Welcome to Day 3 of EPT 11 Grand Final Main Event
Poker's brightest young star is shining at European Poker Tour 11 Grand Final Main Event here in Monte Carlo. As the Day 3 restart looms in a matter of hours, Ole Schemion sits atop the chip counts with 477,700, which will be good for nearly 160 big blinds as Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400) begins. The German seeks to add to a resume that's fast become one of poker's strongest, with more than $7.7 million in live tournament earnings and millions more won online.
Schemion's unstoppable rise could be hastened or greatly slowed by a table draw for Day 3 that includes third-biggest stack Jose Carlos Garcia, who has 461,200. Schemion was fortunate to draw a seat two to Garcia's left, so he should have the positional advantage in most cases if the two monster stacks should clash. That table also includes Ludovic Geilich (129,100) and Maria Ho (112,800).
Though Schemion dominates the headlines, with 114 players returning, there are plenty of other storylines. Team PokerStars pros Jason Mercier (296,400), Vanessa Selbst (285,000), Isaac Haxton (221,300), Andre Akkari (146,900), Johnny Lodden (109,000), and Eugene Katchalov (71,200) all remain in contention. Other players to keep an eye on include Sergio Aido (276,600), Dario Sammartino (255,300), Juan Martin Pastor (226,000), Stephen Chidwick (205,300), Scott Clements (199,500), Dzmitry Urbanovich (158,100), Connor Drinan (150,400), and Mustapha Kanit (146,000). Kanit won the €50,000 Super High Roller for more than €930,000 just days ago.
Another major event for today should be the bursting of the money bubble. The tournament payouts list 79 places paid, with a min-cash worth €19,175, and players should find themselves in the money should they survive a few hours here on Day 3. The schedule calls for five 90-minute levels to be played, so stick with us here at PokerNews as things continue to develop here in Monte Carlo.
flop delivered Rubba jacks and queens. The 
turn delivered Flowers an open-ended straight draw, but it failed to come in as the 
completed the board on the river to improve Rubba to a full house.
flop. Wheeler continued with a bet of 21,500, and Mercier called.
, and Mercier was faced with another bet from Wheeler — this time for 35,000. Mercier called, and then the 
paired the board on the river. Wheeler didn't slow down and fired another 52,000 at the pot. Mercier adjusted himself in his chair, confirmed the amount, then called.
for the winner.
flop, Wheeler bet 15,000 after action checked to him. Prager folded, but Mercier opted to take a different line and check-raised to 33,000. Wheeler folded.
. 
turn as well as the 
. We're not sure how the action unfolded before that point, but we do know Pastor checked from the small blind and Selbst bet 30,000, leaving herself 48,000 back. Pastor then woke up with a check-raise to 80,000, and Selbst hit the tank.
for an inferior two pair. Pastor's hand was good and that's all she wrote for Selbst, who fell a table short of the money.
and Akkari made a continuation bet of 18,500. Just the cutoff called, both Danchev and Astapau folded.
turn gave him a set and the lead, and the 
. The board ran out 
and Chouity made his exit.
