2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

€1,100 FPS Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aq
Prize
€307,160
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,100
Prize Pool
€2,052,480
Entries
2,138
Level Info
Level
42
Blinds
1,000,000 / 2,000,000
Ante
2,000,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
321
Players Left
55

Thiemer Bags Top Stack In Day 2 of €1,100 FPS Main Event

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Frederik Thiemer
Frederik Thiemer

The €1,100 France Poker Series (FPS) Main Event as part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️ continued today at Sporting Monte-Carlo on the French Riviera and after eight hours of play on Day 2, the returning field of 321 was whittled down to only 55 remaining contenders.

All players who returned today were automatically in the money and received a piece of the enormous €2,052,480 prize pool. Each player received a minimum of €1,650, although the big payouts are yet to come and will be decided over the next two days of play.

Germany's Frederik Thiemer bagged the chip lead with 2,760,000 heading into Day 3 and will look to continue his run as he eyes the €307,160 top prize. He’s followed by Stefan Dimitrov (2,675,000) and Ewen Trevidy (2,345,000) to round out the top three.

€1,100 France Poker Series Main Event Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Frederik ThiemerGermany2,760,00069
2Stefan DimitrovBulgaria2,675,00067
3Ewen TrevidyFrance2,345,00059
4Rubens SellamFrance2,325,00058
5Daisuke OgitaJapan2,260,00057
6Jason WheelerUSA2,250,00056
7Matthias RothSwitzerland1,950,00049
8Renat BohdanovUkraine1,900,00048
9Djamel OuaretFrance1,800,00045
10Alessio Di CesareItaly1,765,00044

Day 2 Action

The action got off to a hot start with more than 100 players being eliminated in the first level of play. UK’s Andrew Hulme was one of the early casualties as his pocket nines fell short to the kings of Ignacio Puebla Alija.

Soon after, Michal Mrakes found the exit when he flopped top pair with jack-ten but was up against the better kicker of Abedel Douair, who held ace-ten, and couldn’t find improvement.

Julien Sitbon was the story of the day when he was down to a single T-1,000 chip and managed to climb his way back to more than ten big blinds. Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue the comeback and was sent to the payout desk in 237th place.

Still in contention at the end of the day was PokerStars ambassador Benjamin Spragg who bagged an impressive stack of 1,580,000, good for 40 big blinds. "Spraggy," who is generally an online Twitch streamer on PokerStars will have his eyes set on the top prize to add to his over $200,000 in live tournament earnings.

Remaining Payouts

PlacePrize (EUR)PlacePrize (EUR)
1€307,16010-11€21,860
2€191,94012-13€18,210
3€137,10014-15€15,180
4€105,46016-17€12,640
5€81,13018-20€10,520
6€62,41021-23€8,850
7€48,01024-27€7,700
8€36,94028-31€6,680
9€28,42032-39€5,820
  40-55€5,050

The 55 remaining players will return for Day 3 tomorrow, Saturday, April 29th at noon local time. Play will resume in Level 25 with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante and continue until the field has shrunk down to the final table.

A champion will be crowned on Sunday, and final table action will be streamed on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels.

Stay tuned as the PokerNews team continues to bring you updates throughout the tournament, along with updates from other events at EPT Monte Carlo.

Tags: Abedel DouairAlessio Di CesareAndrew HulmeBenjamin SpraggDaisuke OgitaDjamel OuaretEwen TrevidyFrederik ThiemerIgnacio Puebla AlijaJason WheelerJulien SitbonMatthias RothMichal MrakesRenat BohdanovRubens SellamStefan Dimitrov

Spragg's Psychological Warfare Bears Fruit

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Ben Spragg
Ben Spragg

''It'd be sad to bust the last hand,'' Benjamin Spragg exclaimed before he raised it to 65,000 from under the gun. Everyone agreed but button Alexey Losev, who dared to make a call.

The flop fell 732 and Spragg pushed all in for Losev's last remaining 165,000. Losev chose to save his final four big blinds for tomorrow as he folded his Q10 face-up. Spragg returned the favor and showed the table the overpair of 99.

With that, Day 2 has reached its conclusion with all tables starting the bagging and tagging process. Stay tuned for a complete chip count and a recap of the entire day.

Player Chips Progress
Benjamin Spragg gb
Benjamin Spragg
1,580,000
680,000
680,000
PokerStars
Alexey Losev ru
Alexey Losev
165,000
-264,000
-264,000

Spragg Runs Into Jacks

Level 23 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Ben Spragg
Ben Spragg

Benjamin Spragg was in middle position in a heads-up pot against Abedel Douair in the big blind on a board of 3592.

Douair checked on the turn and Spragg checked back. The 2 river completed the board and Douair led out for 105,000 to send "Spraggy" deep into the tank. After more than a minute, Spragg called.

Douair tabled JJ for an overpair and the PokerStars Team Pro mucked in defeat.

"I did not expect that," commented Spragg.

Player Chips Progress
Abedel Douair fr
Abedel Douair
1,050,000
1,050,000
1,050,000
Benjamin Spragg gb
Benjamin Spragg
900,000
PokerStars

Tags: Abedel DouairBenjamin Spragg

Three Players All In, Two Win

Level 23 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Djamel Ouaret
Djamel Ouaret

Short-stacked Alessio Di Cesare was first to act and put his 235,000 remaining chips in the middle. Big stack Djamel Ouaret called from the hijack, then Andrea Belmessieri upped the ante to 640,000, his entire stack. Ouaret got a count but ultimately felt priced in as he made the call.

Alessio Di Cesare: QJ
Andrea Belmessieri: KK
Djamel Ouaret: 55

Di Cesare had one foot out the door, but the flop of QQ8 saw him leap into the lead. The other two players were looking to make a full house on the turn or river, but the 7 and 9 were safe for Di Cesare, who let out an audible cheer.

Meanwhile, Belmessieri also made a profit on the hand as he scooped the sizable side pot.

Player Chips Progress
Djamel Ouaret fr
Djamel Ouaret
1,000,000
-1,100,000
-1,100,000
Andrea Belmessieri fr
Andrea Belmessieri
810,000
638,000
638,000
Alessio Di Cesare it
Alessio Di Cesare
740,000
684,000
684,000

Tags: Alessio Di CesareAndrea BelmessieriDjamel Ouaret

Heveli Hits a Double Knockout

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Richard Heveli
Richard Heveli

In the final hand before the break there was a three-way preflop all-in situation at the last table still playing. Vladyslav Potomkin was all-in for 208,000, Antoine Saout had a little more with 300,000, but Richard Heveli covered both with a stack of near one million. All cards went on their backs as the other players left to enjoy their break.

Vladyslav Potomkin: AK
Antoine Saout: A7
Richard Heveli: 88

The flop of J43 was safe for Heveli, but the Q turn brought Potomkin some more outs. However, the river Q paired the board and the two eliminated players' break turned out to be slightly longer than the rest of the field.

Player Chips Progress
Richard Heveli hu
Richard Heveli
1,500,000
900,000
900,000
Antoine Saout fr
Antoine Saout
Busted
Vladyslav Potomkin ua
Vladyslav Potomkin
Busted

Tags: Antoine SaoutRichard HeveliVladyslav Potomkin

Marquez Falls to Bohdanov

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Ana Márquez
Ana Márquez

Ana Marquez open-jammed a stack of around 200,000 from the button and Renat Bohdanov called in the small blind with a bigger stack.

Ana Marquez: J9
Renat Bohdanov: A8

Marquez took the lead as the flop landed 79K to pair her nine, but the turn brought the A to give Bohdanov the better pair. The 8 on the river completed Marquez' elimination.

Player Chips Progress
Renat Bohdanov ua
Renat Bohdanov
1,400,000
Ana Marquez es
Ana Marquez
Busted

Tags: Ana MarquezBohdanov Renat

"What a Setup'': Orpaz Falls as Ouaret Makes Bigger Boat

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Tom Orpaz
Tom Orpaz

Tom Orpaz started the day by tripling his stack in the first hour and things mainly went up from there. Then it all came crashing down as the real estate investor tangled with the only player at the table who had him covered, in what was surely the biggest pot of the tournament so far.

In a three-way pot on a flop of 7A8, Orpaz bet 50,000 and Djamel Ouaret called, as did a third player in the hand, Richard Heveli.

Orpaz sized up to 200,000 on the J turn and only Ouaret called. Orpaz, who started the hand with around a million chips, checked on the A river and raised all in when Ouaret took the opportunity to bet. Ouaret called and Orpaz was stunned when he saw what the Frenchman turned over.

Ouaret showed AJ for aces full of jacks as Orpaz showed JJ for an inferior full house, revealing Ouaret had hit a two-outer on the river to eliminate Orpaz and take the tournament chip lead.

"Ace-jack, the only thing that beats me," Orpaz told PokerNews afterward. "And I have jacks."

"It was a good run," he sighed. "What can you do? What a f***in' setup."

Player Chips Progress
Djamel Ouaret fr
Djamel Ouaret
2,100,000
1,770,000
1,770,000
Richard Heveli hu
Richard Heveli
600,000
286,000
286,000
Tom Orpaz il
Tom Orpaz
Busted

Tags: Djamel OuaretRichard HeveliTom Orpaz

Spragg Hits Quads in Preflop All-In Situation

Level 21 : Blinds 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante
Ben Spragg
Ben Spragg

Peter Charalambous was sitting middle position and made the raise to 32,000. PokerStars Ambassador Benjamin Spragg was one seat over in the cutoff and he put in the three-bet to an even 100,000. The action folded back to Charalambous who made the four-bet shove. It covered Spragg's stack of around 430,000, who quickly made the call.

Benjamin Spragg: QQ
Peter Charalambous: AK

It was a classic preflop flip for the two players, which was almost definitively decided in Spragg's favor when the flop came AQQ. Quads for ''Spraggy'' meant that Charalambous had to catch running aces to win the pot.

The turn A brought one of them for a tiny sweat, but Spragg faded the one-outer when the 3 river hit.

''We were always gonna get it in, weren't we?'' commented Charalambous while counting out the exact chips necessary to pay off Spragg.

Player Chips Progress
Benjamin Spragg gb
Benjamin Spragg
900,000
500,000
500,000
PokerStars
Peter Charalambous gb
Peter Charalambous
115,000
38,000
38,000

Tags: Benjamin SpraggPeter Charalambous

Facquet Scratches to Double Martinelli

Level 21 : Blinds 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante
Vincent Facquet
Vincent Facquet

Corrado Martinelli was all in and at risk against billiards professional Vincent Facquet.

Corrado Martinelli: KK
Vincent Facquet: 99

Facquet couldn't hit a nine-ball as the board ran out 3810J8 to earn Martinelli the double.

Player Chips Progress
Corrado Martinelli it
Corrado Martinelli
430,000
313,000
313,000
Vincent Facquet fr
Vincent Facquet
415,000
-425,000
-425,000

Tags: Vincent FacquetCorrado Martinelli

Marquez Makes a Good Laydown

Level 19 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Ana Márquez
Ana Márquez

There were already roughly 90,000 chips in the middle when Ana Marquez bet 30,000 on the 9QA flop. Her opponent was Alfonso Simone, who played a stack of well over a million. He made the call and the board paired on the Q turn.

Marquez slowed down and checked, prompting Simone to put in a bet of 70,000. Marquez thought for a bit but eventually let her hand go, claiming to have a bad ace. Simone showed her the Q, notifying her that her fold was correct. Marquez was left with a stack of 20 big blinds.

Player Chips Progress
Alfonso Simone it
Alfonso Simone
1,200,000
768,000
768,000
Ana Marquez es
Ana Marquez
200,000
-70,000
-70,000

Tags: Alfonso SimoneAna Marquez