€2,200 FPS High Roller
Day 1b Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo
€2,200 FPS High Roller
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo
Buy-in
€2,200
Prize Pool
€2,369,280
Entries
1,234
Level
37
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Entries
326
Players Left
48
Shiina Okamoto Speeds to the Chip Lead on the €2,200 FPS High Roller Day 1b
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
The 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® stop at the beautiful Sporting Monte-Carlo continues to break records, and the latest record broken was when the France Poker Series (FPS) €2,200 High Roller attracted a field of 1,234 players, generating an enormous prize pool of €2,369,280.
326 of those entries happened on the turbo Day 1b, where the top 48 finishers bagged and tagged for Day 2 after bursting the bubble and reaching the money. The field was supposed to play down to 49 people, but Marchetti Luca and Vladislavs Petrovs were both unfortunate enough to bust during hand-for-hand play. Luca’s ace-queen could not win the flip against pocket nines and Petrovs’ pocket queens did not hold against king-jack.
Thus, one extra elimination was had, leaving the size of the field at 48. They were the last players leaving the tournament area while the others rejoiced and hurried off to get some much-needed rest, as Day 2 was set to start 11 hours from the end of play.
Bagging the chip lead was Japan’s Shiina Okamoto. She crushed the opposition all night and was the only one that bagged over one million chips. She eliminated Will Kassouf in a big pot to seize the chip lead and she never let go since then. The only other two players to take more than 500,000 to Day 2 are Samiyel Duzgun and Dinesh Alt, while the rest of the field had to settle for more moderate stacks.
The most notable name in the top ten is that of Maria Konnikova, who will start Day 2 with a respectable 264,000, which will be just a bit above average.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shiina Okamoto | Japan | 1,106,000 | 138 |
| 2 | Samiyel Duzgun | Switzerland | 666,000 | 83 |
| 3 | Dinesh Alt | Switzerland | 590,000 | 74 |
| 4 | Junichi Kato | Japan | 461,000 | 58 |
| 5 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | 457,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Valon Olluri | Kosovo | 442,000 | 55 |
| 7 | Antonio Calabro | Italy | 350,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Mauricio Salazar Sanchez | Colombia | 290,000 | 36 |
| 9 | Maria Konnikova | USA | 264,000 | 33 |
| 10 | Nuri Hadioglu | Turkey | 242,000 | 30 |
A lot of poker’s regular faces showed up during this turbo flight, but almost all had to take their leave throughout the day. Among them were Mike Watson, Nacho Barbero, Felipe Ketzer, Dimitar Danchev, Sylvain Loosli, and Conor Bergin.
Parker Talbot was the only PokerStars Ambassador to show up, but he unfortunately exited the High Roller just outside of the top 100.
As the field drew closer to the bubble, the likes of Julien Sitbon, Marc MacDonnell, and Antoine Labat lost all of their chips in some way or another, and they will not be seen at the start of Day 2.
Combined with Day 1a, there were 182 remaining survivors and they will all return at 1 p.m. local time with an as of yet unknown mincash added to their bankroll. The exact payout structure will be announced before the start of Day 2.
Play will resume in Level 18, with 34 minutes remaining on the clock, and the blinds will be at 4,000/8,000 for that duration before they increase. The tournament is scheduled to play down to the eventual champion, so players will need to brace themselves for a long day ahead.
The PokerNews live reporting team will of course be back on the floor from start to finish to provide key hands and chip counts on the way to crowning a winner.
End of Day 1b Chip Counts (full)
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,106,000 | 56,000 |
|
666,000 | 71,000 |
|
590,000 | 568,500 |
|
461,000 | 461,000 |
|
457,000 | 130,000 |
|
442,000 | -30,000 |
|
350,000 | 75,000 |
|
290,000 | 229,000 |
|
264,000 | 164,000 |
|
242,000 | 242,000 |
|
238,000 | -85,000 |
|
229,000 | 108,000 |
|
214,000 | 214,000 |
|
213,000 | -25,000 |
|
213,000 | 213,000 |
|
|
212,000 | 212,000 |
|
202,000 | 202,000 |
|
|
199,000 | 199,000 |
|
185,000 | 185,000 |
|
181,000 | 148,200 |
|
175,000 | 175,000 |
|
|
166,000 | 166,000 |
|
163,000 | 3,000 |
|
152,000 | 152,000 |
|
|
149,000 | 149,000 |
Double Trouble as Bubble Bursts and Day 1b Finishes
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Two all-in and calls were announced with 50 players left and thus on the stone bubble.
On the first table, it was Marchetti Luca who had pushed all in from early position for 85,000 and was called by Sim Kok Wai in middle position.
Marchetti Luca: A♣Q♠
Sim Kok Wai: 9♦9♣
A flip on the bubble and Wai came out the victor when the board ran out 8♣K♦3♣2♣J♠, officially bursting the bubble.
However, there was another hand yet to be played out, as on another table Vladislavs Petrovs had three-bet all in for 76,000 from middle position over an under the gun open to 25,000 from Valon Olluri. Olluri had made the call and a showdown was ordered.
Vladislavs Petrovs: Q♥Q♠
Valon Olluri: K♣J♣
Olluri outflopped Petrovs on K♥5♥9♥. Petrovs requested a heart from the dealer, but none came on the black runout of 6♣7♣.
Two players were thus eliminated on the bubble of Day 1b and 48 players have made it to Day 2 and secured a mincash.
Stay tuned for the full chip counts as well as a recap of the entire day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
472,000 | 172,000 |
|
|
323,000 | 323,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted |
The Bubble Has Arrived
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
There are 51 people remaining, meaning that the field only needs to lose two more players before everyone is in the money and Day 1b ends.
Duzgun Downs Two
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Seyed Saeed Sajadian had open-shoved his last 43,000 from early position and Terence Etim pushed his own 80,000 stack in the middle as well. It folded to Samiyel Duzgun in the big blind who made the call to put both players at risk.
Seyed Saeed Sajadian: 3♠3♦
Terence Etim: A♠10♥
Samiyel Duzgun: A♣J♥
Duzgun and Sajadian were both in decent shape, while Etim needed a lot of help to stay alive.
The board ran out 4♣4♦7♥9♥J♦ and Duzgun rivered the winning hand to score a double knock-out.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
595,000 | 595,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Valesquez Felted as Bubble Draws Nearer
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Johann Zeitoun had shoved all in from under the gun for 101,000. Johann Zeitoun was in the cutoff and reshoved for 117,000. The rest of the table folded and the two were off to the races.
Jimmy Andres Torres Velasquez: J♥J♣
Johann Zeitoun: A♣K♥
Zeitounn flopped trips on 9♦K♦K♣. The turn Q♣ brought Velasquez some extra outs, but none arrived on the 4♦ river and he was eliminated during this crucial stage of the tournament.
Meanwhile Shiina Okamoto is also sitting at this table and she has increased her already overwhelming chip lead even more as she now plays over one million chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,050,000 | 370,000 |
|
|
238,000 | 238,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 10,000
Players Saving Chips as Bubble Approaches
Level 18
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Moreno Plozza had put 28,000 chips in the middle already before Antonio Calabro pushed all in, covering him by a good margin. Plozza thought about it for a good while but ended up making the fold and saving his final chips.
Over at another table, David Vinayagamoorthy made the minimum raise to 16,000 and Jeremy Palvini went all in for 85,000. Vinayagamoorthy had the covering stack, but found the amount too much to call, and made the laydown.
With 59 players left and 49 making Day 2, the bubble is approaching fast and players are being more cautious as a result.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
275,000 | 25,000 |
|
|
160,000 | |
|
121,000 | |
|
87,000 |
Level: 18
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000