€5,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2025 PokerStars EPT Monte-Carlo

05-04-2025 16:31 UTC+1

Player	Chips	Progress
Byron Kaverman	30,000 30,000	30,000
Jesse Lonis	30,000 30,000	30,000
Leo Worthington-Leese	30,000 30,000	30,000
Selim Amghar	Busted
Jeremie Zouari	Busted
Thomas Santerne	Busted
Hugues Girard	Busted
Paul Newey	Busted
Razvan Scutaru	Busted
Atanas Malinov	Busted
Govert Metaal	Busted
Alisson Piekazewicz	Busted
Barny Boatman	Busted

Maksym Filipovskyi	Busted
Fabrice Bigot	Busted
Paul Runcan	Busted

Swiderski Coolers Pollak

David Salituro

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Heads-up on a flop of 3♦10♣K♠, Kacper Swiderski bet 2,000 from under the gun before Benjamin Pollak raised to 5,500 in middle position. Swiderski called and the A♣ fell on the turn.

Both players slowed down and checked to the K♦ river, where Swiderski bet 9,000. Pollak took nearly a minute before calling.

Swiderski showed A♦K♣ for a full house and Pollak flashed the K♥ before mucking.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kacper Swiderski	105,000 32,000	32,000
Benjamin Pollak	3,000 27,000	27,000

Tags: Benjamin Pollak Kacper Swiderski

05-04-2025 16:22 UTC+1

Kolonias Busts Two Players in Three-Way All In

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Matt Warburton

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Kamal Jbirane open-raised to 1,200 from middle position and Graeme Newman three-bet to 6,300 from late position. Alexandros Kolonias then isolated from the small blind, pushing a stack of a touch over 20,000 into the middle worth the rest of Jbirane's chips. Jbirane went into the tank and then made the call. Players flipped their cards for the three-way all in, with both Jbirane and Newman at risk.

Graeme Newman: A♣5♣ All in
Kamal Jbirane: 7♠7♦ All in
Alexandros Kolonias: A♦K♦

Newman was in trouble, while Jbirane and Kolonias were flipping. The board ran out J♦J♥9♥K♠6♠ with the turn bringing Kolonias a pair of kings to win the pot.

Both Newman and Jbirane were eliminated, while Kolonias chipped up to around 100,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexandros Kolonias	100,000
Kamal Jbirane	Busted
Graeme Newman	Busted

Tags: Alexandros Kolonias Graeme Newman Kamal Jbirane

05-04-2025 16:17 UTC+1

Taki Makes Two Pair

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Matt Warburton

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Florian Vogel raised to 1,400 from late position and picked up three callers, including Hossien Taki in the small blind. All four players then checked it back on the 8♥2♥9♥ flop.

The turn was the A♣ and action checked to Vogel, who made it 2,600 to go. Only Taki made the call.

The river came the J♦ and Taki checked. Vogel bet 3,000 and Taki called to take it to showdown. Taki showed A♠J♣ for two pair and Vogel mucked to give him the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Florian Vogel	65,000
Hossien Taki	19,000

Tags: Florian Vogel Hossien Taki

05-04-2025 16:14 UTC+1

Vo Mis-Clicks the Flop, Shoves the Turn

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David Salituro

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Jeremie Zouari three-bet to 4,600 in the big blind and Viet Vo came back with a four-bet to 13,500 in early position. Zouari called and they saw a flop of 10♠6♦5♦.

Vo then bet two green 1,000 chips and Zouari called. The turn was the 6♣ and Vo moved all in for 12,700. Zouari quickly folded this time.

"I meant to bet this on the flop," Vo said, grabbing two of his blue 5,000 chips. "I bet the wrong color on the flop," he added.

Player	Chips	Progress
Viet Vo	45,000 14,000	14,000
Jeremie Zouari	10,500 20,500	20,500

Tags: Jeremie Zouari Viet Vo

05-04-2025 16:13 UTC+1

Morbee Folds Two Pair?

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Matt Warburton

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Action was on the turn on a board of 10♠9♣K♦5♦ and Ravi Sheth checked. Christophe Morbee bet 6,500 then Sheth check-raised all in for 20,100.

"Two pair no good heads up?" asked Morbee, who proceeded to fold.

"You folded two pair? Very impressive, good fold," said Sheth.

Someone then asked Sheth if he was bluffing, to which he responded, "I wouldn't bluff there when he bet 6,500; I wouldn't expect him to fold."

Of course, this is poker and it's impossible to know who out of Sheth and Morbee were speaking truth.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ravi Sheth	39,000 14,000	14,000
Christophe Morbee	19,000 19,000	19,000

Tags: Christophe Morbee Ravi Sheath

05-04-2025 16:07 UTC+1

Lascar Spikes the River to Bust Angelov

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David Salituro

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

David Lascar raised to 1,000 in early position, Boris Angelov moved all in for 4,500 from the cutoff, and Lascar called.

Boris Angelov: 8♦8♥ All in
David Lascar: K♦J♠

The two opponents were racing as the flop came 7♠10♠6♣. The Q♥ turn gave Lascar a straight draw, while the 9♣ river completed his straight and Angelov, who finished runner-up in this event last year, was sent to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Lascar	50,000 3,000	3,000
Boris Angelov	Busted

Tags: Boris Angelov David Lascar

05-04-2025 16:03 UTC+1

Veyssiere Quadruples Up

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David Salituro

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Julien Veyssiere moved all in for 3,600 from the button as Robin Zagorski in middle position, Antoine Labat in the hijack, and Andras Ivacson in the cutoff all called.

All three players checked down the J♥10♦5♣7♥J♦ board. Labat showed A♠9♠, Zagorski had K♦Q♣, while Ivacson turned over A♦2♦. Veyssiere showed 8♠8♥ for two pair to scoop the pot and quadruple up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Robin Zagorski	35,000
Andras Ivacson	28,000
Antoine Labat	20,000 8,500	8,500
Julien Veyssiere	16,000

Tags: Andras Ivacson Antoine Labat Julien Veyssiere Robin Zagorski

05-04-2025 15:54 UTC+1

Zamani Is Unstoppable

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David Salituro

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Martin Zamani bet 2,100 from middle position on a flop of 6♦2♠8♣ and Daniel Drommel raised to 7,000 in the cutoff.

"Let's play a bit," Drommel said as Zamani flashed a smile. He then moved all in and Drommel quickly called for 22,000.

Daniel Drommel: 10♥10♠ All in
Martin Zamani: Q♠Q♦

Drommel's tens were dominated by Zamani's queens, and the rest of the board ran out J♥7♣ to earn Zamani a bustout and another boost to his already massive stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Zamani	160,000 15,000	15,000
Daniel Drommel	Busted

Tags: Daniel Drommel Martin Zamani

05-04-2025 15:46 UTC+1

How to Approach Day 1 of the EPT Main Event

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Will Shillibier

Level 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

David Docherty, Masato Yokosawa, Barny Boatman, & Jerome Sgorrano

Thinking About Day 1 Strategy? We asked top players including Barny Boatman, Masato Yokosawa, and David Docherty how they approach the start of the EPT Main Event.

From staying patient with deep stacks to observing table dynamics and avoiding early slip-ups, their advice could make all the difference.