€5,300 EPT Main Event Day 5 | 2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

05-05-2023 15:15 UTC+2

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

Connor Richards

Level 26 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 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!

05-05-2023 15:06 UTC+2

Ori Hasson Eliminated in 11th Place (€63,300)

Adam Lamers

Level 26 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Ori Hasson raised to 100,000 in the cutoff and Leonard Maue three-bet to 240,000 on the button. Hasson four-bet shoved all in 1,270,000 and Maue quickly called.

Ori Hasson: A♣J♣
Leonard Maue: A♥K♥

The flop fell A♠6♠6♦ and Maue was still in the lead with his king-kicker. The 4♦ on the turn changed nothing but the K♦ on the river only improved Maue as he sent Hasson to the rail in 11th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Leonard Maue	5,205,000 1,005,000	1,005,000
Ori Hasson	Busted

Tags: Leonard Maue Ori Hasson

05-05-2023 14:43 UTC+2

Watson Raises Three Hands Straight

Connor Richards

Level 26 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Mike Watson opened to 100,000 from the cutoff and Oleg Vasylchenko three-bet to 310,000 from the big blind. Watson laid it down.

The next hand, Watson opened to 100,000 and Maduka Meragal called in late position to get things heads-up. Watson continued for 50,000 on the flop of AxKxQx and Meragal quickly folded.

Not one hand later, Watson opened to 110,000 as the first player to act and Joachim Haraldstad defended out of the big blind. Haraldstad checked on the flop of 9♦J♠2♠ and Watson bet 75,000. Haraldstad laid it down.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joachim Haraldstad	6,700,000 90,000	90,000

Mike Watson	3,200,000 385,000	385,000

Maduka Meragal	2,000,000 120,000	120,000
Oleg Vasylchenko	1,000,000 -600,000	-600,000

Tags: Joachim Haraldstad Maduka Meragal Mike Watson Oleg Vasylchenko

05-05-2023 13:44 UTC+2

Wheeler Spins It Up

Matt Hansen

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Action was heads up with over 800,000 in the pot and Q♣7♠6♥ on the board when Jason Wheeler bet 270,000 from the big blind and Ori Hasson called from the button.

The turn was 9♣ and Wheeler counted out 385,000. Hasson spent a short time thinking and tossed in chips to call. The river was 7♦.

Wheeler shoved the river with the bigger stack and Hasson spent multiple time banks to contemplate a call for his last 830,000. Ultimately, it was too much and Hasson gave up the big pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jason Wheeler	3,250,000 1,150,000	1,150,000
Ori Hasson	830,000 -820,000	-820,000

Tags: Jason Wheeler Ori Hasson

05-05-2023 13:31 UTC+2

Kenan Taylor Eliminated in 12th Place (€52,750)

Adam Lamers

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Joachim Haraldstad raised to 80,000 under the gun with J♠J♦ and Kenan Taylor called from the hijack with K♥9♥. The flop came 8♥6♣2♠ and the action checked around to the 8♣ on the turn.

Both players checked once more and the 9♠ completed the board. Haraldstad ripped all in on the river and Taylor was left with a decision for his stack of 610,000. Taylor used a couple of his time banks before flicking in the call. Haraldstad showed the good and Taylor was eliminated in 12th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joachim Haraldstad	6,610,000 690,000	690,000

Kenan Taylor	Busted

Tags: Joachim Haraldstad Kenan Taylor

05-05-2023 13:30 UTC+2

Nicola Grieco Eliminated in 13th Place (€52,750)

Connor Richards

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Ori Hasson opened to 80,000 from the hijack and Nicola Grieco called out of the big blind.

The flop landed 3♥6♦3♣ and Grieco led all in with a stack of 340,000. Hasson gave it some thought and called.

Nicola Grieco: 7♣6♥
Ori Hasson: A♦K♦

Grieco was ahead with a pair of sixes and walked away from the table before the 5♦ on the turn gave Hasson a flush draw and the 9♦ on the river gave him the flush.

"I win?" Grieco said as he walked over and saw that he did not win.

Grieco's 13th-place elimination, a step up from his 17th-place finish in last year's 2022 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, earned him a payday of €52,750.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ori Hasson	1,650,000 45,000	45,000
Nicola Grieco	Busted

Tags: Nicola Grieco Ori Hasson

05-05-2023 13:00 UTC+2

"Check-Back of the Tournament": Wheeler Avoids Disaster

Connor Richards

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Jason Wheeler had just finished telling a joke — "Monaco is so expensive even the dogs have nannies" — which he opined was "at least as good as one of Stapes'," when he opened to 90,000 from early position and was called by Nicola Grieco in the cutoff and Leonard Maue in the big blind.

Maue checked on the flop of A♣10♠2♠ and Wheeler continued for 110,000. Both opponents called. Maue checked again on the 7♥ turn and Wheeler sized up to 350,000. Grieco folded and Maue called.

Maue checked once more on the 7♦ river and Wheeler eyed his opponent before remarking "super nitty, but I'm not going to get set up" as he checked back and showed A♥10♣ for top two pair.

It was the right move as Maue tabled A♠7♠ for a rivered full house and Wheeler celebrated despite losing the pot.

"That's the check-back of the tournament," he said. "No one else in the tournament would ever make that fold. Good luck to all of you. Best I've ever felt."

Player	Chips	Progress
Leonard Maue	3,400,000 480,000	480,000
Jason Wheeler	2,100,000 -715,000	-715,000
Nicola Grieco	600,000 -855,000	-855,000

Tags: Jason Wheeler Leonard Maue Nicola Grieco

05-05-2023 12:46 UTC+2

Gin River Card for Boujmala

Adam Lamers

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Samy Boujmala raised to 80,000 on the button with K♥Q♥ and Arunas Sapitavicius defended from the big blind with 8♣6♦. The flop came A♥9♣7♠ and Sapitavicius check-called a bet of 65,000 from Boujmala.

The turn brought the J♠ and both players checked to the 10♣ on the river. Both players made a straight, Boujmala obviously holding the better of the two. Sapitavicius led out with a bet of 280,000 and Boujmala slid out a raise to 1,100,000. Sapitavicius went into the tank for nearly two minutes before paying it off.

Player	Chips	Progress
Samy Boujmala	3,480,000 1,205,000	1,205,000

Arunas Sapitavicius	3,240,000 -1,280,000	-1,280,000

Tags: Arunas Sapitavicius Samy Boujmala

05-05-2023 10:59 UTC+2

Watson, Wheeler Headline Day 5 of EPT Monte Carlo Main Event

Connor Richards

The penultimate Day 5 of the €5,300 Main Event as part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® kicks off today at noon local time as the 13 remaining players look to etch their names in EPT history. Leading the way after a dominant Day 4 is Norway's Joachim Haraldstad with a stack of 5,635,000, while LIthuania's Arunas Sapitavicius (4,520,000) and the United Kingdom's Leo Worthington-Leese (3,135,000) are close on his tail.

Another Brit, the young Kenan Taylor, is also in the mix but will have to come back from a stack of 1,135,000 after going from chip leader to short stack during Day 4. Toward the middle of the pack are two of the most accomplished players in the field, high stakes veteran Mike Watson (2,020,000) and Jason Wheeler (2,815,000), who finished 19th in this event last year for €36,480.

Someone else who ran deep last year was 17th-place finisher Nicola Grieco, who got into it a bit with Wheeler on Day 4 as they battled on one of the outer feature tables.

2023 EPT Monte Carlo Day 5 Chip Counts

Rank	Name	Country	Chips	Big Blinds
1	Joachim Haraldstad	Norway	5,635,000	141
2	Arunas Sapitavicius	Lithuania	4,520,000	113
3	Leo Worthington-Leese	United Kingdom	3,135,000	78
4	Leonard Maue	Germany	2,920,000	73
5	Jason Wheeler	United States	2,815,000	70
6	Maduka Meragal	Canada	2,795,000	70
7	Samy Boujmala	France	2,275,000	57
8	Mike Watson	Canada	2,020,000	51
9	Arnaud Enselme	France	1,945,000	49
10	Ori Hasson	Israel	1,605,000	40
11	Nicola Grieco	Italy	1,455,000	36
12	Kenan Taylor	United Kingdom	1,135,000	28
13	Oleg Vasylchenko	Ukraine	750,000	19

Other players in the Day 5 field include Germany's Leonard Maue, France's Arnaud Enselme, Israel's Ori Hasson and Canada's Maduka Meragal (2,795,000).

Day 5 will kick off with Level 25 and blinds of 20,000/40,000/40,000. There are multiple ways to follow the action, including through PokerNews' delayed updates and on the PokerStars live stream. There's still one more day until a winner will emerge on Saturday's Day 6.

Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here on the sunny coast of Monaco and is ready to provide readers with updates on the Day 5 action.

Tags: Arnaud Enselme Arunas Sapitavicius Jason Wheeler Joachim Haraldstad Kenan Taylor Leo Worthington-Leese Leonard Maue Maduka Meragal Mike Watson Nicola Grieco Oleg Vasylchenko Ori Hasson Samy Boujmala