David Peters Claims Chip Lead on Day 2 of PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Main Event
One of the best in all of tournament poker made his mark on Day 2 of the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino €5,300 EPT Main Event: David Peters. Peters, number 15 on the all-time money list with over $20 million in lifetime winnings, vaulted himself to the top of the leaderboard in a day that lasted just over three levels of 90 minutes.
With 120 players left, play was suspended one table shy of the bubble. For 111 players, a share of the €3,768,450 prize pool is up for grabs, with a mincash worth €9,400. The winner, crowned on Friday, May 4, will receive the first place prize of €712,000 and can call himself the 2018 EPT Monte-Carlo champion.
Peters soared to the overall chip lead in a big hand against Lucas "Bit2Easy" Reeves during the twilight portion of the day. Holding ace-eight in a four-bet pot, Peters flopped an eight and rivered an ace for aces up. The American overbet shoved on the river and Reeves called it off for his tournament life with ace-king. Reeves was eliminated and Peters scooped up a 500k pot to vault himself to the top spot.
Another top stack belongs to last year's Day 2 chipleader, Nick Petrangelo. Petrangelo amassed 463,000 in chips to make himself a prime contender for a deep run. Last year, Petrangelo's Day 2 chip lead ended up in a relatively disappointing 82nd place, and he's looking to improve on that performance this year. Other notables that bagged big include Ali Reza Fatehi (435,500), Ole Schemion (285,000), Sam Greenwood (246,000), Team PokerStars Online Randy "nanonoko" Lew (231,500), Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari (227,000) and 2015 EPT Monte Carlo champion Adrian Mateos (181,000).
PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Main Event Day 2 Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Peters | United States | 603,500 |
| 2 | Maxim Panyak | Russia | 494,500 |
| 3 | Nicolas Dumont | France | 483,000 |
| 4 | Said Butba | Russia | 475,000 |
| 5 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | 463,000 |
| 6 | [Removed:432] | France | 452,000 |
| 7 | Dan Abouaf | France | 440,500 |
| 8 | Ali Reza Fatehi | Iran | 435,500 |
| 9 | Boutros Naim | Lebanon | 430,000 |
| 10 | Eric Qu | France | 403,500 |
The room was buzzing with excitement at the start of the day as all players played a flipout tournament to try and win the free $30,000 Platinum Pass that awaited the lucky winner. After winning three flipouts in a row, a loud cheer erupted from the Salle des Etoiles as Paul-Francois Tedeschi grabbed the Pass to punch himself a free ticket to the Bahamas and the PokerStars Players Championship next year.
After the buzz died down, players started Day 2 and late registration was closed. 777 entries were made into the Main Event, consisting of 594 unique players, 201 reentries and 2 no-shows. A late shower that tried to spin things up was Steve O'Dwyer, but he got eliminated in the very first hand of the day. The same empty-handed fate awaited Team PokerStars Pros Igor Kurganov, Celina Lin and Fatima Moreira de Melo, as well as Platinum Pass winner Tedeschi, Daniel Dvoress, Maria Lampropulos, Justin Bonomo, Isaac Haxton and Tsugunari Toma.
On Day 3, there's 01:15:18 to be played out in level 14, followed by a maximum of four more levels of 90 minutes each. Cards will be back in the air at noon and levels will resume with blinds at 1,500/3,000 and a big blind ante of 3,000. PokerNews will be on the floor to provide all the coverage from the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT €5,300 Main Event as we get closer towards crowning the new champion.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Sonny Franco | France | 233,000 | 78 |
| 1 | 2 | Pavel Ignatov | Russia | 34,000 | 11 |
| 1 | 3 | Liwei Sun | Italy | 100,500 | 34 |
| 1 | 4 | Aleksandr Sheshukov | Russia | 251,500 | 84 |
| 1 | 5 | Leo Margets | Spain | 82,000 | 27 |
| 1 | 6 | Olivier Ferrero | France | 87,000 | 29 |
| 1 | 7 | Francois Evard | Switzerland | 48,500 | 16 |
| 1 | 8 | Jean-Jacques Zeitoun | France | 41,500 | 14 |
| 2 | 1 | Ermo Kosk | Estonia | 70,500 | 24 |
| 2 | 2 | Chaofei Wang | China | 71,500 | 24 |
| 2 | 3 | Brian Altman | United States | 289,000 | 96 |
| 2 | 4 | Antoine Saout | France | 350,500 | 117 |
| 2 | 5 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 245,000 | 82 |
| 2 | 6 | Alexis Fleur | France | 351,000 | 117 |
| 2 | 7 | Guntis Aleskins | Latvia | 117,000 | 39 |
| 2 | 8 | Ionut-Flavius Voinea | Romania | 69,000 | 23 |
| 3 | 1 | Toby Orion Boas | United States | 187,500 | 63 |
| 3 | 2 | Javier Fernandez Alonso | Spain | 393,500 | 131 |
| 3 | 3 | [Removed:37] | France | 218,000 | 73 |
| 3 | 4 | Florian Maurer | Austria | 252,500 | 84 |
| 3 | 5 | [Removed:17] | New Zealand | 86,000 | 29 |
| 3 | 6 | Said Butba | Russia | 475,000 | 158 |
| 3 | 7 | Sosia Jiang | New Zealand | 155,500 | 52 |
| 3 | 8 | Andreas Kaju | Estonia | 95,000 | 32 |
| 4 | 1 | Ali Chaieb | France | 341,000 | 114 |
| 4 | 2 | Carl-Fredrik Tingvall | Sweden | 192,500 | 64 |
| 4 | 3 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 323,000 | 108 |
| 4 | 4 | Danut Chisu | Romania | 257,000 | 86 |
| 4 | 5 | Paul Byrne | United Kingdom | 119,000 | 40 |
| 4 | 6 | Ali Reza Fatehi | Iran | 435,500 | 145 |
| 4 | 7 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | 116,000 | 39 |
| 4 | 8 | Jan Bednar | Czech Republic | 159,500 | 53 |
| 5 | 1 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | 321,500 | 107 |
| 5 | 2 | Pierre Morin | France | 219,500 | 73 |
| 5 | 3 | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | 278,500 | 93 |
| 5 | 4 | Anthony Blanchard | France | 160,000 | 53 |
| 5 | 5 | Emil Patel | Finland | 84,500 | 28 |
| 5 | 6 | Philipp Gruissem | Germany | 152,500 | 51 |
| 5 | 7 | Dan Djorno | France | 162,000 | 54 |
| 5 | 8 | Nicola D'Anselmo | Italy | 51,500 | 17 |
| 6 | 1 | Paul Newey | United Kingdom | 183,500 | 61 |
| 6 | 2 | Gaelle Baumann | France | 115,500 | 39 |
| 6 | 3 | Mark Demirdjian | Canada | 395,500 | 132 |
| 6 | 4 | Georgios Karakousis | Greece | 136,000 | 45 |
| 6 | 5 | Maxim Panyak | Russia | 494,500 | 165 |
| 6 | 6 | Manuel Ruivo | Portugal | 221,500 | 74 |
| 6 | 7 | Nadim Hage Ali | France | 159,000 | 53 |
| 6 | 8 | Aroldo Fioroni | Switzerland | 199,000 | 66 |
| 7 | 1 | Pierre Barthelemy | France | 97,500 | 33 |
| 7 | 2 | Anton Kraus | Bulgaria | 56,000 | 19 |
| 7 | 3 | Andre Akkari | Brazil | 227,000 | 76 |
| 7 | 4 | Eric Qu | France | 403,500 | 135 |
| 7 | 5 | Krisztian Gyorgyi | Hungary | 321,000 | 107 |
| 7 | 6 | Sadri Saleh | Canada | 59,000 | 20 |
| 7 | 7 | Luca Marchetti | Italy | 122,000 | 41 |
| 7 | 8 | Eric Sfez | France | 309,000 | 103 |
| 8 | 1 | Philippe Narboni | France | 72,500 | 24 |
| 8 | 2 | Andre Haneberg | Germany | 301,500 | 101 |
| 8 | 3 | Antal Roth | Hungary | 126,500 | 42 |
| 8 | 4 | Matthias Tikerpe | Estonia | 98,500 | 33 |
| 8 | 5 | Arianna Son | United States | 124,000 | 41 |
| 8 | 6 | Mazin Khoury | United Kingdom | 268,000 | 89 |
| 8 | 7 | Joe Mouawad | Lebanon | 176,000 | 59 |
| 8 | 8 | Florent Estegassy | France | 71,000 | 24 |
| 9 | 1 | Thomas Pettersson | Sweden | 225,000 | 75 |
| 9 | 2 | Benjamin Chicheportiche | France | 147,000 | 49 |
| 9 | 3 | Gary Miller | United Kingdom | 159,000 | 53 |
| 9 | 4 | Jason Wheeler | United States | 90,000 | 30 |
| 9 | 5 | Markku Koplimaa | Estonia | 168,000 | 56 |
| 9 | 6 | Samy Ouellani | France | 272,000 | 91 |
| 9 | 7 | Erik Seidel | United States | 71,500 | 24 |
| 9 | 8 | Gary Hasson | Belgium | 285,000 | 95 |
| 10 | 1 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 229,500 | 77 |
| 10 | 2 | Giuliano Bendinelli | Italy | 95,000 | 32 |
| 10 | 3 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | 463,000 | 154 |
| 10 | 4 | Tomas Jozonis | Lithuania | 198,000 | 66 |
| 10 | 5 | Andres Korn | Argentina | 131,500 | 44 |
| 10 | 6 | Vlado Banicevic | Montenegro | 148,500 | 50 |
| 10 | 7 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | 150,500 | 50 |
| 10 | 8 | Boutros Naim | Lebanon | 430,000 | 143 |
| 11 | 1 | Fabrice Maltez | France | 72,000 | 24 |
| 11 | 2 | Davor Lanini | Italy | 153,500 | 51 |
| 11 | 3 | Wei Huang | China | 49,000 | 16 |
| 11 | 4 | Ville Tapio Sissonen | Finland | 244,500 | 82 |
| 11 | 5 | Ekrem Sanioglu | Turkey | 190,000 | 63 |
| 11 | 6 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | 114,000 | 38 |
| 11 | 7 | Pablo Melogno | Uruguay | 269,000 | 90 |
| 11 | 8 | Honglin Jiang | New Zealand | 127,000 | 42 |
| 12 | 1 | Jacques Guenni | France | 65,500 | 22 |
| 12 | 2 | Lukasz Cygan | Poland | 250,500 | 84 |
| 12 | 3 | Remy Lubespere | France | 177,000 | 59 |
| 12 | 4 | Randy Lew | United States | 231,500 | 77 |
| 12 | 5 | Gavin O'Rourke | Ireland | 296,000 | 99 |
| 12 | 6 | David Peters | United States | 603,500 | 201 |
| 12 | 7 | Francesco Grieco | Italy | 63,000 | 21 |
| 12 | 8 | Conor Beresford | United Kingdom | 342,000 | 114 |
| 13 | 1 | Boris Kuzmanovic | Croatia | 134,000 | 45 |
| 13 | 2 | Sebastian Von Toperczer | Germany | 49,000 | 16 |
| 13 | 3 | Mark Teltscher | United Kingdom | 134,500 | 45 |
| 13 | 4 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 181,000 | 60 |
| 13 | 5 | Pasquale Braco | Italy | 74,500 | 25 |
| 13 | 6 | Jack Salter | United Kingdom | 73,500 | 25 |
| 13 | 7 | Makram Saber | Lebanon | 30,000 | 10 |
| 13 | 8 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 285,000 | 95 |
| 14 | 1 | Yorane Kerignard | France | 95,000 | 32 |
| 14 | 2 | Dan Abouaf | France | 440,500 | 147 |
| 14 | 3 | [Removed:432] | France | 452,000 | 151 |
| 14 | 4 | Thierry Gogniat | France | 176,000 | 59 |
| 14 | 5 | Saar Wilf | Israel | 275,500 | 92 |
| 14 | 6 | Makoto Haga | Japan | 69,000 | 23 |
| 14 | 7 | Josip Simunic | Austria | 244,000 | 81 |
| 14 | 8 | Stefan Huber | Switzerland | 269,000 | 90 |
| 15 | 1 | Ryan Riess | United Kingdom | 44,000 | 15 |
| 15 | 2 | Michael Glick | United Kingdom | 191,500 | 64 |
| 15 | 3 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 246,000 | 82 |
| 15 | 4 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | 47,000 | 16 |
| 15 | 5 | Federico Petruzzelli | Italy | 293,500 | 98 |
| 15 | 6 | Romain Lewis | France | 55,500 | 19 |
| 15 | 7 | Nicolas Dumont | France | 483,000 | 161 |
| 15 | 8 | Massou Cohen | France | 56,000 | 19 |
and Lascar headed to the rail.
flop for 8,000 and Lampropulos called. After the 
turn, Saout bet 16,000 and Lampropulos shoved for what appeared tobe 40,000, the instant call of Saout followed.
that fell on the river to end Day 2 with 120 players remaining.
flop and 
on the river, however, made things interesting as Peters overbet shoved all in, effectively putting Reeves to a decision for all of his remaining 153,500 in chips.
for aces up, Reeves mucked his hand but was forced to show his 
and Toma was left with just 17,000. However, the Japanese chipped up shortly after before the remaining 50,000 went in preflop against a limp by Schemion. The German snap-called and the cards were turned over.
and Chisu's full house with sixes over fours scored the double knockout, cutting the bid of Coren Mitchell to become the first three-time champion short.
river, Boghean shoved and Bou Habib snap-called for 49,500 total with 
to double up.
. The Main Event finalist from last year turned over 
for flopped two pair and two bricks later Panyak had the busy task to integrate even more chips into the growing tower right in front of him.
