won a WCOOP title during the most recent series, for $259k.

Another high roller on point this weekend was Michael Soyza. The Triton Champion took down a 52-entrant, $25,000 buy-in event on his native GGPoker for $486,858, a week after finishing third in a similar event for $249,993.

Here is the PocketFives World Rankings #2

PocketFives World Rankings

1. Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro – 10,207
2. Patrick “pleno1” Leonard – 9,323
3. Andras “probirs” Nemeth – 9,177
4. Niklas “lena900” Astedt – 9.012
5. Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar – 8,622

Manig Loeser’s tail is wagging. 

The German star has taken down the €5,300 buy-in PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Main Event, after an excruciatingly long final table that ended at 4 am. 

From the outside-in, PokerStars enjoyed an incredible resurgent in popularity as players flocked to the French principality in their droves. There was so much money piled up inside the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort the organisers had to stick a flashing red light on the top to stop the planes from crashing into it. 

I mean, come on, can you imagine having to stack it all up again.

Loeser overcame a 922-entrant field (the third largest in EPT Monte Carlo history), to win the €603,777 first prize. If you think that number is a tad low for such a big buy-in event, then it’s because the final three players cut a deal that left €78,061 to play for (who can blame them after nine hours of five-handed play). 

It’s Loeser’s seventh live tournament victory, and his third in the past six months after winning a $25,000 at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic, and a 1,250-entrant $400 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Venetian, both in a dazzling December. Loeser also finished runner-up to Toby Lewis in the AUD 50,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions, so he came into the Monte Carlo with the scent of money sticking to his moustache.

It’s also Loeser’s second major win on the live circuit, after taking down the inaugural Triton Poker Series Main Event in Montenegro in 2017, winning $2,162.644. Loeser has decided against returning to the scene of his most significant win, in favour of heading to Kyrenia for the Merit Poker Classic where he will no doubt compete in the $5,300, $3M GTD Main Event, the $10,500 High Roller and $25,500 Super High Roller. 

It’s also worth noting that Timothy Adams fell seven places short of winning his fourth major event in succession. Adams finished 8th after winning a $25k High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), the Triton Poker Series Jeju Main Event, and a €25k High Roller earlier on in this event. The odds on us having another back-to-back Triton Poker Series Main Event winner are high as Adams heads to Montenegro in search of more glory.

Final Table Results

1. Manig Loeser – €603,777*
2. Wei Huang – €552,056*
3. Viktor Katzenberger – €529,707*
4. Ryan Riess – €265,620
5. Nicola Grieco – €206,590
6. Luis Medina – €152,800
7. Rustam Hajiyev – €109,510
8. Timothy Adams – €78,030
   *Indicates a three-handed deal.

Rainer Kempe Wins Another €25k Event.

It was a good day for the No-Limit Gaming (NLG) Stream Team as Rainer Kempe joined Loeser in the winner’s enclosure after taking down a 53-entrant (36 entrants and 17 re-entries) €25k High Roller. 

Kempe is a man on form, and his win sees him move into the #2 in the Global Poker Index (GPI) World Rankings, and #3 in the 2019 GPI Player of the Year (POY) race. It’s his ninth win in the past 12-months. 

The German star doubled up through David Peters QQ>AK when six-handed, and he never looked back eliminating Steve O’Dwyer in fifth place AK>A9, and David Peters in fourth KTo>A7s after flopping a king. 

The three-handed play saw Kempe facing the Brazilian pairing of Andre Akkari and Joao Simao, but neither could stop his ascent. Kempe ousted Akkari when AK battered A2, and he coasted through the heads-up encounter with Simao – the final hand seeing his A6 besting J5. 

Final Table Results

1. Rainer Kempe – €400,850
2. Joao Simao – €289,500
3. Andre Akkari – €184,520
4. David Peters – €139,980
5. Steve O’Dwyer – €108,170
6. Seth Davies – €82,710
7. Richard Yong – €66,800

Benjamin Pollak Prevents Koray Aldemir From Completing an NLG Clean Sweep

Benjamin Pollak prevented an NLG clean sweep, after beating Koray Aldemir in the heads-up phase of another €25k event. It’s the Frenchman’s tenth live tournament victory, with three of them coming in $25k+ buy-in events (He won the $50k at EPT Barcelona, and a $25k in the US Poker Open, last year).

The event pulled in 142 entrants (98 entries, and 44 re-entries), and there was a lot of heat at the final table. The aforementioned Aldemir came into this one on the back of a win and second in the US Poker Open, a third in the €25,000 at the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge, and a runner-up in a €5k at the same event. Joao Vieira finished sixth in the €10,300, Daniel Dvoress placed fourth in the €100k, and Sergio Aido won that event for €1.58m. 

It was tight.

Aldemir was one card away from taking the title after the pair got it in on AsKd7s2h with Aldemir ahead with top pair versus a flush draw only for Pollak to hit it on the river. The final hand was also fortuitous as Pollak made the call on Kh6h4h holding 9h9d, and Aldemir ahead with KsTc, only for the Frenchman to hit a third nine on the river.  

Final Table Results

1. Benjamin Pollak – €705,840*
2. Koray Aldemir – €655,840*
3. Marton Czuczor – €364,460
4. Laszlo Bujtas – €300,340
5. Michael Addamo – €241,290
6. Sergio Aido – €188,980
7. Laurynas Levinskas – €141,730
8. Daniel Dvoress – €104,610
9. Joao Vieira – €80,990
   *Indicates a heads-up deal

Before January, you had to go back to May 2017 to find a Hendon Mob entry with the name ‘Timothy Adams’ etched into the top spot. Of course, this doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been on top form – that’s not how this beautiful game works. It does mean that the Canadian has seen nothing but tombstones these past two years. 

The run has ended.

Adams registered his third win of 2019 after winning the €25,000 Single-Day High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monte Carlo. It follows victories in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $50,000 for $372,508, and a personal best score in the HKD 2,000,000 Triton Poker Series Jeju Main Event for $3.5m. 

Let’s take a look at how he did it, from the final table down. 

Kazuhiko Yotsushika eliminated Chan Wai Leong in eight place. With blinds at 10,000/25,000/25,000, the man from Japan opened to 55,000 and then called when Leong shoved for 12 big blinds. Leong was in good shape when it turned out his pocket eights were up against the Ks7s of his opponent, only for Yotsushika to suffocate him hitting runner-runner spades to eliminate the man from Malaysia with a flush. 

Charlie Carrel was making his third final table of the series, and it was the man from the UK who was responsible for hacking the final table down to six players, calling a 26 big blind shove from Ali Reza Fatehi with pocket queens. The Iranian tabled AcJs, and unlike Yotsushika before him, failed to improve on either flop, turn or river.

Carrel made it a one-two after eliminating final table perennial, Isaac Haxton, after opening the button and then calling a 21 big blind shove holding AcTc. Haxton turned up with Js8s, and despite flopping a pair of eights and a flush draw, the turn and river provided nothing but a big freeze. 

That hand sent Carrel to the summit of the chip counts like a missile, and after his QJo flopped a pair of queens to send Alex Foxen’s pocket nines to the rail in fifth place, it looked for all the world that he would last longer than his fourth-place finish in the €10,300, and sixth place finish in the €100k. 

It wasn’t to be.

Timothy Adams won back-to-back hands against Carrel, knocking the Englishman down to 15 big blinds, and Adams swallowed them whole, calling a shove holding pocket sevens to beat A2. As in the €10k, Carrel would have to settle for a fourth-place finish.

With Adams taking control, Sean Winter laddered up nicely after the elimination of Yotsushika. Firstly, Winter doubled through the man when AK beat KQ, but his heads-up encounter with Adams would begin with the Canadian standing on top of a Game of Thrones sized wall after Adams eliminated Yotsushika when 9s7s beat KsTh after flopping a seven.

Heads-Up

Timothy Adams – 7,900,000

Sean Winter – 400,000

Winter needed something to happen quickly, and it did, doubling up three times in succession. Despite these victories, Winter still trailed Adams by 6m v 2.3m. Then in the first few hands of Level 21, it was all over, when the pair got it in with Adams holding Ks5s, Winter holding pocket sevens, and Adams flopped and turned trip fives to win the competition.

Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results.

1. Timothy Adams – €548,030
2. Sean Winter – €389,600
3. Kazuhiko Yotsushika – €255,080
4. Charlie Carrel – €196,290
5. Alex Foxen – €155,440
6. Isaac Haxton – €121,560
7. Ali Reza Fatehi – €95,660
8. Chan Wai Leong – €74,730

It’s kicking off in Austria at the moment.

The country’s Vice-Chancellor and head of the Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, has told media in Vienna that his party was fighting against “population exchange.”

Strache and his buddies are concerned that 16% of Austria’s population isn’t Austrian, and that figure will continue to grow until non-Austrians rule his part of the world. 

I blame the German poker players who now call Vienna, home. 

Together, the Vienna-based Germans and Austrians have created a poker armada of such strength and fortitude that they have Whatsapp Groups containing more members than Lex Veldhuis has Twitch followers. 

Matthias Eibinger didn’t follow that route.

Today, the Austrian star can bend the ear of the world’s best, but Eibinger made his way to the top via an alternative and more solitary route open to those who wish to call the most liveable city in the world ‘home.’

And it’s not done him any harm.

This week, Eibinger picked up his third €50,000 High Roller title after beating 58-entrants (36 -unique, 22 re-entries), and he’s only been racking up live tournament scores in the past three years. 

Eight people would finish in the money, with Daniel Dvoress taking a missile to the gut, finishing in ninth place after a three-way all-in that also saw Seth Davies exit in eight (albeit with €112,540 to show for his troubles). Alex Foxen was the conqueror of that pair when his pocket aces battered pocket queens and AK, and the Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1 would prove to be a samurai sword in the side of everyone at the final table until Eibinger put him in his place.

After ridding the final table of Dvoress and Davies, Foxen took out Michael Soyza QTo>J7o, and then the Frenchman Jean-Noel Thorel KT>KJ after rivering a straight. Triton Poker Series regular, Wai Leong Chan’s ATo beat Alexander Uskov’s KTo when all-in pre-flop, and then Foxen was at it against, eliminating Ben Heath in a flip with AQ slapping pocket fives across the face so hard they ended up on the wrong side of the rail. 

A heads-up confrontation between Foxen and Eibinger fell into the cement after the Austrian eliminated Chan QTo>86hh. 

Heads-Up

Foxen – 3,220,000

Eibinger – 2,580,000

It wasn’t a marathon, more of a sprint.

With blinds at 30,000/60,000/60,000, Eibinger limped into the pot and then paid the 255,000 that Foxen demanded to see a flop. The dealer placed Td7s7c onto the felt. Eibinger called a 555,000 Foxen check-raise. The turn was the 7h, and Eibinger called a 465,000 Foxen bet. The final card was the Kc, and Foxen checked, Eibinger moved all-in, and the American mucked his cards.

That hand gave Eibinger a 2:1 chip lead, and he had them all when the pair got it in with Foxen hoping that pocket fours would outsprint AJ, only for a second jack to land on the flop to give Eibinger the win. 

Eibinger has now earned more than $6m playing live tournaments, and this was his fourth victory, with all of them coming in $25k+ events. We should also extend a hat tip to Foxen who finished fifth in the €25k Single-Day High Roller. 

Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results

1. Matthias Eibinger – €844,080
2. Alex Foxen – €610,550
3. Wai Leong Chan – €393,900
4. Ben Heath – €298,240
5. Alexander Uskov – €230,710
6. Jean-Noel Thorel – €180,070
7. Michael Soyza – €143,490
8. Seth Davies – €112,540

It’s been an absorbing week in Spanish sport. Former Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas suffered a heart attack, former Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez announced his plans to retire after 21-years in the game, and Sergio Aido won the €100,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monte Carlo. 

It’s a little too early to call Aido a legend (only Carlos Mortenson deserves that status in Spain). However, with $10.5m in live tournament earnings, his first big high roller win under his belt, and the ability to bend the ear of Adrian Mateos then maybe there is a Fairy Godmother waiting in the wings ready to wave a magic wand above his head.

It was a remarkable win for Aido, who began the final table sitting behind a stack of seven big blinds, but two quick double ups gave him enough chips to start swinging. The first to donate was Mikita Badziakouki. The double Triton Poker Series Main Event winner, was way ahead with AK versus A9 only for the deck to come to Aido’s rescue when a second nine landed on the flop. Next Aido beat the starting day chip leader,  Daniel Dvoress after AQ beat pocket fives in a flip.

Charlie Carrel was making his second final table of the series after finishing fourth in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold’em event, but the man with supernatural poker powers was unable to turn 9c5c into a world beater, and Aido sent him to the rail in sixth place. 

The next player to fall was Badziakouski. After falling short, the Belarusian stuck his last few chips into the pot with 6c3c, and Jesus Cortes put them on his plate and ate them with a little help from AhQh. 

Then we lost two Canadians thanks to back-to-back pocket kings.

First Aido’s pocket kings hammered the Ad9h of Dvoress, and then the most significant prong in the Greenwood Trident exited stage left. It was a fantastic run for the defending champion, but his AT couldn’t beat Aido’s pocket Kings when all the chips went into the middle.

That left us with an all Spanish heads-up with the new boy Cortes impressing once again after his third-place finish in the $100,000 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas. He would have his work cut out in this one with Aido’s 10,735,000 looking like a Bang & Olufson against the transistor radio of 2,265,000. 

The duel lasted three hands before Aido had all of the chips when KcQh beat 9s2d to take the €1,589,190 first prize. 

It’s the seventh live tournament victory for Aido, and the fourth time he has reached a final table in Monte Carlo (including a ninth in the 2017 €50,000). Aido sits third in the Spanish All-Time Money List with $10,542,720. Carlos Mortenson has $12,106,336, and Adrian Mateos has $17,301,912. 

Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results

1. Sergio Aido – €1,589,190
2. Jesus Cortes – €1,147,750
3. Sam Greenwood – €731,530
4. Daniel Dvoress – €554,950
5. Mikita Badziakouski – €428,830
6. Charlie Carrel – €327,930
7. Wiktor Malinowski – €264,860

Prince Albert II (a proper prince, and not a stud through the tackle) of Monaco will award Michael Douglas with the Crystal Nymph career honour during the Monte Carlo Television Awards in June. 

We don’t have any nymphs competing in the €100k Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo, but we do have a few fine actors, and like Douglas, one of them will leave with the delightful problem of fitting a golden trophy into a Louis Vuitton suitcase. 

Day 1 of the richest buy-in of them all saw 48-entrants compete, and four more made the final count 52 after Charlie Carrel, Matthias Eibinger and Jesus Cortes re-entered, and Mikita Badziakouski bought in for the first time at the start of Day 2. It seemed a smart move with three of the four making the final table.

Day 2 consisted of ten levels, and poker had a chokehold on the best in the business for 13-hours. At that time we had a final table of nine with Daniel Dvoress leading the way after experiencing a pheasant in the mouth of a hound type of day.

Here is the highlight reel.

Level 9: 3k/6k/6k

The Global Poker Index (GPI) #1, Alex Foxen, fell first when his pocket sevens failed to beat the pocket tens of Ali Reza Fatehi. The Iranian didn’t have a chance to wallow in that victory before Dvoress sent him to the rail, and he had company. Fatehi got it in on the turn holding the jack of diamonds on AdTd2d7d, Kazuhiko Yotsushika was also all-in holding the queen of diamonds, and Dvoress took every slice of pizza with the king of diamonds. 

Fatehi wasn’t the only Iranian losing his life in Level 9. Ahadpur Khangah bluffed off his stack to Luc Greenwood with the Canadian sitting on a full house to leave the competition shorn of all mention of Iran. 

Khangah wasn’t the only player willing to bluff with all of his chips on the line. Ivan Leow did the same thing, and like Greenwood, the Day 1 chip leader, Wiktor Malinowski, was also sitting on a full house. 

Charlie Carrel had a wonderful day, beginning by dispatching the Winamax Pro, Adrian Mateos to the rail when ATs came up against AA and the kitchen sink. 

Level 10: 4k/8k/8k

888Poker’s ambassador, Dominik Nitsche, left the competition when Ike Haxton’s AJ got there on the river in a race against pocket fives. Nick Petrangelo eliminated Orpen Kisacikoglu AT>QJ after an ace landed on the flop, and Sean Winter also lost his footing and fell fatally, although we don’t know who pushed him. 

Level 11: 5k/10k/10k

There was only one elimination in Level 11, but it was significant with Bryn Kenney falling to Matthias Eibinger when AQ failed to find any help on the board against QQ.

Level 12: 6k/12k/12k

The deadly David Peters left the contest when Jc9c walked into the Hulk like KK of Stanley Choi. Haxton’s sublime looking JcTd lost to Sergio Aido’s AcKc to end his hopes, and Petrangelo fell in a three-way pileup that saw Jesus Cortes gather enough chips to make a run at this thing, hitting a straight on the river with Dvoress, the other loser in the hand. 

Then Carrel eliminated two players when his AhKh found an ace on the flop to beat Jean-Noel THorel’s JsTc and Choi’s pocket nines when all-in pre-flop. We were down to 15-players, and Aido had the chip lead.

Level 13: 8k/16k/16k

Luc Greenwood eliminated Richard Yong when 88 beat A7dd.

Level 14: 10k/20k/20k

Cortes eliminated Seth Davies QQ>88, and Dvoress began battering people, starting with Eibinger, sending the Austrian home TT>AQhh.

Level 15: 10k/25k/25k

Timothy Adams fell to Dvoress next when a turned straight extracted full value from a flopped middle set.

Level 16: 15k/30k/30k

Then Dvoress eliminated the dangerous O’Dwyer after his set of fives pulled every chip from a pair of queens on a 5c6s3d8cJh runout. The final elimination of the day saw the reigning champion, Sam Greenwood, eliminate Michael Soyza when KsQs beat pocket eights after a king on the flop and a queen on the river led to our final table.

Final Table Seat Draw

Seat 1: Jesus Cortes – 1,515,000
Seat 2: Daniel Dvoress – 3,865,000
Seat 3: Sam Greenwood – 1,960,000
Seat 4: Charlie Carrel – 1,340,000
Seat 5: Sergio Aido – 430,000
Seat 6: Luc Greenwood – 675,000
Seat 7: Mikita Badziakouski – 1,405,000
Seat 8: Koray Aldemir – 950,000
Seat 9: Wiktor Malinowski – 1,360,000

Payouts

1. €1,589,190
2. €1,147,750
3. €731,530
4. €554,950
5. €428,830
6. €327,930
7. €264,860

The Monte Carlo Bay Casino & Resort is stocking the champagne. Corks can’t wait to pop. The high rollers invade like a gale force wind ploughing through a town made of matches. The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) is in town, and Day 1 of the €100,000 Super High Roller is like a bun in the oven.

The first day attracted 33-players, and 48-entrants, meaning a Dan Bilzerian glut of bullets, and with registration open until the start of Day 2, expect that number to grow.

So who arrived via the upmarket corner street Thai restaurant?

The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, Alex Foxen is in the house, as is the defending champion, Sam Greenwood, and the recent Triton Poker Series Jeju Main Event winner, Timothy Adams.

Talking about Triton, the tour’s founder, Richard Yong is involved as are Triton regs Ivan Leow and Wai Leong Chan. The Aussie Millions Main Event winner, Bryn Kenney is also tangled in this expensive knot, as is the Super High Roller new boy, Jesus Cortes. 

When it comes to players in form, look no further than Seth Davies and Michael Soyza. 

Seldom do you see someone new enter a cauldron of this intensity. It happened in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in January when Jesus Cortes finished third in the $100,000 and second in the $25,000, and it’s happened again in the principality.

Wiktor Malinowski, 24, made his debut in Day 1 of this event and finished with more chips than 27-foes who made it through to the second day. Malinowski told PokerNews that he’s no stranger to competing at high stakes, as he frequents the highest stakes online, but his appearances in the live realm are as sparse as tweakers in Tescos calmly buying packets of tea. 

The Pole’s one cash to date came in 2017 when he finished 187/1204 in the inaugural partypoker MILLIONS UK; the year that Maria Lampropulos became a millionaire. 

He’s in prime position to follow her lead.

Let’s take a look at the highlight reel.

The Nutshell Action

Level 3: 1k/1.5k/1.5k

The Spaniard, Jesus Cortes, eliminated Jean-Noel Thorel AK>AJ. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Michael Addamo, eliminated Daniel Dvoress AK>AQ, and Ahadpur Khangah, also lost a life. All three players re-entered.

Level 4: 1k/2k/2k

The defending champion, Sam Greenwood, had an expensive afternoon, buying in three times. The Canadian lost his first bullet after firing it into the bulletproof vest of Malinowski after flopping two pairs with Qh9h on Qc9d2s versus the pocket aces of the Pole, only for the board to pair on the turn. The money went in on the river.

Level 5: 1k/2.5k/2.5k

Steve O’Dwyer eliminated Stanley Choi in a cooler than saw the pair both get it in with Big Slick, only for O’Dwyer to score a four flush knockout. Choi re-entered.

Level 6: 1.5k/3k/3k

Fresh from his deep run in the €10k event, where he finished fourth, Charlie Carrel started well, sending Thorel to the rail for the second time when pocket jacks beat AJ. The Frenchman bought in for the third time. Other stars to lose a casing in this level were David Peters and Sam Greenwood.

Level 7: 2k/4k/4k

Bryn Kenney’s goal in poker is to own the All-Time Money spot and to do that you need to win events like this. The Aussie Millions Champ began brightly sending Nitsche to the rail 99>AT, Khangah coolered Cortes 88>QQ, after flopping an eight, and the Winamax star, Adrian Mateos also lost a life fighting the demons in this level.

Level 8: 2k/5k/5k

Richard Yong sent the in-form Orpen Kisacikoglu packing when KK bettered AK, and then Christoph Vogelsang, Koray Aldemir and Daniel Dvoress also accrued extra thinking time on the wrong side of the rail. 

Dvoress and Vogelsang rebought, but the German’s second bullet lasted as long as a blind barber when he failed to hit his flush draw against Soyza’s set. Chan lost his first life, as did Matthias Eibinger after Khangah’s pocket sixes gobbled up the Austrian’s short stack and Qd4d. 

The soon to be crowned chip leader, Malinowski, eliminated Carrel when ATo beat the pretty looking QdTd, and O’Dwyer eliminated Joao Vieira when AdQd found a diamond flush on the turn against pocket sevens.

Here is the end of day chip counts.

End of Day Chip Counts

1. Wiktor Malinowski – 1,042,000
2. Ahadpur Khangah – 985,000
3. Isaac Haxton – 953,000
4. Sergio Aido – 880,000
5. Michael Soyza – 813,000
6. Luc Greenwood – 758,000
7. David Peters – 530,000
8. Jean-Noel Thorel – 480,000
9. Steve O’Dwyer – 480,000
10. Sam Greenwood – 480,000
11. Dominik Nitsche – 458,000
12. Nick Petrangelo – 454,000
13. Ivan Leow – 428,000
14. Bryn Kenney – 410,000
15. Koray Aldemir – 331,000
16. Sean Winter – 308,000
17. Christoph Vogelsang – 258,000
18. Kazuhiko Yotsushika – 250,000
19. Adrian Mateos – 242,000
20. Richard Yong – 218,000
21. Daniel Dvoress – 213,000
22. Orpen Kisacikoglu – 207,000
23. Seth Davies – 182,000
24. Ali Reza Fatehi – 175,000
25. Alex Foxen – 162,000
26. Stanley Choi – 133,000
27. Timothy Adams 132,000
28. Michael Addamo – 101,000

Previous €100k Monte Carlo Winners

2012: Justin Bonomo (45 entrants) €1,640,000
2013: Max Altergott (49-entrants) €1,539,300
2014: Dan Colman (62-entrants) €1,539,300
2015: Erik Seidel (71-entrants) €2,015,000
2016: Ole Schemion (61-entrants) €1,597,800
2017: Bryn Kenney (61-entrants) €1,784,500
2018: Sam Greenwood (46-entrants) €1,520,000

Thanks to PokerNews for the updates.