€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day 5 Started
2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo
€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 5
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 5
2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€5,325,300
Entries
1,098
Level
33
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
250,000
Entries
13
Players Left
6
Watson, Wheeler Headline Day 5 of EPT Monte Carlo Main Event
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.
Live Updates on a Delay
The cards are now in the air on Day 5 of the Main Event but the PokerNews live updates will be on a 30-minute delay to be in sync with the PokerStars live stream.
Level: 25
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 40,000
Gin River Card for Boujmala
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
3,480,000
1,205,000
|
1,205,000 |
|
||
|
3,240,000
-1,280,000
|
-1,280,000 |
Still a Great Deal
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Haraldstad Uses His Big Stack to Bully
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Joachim Haraldstad opened to 90,000 on the button with 7♣5♣ and Mike Watson just called from the small blind with 7♠7♦. Kenan Taylor also came along from the big blind with 6♦Xx. The flop fell J♦10♣8♠ and the action checked around to the J♣ on the turn.
The blinds checked again and Haraldstad finally threw in a bet of 150,000 after picking up a combo draw and got both of his opponents to lay their hands down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,620,000
-15,000
|
-15,000 |
|
||
|
1,850,000
-170,000
|
-170,000 |
|
||
|
800,000
-335,000
|
-335,000 |
|
||
PN Podcast: Guest Patrik Antonius Talks EPT, WSOP & Record Hand Against Eric Persson
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
On the latest PokerNews Podcast episode, Chad Holloway and Jesse Fullen give updates on the PokerNews Cup on Global Poker, as well as the Matt Berkey vs. Nik Airball grudge match. Additionally, they discuss Nate Silver being out at 538, Patrick Leonard going back-to-back in the PartyPoker Sunday Party, and poker players having their fines dismissed from the Watauga Social Poker Club raid.
As for Connor, he chats with the legendary Patrik Antonius, who shares his plans for both the PokerStars EPT presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® and 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), what it was like to capture his first Triton High Roller title, and of course, winning the largest pot ever broadcast on a US Live Stream. The new WSOP Thrill Team Ambassador also shares his thoughts on the current state of online poker. Don't miss your chance to hear from the Finnish poker legend!
Finally, Chad is headed down to Florida for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown from April 28-May 2; while Jesse will head down to PokerGO Studio for the High Stakes Poker Live Stream.
[CTA url="https://www.pokernews.com/podcast/pokernews-podcast/pokernews-podcast-patrik-antonius-wsop-43439.htm" color="green"]LISTEN TO THE POKERNEWS PODCAST HERE
|
800,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
"Check-Back of the Tournament": Wheeler Avoids Disaster
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
3,400,000
480,000
|
480,000 |
|
2,100,000
-715,000
|
-715,000 |
|
600,000
-855,000
|
-855,000 |
|
||