2024 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2024 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aq
Prize
€1,000,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€5,858,800
Entries
1,208
Level Info
Level
40
Blinds
600,000 / 1,200,000
Ante
1,200,000
Players Info - Day 3
Entries
154
Players Left
49

€5,300 EPT Main Event

Day 3 Completed

Selahaddin Bedir Leads Into Day 4 of EPT Monte Carlo Main Event

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Selahaddin Bedir
Selahaddin Bedir

Day 3 of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Main Event is in the books here at Sporting Monte-Carlo, with only 49 players remaining from the day's starting field of 154, after five 90-minute levels of play.

Selahaddin Bedir of Turkey (1,895,000) leads the way, closely followed by Jonathan Guedes of Brazil (1,810,000), Uruguyan Francisco Benitez (1,755,000) and Natan Chauskin (1,745,000) of Belarus, all of whom will have their eyes firmly fixed on the first place prize of €1,000,000.

Francisco Benitez
Francisco Benitez

Bedir has career earnings of over $5,000,000 and posted a second place finish in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller at EPT Cyprus 2023.

Benitez is also no stranger to the EPT. He already has two EPT titles under his belt after taking down two events at EPT Barcelona 2022: The €25,000 No Limit Hold'em for €341,565 and the €5,200 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty for €114,080. He will be looking to claim another victory, this time worth a seven-figure score.

Chauskin boasts live earnings of almost $700,000 and is looking to follow up his 10th place finish in the €25,000 High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo 2023.

Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Selahaddin BedirTurkey1,895,000126
2Jonathan GuedesBrazil1,810,000120
3Francisco BenitezUruguay1,755,000117
4Natan ChauskinBelarus1,745,000116
5David DochertyUnited Kingdom1,680,000112
6Jovan KenjicSerbia1,610,000107
7Nathan TetartFrance1,445,00096
8Boris AngelovBulgaria1,170,00078
9Adrian MateosSpain1,160,00077
10Vladimir TroyanovskiyRussia1,100,00073

Other notable names who remain in the mix include 2023 Irish Open winner David Docherty (1,680,000), Spanish crusher Adrian Mateos (1,160,000) and Dan Smith (1,020,000), who is on the hunt for the final missing piece of the Triple Crown.

Dan Smith
Dan Smith

PokerNews caught up with Smith and asked about his chase for the Triple Crown, Smith replying "Obviously winning would be great. I don't really worry about the future. It's still a long ways away. I'm just going to go out there and play my best and maybe get lucky and get a W."

Smith also confirmed he'd been enjoying Monte Carlo, "despite the fact that I'm buried so far. In years past at a stop like this, I would've just skipped the Main to play the 50k. It's fun to make a run, and I think I might get my action in the future."

On potentially following Mike Watson as the champion, Smith replied, tongue firmly in cheek "I saw Mike Watson was able to win last year, and I thought to myself if that idiot could win, think about a real player like myself, how easy it would be."

Alexander 'Wolfgang Poker' Seibt (620,000) also remains in the mix, playing his first EPT Main Event. PokerNews grabbed a quick word with Seibt, who confirmed he'd had a "crazy, rollercoaster day" and that he's really enjoyed the overall EPT experience, saying "It's been top notch, everything from the floor to the dealers to just everything, the production on the live stream was amazing."

Recap of Day 3 Action

154 players started the day, and the short-stacked Philippe Souki was the first player to exit Day 3. Defending champion Watson departed in 149th after running into the overpair of Theo Degrave, while Juan Pardo's pocket queens were downed by Rutger Hennen's pocket fours to spell the end of the road for the Spaniard.

Bedir's run to the top of the podium began relatively late in the day when he won a huge pot against Silviu Baltateanu with a higher two pair.

Baltateanu was also at the center of some controversy, folding preflop out of turn, which affected the action and led to Gareth McMahon four-bet jamming ace-five suited to result in his exit, and a one-round penalty for Baltateanu.

Jonathan Guedes challenge began to pick up some momentum when he doubled through an opponent's top pair with pocket kings, and he continued to chip up through the remainder of the day.

Jonathan Guedes
Jonathan Guedes

Benitez came into Day 2 in fourth place and continued to steadily build throughout the day. Chauskin's surge to the top of the standings began when he was on the right side of a cooler versus Roman Hrabec, and he never looked back, steadily building thereafter.

Jamil Wakil got off to a great start and at the second break of the day had almost a 32 big blind lead over his closest challenger, after he rivered a higher full house than his opponent in a monster pot. He remains in the hunt, starting Day 4 with 1,070,000.

PokerStars Ambassador Felix Schneiders and streamer Elias Gutierrez's tilts at the title came to an end in 109th and 72nd place respectively, while PokerStars Gold Power Path pass winner Kevinas Korsakas bowed out in 57th place for €15,200 after a fantastic run.

Benjamin Pollak, Chris Dowling and Alexandre Reard all departed during the final level of the day, with Dowling running into Hennen's kings and Reard exiting via Cedric Schwaederle's aces.

The 49 players still standing will return at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 2 for Day 4, which will feature 90-minute levels, with blinds commencing at 10,000/15,000, with a 15,000 big blind ante.

Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage as we start to get towards the business end of the 2024 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event.

Tags: Adrian MateosAlexandre ReardBenjamin PollakBoris AngelovCedric SchwaederleChris DowlingDan SmithDavid DochertyElias GutierrezFelix SchneidersFrancisco BenitezJovan KenjicJuan PardoKevinas KorsakasMike WatsonNatan ChauskinNathan TetartPhilippe SoukiRoman HrabecRutger HennenSelahaddin BedirSilviu BaltateanuTheo DegraveVladimir Troyanovskiy

End of Day 3 Chip Counts (full)

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Selahaddin Bedir tr
Selahaddin Bedir
1,895,000
-155,000
-155,000
Day 3 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Jonathan Guedes br
Jonathan Guedes
1,810,000
435,000
435,000
Profile photo of Francisco Benitez uy
Francisco Benitez
1,755,000
-245,000
-245,000
Profile photo of Natan Chauskin by
Natan Chauskin
1,745,000
-360,000
-360,000
Profile photo of David Docherty gb
David Docherty
1,680,000
629,000
629,000
Profile photo of Jovan Kenjic rs
Jovan Kenjic
1,610,000
350,000
350,000
Profile photo of Nathan Tetart fr
Nathan Tetart
1,445,000
-155,000
-155,000
Profile photo of Boris Angelov bg
Boris Angelov
1,170,000
70,000
70,000
Day 5 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Adrian Mateos es
Adrian Mateos
1,160,000
190,000
190,000
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Vladimir Troyanovskiy ru
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
1,100,000
452,000
452,000
Profile photo of Jamil Wakil ca
Jamil Wakil
1,070,000
-80,000
-80,000
Profile photo of Esteban Maquillon es
Esteban Maquillon
1,040,000
530,000
530,000
Profile photo of Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
1,020,000
-130,000
-130,000
Run It Once
Profile photo of Pieter de Necker za
Pieter de Necker
1,005,000
5,000
5,000
Profile photo of Konstantyn Holskyi ua
Konstantyn Holskyi
930,000
230,000
230,000
Profile photo of Niclas Thumm de
Niclas Thumm
905,000
105,000
105,000
Profile photo of Danilo Velasevic rs
Danilo Velasevic
900,000
436,000
436,000
Profile photo of Georgios Karakousis gr
Georgios Karakousis
885,000
296,000
296,000
Profile photo of Derk van Luijk nl
Derk van Luijk
860,000
-80,000
-80,000
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Daniel Oterhals no
Daniel Oterhals
850,000
170,000
170,000
Profile photo of Rania Nasreddine us
Rania Nasreddine
795,000
145,000
145,000
Profile photo of Fabrice Bigot fr
Fabrice Bigot
725,000
382,000
382,000
Profile photo of Jonathan Pastore fr
Jonathan Pastore
710,000
-4,000
-4,000
Profile photo of Jozef Cibicek sk
Jozef Cibicek
705,000
-5,000
-5,000
Profile photo of Javier Caballo gb
Javier Caballo
665,000
-37,000
-37,000
Run It Once

Read full

Seibt Flips For It All on the Last Hand

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Alexander Seibt
Alexander Seibt

Players on other tables were already bagging up for the night when action folded to Enrico Camosci in the small blind. He raised to 35,000 and Alexander Seibt three-bet to 88,000 in the big blind. Camosci then moved all in and Seibt burned a time bank before calling for his last 300,000.

Alexander Seibt: 1010 All in
Enrico Camosci: AJ

Seibt was racing for his tournament life as the board ran out 96273, keeping his two tens in the lead and earning him a double up.

"Let's go. That's so good for poker," Seibt said as he'll be returning for Day 4 with a stack of more than 600,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Alexander Seibt us
Alexander Seibt
620,000
373,000
373,000
Profile photo of Enrico Camosci it
Enrico Camosci
110,000
-155,000
-155,000

Tags: Alexander SeibtEnrico Camosci

Thumm Smacks the Flop to Bust Baltateanu

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Silviu Baltateanu
Silviu Baltateanu

Philipp Wenzelburger raised to 24,000 in the hijack and Niclas Thumm called in the cutoff. Silviu Baltateanu then moved all in for 262,000 on the button, Wenzelburger folded, while Thumm called.

Silviu Baltateanu: QQ All in
Niclas Thumm: 88

Baltateanu had picked up queens and was a big favorite to double up, but the flop came 389 to give Thumm a set. Baltateanu snapped a photo of the board as it ran out 2K, sending him to the rail just before the end of the night.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Niclas Thumm de
Niclas Thumm
800,000
-185,000
-185,000
Profile photo of Philipp Wenzelburger de
Philipp Wenzelburger
520,000
-76,000
-76,000
Day 4 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Silviu Baltateanu ro
Silviu Baltateanu
Busted

Tags: Niclas ThummPhilipp WenzelburgerSilviu Baltateanu

Gierse Runs Queens into Kings Late On

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Dan Smith
Dan Smith

Dan Smith opened to 25,000 from early position and called when Marius Gierse jammed for 79,000 from the cutoff.

Marius Gierse: QQAll in
Dan Smith: KK

Gierse's deep run came to an end after finding no help on the 102375 runout.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
1,150,000
90,000
90,000
Run It Once
Profile photo of Marius Gierse at
Marius Gierse
Busted

Tags: Dan SmithMarius Gierse

De Paz Runs Into Kenjic's Kings

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

In a pre-flop raising battle, Dario de Paz got around 500,000 in the middle from the hijack against Jovan Kenjic on the button.

Dario de Paz: JJ All in
Jovan Kenjic: KK

Kenjic had woken up with kings and was poised to take down the massive pot as the board ran out 101078A. De Paz received no help and hit the rail, while Kenjic made a big late move up the leaderboard.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jovan Kenjic rs
Jovan Kenjic
1,260,000
685,000
685,000
Profile photo of Dario de Paz it
Dario de Paz
Busted

Tags: Dario De PazJovan Kenjic

Benitez, Wakil Get Into a River Raising War

Level 20 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Francisco Benitez
Francisco Benitez

A pot of around 130,000 was in the middle as Francisco Benitez and Jamil Wakil went to the turn on a board of 7710J.

Both players checked to the 9 river where Benitez bet 35,000 from early position. Wakil then raised to 130,000 in the hijack.

Benitez came back with a reraise to 420,000, sending Wakil deep into the tank. He burned through multiple time banks before folding as Benitez took the pot without a showdown.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Francisco Benitez uy
Francisco Benitez
2,000,000
361,000
361,000
Profile photo of Jamil Wakil ca
Jamil Wakil
1,150,000
-350,000
-350,000

Tags: Francisco BenitezJamil Wakil