€25,000 EPT High Roller Day 1 | 2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

05-04-2023 18:41 UTC+2

Heath Takes One at Showdown

Andrew Knowles

Level 6 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Dominykas Mikolaitis opened to 1,200 from under the gun and only Ben Heath made the call in middle position.

The flop came J♦4♦2♠ and both players checked to the 10♠ turn. Mikolaitis took some time before sliding out a bet of 4,500 and, after 30 seconds, Heath made the call.

On the 6♠ river both players quickly tapped the table to a showdown. Mikolaitis rolled over A♣Q♦ for ace-high and Heath scored the pot with A♦10♦ for a turned pair of tens.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ben Heath	98,000 44,000	44,000
Dominykas Mikolaitis	54,000 -6,000	-6,000

Tags: Ben Heath Dominykas Mikolaitis

Level: 6

Blinds: 200/500

Ante: 500

05-04-2023 18:23 UTC+2

Kisacikoglu Makes Quads To Send Luhut To The Rail

Andrew Knowles

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Jean-Vincent Lehut opened to 900 from middle position and it folded to Orpen Kisacikoglu in the small blind who three-bet to 4,100. Lehut elected on a four-bet to 9,500 and Kisacikoglu made the call.

The flop came J♣9♥2♣ and Kisacikoglu checked to Lehut who continued for 10,000. Kisacikoglu pondered for a moment before putting in a check-raise to 25,000. Lehut quickly moved all in for close to 55,000 and Kisacikoglu snap-called with a slightly bigger stack.

Jean-Vincent Lehut: A♣K♣
Orpen Kisacikoglu: 9♦9♠

Lehut flopped the nut-flush draw while Kisacikoglu flopped a set. The turn fell the 9♣ to seal the deal for Kisacikoglu who made quads and the inconsequential 3♣ completed the runout, sending Lehut to the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Orpen Kisacikoglu	148,000 104,000	104,000
Jean-Vincent Lehut	Busted

Tags: Jean-Vincent Lehut Orpen Kisacikoglu

05-04-2023 18:23 UTC+2

More Players Join the Fray

Frank Visser

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Alejandro Lococo	50,000 50,000	50,000

Aliaksei Boika	50,000 50,000	50,000

Enrico Camosci	50,000 50,000	50,000
Marton Czuczor	50,000 50,000	50,000
Alexandru Danes	50,000 50,000	50,000
Giovani Gouveia	50,000 50,000	50,000
Weiran Pu	50,000 50,000	50,000
Renat Bohdanov	50,000 50,000	50,000
Roman Samoylov	50,000 50,000	50,000
Carl Shaw	50,000 50,000	50,000
Aliaksandr Shylko	50,000 50,000	50,000
Kuljinder Sidhu	50,000 50,000	50,000

05-04-2023 18:20 UTC+2

High Stakes Legend Patrik Antonius Says Live Streams Should "Focus on the Poker"

Connor Richards

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

While many of the biggest stars from poker's golden era of the mid-2000s are only mentioned in "Where Are They Now?" pieces, Patrik Antonius is not one of them. In fact, the Finland all-time money leader is as relevant as ever.

Not only is Antonius still regularly competing in the televised cash games that boosted his career early on, he is also a force to be reckoned with in on the current high roller tournament scene and even won his first Triton title last year. Additionally, Antonius recently signed on as an ambassador for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Thrill Team, something he said he got involved in "accidentally" before adding that he was "happy to get invited to join the Thrill Team."

"It's nice," Antonius said. "WSOP is a big brand and they have a lot of influence in the industry. And it's nice that they have this app so a lot of new players can have an experience playing poker on an app like this for free. And if they like it they can start playing for real money and so on. So it's nice, it's nice that they have an app like this."

Antonius appeared as a guest on the most recent episode of the PokerNews Podcast and spoke about winning his first Triton title, how High Stakes Poker impacted his career and representing the WSOP Thrill Team in the upcoming Main Event. The full conversation with the Finnish poker legend can be heard here.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON PATRIK ANTONIUS!

05-04-2023 18:16 UTC+2

These Players Have Busted and Not Reentered (Yet)

Frank Visser

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Honglin Jiang	Busted
Elias Gutierrez	Busted
Roman Hrabec	Busted
Sam Greenwood	Busted
Felipe Ketzer	Busted
Philip Sternheimer	Busted

05-04-2023 18:13 UTC+2

Lehut Gets Paid With Broadway

Andrew Knowles

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Jean-Vincent Lehut opened to 900 from the hijack and Murad Akhundov made the call on the button. The blinds folded and the dealer fanned out a flop of A♣J♥4♥.

Both players checked their options and the 10♣ hit the turn. Lehut led out for 600 and Akhundov quickly called.

On the J♣ river Lehut kept up the aggression with a bet of 3,200 and Akhundov went in the tank. After close to 30 seconds of thought, Akhundov tossed in a chip for the call and was shown the bad news when Lehut rolled over K♥Q♥ for Broadway to take the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jean-Vincent Lehut	63,000 63,000	63,000
Murad Akhundov	37,000 -26,000	-26,000

Tags: Jean-Vincent Lehut Murad Akhundov

05-04-2023 18:10 UTC+2

Shimizu Calls the Cards

Frank Visser

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

''Two-two'', Nozomu Shimizu said from under the gun, as he raised to 2,200. Emil Bise flatted the raise from the cutoff before Hirokazu Kobayashi three-bet from the big blind. Shimizu then four-bet jammed his starting stack in the middle, still exclaiming ''two-two''. Bise got out of the way, but Kobayashi, who was sitting on only 15,000 chips, made the call.

Hirokazu Kobayashi: Q♥Q♦
Nozomu Shimizu: K♣K♦

Shimizu would be the victor in the Japanese showdown, as he almost immediately locked up the board when the flop came K♥2♠8♠. The 2♦ threw out the possibility of runner-runner quads, and the 3♣ river was dealt as a formality.

Kobayashi kept laughing throughout the ordeal, while Felipe Ketzer pointed at the pair of ducks on the board and said: ''You called the cards! That's how you win tournaments.''

Player	Chips	Progress
Emil Bise	42,000 -8,000	-8,000
Hirokazu Kobayashi	33,000 -17,000	-17,000
Nozomu Shimizu	26,000 26,000	26,000

Tags: Emil Bise Felipe Ketzer Hirokazu Kobayashi Nozomu Shimizu

05-04-2023 17:57 UTC+2

Ponakovs Hits the Turn for a Double-Up

Frank Visser

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Cesar Garcia and Aleksejs Ponakovs were heads up on a flop of 7♦6♥5♠ and, through a bet and multiple raises, all of their chips went in the middle. Ponakovs was at risk for his stack of 44,300, while Garcia had 29,000 behind.

Aleksejs Ponakovs: A♥8♥
Cesar Garcia: 6♦6♠

Garcia flopped a set but Ponakovs had many outs, of which the turn 4♥ was one. Garcia was now looking for the board to pair, but the J♠ river brought a rank that was not yet present on the felt.

Ponakovs doubled up with his straight and Garcia was left with a little over half a starting stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksejs Ponakovs	95,000 45,000	45,000
Cesar Garcia	29,000 -3,500	-3,500

Tags: Aleksejs Ponakovs Cesar Garcia

05-04-2023 17:52 UTC+2

No Longer World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen Sets Sights On Poker

Connor Richards

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen shocked the public in July 2022 when he announced that he wouldn't be defending the title he had held for a decade. And while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren were at St. Regis Hotel in Kazakhstan last month battling to take his place as supreme leader of the chess world, Carlsen was getting ready for a trip to the sunny Mediterranean coast.

Carlsen made a deep run extending into Day 3 in the EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event as part of 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® before falling in 63th place €15,000.

In his first interview since giving up his World Chess Champion Title, Carlsen sat down with PokerNews and PokerStars for an exclusive look at what the future holds for the 32-year-old Norwegian chess prodigy.

READ ABOUT CARLSEN'S DEEP RUN AT EPT MONTE CARLO!