Franck Makaci opened to 3,000 in the hijack. Stanislav Anufriiev three-bet to 11,000 once it had folded to him in the big blind, and Makaci obliged with a call.
The pair checked through the 9♣4♣J♦ flop, prompting Anufriiev to bet 23,000 on the 5♠ turn. Makaci called before he saw Anufriiev put him all-in for 62,000 on the J♠ river.
"What do you have? King-queen?" Makaci asked Anufriiev as he burned through his time banks.
"Maybe aces," Anufriiev replied.
Makaci eventually called, just before running out of time. Anufriiev tabled A♥A♦, and Makaci took his exit as his 10♠10♥ was no good.
Markus Bonus raised to 3,000 from middle position, to which Georgios Vrakas responded with a three-bet to 9,000 one seat to his left. Next to act, a short-stacked Bryn Kenney moved all in for 3,500. The action returned to Bonus, who folded.
Bryn Kenney: A♠10♥
Georgios Vrakas: J♦J♣
The dealer spread a 3♠7♥J♠ flop, leaving Kenney requiring running cards to survive.
There was hope on the 8♦ turn, but the 10♠ river sealed Kenney's fate, as one of the players at the table remarked that they were happy to see the back of the all-time money list leader.
Dimitar Danchev raised to 3,500 in the cutoff. It folded to Lucas Blanco in the big blind, who three-bet to 13,500. Danchev called, and did so too when Blanco continued for 15,000 on the 7♦5♦2♣ flop.
The J♦ turn was then checked by both players, and Blanco checked the 6♣ river as well. Danchev spent one of his time banks before moving all in for 78,000. Blanco quickly relinquished the pot and mucked his cards.
Demosthenes Kiriopoulos opened to 3,000 in late position, and Przemyslaw Cebrat reponded by moving all in for 23,000 a couple of seats to his left. The action returned to Kiriopoulos, who called.
The two starting flights have been completed, meaning it is time for Day 2 of the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte-Carlo €5,300 Main Event. Across Day 1a and Day b, 960 entries were registered, of which 288 players booked their tickets to the second day. However, late registration at Sporting Monte-Carlo will remain open until the start of play today. Anyone who has not spent their two allowed bullets is able to hop into the Main Event with a stack of 20 big blinds, allowing the current €4,656,000 prize pool to increase even further.
Defending champion Aleksandr Shevliakov will not have to worry about registering late, as he turned the starting stack of 30,000 into 104,000 on Day 1a, good for nearly 70 big blinds at the start of play today. Shevliakov is joined by 2024 EPT Monte-Carlo winner Derk van Luijk and 2015 champion Adrian Mateos, both of whom also battled their way through the first starting flight. Van Luijk amassed a stack of 141,000, while Mateos will sit down with 112,500 at the start of play today.
Derk van Luijk
The chip lead, meanwhile, is in the hands of Greek player Paraskevas Tsokaridis, who crushed the competition on Day 1b to end up with a massive stack of 384,000. Day 1a chipleader Mehdi Chaoui occupies the second spot on the leaderboard with 357,000 in chips, over 60 big blinds more than Stanislav Anufriiev, who sits in third with 265,000. Other familiar faces in the top ten include Samuel Ju, Vicente Delgado, and Natan Chauskin, who finished tenth in this event in 2024.
€5,300 Main Event Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Paraskevas Tsokaridis
Greece
384,000
256
2
Mehdi Chaoui
Morocco
357,000
238
3
Stanislav Anufriiev
Ukraine
265,000
177
4
Jose Malpelli
France
263,000
175
5
Egor Sukhov
Russian Federation
255,000
170
6
Leonardo Pires
Brazil
243,000
162
7
Samuel Ju
Germany
240,000
160
8
Vicente Delgado
Spain
228,000
152
9
Nikolaos Mouroutis
Greece
220,500
147
10
Natan Chauskin
Belarus
218,500
146
Maria Konnikova leads four representatives of Team Pokerstars Pro on Day 2 with a stack of 142,500. Raul Mestre also gathered a six-figure stack and will return with 121,000, while David Lappin and Elias Gutierrez will sit down with 87,500 and 68,000, respectively. Triple Crown winner Roberto Romanello returns to a bag worth 146,000, with other EPT champions on Day 2 including Hossein Ensan (136,500), Dimitar Danchev (101,500), Thomas Eychenne (60,000), and Oliver Weis (29,500).
Roberto Romanello
Day 2 will kick off with blinds at 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. The duration of the levels has increased to 90 minutes each, with a short break after every level. Play will continue until the tournament reaches the money, at which point all survivors will bag their chips and advance to Day 3. A shot clock will be implemented at the start of today, and the prize pool and payouts will be confirmed shortly after the late registration closes at the "shuffle up and deal".
The bubble is expected to burst during the later levels of Day 2, so an exciting day is ahead in Monte-Carlo. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide all the latest numbers, hand histories, and chip count updates live from the tournament floor.
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