2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
1010
Prize
€961,800
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€5,325,300
Entries
1,098
Level Info
Level
34
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
50,000

Gale Starts Well

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante
John Gale
John Gale

Joining the action on the {9-Spades}{8-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}{8-Spades} turn, John Gale raised a bet by Aleksandr Denisov to 3,225 and was called by the Russian to see the {K-Hearts} on the river. Denisov checked and Gale bet 5,125 to enforce a fold. Gale was all smiling after the hand and has been doing so pretty much for the entire day, clearly enjoying the fact he can play the game he loves.

Player Chips Progress
John Gale gb
John Gale
34,000 4,000

Tags: John Gale

Friendly Flush for Van Zadelhoff

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

The board just showed {8-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}{J-Diamonds}{K-Hearts}{5-Diamonds} when Rasmus Agerskov bet 500 from the small blind and Steven van Zadelhoff raised from the big blind to 2,000. Agerskov thought for a little and made the call.

Van Zadelhoff showed {9-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds} and Agerskov said, "That's not friendly," about the river raise.

Van Zadelhoff laughed and said, "It's a friendly flush," as he raked in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Steven van Zadelhoff nl
Steven van Zadelhoff
33,000 3,000
Rasmus Agerskov dk
Rasmus Agerskov
27,000 -3,000

Tags: Steven van ZadelhoffRasmus Agerskov

Decent Start for Metaal

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Govert Metaal won a big pot early on after having flopped a set of threes and Serge Candin fell down to less than one third of the starting stack as a result, not willing to let go of his cards. Candin was gone soon after and became the second casualty of the day. The very same table also features Irishman Declan Connolly.

Player Chips Progress
Govert Metaal nl
Govert Metaal
50,000 20,000
Serge Candin
Serge Candin
Busted

Tags: Govert MetaalDeclan ConnollySerge Candin

No Luck for Ronaldo in Monte Carlo

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante
Ronaldo
Ronaldo

The most famous person in the room has already been knocked out, as today turned out to be not Ronaldo's day. Francisco Rodrigues was the one who took his chips, and here's how it went down.

After a player limped, Rodrigues limped on the button and Ronald raised to 600 from the small blind. Both limpers called, and the flop brought out {5-Clubs}{Q-Clubs}{7-Hearts} on which Ronaldo bet 1,000 and both his opponents called.

The turn brought the {9-Spades} and now Ronaldo bet 1,500 which was called again by the limper, but Rodrigues raised to 4,000. Ronaldo moved all in for 11,000 total and Rodrigues called right away.

Ronaldo: {J-Hearts}{J-Clubs}
Rodrigues: {Q-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}

The river brought the {4-Clubs} and Ronaldo was knocked out in the first level of the day.

Player Chips Progress
Francisco Rodrigues pt
Francisco Rodrigues
55,000 55,000
Ronaldo br
Ronaldo
Busted

Tags: Francisco RodriguesRonaldo

Level: 2

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

The Return of the Super High Rollers

Level 1 : 50/100, 0 ante

Justin Bonomo bet the {10-Spades}{10-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{A-Spades}{8-Clubs} river for 1,500 and fellow Super High Roller participant Sergey Lebedev squeezed to 4,100 from one seat over to enforce a fold. Max Silver and Andrew Lichtenberger joined Day 1a very recently as well while Isaac Haxton was there from the start.

Haxton raised to 250 and picked up one caller by the player in the big blind. On the {K-Spades}{2-Spades}{2-Hearts} flop and the {K-Clubs} turn both players checked before the opponent of the American then check-folded the {Q-Spades} river to a bet worth 425.

Player Chips Progress
Sergey Lebedev gb
Sergey Lebedev
32,000 2,000
Isaac Haxton us
Isaac Haxton
31,000 1,000
Max Silver gb
Max Silver
30,000 30,000
Andrew Lichtenberger us
Andrew Lichtenberger
30,000 30,000
Justin Bonomo us
Justin Bonomo
28,000 28,000

Tags: Andrew LichtenbergerIsaac HaxtonJustin BonomoMax SilverSergey Lebedev

A Trip Across Pond

Level 1 : 50/100, 0 ante

Oliver Price is a regular on the European Poker circuit while Anthony Spinella can mostly be seen in the US. The American already had some decent results in 2016 with a final table in the 2016 WPT L.A Poker Classic and the WSOP Circuit at the Bally's in Las Vegas. With more than $1.2 million in live scores, he shall not be underestimated in this tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Oliver Price gb
Oliver Price
30,000 30,000
Anthony Spinella us
Anthony Spinella
30,000 30,000

Tags: Anthony SpinellaOliver Price

Bad Start for Ronaldo and Banicevic

Level 1 : 50/100, 0 ante

Ronaldo is apparently down to just 7,000 chips after betting big with top pair, getting raised by Tibor Halatsch and paying off the nuts of the German qualifier.

Vlado Banicevic also had a bad start as well on the very same table. Ronaldo limped in, Banicevic made it 300 to go and both players in the blinds as well as Ronaldo called. On the {J-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{6-Spades} flop, Francisco Rodrigues led for 775 and Ronaldo folded, Banicevic raised to 1,800 and just Rodrigues called. On the {3-Clubs} turn, Rodrigues check-called a bet worth 2,800 before the {A-Clubs} river slowed down the action.

Both remaining players checked and Rodrigues scooped the pot with {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}.

Player Chips Progress
Vlado Banicevic me
Vlado Banicevic
24,000 -6,000
Ronaldo br
Ronaldo
7,000 -21,000

Tags: Vlado BanicevicRonaldoFrancisco Rodrigues

PCA Champion John Gale is Here

Level 1 : 50/100, 0 ante

It's been 11 years since John Gale managed to take down the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which was still a World Poker Tour event back then. Gale defeated a field of 461players to take home the $890,600 first-place prize, and he managed to add a lot to that over his successful career in poker.

Gale won a World Series of Poker bracelet in both 2006 and 2015, the latter after a long hiatus away from the game. The Londoner has spoken openly about the struggles with his health, as he's battling both heart problems and a brain tumor.

Gale states the love for the game of poker as one of the reasons to keep going, and he's showing some of that again today. After making deep runs in other events across Europe this year it looks like he's got his eye set on taking down another big title, and he'll got as good of a chance as any player in this event.

Player Chips Progress
John Gale gb
John Gale
30,000

Tags: John Gale