2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT

Feature Coverage
Day: 5

Feature Coverage

Day 5 Completed

Sam Greenwood Wins €100K Super High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo (€1,520,000)

Sam Greenwood
Sam Greenwood

They just can't stop Sam Greenwood in the high rollers.

In the same month that he already won two high roller titles, the Canadian crusher shipped the €100K Super High Roller here at 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT. Greenwood topped a stacked final table for €1,520,000, the biggest win in a sterling career that's now surpassed the $10 million milestone.

Just a week ago, Greenwood won the WPT Amsterdam High Roller for €125,785. Less than two weeks before that, he won the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final €51,000 Super High Roller for €1 million.

€100,000 Super High Roller Final Result

PlacePlayerCountryPrize (EUR)
1Sam GreenwoodCanada€1,520,000
2Christoph VogelsangGermany€1,046,000
3Ali Reza FatehiIran€669,920
4Ole SchemionGermany€513,000
5Justin BonomoUnited States€401,000
6Isaac HaxtonUnited States€313,000

To get this particular win, Greenwood had to top as stacked a final table as one would expect in a €100K. The list of poker superstars he got through at the final table started with American legend Isaac Haxton who was looking to make a dogged three-bullet effort pay off.

Monte Carlo €100K Final Table

Chip leader Christoph Vogelsang barreled into Haxton twice blind versus blind with an overpair, jacks, and Haxton tried semi-bluff shoving the turn with an open-ended straight draw. Vogelsang thought briefly and called, eliminating Haxton when the river missed him.

One of the most memorable hands of the tournament cropped up five-handed, when it looked like Vogelsang's dominance would come to a crashing halt. He got coolered when he ran queens into fellow German Ole Schemion aces, but just calling the four-bet set up postflop play. A nine-high flop with a pair of diamonds prompted a small bet of 435,000 by Schemion into a pot of about 1.8 million. Vogelsang called and somehow found a fold to a turn shove of 1.4 million after another nine hit.

Failing to secure a double would prove costly for Schemion. After Justin Bonomo got coolered with bottom two against middle two versus Ali Reza Fatehi, Schemion went out fourth when he shoved 20 big blinds over Greenwood's button open holding seven-six suited, but Greenwood had the goods with queens.

Undoubtedly the Cinderella story, Fatehi sought to better his third-place result from this event in 2016, which he said was the first tournament he ever played. He's since become a fixture in the European nosebleeds and acclimated to the high level of play, but he'd have to settle for a repeat third when Greenwood cracked his queens with king-eight and then Vogelsang turned a straight flush against Fatehi's flopped nut straight.

Two aggressive pros and less than 100 big blinds total. While that might seem like a recipe for a quick match, what followed was anything but hasty. The veterans would battle for about three hours. Greenwood held the initial lead but Vogelsang ran hot early and grabbed command, going up about 4-1 at one point.

Christoph Vogelsang
Christoph Vogelsang

Greenwood admitted he wouldn't call himself a heads-up specialist, and the early tide may have taken a toll on him.

"If the cards aren't going your way [heads up], it can get very frustrating and it's stressful," he said.

Luckily for Greenwood, things turned when his king-seven prevailed over ace-six all in preflop. He then doubled again with aces over twos all in preflop and suddenly had a nice lead. Stacks were short at that point with less than 50 big blinds in play, and the end came quickly when Greenwood's king-jack bested ace-five suited.

"When you win, all the mistakes you made along the way don't really matter," Greenwood said. "When you lose, you can kind of stew over them and second-guess yourself. No regrets, I can sleep easy tonight."

After a similarly white-hot week in late 2017 that saw Greenwood get third, second and first in a series of events, he proclaimed that he had never run so good. Less than six months later, that might be subject to revision.

Even in the age of the inflated money totals that the high roller scene has ushered in, it takes sustained excellence to cash for $10 million. When asked how he'd react if someone had told him at the start of his poker career that he'd hit that lofty total, Greenwood had an immediate response.

"I probably would have thought that I won the [WSOP] Main Event," Greenwood said with a smile. "I can't complain, everything's great, but winning the Main Event would have been better."

With how well Greenwood plays combined with how hot he's running, don't be surprised if that's the next feat he pulls off.

Guillaume Diaz Wins the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino €1,100 EPT National (€250,000)

EPT National winner Guillaume Diaz
EPT National winner Guillaume Diaz

Supported by a boisterous French rail, Guillaume Diaz has won the €1,100 EPT National at the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT. The 26-year old French pro from Grenoble, who resides in London, conquered a 1,501-player field to claim the first place prize of €250,000. On top of that, Diaz also punched his ticket to the Bahama's next year with the $30,000 Platinum Pass, awarded to the winner of this event.

Diaz, who made a name for himself last year after winning an online poker tournament 26,000 feet in the air above Kazakhstan, defeated Italy's Federico Petruzzelli heads-up after a massive coin flip decided both player's fates. Petruzzelli walked away with €143,000 and missed out on the Platinum Pass — again, that is. Start-of-the-day chipleader Michal Mrakes became fifth, Team PokerStars Pro Online Randy "nanonoko" Lew finished in 7th place, while Gaelle Baumann just fell short of the final table.

"I feel pretty excited, pretty happy. It's always great to win a tournament. It's my biggest cash in poker so far," an elated Diaz said.

Winning the Platinum Pass was just icing on the cake for the French pro, who said a trip to the PokerStars Players Championship was already in the planning.

"I was planning to go play there anyway but I'm pretty happy to have this kind of freeroll, have it in the pocket and be relaxed for the rest of the year," Diaz told the media.

In one of the biggest hands of the day, an improbable runout brought Diaz a crucial chip lead which he never relinquished.

"Once I went all-in on a flop with a set of fives and I made quads on the river. And then I made the other one. It was an insane runout," Diaz said about the pivotal pot that propelled him towards his eventual victory.

€1,100 EPT National Final Result

PlacePlayerCountryPrize (EUR)
1Guillaume DiazFrance€250,000
2Federico PetruzzelliItaly€143,000
3Abdullatif AttiaFrance€100,000
4Danilo CangianielloItaly€74,120
5Michal MrakesCzech Republic€57,840
6Abraham PassetGermany€44,000
7Randy LewUnited States€33,740
8Giuseppe La GuardiaItaly€24,620
9Sorin SufragiuRomania€18,910
Guillaume Diaz

The day started with 24 players but action got underway fast and furious, leaving just 13 of them standing at the first break after two-time National champion Georgios Vrakas busted in 14th place. Four more of them had to go before the final table was set, and the last of them would be Gaelle Baumann. The French pro moved in with ace-six of diamonds after Mrakes had raised. Mrakes called Baumann off with ace-nine offsuit and held up to get to the final table.

Final Table Action

It took over an hour before the first player bowed out. Before that happened, Petruzzelli drew first blood from "nanonoko". With the board reading three-five-nine-nine-seven, Lew had over 500,000 in front of him and Petruzzelli raised to 2,200,000. Lew folded after long thought and the Italian quickly flipped open a mere pair of fours to set the tone.

It wasn't the first hand Petruzzelli would win, as he'd go on a tear and eliminate two players in the process. Sorin Sufragiu was the first one to be eliminated in Level 31. Short stacked, Sufragiu shoved all in with queen-eight of diamonds over a cutoff raise from Petruzzelli. Petruzzelli was committed with jack-nine offsuit and hit a straight on the turn to eliminate Sufragiu in 9th place (€18,190).

Ten minutes later, Giuseppe La Guardia (8th - €24,640) fell to his countryman as well. After La Guardia opened from the cutoff, Petruzzelli three-bet on the button. La Guardia four-bet shoved queen-jack offsuit for slightly more than Petruzzelli's three-bet and received a snap-call from ace-king of diamonds. Two kings on the flop sealed La Guardia's fate. With the two bustouts, Petruzzelli's moved up to 22 million in chips, far more than his nearest challengers Diaz (7,500,000) and Mrakes (4,200,000) held at that point.

For Team PokerStars Pro Randy "nanonoko" Lew, his dream of winning this tournament came to an end in 7th place (€33,780). Lew held ace-king of hearts against Mrakes' pocket jacks and Danilo Cangianiello's pocket tens. A ten landed while the aces and kings remained in the deck to give Cangianiello the triple-up and Mrakes the side pot.

Randy Lew
Team PokerStars Pro Online Randy Lew finished in 7th place

Ater the dinner break, Mrakes scored another scalp and took out Abraham Passet (6th - €44,000). Passet was all in with pocket eights against the ace-king of Mrakes, and the latter spiked a king on the flop to send the former packing.

After Diaz had wrestled away the chip lead from Petruzzelli, former chipleader Michal Mrakes dwindled down to a short stack and got his final chips in with ace-queen against Petruzzelli's ace-nine offsuit. The board ran out ten-eight-jack-ten-seven and Petruzzelli completed his straight on the river to knock out the start-of-the-day chipleader in 5th place (€57,840).

The most amazing hand of the day ended Danilo Cangianiello's run in 4th place (€74,120). Holding pocket kings, Cangianiello was all in against Diaz' ace-king for heaps. An improbable rundown that brought four fives on the board gave Diaz quads to go with his ace kicker to scoop the pot on the river.

At the final three, the short stack run of Abdullatif Attia finally came to an end when he ran king-deuce into the pocket sixes of Petruzzelli, who flopped a set to end Attia's run in 3rd (€78,000). Heads-up took around twenty minutes before one big coin flip ended it all. Diaz three-bet and five-bet shoved after Petruzzelli had opened and reraised. It was pocket nines for Diaz against Petruzzelli's ace-queen and the latter couldn't connect on a ten high board. Delighted, Diaz ran to his many French supporters to cheer his victory and collect the biggest reward of his poker career.

Winner_EPT National_Guillaume Diaz
EPT National winner Guillaume Diaz & the French rail

Dmitry Shchepkin Wins the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino €2,200 EPT National High Roller (€173,000)

Winner EPT National Highroller Dmitry Shchepkin
Winner EPT National Highroller Dmitry Shchepkin

Dmitry Shchepkin has become the latest winner of EPT silverware, winning the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino €2,200 EPT National High Roller for a sweet payday of €173,000. With the first place prize, the Russian more than tripled his all-time best score. Italian high staker Dario Sammartino finished in second place after losing to a brutal two-outer heads-up and received €109,000.

The two-day event saw 358 players do a total of 462 entries, creating a total prize pool of €924,000 with 71 of them receiving a money finish. Notables that cashed included Lily Kiletto, Leo Margets, jan Bendik and Rainer Kempe. The second day started with 55 hopefuls, with Shchepkin declared the winner after a twelve-hour day.

€2,200 EPT National High Roller Final Result

PlacePlayerCountryPrize (EUR)
1Dmitry ShchepkinRussia€173,000
2Dario SammartinoItaly€109,000
3Karim AbdelmoumeneFrance€78,000
4Smain MamouniFrance€62,000
5Raffaele CarnevaleItaly€48,500
6Christopher ChaudeyFrance€38,000
7Isabel BaltazarFrance€28,580
8Alexandre ReardFrance€20,000
9Honglin JiangNew Zealand€15,500

Hongling Jiang (9th - €15,500) started the final table with 15 big blinds and got those in after fifteen minutes of play. Jiang was up with queen-ten against Christopher Chaudey, who held king-ten. Jiang flopped a queen but Chaudey rivered a straight to send the man from New Zealand to the rail.

Alexandre Reard (8th - €20,000) was down to around six big blinds when he got a first-in spot on the button. With ace-six, he went for it and got a chance to triple up after Raffaele Carnevale called in the big blind, who folded to a push from Isabel Baltazar in the big blind. Baltazar held pocket queens and remained ahead after the board ran out jack-high. Reard, 16th in last year's WSOP Main Event, added another nice score to his lifetime winnings of over 1.6 million.

Although she knocked Reard out, Isabel Baltazar dropped back down later and ran her final chips into a set of fives from Karim Abdelmoumene. Baltasar received €28,580 for her seventh place finish. After losing Christopher Chaudey in 6th (€38,000), Carnevale in 5th (€48,500) and Smain Mamouni in 4th (€62,000), a long time of three-handed action broke down.

After nearly two hours, it was Karim Abdelmoumene who busted out in 3rd (€78,000). After going down to five big blinds, Abdelmoumene lost the coin flip with his last chips with queen-jack against Shchepkin's pocket fours.

Heads-up, Sammartino quickly grabbed a substantial lead after winning pocket kings against pocket fours. Shchepkin got himself back into it by rivering a five with nine-five against Sammartino's king-ten suited. The final hand was brutal: on a six-deuce-deuce flop, Sammartino got it in with ace-deuce against Shchepkin's pocket fours. The turn brought the four to seal the victory for the Russian, making him the EPT National High Roller champion!

Tags: Alexandre ReardChristopher ChaudeyDario SammartinoDmitry ShchepkinHonglin JiangIsabel BaltazarKarim AbdelmoumeneLeo MargetsLily KilettoRaffaelo CarnavaleSmain Mamouni

PokerStars Team Online Fintan Hand Wins Right to Play Charity Tournament

Fintan Hand Right To Play Charity Tournament Winner
Fintan Hand Right To Play Charity Tournament Winner

As has been the case at previous EPT stops, PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT featured the popular €150 buy-in charity tournament which concluded earlier this evening. Participants helped to raise funds for PokerStars’ official charity partner Right To Play, potentially be in with a chance of winning some amazing prizes for making it into the top five.

And when the dust had settled, it was PokerStars Team Online member Fintan Hand who walked away with a brand new iPhone, €1,000 in tournament credit and a PokerStars trophy. As you can see from the tweet below, he was pretty confident going into the tournament:

He was heads-up against Firas Nassar with an overwhelming chip lead. He got it in on the very first hand with {a-Spades}{10-Clubs} against Nassar's {k-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}. Hand was railed by fellow Team Online member Ben Spragg, and as the board came {2-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}{6-Clubs}{6-Spades} it was Hand shouting "Trophy me!" while Spragg called for a nine. The river was the {9-Hearts} and Nassar doubled up.

A short while later, it was all over. Nassar shoved with {a-Spades}{3-Hearts} into the {10-Hearts}{10-Clubs} of Hand. This time Hand was shouting "Give me trophy!" and the board came {2-Spades}{5-Hearts}{6-Spades}{9-Clubs}{k-Spades} and the trophy was his.

"It's really nice to get a win," Hand said after taking down the tournament, "It's my first ever PokerStars trophy, and hopefully not my last!

"It also means my record this year when heads-up for trophies against [fellow Team Online member] Ben Spragg is extended; I think it's 6-3 now. I reckon live ones have to count for at least two, so I'm pretty happy, whereas he looks visibly stressed at the thought of me having this in the back of my stream!"

Fellow Team Pro Igor Kurganov also took part in the Right to Play charity tournament, and Hand was seated to his direct left earlier in the tournament.

"It was the dream seat," he explained, "Chips were coming to me left and right. It was just plain sailing from beginning to end."

This is Hand's first time in Monte Carlo, and in his words, it's been "pretty insane."

"It's like a whole different world. I was driving into the hotel seeing McLarens, Porsches, Lamborghinis...It's pretty wild. The atmosphere in the room has been incredible and it was fun to play the tournament for Right to Play."

You can catch more of Fintan Hand on tomorrow's special winner-takes-all Twitch tournament for him and his fellow PokerStars ambassadors.

Hand will be joined by Ben Spragg, Lex Veldhuis, Randy Lew, Celina Lin, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Liv Boeree and Jake Cody in battling it out in a contest featuring many hilarious poker and non-poker challenges. Poker fans can enjoy the show on both Twitch and PokerStars TV, and the winner will walk away with a $5,000 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event ticket.

Joe Stapleton will be on the floor, refereeing the action and communicating the challenges to the players while James Hartigan will color the action from the commentary booth.

Tags: Fintan Hand

€1,100 EPT National: Diaz Wins!

Guillaume Diaz
Guillaume Diaz

Guillaume Diaz has become the winner of the €1,100 EPT National for €250,000! Diaz will also receive a Platinum Pass worth $30,000. Runner-up Federico Petruzzelli will go home with €143,000.

In the final hand, Petruzzelli raised to 650,000, Diaz three-bet to 2,200,000 and Petruzzelli cut out a four-bet to a little over 6 million. Diaz responded with a snap-shove and Petruzzelli snap-called it off for 16,000,000 total.

Guillaume Diaz: {9-Hearts}{9-Spades}
Federico Petruzzelli: {A-Hearts}{Q-Diamonds}

It was the most important coin flip of both player's careers and the crowd gathered around the table to watch the action unfold. The {8-Diamonds}{7-Hearts}{3-Clubs} flop kept Diaz ahead, as did the {10-Clubs} on the turn. The {10-Hearts} on the help didn't help Petruzzelli either and the crowd and Diaz loudly cheered.

A recap of the day is to follow.

Tags: Federico PetruzzelliGuillaume Diaz

€2,200 EPT National High Roller On Break; Four Players Remain

Dario Sammartino
Dario Sammartino

While the €1,100 EPT National has drawn a full crowd in support of Guillaume Diaz, the €2,200 EPT National High Roller is being played out in a more relaxed atmosphere. Four players are left, with Dmitry Shchepkin (3,965,000) as the chipleader.

Karim Abdelmoumene (2,285,000), Smain Mamouni (1,560,00) and Dario Sammartino (1,435,000) are still in contention for the first place prize of €173,000 as well.

Tags: Dario SammartinoDmitry ShchepkinKarim AbdelmoumeneSmain Mamouni

€1,100 EPT National Down to Final Three After Amazing Rundown

Danilo Cangianiello
Danilo Cangianiello

After former chipleader Michal Mrakes had bowed out in 5th place (€57,840), an amazing hand ran out to end Danilo Cangianiello's deep run in 4th place (€74,120). In his final hand, Cangianiello was all in for his last 7.5m in chips and Guillaume Diaz had looked him up.

Danilo Cangianiello: {K-Spades}{K-Hearts}
Guillaume Diaz: {A-Spades}{K-Diamonds}

The packed French rail, by now en masse behind their countryman Diaz, yelled for an ace in unison. The dealer failed to oblige on the {8-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{5-Spades} flop, but the {5-Diamonds} landed on the turn to provide Diaz with one additional out.

"Cinq, cinq!", the French word for 'five', became the frantic new request from the rail.

As if scripted, the {5-Clubs} fell on the river and a massive cheer erupted from the Salle d'Etoiles. Diaz couldn't believe it, Abdullatif Attia, who has been laddering up with a short stack couldn't believe it either and both ran to their friends on the rail. Cangianello gracefully accepted his cruel fate and went off to the payout desk.

The stacks are now Diaz 25.2 million, Petruzzelli 16 million and Attia 3.8 million.

Tags: Danilo CangianielloFederico PetruzzelliGuillaume DiazMichal Mrakes

€1,100 EPT National: Petruzzelli's Lead Crumbles as Diaz Rises

Guillaume Diaz
Guillaume Diaz

Federico Petruzzelli came out of the dinner break holding a massive lead of more than 50% of the chips in play. However, in two hands most of those chips went to Guillaume Diaz, who is now the monster chipleader with five players remaining.

In the first hand, Petruzzelli opened on the button and Diaz three-bet shoved 26 big blinds from the big blind holding {A-Spades}{J-Spades}. Petruzzelli called with {K-}{Q-} but was left basically drawing dead after the {K-Spades}{9-Spades}{8-Spades} flop.

A couple of hands later, Diaz raised to 500,000 from under the gun, Petruzzelli three-bet to 1.8 million from the big blind and Diaz called. Petruzzelli kept firing with 1.5 million on the {7-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}{2-Spades} flop, 2.6 million on the {10-Diamonds} turn, then the rest on the {K-Diamonds} river. It was a dream scenario for Diaz, who simply had to call with his {7-}{7-} on each street to scoop up the monster pot.

Petruzzelli showed {J-Spades}{8-Spades} for a complete airball and dropped below 7 million in chips. Diaz rose to 22 million and is now the one with more than half the chips in play.

Tags: Federico PetruzzelliGuillaume Diaz

€2,200 EPT National High Roller Final Table About to Start

Dario Sammartino
Dario Sammartino

The nine remaining players in the €2,200 EPT National High Roller have returned to the Salle d'Etoiles in Le Sporting to kick off the final table. Smain Mamouni from France holds the overwhelming chip lead. Last year, Mamouni finished fourth in an 1K event in Monte Carlo, where he won €22,550, and needs to finish 7th or better this year to outperform on that.

Also at the final table is Italian high roller Dario Sammartino, who has slipped back to 700,000, Isabel Baltazar (970,000) and Alexandre Reard (525,000) also have a shot at the first place prize of €173,000. The blinds will resume in the level 20,000/40,000.

SeatPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Raffaele CarnevaleItaly810,00020
2Isabel BaltazarFrance970,00024
3Christopher ChaudeyFrance580,00017
4Honglin JiangNew Zealand535,00015
5Dario SammartinoItaly700,00018
6Smain MamouniFrance2,525,00063
7Karim AbdelmoumeneFrance1,210,00030
8Dmitry ShchepkinRussia1,390,00035
9Alexandre ReardFrance525,00013

Payouts

PlacePrize (in €) 
1173,000 
2109,000 
378,000 
462,000 
548,500 
638,000 
728,580 
820,000 
915,500 

Tags: Alexandre ReardChristopher ChaudeyDario SammartinoIsabel BaltazarSmain Mamouni