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€5,300 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2025 PokerStars EPT Monte-Carlo
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
2025 PokerStars EPT Monte-Carlo
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€5,795,750
Total Entries
1,195
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
403
Players Left
123
Players Left 1 / 1,195
Filter
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Day 1a of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte-Carlo Main Event took place today at the stunning Sporting Monte-Carlo venue. The rain may have prevented the traditional opening of the roof as players took their seats, but it didn't stop what turned out to be an action-packed day of poker as 402 players took their seats, a slight increase from last year's first flight of 393 entries.
Of those who took a shot, 123 players bagged and tagged to return for Day 2 after ten levels of play. That brings the prize pool to €2,478,350 with one starting flight still to come.
David Docherty of Scotland bagged the chip lead with 279,500. Despite some ups and downs earlier on, Docherty returned after the dinner break in a solid position with a little under 150,000. Docherty then busted Nicolas Chouity and continued to go on a heater, gradually increasing his stack throughout the final two levels to come out on top.
Docherty is best known for his 2023 victory at the Irish Open, which gave him a career high score of €365,000. Docherty is yet to lock up an EPT title, but came close with a seventh place finish in the 2022 EPT London Main Event. On form and running hot, Docherty has positioned himself for a serious run here in Monte-Carlo.
In second place was Christian Alilovic of France with 260,500, followed by Qing Lu with 240,500. Lu won a huge pot with aces late on in the day to bring her up to third place. Jeremie Beneteau (236,500) and Stanislav Petriv (225,000) round out the top five.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | 279,500 | 186 |
| 2 | Christian Alilovic | France | 260,500 | 174 |
| 3 | Qing Lu | United States | 240,500 | 160 |
| 4 | Jeremie Beneteau | France | 236,500 | 158 |
| 5 | Stanislav Petriv | Ukraine | 225,000 | 150 |
| 6 | Boris Kuzmanovic | Croatia | 208,500 | 139 |
| 7 | Adi Rajkovic | Austria | 204,500 | 136 |
| 8 | Mariusz Golinski | Poland | 201,000 | 134 |
| 9 | Sameer Chaturvedi | India | 196,000 | 131 |
| 10 | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | 191,500 | 128 |
Plenty of other well known players found a bag for Day 2, among them Masato Yokosawa (191,500), Antoine Labat (164,000), Steve O'Dwyer (114,000), Byron Kaverman (114,000), Juan Pardo (100,000) and PokerStars ambassador Maria Konnikova (79,000).
Last year's Main Event champion Derk van Luijk also came back for more and bagged for 108,500, a little more than the average stack.
The second and final starting flight, Day 1b, begins on Monday, May 5, at noon local time and follows the same structure as Day 1a, with 60-minute blind levels and 30,000 starting stacks. Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 and players can fire a maximum of two bullets across both flights.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as reporters keep you updated on the action straight from the tournament floor.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Day 1a has ended with 123 players remaining out of 403 entries.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Ilya Nikiforov was all in from early position for around 18,000 and was looked up by Ravi Sheth on the button, who had him covered as players flipped their cards.
Ilya Nikiforov: K♦J♣ 
Ravi Sheth: A♥A♠
The board ran out 8♥8♦9♥4♥3♣ and Sheth held with his pocket aces to win a late pot, sending Nikiforov to the exit with just moments to go in Day 1a.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Action was on the turn on a board of 5♦5♣Q♦3♥ and Qing Lu led with a bet of 30,000 from the big blind, around a pot sized bet, which Saar Wilf called.
The river came the 10♣ and Lu pushed all in with her opponent covered. Wilf went deep into the tank and started enquiring about Lu's hand.
"You have aces or queens? If you have ace-queen I have it," said Wilf.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," retorted Lu with some sincerity, which provoked a giggle from tablemates.
After tanking for a while and shrugging his shoulders, Wilf said, "If you play aces this way then..." and put the rest of his stack in the middle, around 50,000.
Wilf had Q♣10♠ for two pair, queens and tens. Lu flipped over A♣A♠ for a better two pair, aces with the fives on board to win the pot.
"I reraised pre," said Lu, perplexed by Wilf's reaction to the hand. Wilf was eliminated and Lu scooped in a huge pot during the last few hands of the day.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Tjan Tepeh raised to 2,600 on the button and Boris Kolev called in the small blind. Milos Skrbic then three-bet to 10,500 in the big blind and only Tepeh called.
Skrbic continued for 8,000 on the K♠9♥8♥ flop and Tepeh called. Both players then checked the K♥ turn.
The river was the 6♥ and Skrbic bet 28,000, sending Tepeh deep into the tank. He took several minutes before folding as Skrbic took down one of the last hands of the night.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Tournament officials announced that players will see four more hands tonight before bagging up their chips for Day 2.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Jerome Sgorrano three-bet to 11,600 in the small blind and Boris Kuzmanovic called on the button.
The flop came J♣3♥3♦ and Sgorrano bet 11,100. Kuzmanovic called and the Q♣ fell on the turn.
Sgorrano slowed down and checked, and Kuzmanovic bet 17,000. Sgorrano called to the 6♥ river, where Kuzmanovic moved all in. Sgorrano snap-called for 40,000.
Kuzmanovic turned over Q♠J♠ for two pair and Sgorrano shot out of his seat with such force that he knocked all of his things hanging from his chair onto the floor. He threw A♠J♥ into the muck and quickly left the table, leaving behind his neck pillow as his former tablemates called him back to get it.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Action was on the river on a board of 2♥Q♦Q♠4♥9♦ and Angelos Valilis checked. Tjan Tepeh shoved the river and Valilis made the call.
Tepeh showed 9♣9♠ for a full house, nines full of queens, which was more than enough to beat Valilis' 7♠7♣. Valilis was sent to the exit as Tepeh chipped up to around 80,000.
