Vladimir Troyanovskiy sat atop the chip counts with 123 players remaining at the end of Day 2, but he was only able to ride that stack to a 37th-place finish.
In a recent hand, Troyanovskiy opened for 21,000 under the gun and was met by a three-bet to 50,000 from Jack Salter, who has been on a heater here on Day 4. The blinds both folded and Troyanovskiy clicked it back for 120,000. Salter moved all in for 376,000 total and Troyanovskiy made the call.
Salter:
Troyanovskiy:
Salter had the goods, but Troyanovskiy picked up a sweat when the flop came down . Much to Salter's relief, neither the turn nor river proved harmful, and he doubled up yet again.
Troyanovskiy appeared to be streaming after the loss, and it was no surprise to see him get his last 100,000 or so all in the next hand on a flop of . This time he was squaring off against Dani Stern.
Troyanovskiy:
Stern:
Stern was ahead with aces, but Troyanovskiy was drawing to a diamond flush. The turn paired the board, and the actually did it again. Stern made a full house while Troyanovskiy suddenly found himself out of the tournament.
"Good luck, guys," he mustered before bowing out in 37th place.
Action folded to a short-stacked Bryan Paris in the hijack and he moved all in for his last 129,000. Antonio Buonanno called from the cutoff, and after the rest of the players folded, the cards were turned up.
Paris:
Buonanno:
Paris was in a bad way as he held the inferior kicker, but he was optimistic.
"I got the lucky nine," he said. It may have been lucky for him at another point in the tournament, but not this one as the board ran out a dry . Paris becomes the 39th-place finisher.
It's time for Day 4 of the EPT Grand Final here in Monte Carlo. Just 41 players remain, all vying for that €1,240,000 first place prize. Malte Moennig, a 27-year old from Cologne in Germany, is the current chip leader with 1,150,000 - he's currently the only player over the seven-figure mark.
Team PokerStars Pro are being represented by Ville Wahlbeck (289,000) and David Williams (253,000) while Scott Clements (797,000), Steven Silverman (605,000), [Removed:17] (599,000) and Dani Stern (454,000) are also still in the mix. There are also two former EPT winners involved, both from earlier seasons rather than the later ones, in Mark Teltscher (356,000) and Noah Boeken (200,000). Could we have a second double champion in back-to-back events?
Blinds will be starting at 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante and the players will be playing down to the final 16 or five levels - whichever happens first. This event will be starting at 12pm local time but at 1pm, the €25,000 High Roller will also be getting underway, no doubt some players will be jumping straight into that tournament should they bust the main event.