Welcome to Day 3 of the 2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event
Out of a field of 1,073 entries, only 85 players remain in contention for the second-biggest ever EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event in history. The strong turnout showcases a fabulous return for the PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino and all those still in the mix will be competing for the lion's share of the €5,204,050 prize pool within the next three days at Le Sporting Monte-Carlo on the French Riviera.
Three former EPT Main Event champions aim to become the third player to earn a second title of the popular live poker tour and Scottish poker pro Niall Farrell is one of them. He leads the pack with a stack of 1,175,000 while fellow former winners Arnaud Mattern (250,000) and Lucien Cohen (150,000) will aim to keep the title on home soil.
Ferenc Deak (1,137,000) and German wizard Ole Schemion (1,046,000) and the only other contenders with a seven-figure stack but plenty of familiar names follow not far behind including Javier Gomez Zapatero (866,000), Vlado Banicevic (725,000), Shyngis Satubayev (690,000), Claudio Di Giacomo (587,000), and Jussi Nevanlinna (536,000).
2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event Day 3 Top 10 Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niall Farrell | Scotland | 1,175,000 | 196 |
| 2 | Ferenc Deak | Hungary | 1,137,000 | 190 |
| 3 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 1,046,000 | 174 |
| 4 | Javier Gomez Zapatero | Spain | 866,000 | 144 |
| 5 | Fabien Motte | France | 809,000 | 135 |
| 6 | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 802,000 | 134 |
| 7 | Ramon Colillas | Spain | 796,000 | 133 |
| 8 | Francky Magliocco | France | 780,000 | 130 |
| 9 | Vlado Banicevic | Montenegro | 725,000 | 121 |
| 10 | Shyngis Satubayev | Kazakhstan | 690,000 | 115 |
The only PokerStars ambassador still in contention is the 2019 PSPC champion Ramon Colillas and he sits in seventh place with a stack of 796,000. Benjamin Spragg and Rafael Moraes also cashed in the event but were sent to the payout desk before Day 2 concluded last night.
Three women are aiming for the EPT Main Event title and return for Day 3 as well: Gaelle Baumann (464,000), Ana Marquez (442,000) and Sofia Lovgren (244,000). They will be back at noon local time when the action resumes with 45 minutes remaining in level 17 at blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a big blind ante of 6,000.
As of Day 3 and until the conclusion of the tournament, a 30-second shot clock will be in play to give players as much time to act on every street from now on. If they shall require more time to consider the options, they have five 30-second time bank extensions available. Those will be added every day from now on and it's up to the players to use them wisely.
The schedule for Day 3 includes another six and a half levels of 90 minutes each and should whittle down the field to the final three tables and beyond. Besides the exclusive PokerNews live updates, the live stream feature table will be available on a delay of 30 minutes on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels.
Stay tuned to find out who makes it one step further on the French Riviera as a winner will be crowned in the Salle des Etoiles on Saturday, May 7, 2022.
, Franz Bracher checked his option with around 175,000 behind. Nariman Yaghmai then pushed all-in with the far superior stack on the button and that sent his opponent in the tank. Bracher used three time banks and eventually declared the call.
for the runner runner nut flush and that beat the 
of the Swiss. The same table then lost Tomasso Briotti soon after as the early carnage continued.
flop provided the flush draw for Chaoui but the 
turn and 
river were both blanks.
and 
completed the board to give Cardot a flush instead, and the 2007 EPT Prague Main Event winner was eliminated.
completed board, Sylvain Loosli was in the big blind and facing a decision for his tournament life against Nikolai Tulin in the hijack. Loosli had approximately 105,000 behind and after using multiple time extensions, put in the chips.
, while Loosli could only flip over 
board knocked out Veyssiere as Simoes leaped into the lead by some margin.
flop gave Cervantes top set to stay ahead of Bremseth's bottom set, while Lovgren now needed to complete her Broadway draw. The 
completed the board to secure the sizable pot for Cervantes, while Bremseth was eliminated.
flop and Colillas vaulted ahead. Needing a queen to stay alive, the 
and 
