The tournament director has announced that there will be four more hands played to close out Day 2. After that, the remaining players will bag and tag.
The tournament director has announced that there will be four more hands played to close out Day 2. After that, the remaining players will bag and tag.
Jose Plaza moved all in for 35,000 and Stanislav Petriv called to put him at risk.
Jose Plaza: Q♠Q♣
Stanislav Petriv: A♣9♦
Plaza was ahead with his queens and stayed in front through the 10♠3♣10♥7♣2♣ board to earn a double up.
At the same table, Benjamin Spragg is sitting with just one big blind.
"You might make Day 3," tablemate Andras Nemeth said to him.
"Oh no, that would be horrible," Spragg replied.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000
48,000
|
48,000 |
|
|
70,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
5,000
96,000
|
96,000 |
|
|
||
Noah Boeken raised to 8,000 in the hijack and Jeremie Beneteau three-bet to 20,000 in the cutoff. Gautier Laurent then moved all in for 120,000 in the big blind, Boeken folded, while Beneteau snap-called and Laurent flung his arms in the air in frustration even before the cards were revealed.
Gautier Laurent: A♥8♥
Jeremie Beneteau: A♠A♦
Laurent had run into Beneteau's aces and the 5♥Q♠5♣2♦10♣ board provided no reprieve as he headed off to the exit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
|
110,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
Cesar Garcia moved all in for 103,000 on the button and Nikita Kuznetsov called in the big blind.
Cesar Garcia: 6♥6♣
Nikita Kuznetsov: 5♥5♣
Garcia showed down the higher pair, and Kuznetsov couldn't catch up on the Q♠8♣2♠4♥A♥ as the start-of-day chip leader doubled up on one of the last hands of the night.
Kuznetsov was left with just 20,000 and was eliminated the next hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
After losing most of his chips in a previous hand, Nikita Kuznetsov was all in preflop with a relatively short stack and was looked up by Danielle Noja, who had him covered as players flipped their cards.
Nikita Kuznetsov: 9♣9♦
Danielle Noja: K♥K♠
The board ran out Q♠10♥3♥8♠7♠ and Noja held with his pocket kings, sending Kuznetsov to the exit late in Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
100,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Action was on the river on a board of 4♠8♦A♣7♦5♣ and Philipp Schieffer checked. Arnaud Enselme pushed all in into the already inflated pot and Schieffer went deep into the tank. Floor were called for the clock and Schieffer went into his last couple of seconds of time before making the call.
Schieffer had A♥J♥ for a pair of aces, but Enselme had 7♥7♣ for a set of sevens. Enselme won the pot and Schieffer was sent to the exit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
440,000
93,000
|
93,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Day 2 has ended with 149 players remaining.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
831,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
829,000
79,000
|
79,000 |
|
|
820,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
|
796,000
146,000
|
146,000 |
|
|
757,000
257,000
|
257,000 |
|
|
755,000
134,000
|
134,000 |
|
|
685,000
424,000
|
424,000 |
|
|
559,000
61,000
|
61,000 |
|
|
510,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
|
500,000
229,000
|
229,000 |
|
|
498,000
58,000
|
58,000 |
|
|
480,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
457,000
84,000
|
84,000 |
|
|
456,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
|
454,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
438,000
185,000
|
185,000 |
|
|
431,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
|
421,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
|
415,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
|
412,000
112,000
|
112,000 |
|
|
412,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
|
402,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
|
401,000
56,000
|
56,000 |
|
|
400,000
230,000
|
230,000 |
|
|
395,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
|
||
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte-Carlo 2025 champion is set to walk away with €1,000,000 after the entry numbers, prize pool and payouts were confirmed on Day 2. A total of 1,195 entries made this the second biggest Main Event in the stop's 20-year history, just a few entries short of last year's numbers, culminating in a prize pool of €5,795,750.
The Sporting-Monte Carlo venue was packed to the rafters with hopefuls as the tournament got underway, 448 players returning for Day 2 to see the roof retract and the welcome return of sunshine here on the Mediterranean coast. Of those, 175 made the money and locked up at least a min-cash of €8,500, while 149 bagged for Day 3.
Andreas Goeller took the chip lead late on thanks to a great call against Antoine Saout in a massive pot, which took Goeller up to 831,000 chips, much to his delight. The Italian player came fifth in the EPT San Remo back in 2014, which makes up the majority of his recorded live scores. Goeller will be looking to top that score as he enters Day 3 with the chip advantage.
Goeller's lead, however, is all but secure. Jeremie Beneteau bagged in second place with 829,000, meaning less than one big blind seperates the two when they return. Third place Mariusz Golinski bagged for 820,000, making it a super tight race at the top of the chip counts.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreas Goeller | Italy | 831,000 | 208 |
| 2 | Jeremie Beneteau | France | 829,000 | 207 |
| 3 | Mariusz Golinski | Poland | 820,000 | 205 |
| 4 | Leon Zeaiter | Germany | 796,000 | 199 |
| 5 | Sebastian Gaehl | Germany | 757,000 | 189 |
| 6 | Mengshi Tian | Hong Kong | 755,000 | 189 |
| 7 | Juan Pardo | Spain | 685,000 | 171 |
| 8 | Nicolas Tytgat | France | 559,000 | 140 |
| 9 | Ramana Epparla | United States | 510,000 | 128 |
| 10 | Manuel Carvalho | Portugal | 500,000 | 125 |
The bubble burst during the last level of play when Ian Gascoigne ran his ace-queen into a set of fours on an ace-high flop against Conor Beresford. The rest of the room clapped and cheered as they made their way into the money. Beresford went on to bag for 282,000.
Several former EPT champions are still in contention, including Sebastian Malec (395,000), Patrik Antonius (227,000), Dimitar Danchev (163,000), Manig Loeser (129,000), Noah Boeken (102,000), and Antonio Buonanno (100,000). Defending champion Derk van Luijk was eliminated just short of the money and will not be in the running for back-to-back titles.
PokerStars Ambassadors Kenny Hallaert and Benjamin Spragg were battling on the feature table early on Day 2. Both reached paid positions, but only Hallaert advanced (83,000), while Spragg took the min-cash of €8,500 after being eliminated in 155th place. That makes Hallaert the last Ambassador standing in the Main Event.
Other notables who found a bag include Andras Nemeth (400,000), Nacho Barbero (282,000), Day 1b chip leader Cesar Garcia (212,000) Boris Angelov (194,000) and Niclas Thumm (127,000).
Day 1a chip leader David Docherty wasn't so fortunate. He lost a huge pot against Qing Lu midway through the day and was eliminated in 226th place.
Day 3 starts on Wednesday, May 7, at 12 p.m. local time with the blinds at 2,000/5000 and will play for five 90-minute levels. The feature table will be streamed by PokerStars from 12:30 p.m. local time on YouTube and Twitch.
Stay tuned for live updates of Day 3 as PokerNews brings you coverage straight from the tournament floor as the Main Event runs deeper into the money.