First Break of the Day
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Two levels are completed on Day 1a and the players have been sent on their first 20-minute break of the day.
2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€5,325,300
Entries
1,098
Level
34
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
50,000
Pham Eliminated
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Nine players have already been eliminated and among the most recent seat open was Huy Pham. New entries include World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour champion Dietrich Fast, EPT11 Malta champion Jean Montury, Dan Smith and Marvin Rettenmaier.
The elimination of Pham was a particularly cruel one. After a raise to 350, there were three callers including Pham in the small blind and Herzali in the big blind. The flop 
was checked through. On the 
turn, Pham bet 600 and all opponents called. With the 
on the river as final community card, Pham checked and Herzali bet 2,500.
Pham now check-raised to 11,000 after the other two players folded and Herzali took her time before announcing all in. Pham shook his head in disgust, but ultimately called with 
for a full house only to see Herzali flip over 
for quads!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
80,000 | 49,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
Busted |
Van Zadelhoff At the Top of the Counts
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
It is only level two and Steven van Zadelhoff has already knocked out two players! "We have a little situation here," the always friendly Dutchman said when the dealer just counted out the stacks of him and opponent Doug Zhao.
"Am I covered?" the Chinese asked and his 
was still tabled in front of the chips. Van Zadelhoff said he had three-bet on the button against an open from under the gun and the Chinese then jammed for more than 40,000 with his queen-high only to see the Dutchman snap it off holding 
.
The board ran out 
and that saw van Zadelhoff's stack skyrocket to the top.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
85,000 | 39,000 |
|
Busted |
Hold Plz
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Anthony Spinella bet the 
flop for 850 and [Removed:19] called to see the 
appear on the turn. Now the American made it more expensive, betting 2,600. Sokolovskiy eventually folded and then asked what Spinella would have done if he had raised the flop.
The American gave no reply and just grinned while raking in the chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
34,500 | 4,500 |
Slow Start for Alt
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Joining the action on the 
flop, Fabian Chauriye bet the small blind for 550 and one player folded before Dinesh Alt called from the button. On the 
turn, Chauriye checked, Alt bet 850 and was called. The Swiss then checked behind the river and mucked when his opponent from Chile showed 
for a pair of tens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
27,200 | 27,200 |
Van Zadelhoff Busts Agerskov
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
"It's too bad, we were just having a fun conversation," Steven van Zadelhoff joked after Rasmus Agerskov had left the scene of his elimination.
Van Zadelhoff recapped the hand for us, as it started with a raise to 400 from Agerskov, who was seated on the button. Van Zadelhoff three-bet to 1,350 and Agerskov called.
The flop brought out queen-nine-jack with two spades, and Van Zadelhoff continued for 1,500, and Agerskov called.
On the turn an ace hit, and now both players checked. On the river the 
hit and Van Zadelhoff checked again.
"I was checking to check-raise, but he ripped it in," Van Zadelhoff said, as Agerskov had started the hand with 13,000.
Van Zadelhoff called right away with 
for the nut flush, and Agerskov's 
ended up in the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
46,000 | 13,000 |
|
Busted |
Freitez Exits Early
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Two EPT Grand Final champions clashed and it was Antonio Buonanno who emerged victorious. According to Jean Philippe Rohr, it was Freitez who went into maniac mode and pretty much played every hand after the first few orbits and then raised to 500 from under the gun.
Buonanno clicked to 1,500 from one seat over and Freitez then reraised to 4,500 before snap-calling the shove of the Italian with just . Buonanno had ace-king and the better kicker won the massive pot!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
64,000 | 64,000 |
|
Busted |
Three-Time WPT Anthony Zinno's Here
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
He's one of the most successful tournament players of the last three years, but an EPT title is still lacking from Anthony Zinno's poker resume. However, we just spotted Zinno in the Main Event looking for that big title in Europe.
Zinno's facing fierce competition from Iaac Haxton - who's seated to his direct right - but that's nothing new for the man with $5.5 million in live tournament earnings.
The American pro won his first WPT in September of 2013 after beating Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst heads up, followed by back-to-back victories last season when he won the Borgata Open and de LAPC.
To cap it all off Zinno won his first WSOP bracelet in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha last year, and all he needs now is a EPT title to complete poker's Triple Crown.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
Russian Roulette by Lebedev
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Justin Bonomo is down for the day thus far while Sergey Lebedev just faced a raise to 500 by Laurent Den Eynde and the three-bet to 1,500 by Alexandre Moreau from one seat over. Lebedev suddenly moved all in for 32,500 to stun the table. Den Eynde folded quickly, Moreau folded after some consideration and small talk.
"You have a good hand?" he asked Lebedev and the latter then said "I don't want to give you time to see a flop, because you catch each time," the Russian replied with a big grin on the face. Moreau folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
34,500 | 2,500 |
|
21,000 | -7,000 |
Silver and Metalidi Drop Some
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
On the three-way flop 
, El Amir Ziad Chehab checked out of the big blind and so did Artem Metalidi before Andras Kovacs bet 1,000 on the button. Both his opponents called and checked the turn. On the 
river, Ziad Chehab bet 1,000 and Metalidi folded, Kovacs called and won the pot with a set of eights against .
Max Silver was spotted with a squeeze to 600 and then faced a three-bet to 1,600 to make the call. On the 
flop, Silver checked and then folded when his opponent made a continuation bet worth 1,400.
Former November Niner Felix Stephensen also just entered the competition, bumping the field close to 200 entries.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
27,700 | -2,300 |
|
26,300 | -3,700 |