2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT

€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 4
Event Info

2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q8
Prize
€827,700
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€4,471,700
Entries
922
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000

Aladin Reskallah Eliminated in 13th Place (€45,570)

Level 25 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Aladin Reskallah
Aladin Reskallah

In the final hand before the dinner break, Conor Beresford raised to 80,000 from middle position, Nicola Grieco called in the cutoff, and Aladin Reskallah defended his big blind. The {8-Hearts}{6-Hearts}{4-Hearts} flop got checked to Grieco, who bet 125,000. Reskallah called and Beresford folded.

On the {3-Clubs} turn, things suddenly exploded. Reskallah checked, Grieco quickly bet 150,000, Reskallah check-raised all in for 1,065,000 and Grieco beat him to the pot with a call.

Aladin Reskallah: {q-Hearts}{9-Hearts}
Nicola Grieco: {k-Hearts}{j-Hearts}

A primal cheer erupted from Grieco's mouth once he saw Reskallah's hand. The Italian nearly smashed his superior flush through the table in excitement. He then tried to run into the stands in celebration but the brush quickly put a stop to that. He returned just in time to see the irrelevant {k-Spades} complete the board, leaving the tournament with twelve players into the dinner break.

Player Chips Progress
Nicola Grieco it
Nicola Grieco
3,390,000
1,390,000
1,390,000
Day 4 Chip Leader
Conor Beresford gb
Conor Beresford
2,415,000
-135,000
-135,000
Aladin Reskallah fr
Aladin Reskallah
Busted

Tags: Aladin ReskallahConor BeresfordNicola Grieco

Bruno Volkmann Eliminated in 14th Place (€41,090)

Level 25 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Bruno Volkmann
Bruno Volkmann

Bruno Volkmann has just been moved to the feature table and posted the big blind. Sam Greenwood opened to 80,000 in middle position with {q-Spades}{10-Clubs} and Volkmann called with {k-Clubs}{9-Clubs} in the big blind.

Greenwood flopped trips on {q-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}{q-Hearts} and bet 40,000. Volkmann check-raised to 140,000 with the airball and Greenwood called. Volkmann picked up equity on the {2-Clubs} turn shoved it in for 505,000, slightly more than the size of the pot. Greenwood snap-called the shove.

The {4-Spades} on the river saw the end to Volkmann's hopes as he hit the rail.

Player Chips Progress
Sam Greenwood ca
Sam Greenwood
1,990,000
540,000
540,000
Bruno Volkmann br
Bruno Volkmann
Busted

Tags: Bruno VolkmannSam Greenwood

Govert Metaal Eliminated in 15th Place (€41,090)

Level 25 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Govert Metaal
Govert Metaal

Manig Loeser shoved all in from the small blind and Govert Metaal called all in from the big blind for 730,000.

Govert Metaal: {k-Spades}{q-Hearts}
Manig Loeser: {2-Spades}{2-Clubs}

They were off to the races and Loeser nipped into the lead when it came {6-Spades}{a-Hearts}{7-Spades} on the flop. The turn was the {2-Diamonds} and a set for Loeser meant the end for Metaal, rendering the {10-Diamonds} river irrelevant.

Player Chips Progress
Manig Loeser de
Manig Loeser
4,930,000
690,000
690,000
EPT 1X Winner
Govert Metaal nl
Govert Metaal
Busted

Tags: Govert MetaalManig Loeser

Greenwood Doubles Through Katzenberger

Level 25 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Sam Greenwood
Sam Greenwood

Sam Greenwood raised to 90,000 from the hijack with {a-Diamonds}{a-Spades} and got calls from Manig Loeser with {k-Spades}{j-Hearts} on the button and Viktor Katzenberger with {9-Hearts}{7-Diamonds} in the big blind.

The {2-Diamonds}{9-Spades}{8-Diamonds} flop got checked around. Things heated up on the {6-Diamonds} turn, which gave Katzenberger an up and down straight draw to add to his top pair. He led for 140,000, Greenwood raised to 380,000, and Loeser folded. Katzenberger burned through two time bank cards before moving all in, and Greenwood called.

Greenwood was at risk but had the best of it. The {6-Hearts} river paired the board, safe for the Canadian, and he doubled up.

Player Chips Progress
Sam Greenwood ca
Sam Greenwood
2,240,000
940,000
940,000
Viktor Katzenberger hu
Viktor Katzenberger
1,440,000
-1,080,000
-1,080,000

Tags: Sam GreenwoodViktor Katzenberger

A Whole New World for Aladin Reskallah

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

One big life event inspired Reskallah to leave Montreal, move to France, and pursue his poker dream. He made mistakes along the way, but has learned from them and hopes those lessons will take him to the next level.

Tags: Aladin Reskallah

Nicolas Chouity Eliminated in 16th Place (€36,620)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Nicolas Chouity
Nicolas Chouity

Manig Loeser opened to 60,000 in middle position and Nicolas Chouity defended in the big blind. On the {j-Hearts}{j-Clubs}{7-Clubs} flop, Chouity got the rest of his short stack in and was quickly called by Loeser.

Nicolas Chouity: {7-Spades}{3-Spades}
Manig Loeser: {10-Clubs}{10-Hearts}

Neither the {a-Hearts} turn nor the {q-Clubs} river helped Chouity, who bowed out in 16th place for €36,620. This also ensures that a new EPT Main Event champion will be crowned here in Monte-Carlo.

Player Chips Progress
Manig Loeser de
Manig Loeser
4,595,000
495,000
495,000
EPT 1X Winner
Nicolas Chouity lb
Nicolas Chouity
Busted
EPT 1X Winner

Tags: Manig LoeserNicolas Chouity

The World According to Boutros Naim

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Boutros Naim
Boutros Naim

Boutros Pierre Naim is a man of will.

The Lebanese-born, poker-playing Monaco resident — and PokerStars qualifier to the EPT Main Event this week — once quit his investment banking job on a whim because his company moved offices from one part of London to another. It increased his commuting time and Naim wouldn’t stand for it.

“For me,” he says, “this was basically a no-go.” So he moved to Monaco.

But when he was in his 60s and living in the principality, Naim found himself missing his son, who had moved to Massachusetts to attend Babson College. Naim decided to move nearby and applied to Harvard University — not to seek a degree but simply to take courses on subjects like economics, the history of the Ottoman Empire, and meta-ethics. He applied for admission through the same process as any other student, leading to some bureaucratic-themed amusement.

Read the full article by Jason Kirk at the PokerStars Blog.

Tags: Boutros Naim

Melika Razavi Eliminated in 17th Place (€36,620)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Melika Razavi
Melika Razavi

Manig Loeser opened to 60,000 first to act and picked up no fewer than four callers in Melika Razavi, Wei Huang, Viktor Katzenberger, and Aladin Reskallah in the blinds. The flop came {q-Hearts}{5-Hearts}{4-Hearts} and the action checked to Razavi, who bet 225,000. Only Huang on the button called and the {a-Diamonds} fell on the turn.

Razavi now made it 500,000 to go and Huang, who had clashed with Razavi earlier and forced her to fold after using all remaining time banks, moved all in for more than 2.3 million. Razavi had some 1,300,000 behind and made the call after 20 seconds of consideration.

Melika Razavi: {7-Hearts}{6-Hearts}
Wei Huang: {j-Hearts}{10-Hearts}

Razavi only had two outs remaining for a possible straight flush, and the {j-Clubs} on the river was a blank to secure the monster pot and chip lead for Huang. There are now 16 players remaining, who will redraw to the final two tables shortly.

Player Chips Progress
Wei Huang cn
Wei Huang
5,150,000
2,350,000
2,350,000
Melika Razavi ir
Melika Razavi
Busted

Tags: Aladin ReskallahManig LoeserMelika RazaviViktor Katzenberger

Christoph Vogelsang Eliminated in 18th Place (€32,150)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Christoph Vogelsang
Christoph Vogelsang

Conor Beresford made it 65,000 from under the gun with {q-Hearts}{j-Hearts}. Christoph Vogelsang held {4-Spades}{4-Diamonds} in the cutoff and called. On the {q-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds} flop, Beresford opted to check and Vogelsang bet 60,000. It was a call from Beresford and the {7-Hearts} landed on the turn. When Beresford checked again, Vogelsang barreled for 175,000 and it was a flat from Beresford.

The river was a {2-Clubs} and with 675,000 in the middle, Vogelsang bets it all bar one chip, 520,000 of his 525,000 stack. Beresford called and Vogelsang was left with a single T-5,000 chip.

He got his last chip in the next hand and an incredible comeback was looking even less likely when he had the worst of it versus Massimo Mosele.

Massimo Mosele: {j-Spades}{j-Clubs}
Christoph Vogelsang: {a-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}

The {7-Hearts}{8-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{10-Clubs}{q-Diamonds} board held for Mosele and Vogelsang headed to the payouts desk.

Player Chips Progress
Conor Beresford gb
Conor Beresford
2,450,000
780,000
780,000
Massimo Mosele it
Massimo Mosele
460,000
-30,000
-30,000
Christoph Vogelsang de
Christoph Vogelsang
Busted

Tags: Christoph VogelsangConor BeresfordMassimo Mosele