Shortly before the break, Poker Hall of Famer and music enthusiast Erik Seidel raised in early position before Igor Yaroshevskyy moved all in with a short stack of around 6,000. Seidel called.
Igor Yaroshevskyy: A♥Q♠
Erik Seidel: A♥A♦
Yaroshevskyy was in bad shape but had his outs increased as the flop landed 10♥8♠9♠ to give him a gutshot and backdoor flush draw. The 7♠ turn increased his outs further and the 5♠ river gave him the flush to double through the poker legend.
In a heads-up pot on a flop of J♦3♦Q♣, Greenwood checked and Charles Hilbert bet 2,000. Greenwood check-raised to 4,000 and Hilbert responded by three-bet jamming a stack of around 17,000. Greenwood quickly called.
Charles Hilbert: K♣K♠
Sam Greenwood: A♦5♦
Hilbert was ahead with an overpair while Greenwood was looking for a diamond. He got it as the turn brought the 2♦ to give him the flush and the 9♣ river didn't change anything to mark Hilbert's elimination.
Alexandra Botez was on the button in a three-way pot against an early position player and Alexandru Danes in the big blind.
The flop of Q♥6♠K♦ checked through and action checked to Botez on the A♣ turn. Botez bet 1,500 and only Danes called. Danes checked again on the 2♦ river and Botez sized up to 3,500. Danes called.
Botez mucked in defeat and Danes was able to take the pot without showing his cards.
Andrey Andreev raised on the button and Antoine Labat three-bet to 3,000 from the big blind. Andreev called.
Labat bet 1,500 on the flop of 7♦4♦J♣ and Andreev called. Labat then checked on the 8♣ turn and Andreev bet 3,000. Labat called.
Labat checked again on the Q♥ river and Andreev checked back. Labat showed 7♠6♠ for a pair of sevens, but it was no good against the Q♠10♣ his opponent for a rivered pair of queens.
Chess streamer Alexandra Botez was in the hijack in a heads-up pot against Ehsan Amiri on the button on a flop of A♦K♠8♦.
Botez checked and Amiri bet 1,200. Botez check-raised to 3,500 and Amiri called. Botez then checked on the J♥ turn and Amiri checked back.
The 2♦ river completed the board and Botez sat still before tossing out a bet of 10,000. Amiri went deep into the tank for several minutes and tried to get some information out of the chess pro before calling.
Botez tabled A♥3♥ for a pair of aces and it was enough to win the pot as those as the table expressed their shock when Amiri mucked in defeat.
"I don't know who was more surprised!" said one of the table mates.
"Oh, definitely me!" laughed Botez. "I promised myself I would stop bluffing."
"It's a good value bet!" laughed another player at the table.
The under-the-gun player opened to 300 and got three callers, including Fiodor Martino in the hijack and Maria Ho on the button.
Action checked to Ho on the 2♠Q♣J♠ flop and Ho bet 800. Only Martino called. Martino checked again on the K♣ turn and Ho sized up to 2,300. Martino again called.
Martino checked a third time on the 6♠ river and Ho announced a bet of 5,500. Martino called, only to muck when the Women in Poker Hall of Famer showed 9♠8♠ for a rivered flush.
Nicolas Julien raised to 300 from the cutoff and Alfonso Simone came along from the button before Peter Jorgne and Marcello Miniucchi joined the action from the blinds to make it a four-player family pot in early Day 1a action.
The flop was 7♣5♣9♣ and it checked to Julien for a bet of 600. Simone got out of the way and Jorgne called before Miniucchi tossed his hand into the muck.
The turn was 6♠ and Jorgne fired 3,200. Julien called and the river was 2♠.
Jorgne took a beat on the river before he tossed out 11,500, but it was too much for Julien and he gave up the pot.
The Swede drags in the early pot on a quest for another deep run after his second place finish at this year's EPT Main Event in Paris.
It's a cloudy day here in Monaco, but things should brighten up shortly as the €5,300 EPT Main Event gets underway at noon as part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️.
The marquee event of the series should draw plenty of big names and perhaps some of the high rollers who were unable to advance in the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller.
At least for now, the field won't yet include 2013 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event champion Steve O'Dwyer, who managed to bag a stack of 189,000 heading into Day 2. Similarly, 2014 champion Adrian Mateos will be busy competing in the Super High Roller after bagging fifth in chips (467,000).
Most recently, Brazil's Marcelo Simoes got through a field of 1,073 runners in the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event to win €939,840 and his first EPT title, while others at the final table included Morten Hvam (2nd - €564,640), Dragos Trofimov (3rd - €397,590) and 2019 PSPC winner Ramon Colillas (7th - €125,420).
Marcelo Simoes
Both starting flights are scheduled to play for ten-hour-long levels and will kick off with blind levels of 100/100/100. There will be 20-minute breaks every two levels, and there is a 75-minute dinner break scheduled to take place after the completion of Level 6.
Approximately 15% of the field will be paid, and late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2. Shot clocks are set to be introduced on Day 3.
Among those who are already registered for Day 1a are Ana Marquez, Julien Sitbon and Peter Jorgne, but expect to see plenty more big names as the event gets underway.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is here on site on the currently rainy Monaco coast and is ready to provide updates on all the tournament action.
