Late registration for the €25,000 High Roller closed at the start of Day 2. After a few late straddlers found their way to the tables, the prize pool and payouts have now been confirmed.
There were 247 entries, which made for a prize pool of €5,930,470.
The top 31 players will be paid and the min-cash is €51,000. The winnner is set to walk away with €1,253,070.
The pot stood at approximately 25,000 with two players looking at a flop of 9♠8♠6♦.
Mustapha Kanit, in the big blind, checked the action to Arsenii Karmatckii, who was under the gun. Karmatckii bet out 6,500 and Kanit check-raised, moving all in for approximately 46,000. Karmatckii called.
Mustapha Kanit: J♦J♥
Arsenii Karmatckii: K♠10♠
The Q♠ turn gave Karmatckii a flush and had Kanit drawing dead.
The 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo series, running at the stunning Sporting Monte-Carlo set right on the coast of the French Riviera, continues today with Day 2 of the €25,000 EPT High Roller.
Day 1 attracted a field of 229 entrants, many of them prolific players who really know their stuff. This generated a prize pool of €5,498,290, already surpassing last year's total prize pool by almost €500,000. Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2, at which point the full entry numbers, prize pool and payouts can be confirmed.
Maher Nouira of Tunisia is leading the way with 362,000 chips. Nouira is hunting his second title in Monte Carlo after topping a field of 69 players in Event #35, another €25,000 buy-in, which he won for €369,210. Nouira is in a great position to go deep again, although he'll have to slay through a tough field in order to do so.
Henri Kasper of Estonia, a regular at the EPT stops, finished the day in second place with 290,000, while Christopher Puetz of Germany took third with 267,000.
Also sitting in the top ten are EPT founder John Duthie, as well as 2023 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event champion Mike Watson. Here's how the top chip counts look as we head into Day 2.
Mike Watson
Start of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Maher Nouira
Tunisia
362,000
241
2
Henri Kasper
Estonia
290,000
193
3
Christopher Puetz
Germany
267,000
178
4
Vladyslav Martynenko
Ukraine
245,500
163
5
Matthias Lipp
Austria
235,000
156
6
Daniel Rezaei
Austria
233,500
155
7
Cesar Garcia
Spain
220,000
146
8
Bert Stevens
Belgium
206,500
137
9
John Duthie
United Kingdom
201,000
134
10
Mike Watson
Canada
201,000
134
Day 2 commences on Friday, May 3 at midday local time and blinds will resume at Level 11 at 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. A minimum of ten 60-minute levels will be played.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as reporters bring you live updates of the action straight from the tournament floor.
