€1,100 FPS Main Event Day 1a | 2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

04-27-2023 03:27 UTC+2

Spragg, Beresford Among Those Advancing After Day 1a in €1,100 FPS Main Event

Connor Richards

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

An action-packed first flight of the €1,100 FPS Main Event as part of PokerStars EPT presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® wrapped up early Thursday morning as 63 players out of 420 entrants advanced to Day 2. Leading the pack is Spain's Adrian Chabbi with 513,000, while Germany's Leon Sturm and France's Francois Vincenti are not far behind with respective stacks of 438,000 and 406,000.

Also in the top 10 end-of-day chip counts are Norway's Jon Kyte (339,000) and the United Kingdom's Conor Beresford (314,000), who brought the day to an end when he eliminated Mathieu His on the stone money bubble.

Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

RANK	PLAYER	COUNTRY	CHIP COUNT	BIG BLINDS
1	Adrian Chabbi	Spain	513,000	103
2	Leon Sturm	Germany	438,000	88
3	Francois Vincenti	France	406,000	81
4	Rachid El Yaacoubi	France	373,000	75
5	Jon Kyte	Norway	339,000	68
6	Tomas Kolarik	Czech Republic	336,000	67
7	Ken Okada	Japan	332,000	66
8	Dario Cannistra	Italy	327,000	65
9	Conor Beresford	United Kingdom	314,000	63
10	Mathias Bayer	Germany	314,000	63

Benjamin Spragg is also among the players who will return on Day 2 after the PokerStars ambassador bagged a decent stack of 253,000 worth 51 big blinds. Marle Spragg and fellow PokerStars pro Parker Talbot were both in the Day 1a field as well but neither was able to make it to bag-and-tag time.

Other notables who found bags include Tom Orpaz, Jason Wheeler, Jessica Teusl, Antoine Saout, Ana Marquez and Vicente Delgado, all of whom will return for Day 2 on April 28.

But there are still two more flights (not including the currently underway Day 1b) that will take place on April 27 and will follow similar structures to today's flights. Day 1c will kick off at 11 a.m. local time, while the turbo Day 1d will get underway at 6 p.m.

Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here on the Monaco coast and will be back tomorrow to provide updates on the FPS action.

Tags: Adrian Chabbi Ana Marquez Antoine Saout Benjamin Spragg Conor Beresford Francois Vincenti Jason Wheeler Jessica Teusl Jon Kyte Ken Okada Leon Sturm Marle Spragg Mathieu His Parker Talbot Rachid El Yaacoubi Tom Orpaz Tomas Kolarik Vicente Delgado

04-26-2023 23:34 UTC+2

Nuri Gets Value from "Spraggy"

Connor Richards

Level 13 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Axel Hallay opened to 5,000 from under the gun and Karo Nuri flat-called on the button before Benjamin Spragg defended out of the big blind.

The flop of 2♥4♠J♠ checked through and Spragg and Hallay both checked again on the 4♦ turn. Nuri bet 10,500 and only Spragg called.

Spragg checked a third time on the 3♠ river and Nuri bet 15,500. Spragg peeked at his cards and looked over to his opponent before calling. Nuri showed J♣9♣ for a pair of jacks and Spragg mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Benjamin Spragg	140,000 90,000	90,000

Karo Nuri	130,000 52,000	52,000
Axel Hallay	70,000

Tags: Axel Hallay Benjamin Spragg Karo Nuri

04-26-2023 22:13 UTC+2

Marquez Chips Up; Talbot Joins

Connor Richards

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Ana Marquez opened to 3,500 from the cutoff and Virgil Grecu defended in the big blind as PokerStars Team Pro Parker Talbot joined the table with a big bottle of Rosé in hand.

"I was with him at dinner just barely," Jon Kyte said at the next table over. "I didn't think he was going to make it!"

Grecu checked on the flop of 8♠6♥J♥ and Marquez continued for 3,000. Grecu laid it down.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ana Marquez	165,000 5,000	5,000
Virgil Grecu	85,000 -25,000	-25,000
Parker Talbot	30,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Ana Marquez Jon Kyte Virgil Grecu

04-26-2023 20:36 UTC+2

Spragg Takes From Trofimov

Andrew Knowles

Level 10 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

In a heads-up pot with roughly 17,000 in the middle on a flop showing J♣3♠2♦, Benjamin Spragg checked from under the gun to Dragos Trofimov who bet out 2,500. Spragg tossed in chips for the call and the pair saw the 6♠ turn.

Both players checked their options to the 5♠ river where Spragg elected to take the betting lead with a size of 14,000. Trofimov quickly let his hand go and the pot was sent to the PokerStars Ambassador.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dragos Trofimov	122,000 -13,000	-13,000
Benjamin Spragg	56,000 -4,000	-4,000

Tags: Benjamin Spragg Dragos Trofimov

04-26-2023 19:29 UTC+2

Julien Dislodges a Pot

Connor Richards

Level 9 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Harry Lodge opened to 2,500 in early position and Nicolas Julien called in the hijack to get things heads-up.

Lodge continued for 2,500 on the flop of Q♦Q♣3♠ and Julien called. Lodge sized up to 4,000 on the J♠ turn and Julien again called.

The 5♣ river completed the board and Lodge slowed down by checking. Julien bet 15,700 and Lodge laid it down.

Player	Chips	Progress
Harry Lodge	85,000 22,000	22,000
Nicolas Julien	55,000 55,000	55,000

Tags: Harry Lodge Nicolas Julien

04-26-2023 18:22 UTC+2

Duta Continues To Climb

Andrew Knowles

Level 8 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

In a heads-up pot with 4,800 in the middle on a flop showing 5♥3♦3♠, Florian Duta checked from the big blind to Stefan Huber under the gun who bet out 1,200. Duta put in a check-raise to 3,500 and Huber made the call.

The A♠ hit the turn and Duta kept up the aggression with a bet of 11,000. Huber took some time, but in the end made the fold and another pot was sent to Duta.

Player	Chips	Progress
Florian Duta	90,000 55,000	55,000
Stefan Huber	26,000

Tags: Florian Duta Stefan Huber

04-26-2023 18:06 UTC+2

Kyte Cracks Kings To Score Massive Double Up

Andrew Knowles

Level 7 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

The action was picked up in a pot of close to 30,000 on a board showing 8♣8♥5♠4♥. Josef Huber bet out 10,000 and Jon Kyte moved all in for 44,000 total. Huber made the call with a slightly bigger stack.

Jon Kyte: 7♥6♥
Josef Huber: K♦K♥

Kyte turned the nut straight and had Huber in need of a king or an eight to score the pot. The river fell the 9♣ and Kyte secured the massive double up off Huber.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon Kyte	110,000 78,000	78,000
Josef Huber	9,000 9,000	9,000

Tags: Jon Kyte Josef Huber

04-26-2023 17:19 UTC+2

Guichard Gets Value On River

Andrew Knowles

Level 6 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

In a three-way pot with just under 20,000 in the middle on a board showing Q♠10♦7♣2♣, Oliver Huber in the big blind, Vincent Facquet from under the gun, and Florian Guichard on the button all checked their options.

The A♥ completed the board and action checked to Guichard who tossed out a bet of 7,000. Huber quickly folded and Facquet went deep in the tank. After over a minute of deliberation, Facquet tossed out the chips for a call.

Guichard confidently tabled A♦7♥ for rivered two pair and scored the pot when Facquet mucked his hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vincent Facquet	90,000 58,000	58,000
Florian Guichard	48,000 48,000	48,000
Oliver Huber	27,000 27,000	27,000

Tags: Florian Guichard Oliver Huber Vincent Facquet

04-26-2023 16:27 UTC+2

Naydenov Takes Another One

Andrew Knowles

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

In a three-way pot with 3,600 in the middle on a flop of J♣8♣5♦, Gerard Cohen and Simeon Naydenov checked from the blinds over to the under-the-gun player who bet out 1,500. Cohen and Naydenov both called and the 7♥ hit the turn.

Cohen checked again and Naydenov took the lead with a bet of 4,500, which only Cohen called to see the 7♣ river. Cohen elected to check a third time and Naydenov put out a small bet of 3,000, which Cohen quickly called.

Naydenov rolled over 9♥6♥ for a turned straight and Cohen tabled K♥J♥ to show his two-pair was no good.

Player	Chips	Progress
Simeon Naydenov	59,000 11,600	11,600
Gerard Cohen	14,000 14,000	14,000

Tags: Gerard Cohen Simeon Naydenov

04-26-2023 14:25 UTC+2

"Always the Israeli:" Koko Cracks Aces to Bust Demlakian

Connor Richards

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

An early position player opened to 500 and Yonatan Koko called in middle position before two players called behind him. Ken Demlakian three-bet out of the small blind and only Koko called.

"Always the Israeli!" laughed Demlakian. "When there's a murder, they always say it's the husband or the butler. But here, it's always the Israeli!"

Demlakian checked on the 9♠Q♣2♦ flop and Koko bet 2,000. Demlakian called and as he did so, asked his opponent how he got "that bump on your nose."

"You want to know the truth?" asked Koko. "It happened today. I was looking at Google Maps and walked into a pole."

As this conversation took place, Demlakian checked again on the 3♣ turn and Koko bet 4,000. The conversation died down as Demlakian check-raised all in to send Koko into the tank.

"You had enough of the game? I think you've had enough of the game," Koko said before making the call with his opponent covered.

Ken Demlakian: A♥A♦
Yonatan Koko: Q♦10♦

Demlakian was ahead with aces but that changed when the dealer put down the 10♣ on the river to give Koko two pair to mark the Australian's elimination.

"He said it's always the Israeli!" Koko said after his opponent left.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yonatan Koko	70,000 70,000	70,000
Ken Demlakian	Busted

Tags: Ken Demlakian Yonatan Koko