€25,000 EPT High Roller Day 1 | 2024 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

05-02-2024 17:42 UTC+1

Salas Takes from Stevens

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Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Damian Salas opened to 1,100 under the gun and received calls from Riccardo Stevens and Atanas Malinov in the blinds.

On the 4♠10♣5♥ flop, action was checked to Salas, who fired out a bet of 1,300. Only Stevens called.

On the 3♣ turn, Stevens check-folded versus a 3,000 bet from Salas.

Player	Chips	Progress
Atanas Malinov	115,000 15,000	15,000
Riccardo Stevens	56,000 7,000	7,000
Damian Salas	43,000 43,000	43,000

Tags: Atanas Malinov Damian Salas Riccardo Stevens

05-02-2024 17:44 UTC+1

Sturm Scores a Knockout

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Ollie Garland

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

The pot stood at 22,500 with three players looking at a flop of Q♣9♦2♣.

Leon Sturm, in the small blind, bet out for 5,500, Atanas Malinov called in middle position and Vasily Klyukin raised to 20,000 from the button. Sturm called and Malinov folded.

The 2♥ saw Sturm check to the aggressor. Klyukin bet out for 12,000 and Sturm moved all in, putting Klyukin to the test for his effective stack. Klyukin made a frustrated call.

Vasily Klyukin: J♣9♣
Leon Sturm: K♥Q♦

The river landed the 3♥; Klyukin's pair of nines and a missed flush draw fell to the top pair of Sturm, and Klyukin was sent to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Leon Sturm	220,000 170,000	170,000
Atanas Malinov	102,000 13,000	13,000
Vasily Klyukin	Busted

Tags: Atanas Malinov Leon Sturm Vasily Klyukin

05-02-2024 17:53 UTC+1

Nikitin Leaves Skrbic with Crumbs

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Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

23,000 was already in the middle on a completed board of K♠10♥4♥3♠J♥ in a hand between Andrii Nikitin and Milos Skrbic.

Nikitin checked the river to Skrbic, who moved all in for around 23,000. Nikitin made the snap call.

Skrbic showed Q♠6♠ for queen-high, while Nikitin had K♦J♦ for two pair, sending him the pot.

Skrbic actually left the table thinking he was eliminated but his tablemates called him back when it became apparent he had slightly more than his opponent.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrii Nikitin	58,000 58,000	58,000
Milos Skrbic	800 800	800

Tags: Andrii Nikitin Milos Skrbic

05-02-2024 17:58 UTC+1

Gaehl Pushes Nemeth Out the Pot

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Ollie Garland

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Sebastian Gaehl raised from middle position, Andras Nemeth, in the cutoff, three-bet to 3,600 and Gaehl called.

Gaehl checked at the sight of the 8♦3♠K♠ flop. Nemeth bet out 2,500 and Gaehl check-raised to 7,500. Nemeth took his time before laying down his hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andras Nemeth	120,000 120,000	120,000
Sebastian Gaehl	65,000 16,000	16,000

Tags: Andras Nemeth Sebastian Gaehl

05-02-2024 18:01 UTC+1

Ponakovs Good at Showdown

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Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Aleksejs Ponakovs opened to 1,300 from the cutoff and Martin Stausholm defended his big blind.

On the Q♥4♠A♥ flop, Stausholm check-called versus an overbet from Ponakovs of 4,200.

The 7♥ turn and K♠ river were then checked through by both players.

Ponakovs showed K♣9♥ for a pair of kings and the winner, while Stausholm had Q♣J♥ for a pair of queens.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksejs Ponakovs	45,000 2,000	2,000
Martin Stausholm	23,500 13,500	13,500

Tags: Aleksejs Ponakovs Martin Stausholm

05-02-2024 18:07 UTC+1

A Round of Counts Before Dinner Break

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Ollie Garland

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Sam Grafton	115,000 85,000	85,000

Alex Kulev	105,000 6,000	6,000
Daniel Dvoress	88,000 63,000	63,000

Mike Watson	71,000 71,000	71,000

Alexandre Reard	47,000 10,000	10,000
Sergi Reixach	45,000 45,000	45,000
Christoph Vogelsang	42,500 42,500	42,500
Patrik Antonius	38,000 38,000	38,000

Ramon Colillas	31,000 8,000	8,000
Ole Schemion	24,000 8,500	8,500
Ben Heath	15,000 15,000	15,000

05-02-2024 18:10 UTC+1

Dinner Break

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Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

The 142 players remaining have been sent on a 75-minute dinner break, with play recommencing at approximately 8:25 p.m. local time.

05-02-2024 18:25 UTC+1

Tony G Calls Out Phil Hellmuth | Life Outside Poker Podcast

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Kaelaine Minton

Level 6 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Life Outside Poker w/ Connor Richards is a new podcast for PokerNews that focuses on poker players with successful careers and lives outside of poker.

For the third episode, Connor spoke with high-stakes poker player, politician and entrepreneur Antanas "Tony G" Guoga. In the interview, Tony G spoke about growing up in Lithuania, founding PokerNews in the early 2000s, getting into European politics later in life and his favorite televised poker moments.

He also opened up about clashing with players like Phil Hellmuth in televised games and even issued a heads-up challenge to the Poker Brat. Will Hellmuth take him on, or is he, like Tony G said, "afraid to ever play me again?"

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Tony G by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Find Out More About Life Outside Poker!

Level: 7

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 600

05-02-2024 19:31 UTC+1

Top Ten Stacks After Dinner Break

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Ollie Garland

Level 7 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Artur Martirosian	178,000 92,000	92,000

Andrii Nikitin	155,000 97,000	97,000
Mounir Tajiou	150,000 75,700	75,700
Miguel Capriles	146,800 49,800	49,800
Leon Sturm	144,000 76,000	76,000
Ilya Nikiforov	139,000 83,000	83,000
Mustapha Kanit	135,000 135,000	135,000
Bert Stevens	129,000 129,000	129,000
Atanas Malinov	121,000 19,000	19,000
Andre Akkari	120,200 84,200	84,200