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?"
Alexander Seibt raised to 5,500 under the gun before Joao Sydenstricker three-bet to 15,500 in middle position. Roman Hrabec four-bet to 32,000 on the button and Seibt moved all in for 42,000. Sydenstricker got out of the way, while Hrabec called.
Alexander Seibt: A♠A♥
Roman Hrabec: K♠K♥
"I don't need to film this, right? I can get footage from you after?" Seibt said as cameras began surrounding the table. The board ran out 8♣5♠8♦4♠6♠ and Seibt's aces remained ahead of Hrabec's kings as "Wolfgang Poker" doubled up.
"Let's go," Gus Hansen said as he moved all in for 12,500 from under the gun. Hansen began twirling his finger encouraging his tablemates to let him have the pot. They folded around to Julien Mariani on the button, who called.
"He hasn't lost a pot," Rehman Kassam told Hansen as he peeked at his cards in the big blind and reshoved for 95,000. Mariani tanked for a minute before folding.
Gus Hansen 9♠9♣
Rehman Kassam: A♥Q♣
Hansen was racing for his tournament life and stayed in the lead through the 3♣2♣K♦7♦4♦ board to earn a triple up.
"I've never had this many chips before. Maybe in another tournament," Hansen said as he dragged in the pot.
In Monaco, the sun's shining bright, signaling yet another day of excitement at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, running at the stunning Sporting Monte-Carlo.
Across the two starting flights of the €5,300 Main Event, 1,149 entries were recorded, creating a massive prize pool of €5,572,650. The record for the EPT Monte Carlo, set during last year's Main Event, has been broken. Registration remains open until the start of Day 2 at noon local time today.
Leading the 375 surviving players from both starting flights is Elias Gutierrez, holding 336,000 in chips. Trailing closely behind are Rania Nasreddine (302,000) and Philipp Wenzelburger (283,500).
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Elias Gutierrez
Spain
336,000
224
2
Rania Nasreddine
United States
302,000
201
3
Philipp Wenzelburger
Germany
283,500
189
4
Amaury Mamou-Mani
France
266,500
177
5
Vladyslav Martynenko
Ukraine
265,500
177
6
Kayhan Mokri
Norway
253,000
169
7
Alan Ferraro
Italy
243,500
162
8
Tudor Zapsa
Moldova
240,000
160
9
Alexandre Reard
France
234,500
156
10
Birger Ohl
Germany
229,000
153
Felix Schneiders
Among the notable players who bagged big by the end of the two starting flights are PokerStars AmbassadorsRafael Moraes (188,500), Felix Schneiders (115,500), Simon Wiciak (79,000) and Andre Akkari (22,500) as well as Peter Jorgne (226,000), Roman Hrabec (166,000), Ana Marquez (163,000) and Ankit Ahuja (103,500)
Further down the leaderboard are Niclas Thumm (124,000), Nikita Luther (95,500), Marle Spragg (95,000), Dominik Nitsche (92,500), Daniel Dvoress (92,000), Christopher Pütz (89,000), David Yan (52,500), defending champion Mike Watson (47,000) and Benny Glaser (37,000).
Marle Spragg
Day 2 is scheduled to commence at noon local time, starting at Level 11, where the blinds stand at 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. Each level will be extended to 90 minutes, with players enjoying a 20-minute break after every level.
Shot clocks won't come into play until Day 3, allowing players more time to make decisions for now. Players have yet to reach the money as only 15% of the field will be paid. Information regarding payouts is expected shortly after registration closes.
Historically, Day 2 is the crucial moment when the bubble bursts in EPT Main Events. Stay tuned to the live report on PokerNews and don't forget to catch the cards-up stream on PokerStars' Twitch and YouTube channels.
