A board of 6♦2♥A♦7♥ laid on the table in a 1,600 pot between Orpen Kisacikoglu and Stephen Chidwick. Kisacikoglu was in the cutoff and checked to his neighbor Chidwick on the button. Chidwick fired out a bet of one and a half times the pot, 2,300 chips. Kisacikoglu followed with a call and a river was dealt.
On the 4♥ that hit the felt, Kisacikoglu now chose to lead for 1,600. Chidwick let his shot clock run down to the final ten seconds, but eventually mucked his card and Kisacikoglu recuperated some chips from his previous loss.
The action was picked up in a heads-up pot with roughly 22,000 in the middle on a completed board showing A♦8♦6♦8♠3♣. Robert Greenberg bet out 5,000 from the cutoff and Orpen Kisacikoglu flicked in a chip for the call on the button.
Greenberg tabled A♠J♦ for top pair and scored the sizable pot when Kisacikoglu mucked his hand.
There were 4,000 chips in the middle in a pot between Julien Sitbon and Pablo Silva. The board read 8♠Q♥6♣Q♦ and Sitbon check-called a 2,000 bet from Silva, who was sitting in the cutoff.
The river 3♣ was checked quickly by both players and Sitbon tabled 6♠5♠ for a pair of sixes along with the pair of queens on the board. Silva had that beat, however, as he tabled his K♦K♠ for an early pocket kings.
Stephen Chidwick opened the action on the button to 600 and only Orpen Kisacikoglu made the call from the big blind.
The flop came 6♦2♦2♣ and Kisacikoglu check-called a bet of 400 from Chidwick. On the 4♠ turn Kisacikoglu checked a second time and Chidwick sized up to 1,700. Kisacikoglu took some time, but in the end, made the fold and the early pot was sent to Chidwick.
Another staple event of the 2023 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® is set to kick off today at 12.30 p.m. local time. The players with a larger bankroll will gather at the beautiful Sporting Monte Carlo for Event #42: €25,000 EPT High Roller.
The event will run for three days and a winner will be crowned on the final day of the festival, Saturday, May 6th. All players will have the option for a single reentry, with late registration closing at the start of Day 2.
Everyone will start with a stack of 50,000 chips, which is good for 250 big blinds in Level 1 and 2, where blinds will be 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. Day 1 will play through ten levels of 60 minutes each, with a 20-minute break scheduled after every two levels. After level six that break will be 75 minutes instead, to allow the players to go and have dinner.
Level
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
1
60 min
100
200
200
2
60 min
100
200
200
20 min break
3
60 min
100
300
300
4
60 min
100
300
300
20 min break
5
60 min
200
400
400
6
60 min
200
500
500
75 min dinner break
7
60 min
300
600
600
8
60 min
400
800
800
20 min break
9
60 min
500
1,000
1,000
10
60 min
600
1,200
1,200
Gianluca Speranza is the defending champion in this event, besting a field of 179 entries to win €853,000 during EPT Monte Carlo 2022. He defeated a strong final table line-up that included Bruno Lopes, Dimitar Danchev, and Steve O’Dwyer. All of these players have already been spotted in the tournament halls this year, and they are expected to make another attempt at coming out on top in the €25,000 buy-in this year.
Players who already forked over €25,000 at the registration desk and are confirmed to compete include Tom-Aksel Bedell, Harry Lodge, Julien Sitbon, and Felipe Ketzer, whose latest recorded tournament result is a second place in a €25,000 buy-in during EPT Paris for €232,800. Of course, many more household names are expected to appear throughout Day 1 and at the start of Day 2.
PokerNews will be providing the live report from hand one to the final one, so be sure to tune in today to not miss any of the High Roller action.