Jon Kyte Wins Record-Breaking EPT Monte Carlo Open After Last-Minute Entry
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After arriving at PokerStars EPT Monte-Carlo with no plans to even play the €1,100 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Open, Jon Kyte walked away with the trophy, the title, and a six-figure score that sets him up nicely for a busy summer of poker.
The Norwegian tournament grinder took down the massive four-day event after entering with just seconds to spare and navigating his way through one of the toughest and biggest side events of the series.
We caught up with Kyte after his win to hear how it all unfolded - from his last-minute registration to the chaotic final table and his plans for an even busier grind still to come.
"I Wasn't Even Planning to Play It"
Kyte's tournament didn't begin like most championship runs. In fact, it nearly didn't begin at all.
"I had to rush from the airport to the casino and literally made it with one minute - maybe even one second - to spare. It was crazy."
"I wasn't even planning to play the €1K. I landed in Monte Carlo at 9 p.m., and registration for the turbo flight closed at 10. I had to rush from the airport to the casino and literally made it with one minute - maybe even one second - to spare. It was crazy. I hopped into the 20-minute turbo and somehow made it through."
Despite the chaotic start, Kyte quickly got into rhythm. By Day 2, the tournament had swelled in size, becoming the largest €1,000 buy-in tournament ever held in Monte Carlo.
"You always know the FPS events are big, but I wasn't really thinking about how huge it was until Day 2. There were still around 300 players left, and I was sitting on a deep stack all day."
A key moment came in the form of a bluff-catch that could have ended his run early.
"There was a guy who put me all in and I had a really marginal bluff-catcher- one of those spots where you're either going home or you double up. I thought it through and made the call... and I was right. That hand pretty much changed the whole trajectory of the tournament for me. From that point on, I had a massive stack every day right up until the final."
Navigating the Final Table
While most poker tournaments wrap up in two or three days, this one stretched into four, and for Kyte that meant adjusting his preparation and mindset.
"You don't play many four-day tournaments unless you're making really deep runs. Day 2 and Day 3 are manageable. But Day 4 is different. That's when the real money's in play, and every decision carries so much more weight. You have to be sharper, more patient, and just ready."
Kyte entered the final table as the chip leader, but the path to victory was far from smooth.
"I was thinking, 'Damn, did I just blow this again?'"
"It was a total roller coaster. I was chip leader at the start, but at one point when we were three-handed, I was the shortest stack. I was thinking, 'Damn, did I just blow this again?' But poker has its swings. I stayed focused, picked my spots, and climbed back."
That mental discipline came at a cost. Even in the lead-up to the final table, Kyte was grinding the game away in his head.
"I didn't sleep much. Not just the night before the final table, but every night during the tournament. I'd be in bed reviewing hands, running through final table spots in my head: chip leader versus second in chips, ICM spots, all of it. You do all that before bed, and your brain doesn't switch off. I was sleeping like five hours a night, max. But a lot of coffee, lot of adrenaline. We got there."
EPT Monte-Carlo Open Final Table Results
Kyte topped the 2,387 player field to take home €340,000. It's the second-biggest cash of Kyte's career, behind only his runner-up finish in the 2023 EPT Prague Main Event where he won €643,000.
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He defeated Frenchman Gilles Cadignan heads-up, with former EPT Barcelona Main Event final tablist Patrik Jaros finishing eighth.
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jon Kyte | Norway | €340,000 |
| 2nd | Gilles Cadignan | France | €214,070 |
| 3rd | Conor Bergin | Ireland | €153,330 |
| 4th | Scutaru Razvan | Romania | €117,720 |
| 5th | Javier Tazón | Spain | €89,320 |
| 6th | Jack Corrigan | USA | €70,240 |
| 7th | Pavlo Bilonozhko | Ukraine | €54,030 |
| 8th | Patrik Jaros | Czech Republic | €41,370 |
| 9th | Michael Lichtle | France | €31,890 |
A Grinder's Summer Ahead
Fresh off his win in Monte Carlo, Kyte isn't slowing down. With SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker) and the World Series of Poker right around the corner, the Norwegian grinder already has his summer mapped out.
"To be honest, I only came to Monte Carlo for the Main Event, maybe the €2,000 event. But now I've got this win under my belt, it definitely boosts the confidence heading into SCOOP and the WSOP."
Even though SCOOP is a big online series, Kyte is planning to take a lighter approach to save energy for Las Vegas.
"I try not to go too hard during SCOOP, just because I need the energy for the World Series. That's going to be seven weeks with only one or two days off, and I'm planning to play up to 84 tournaments. I probably won't make all of them, but that's the schedule. It's going to be nonstop."
And that's exactly how he likes it.
"Tournament life is intense, but that's what we sign up for. There's no real off-season. You rest when you bust. But wins like this? They make it all worth it."
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