€25,000 EPT High Roller Day 2 | 2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

05-06-2023 00:14 UTC+2

Lewis Eliminated as Big Stack Badziakouski Finds Aces

Frank Visser

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

Mikita Badziakouski open-raised from the hijack before Romain Lewis shipped his final 115,000 chips in from the button. The action folded back to Badziakouski and he made a snap call.

Romain Lewis: K♦Q♠
Mikita Badziakouski: A♣A♠

Lewis had one foot out the door, but hit some hope on the 10♣8♦Q♥ board. The 4♠ turn was a big brick, however, as was the 6♣ river. Lewis took home the mincash while Badziakouski added another stack to his pyramid of chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikita Badziakouski	1,300,000 565,000	565,000
Romain Lewis	Busted

Tags: Mikita Badziakouski Romain Lewis

05-06-2023 00:12 UTC+2

Kisacikoglu Runs Into Cowboys To Hit The Rail

Andrew Knowles

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

All the chips hit the middle preflop between Steve O'Dwyer and Orpen Kisacikoglu, who was the player at risk for his last roughly 150,000.

Orpen Kisacikoglu: 10♦10♥
Steve O'Dwyer: K♥K♣

Kisacikoglu was in need of help against the cowboys for O'Dwyer, and when the board ran out 8♦7♠7♣4♥A♠, it was the kings that held up to send Kisacikoglu out in 28th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Steve O'Dwyer	825,000 255,000	255,000

Orpen Kisacikoglu	Busted

Tags: Orpen Kisacikoglu Steve O'Dwyer

05-06-2023 00:10 UTC+2

Lococo Doubles Again

Frank Visser

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

Not long after his previous double-up Alejandro Lococo called an all in from cutoff Barak Wisbrod, who covered him by 70,000 chips.

Alejandro Lococo: K♣Q♦
Barak Wisbrod: Q♥J♥

Lococo had the dominating hand and solidified that position when he flopped two pair on Q♣8♠K♦. The J♦ turn brought a tiny sweat as Wisbrod could now hit a full house if a jack appeared on the river.

It did not, however, as the 3♣ completed the board. Another double-up was in the books for the PokerStars Ambassador, as he is slowly climbing back to an average stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alejandro Lococo	255,000 125,000	125,000

Barak Wisbrod	70,000 -40,000	-40,000

Tags: Alejandro Lococo Barak Wisbrod

Level: 20

Blinds: 6,000/12,000

Ante: 12,000

05-06-2023 00:02 UTC+2

"I'm Not Leaving"

Andrew Knowles

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

Alejandro Lococo stood up from the table to get the attention of others before jokingly slamming down his stack of 35,000 in the middle from under the gun. Nacho Barbero elected on a raise to 60,000 next to act and action folded to Enrico Camosci in the cutoff who made it 150,000 to go. The rest of the table folded and Barbero released as well.

Alejandro Lococo: 10♠9♠
Enrico Camosci: A♦Q♥

Camosci was slighly ahead preflop but would need to dodge the live cards for Lococo. The flop came a sweat when the dealer fanned out 5♣3♠2♠, giving Lococo even more outs with a flush draw. The 5♠ sealed the deal on the turn and the meaningless Q♣ completed the runout.

"I'm f**king back!! I'm not leaving!!" shouted Lococo as he laughed and picked up the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nacho Barbero	610,000 -140,000	-140,000
Enrico Camosci	210,000 -75,000	-75,000
Alejandro Lococo	130,000 -25,000	-25,000

Tags: Alejandro Lococo Enrico Camosci Nacho Barbero

05-06-2023 00:00 UTC+2

Mateos Doubles in a Blind-on-Blind Matter

Frank Visser

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

Adrian Mateos was in the small blind and got all of his 295,000 chips in the middle against Ben Heath in the big blind. A big preflop all-in with 60 big blinds at stake was happening, with Mateos at risk, and the players' cards were revealed.

Adrian Mateos: A♠10♦
Ben Heath: K♠Q♠

Mateos flopped trips on A♣5♦A♥ and Heath already started cutting out the required chips. The 3♦ settled the hand in Mateos' favor, and a useless 9♠ was dealt as a formality.

Mateos doubled while former big stack Heath regressed to just under average stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Adrian Mateos	605,000 224,000	224,000

Ben Heath	330,000 -395,000	-395,000

Tags: Adrian Mateos Ben Heath

05-05-2023 23:48 UTC+2

Bedell Busts as the Deck Won't Listen

Frank Visser

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

Tom-Aksel Bedell made a raise to 23,000 from under the gun and Day 1 chip leader Marius Kudzmanas made a three-bet to 65,000 from the hijack. His fellow countryman, and current chip leader, Dominykas Mikolaitis was in the next seat over and put out a cold four-bet to 135,000.

The action folded back to Bedell, who went deep into the tank. After spending some time bank chips, he ultimately decided that it was time to go all in and five-bet jammed 438,000 chips in the middle. Kudzmanas quickly folded and Mikolaitis called just as quickly.

Tom-Aksel Bedell: Q♦Q♠
Dominykas Mikolaitis: A♦K♦

''I'll take some queens!'' Bedell requested as the 4♦A♣J♦ flop was dealt. ''I'll take no diamonds!'' Bedell requested as the 9♦ turn was dealt. The requests ceased as the J♣ river put the final nail in the coffin of Bedell's tournament.

Full of smiles, Bedell left the tournament area. He received the mincash of €43,550, as did Sam Grafton, who busted simultaneously on another table.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dominykas Mikolaitis	1,400,000 475,000	475,000

Marius Kudzmanas	225,000 116,000	116,000

Tom-Aksel Bedell	Busted
Sam Grafton	Busted

Tags: Dominykas Mikolaitis Marius Kudzmanas Sam Grafton Tom-Aksel Bedell

05-05-2023 23:41 UTC+2

Barbero Gets Value From Lococo In Three-Bet Pot

Andrew Knowles

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

Alejandro Lococo opened to 20,000 from under the gun and Nacho Barbero put in a three-bet to 57,000 in middle position. The rest of the table folded and Lococo came along.

The flop fanned out 10♠10♣5♥ and Lococo check-called a bet of 35,000. On the J♥ turn Lococo quickly checked again and Barbero checked back.

The 2♣ hit the river and Lococo checked a third time. Barbero took some time before sliding in a bet of 110,000 and Lococo went in the tank. After close to a minute of thought, Lococo flicked in a chip for the call.

Barbero tabled Q♦Q♣ for the over pair and winning hand when Lococo mucked his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nacho Barbero	750,000 315,000	315,000
Alejandro Lococo	155,000 -103,000	-103,000

Tags: Nacho Barbero Alejandro Lococo

05-05-2023 23:30 UTC+2

Isaac Haxton Bubbles the €25,000 High Roller as Disaster Strikes

Frank Visser

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

Mikita Badziakouski raised to 20,000 from early position and short-stacked Isaac Haxton defended his big blind. The flop came 6♣J♦5♣ and all of Haxton's 80,000 remaining chips went in the middle, with a matching stack in front of Badziakouski.

After waiting several minutes for another hand to finish, showdown was finally ordered.

Isaac Haxton: K♥J♣
Mikita Badziakouski: 3♦2♦

Haxton brought out a ''prevent disaster bell'' for this very special occasion. Under the constant clinging of the bell, the clean 7♥ turn was dealt. The noise only stopped when the dealer put out the disastrous 4♣ on the river. Badziakouski had hit his gutshot straight draw to crack the top pair of Haxton.

''This thing does not work,'' Haxton concluded. He left the tournament area with an audible laugh underneath his mask but without any money. The rest of the field is now guaranteed at least a €43,550 cash as play continues for another 90 minutes on Day 2.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikita Badziakouski	735,000 425,000	425,000
Isaac Haxton	Busted

Tags: Isaac Haxton Mikita Badziakouski

05-05-2023 23:19 UTC+2

Mikolaitis Gets Paid In Big Pot

Andrew Knowles

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

In a heads-up pot with close to 80,000 in the middle on a board showing 9♠8♠2♦3♣, Tom-Aksel Bedell led out from the big blind for 41,000 and Dominykas Mikolaitis made the call in the hijack.

On the K♦ river Bedell slowed down with a check to Mikolaitis who pondered for a moment before sliding forward a bet of 132,000. Bedell went deep in the tank and, after using one time bank chip, eventually made the call.

Mikolaitis tabled K♠Q♠ for a pair of kings and Bedell tapped the table to signal Mikolaitis was the winner.