Brandon Mifsud was eliminated shortly after losing the all in to Domenico Paparo, bringing the field down to 59 players.
Play is going hand-for-hand until there is one more elimination.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Francisco Perez Moreno opened to 10,000 from middle position. Dan Ben Ittah and Atanas Malinov called from the hijack and button before Gabi Livshitz and Alberto Romeo called from the blinds.
Moreno continued for 20,000 on the K♦10♥6♠ flop. Ben Ittah clicked it to 55,000 which saw action fold back to Moreno.
Moreno agonized for a bit but released his hand. Ben Ittah was kind enough to show his tablemate that he had two pair with K♠10♠. Moreno then asked the dealer to turn over his cards, which revealed he folded A♣K♥.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
471,000
176,000
|
176,000 |
|
||
|
313,000
313,000
|
313,000 |
|
290,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
|
185,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
150,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
Dimitrios Nanos raised to 11,000 in the hijack, Marlon Arch moved all in for around 75,000 in the small blind, and Nanos called.
"We don't know who to root for," tablemate Vivian Saliba said as Nanos began flexing for PokerStars cameras that surrounded the table.
Marlon Arch: A♣10♦ 
Dimitrios Nanos: K♦K♥
Arch was looking for an ace as the flop came 2♥2♣6♠. The 7♦ turn was no help, while the river came the K♠ to give Nanos a full house and send Arch to the rail on the money bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
230,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Day 1a has ended with 58 players remaining who are now in the money and return to play on April 26 for Day 2.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
525,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
||
|
518,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
505,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
|
487,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
477,000
292,000
|
292,000 |
|
446,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
444,000
264,000
|
264,000 |
|
367,000
87,000
|
87,000 |
|
|
348,000
58,000
|
58,000 |
|
339,000
64,000
|
64,000 |
|
329,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
327,000
272,500
|
272,500 |
|
325,000
325,000
|
325,000 |
|
|
320,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
317,000
132,000
|
132,000 |
|
300,000
99,500
|
99,500 |
|
|
299,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
|
|
290,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
259,000
17,500
|
17,500 |
|
256,000
56,000
|
56,000 |
|
|
230,000 | |
|
226,000
46,000
|
46,000 |
|
214,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
209,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
|
205,000
205,000
|
205,000 |
It took a big cooler, an incredible run of cards, and a massive bad beat for three Frenchmen to finish atop the leaderboard on Day 1a of the €1,100 PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event at Sporting Monte-Carlo.
Come Thevenin flopped a full house against Patrick Clarke’s straight to win a big pot on his way to ending up as chip leader over the remaining 58 players with 525,000. Cedric Theveniaud follows close behind with 518,000; in back-to-back hands, Theveniaud flopped a straight flush and then eliminated a player with pocket kings.
Then there is Laurent Polito, the third member of the 500,000-chip club who was on the fortunate end of the most incredible runout of the day. Polito attempted a big bluff when he five-bet jammed with king-three. Unfortunately, Hicham Hachoumi had woken up with aces and called for his last 110,000. Hachoumi hit top set to take an even bigger lead in the pot, but Polito made a running straight as a stunned gasp arose from the table. He ended up with 505,000.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Come Thevenin | France | 525,000 |
| 2 | Cedric Theveniaud | France | 518,000 |
| 3 | Laurent Polito | France | 505,000 |
| 4 | Atanas Malinov | Bulgaria | 487,000 |
| 5 | Dan Ben Ittah | France | 477,000 |
| 6 | Ankit Ahuja | India | 446,000 |
| 7 | Sylwester Fortuna | Poland | 444,000 |
| 8 | Kin Hang Man | Netherlands | 367,000 |
| 9 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | 348,000 |
| 10 | Miroslav Alilovic | France | 339,000 |
Atanas Malinov (487,000), Dan Ben Ittah (477,000), and Ankit Ahuja (446,000) are also among the top stacks; Ahuja, who won a similar event at EPT Cyprus last October, made quad fours to bust Clement Michaud.
Other players to survive the day include Gabi Livshitz (348,000), Miroslav Alilovic (339,000), and Jack O’Neill (327,000). Jason Wheeler, who wrote on social media that he sensed “something legendary” was going to happen here in Monte Carlo, got through step one as he made the money with 130,000. Past EPT Barcelona champion Sebastian Malec (101,000), Antoine Labat (87,000), Team PokerStars Pro Felix Schneiders (74,000), and Vivian Saliba (48,000) survived with short stacks.
Players who weren’t as fortunate to survive the day included Team PokerStars pros Parker Talbot, Fintan Hand, Maria Konnikova, Simon Wiciak, and Alejandro Lococo, as well as EPT Prague runner-up Jon Kyte, Marle Spragg, Fabrice Bigot, and Conor Beresford. They’ll have to try again on one of the other three flights if they want to take a shot at the title.
A total of 387 players entered Day 1a through the 10 levels of late registration. Only 58 remain who are now in the money and will return to play for Day 2 on April 26 at noon local time. Day 1a ended with 12 minutes and 47 seconds left on Level 16 with blinds of 2,000-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Day 2 begins on the earliest level that an opening flight finished.
Day 1b is currently ongoing. There are two more starting flights tomorrow, beginning with Day 1c at 11 a.m. local time. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates as another crop of players and returning hopefuls try to survive into the money.
€1,100 FPS Main Event
Day 1a Completed
