button in SafariPoker Prodigy Bernhard Binder Grabs Big Chip Lead as 20 Remain in EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event
It was October 2023 when Bernhard Binder, roughly one year after he started his poker journey, recorded his first cash in an event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour - a 23rd place at a $1,100 buy-in tournament at EPT Cyprus. Not even three years later, he plays the highest stakes imaginable, both live and online, and has amassed over $13,000,000 in lifetime earnings on The Hendon Mob. Now, in the 2026 EPT Monte-Carlo €5,300 Main Event, which boasts a €4,903,350 prize pool, Binder finds himself in a dream spot to add another six-figure score to his resume.
After four days of poker at Sporting Monte-Carlo, Binder bagged a massive chip lead when play concluded with only 20 players remaining out of the field of 1,011 entries, and leads the hunt for the €825,000 top prize with a stack of 4,540,000. He was the only player to acquire more than 100 big blinds for the start of Day 5, and obtained more than one and a half times the chips of his nearest contender, PokerStars Ambassador Raul Mestre
Unlike Binder, Mestre has been playing tournament poker for decades. He continued his strong showing at EPT Monte-Carlo on Day 4 by obtaining 2,910,000 for second place on the leaderboard, his third top-four appearance in a row. He will be aiming to reach the third EPT final table of his storied career and perhaps become the first member of Team Pro to win an EPT since Victoria Coren Mitchell in 2014. Rounding out the end-of-day podium is Roman Stoica with 2,480,000 in chips, while EPT veteran Jason Wheeler and Day 2 chipleader Rodrigo Selouan also earned a spot in the top ten.
End of Day 4 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernhard Binder | Austria | 4,540,000 | 114 |
| 2 | Raul Mestre | Spain | 2,910,000 | 73 |
| 3 | Roman Stoica | Moldova, Republic of | 2,480,000 | 62 |
| 4 | Miroslav Rizov | Bulgaria | 2,305,000 | 58 |
| 5 | Jason Wheeler | United States | 2,140,000 | 54 |
| 6 | Rodrigo Selouan | Brazil | 1,820,000 | 46 |
| 7 | Samuel Ju | Germany | 1,640,000 | 41 |
| 8 | Longmao Fan | China | 1,540,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Oshri Lahmani | Israel | 1,255,000 | 31 |
| 10 | Laurent Polito | France | 1,245,000 | 31 |
Binder's Thoughts
Most of Binder's stack came from doubling up in a massive four-bet pot against then-chipleader Mehdi Chaoui.
"We can both have ace-five, so the river (a five which paired the board) is not a blank," Binder shared with PokerNews after he was done bagging his piles of chips. "I can only check and get showdown with my top pair against jacks or tens. Once he puts me all-in, I beat no value. But I have good blockers, and he is a capable player, so I called, and thankfully I was good."
When asked about his outlook on Day 5, Binder said, "I'm excited to play. It's a good spot, having a huge chip lead with 20 left in a 1,000-person field."
Chaoui had enough chips left to survive the day, although his stack of 805,000 places him on the lower end of the leaderboard, along with high-stakes regular Leonard Maue (460,000) and Spanish professional Miguel Franco (405,000). Meanwhile, Ognyan Dimov is the last remaining player in contention for a second EPT title, finding himself in the middle of the pack with 1,040,000 in chips.
Casualties of Day 4
Day 4 started with 48 players, among whom was 2024 EPT Monte-Carlo champion Derk van Luijk. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a massive cooler against Wheeler early on, eliminating him in 47th for €16,100 and kickstarting Wheeler's rise. Wheeler also busted Benny Glaser in 27th for €24,450, and Maue took care of 2013 PCA champion Dimitar Danchev, who received the same amount for his 26th-place finish.
For the majority of the day, it looked like Thomas Eychenne could make another final table only a few months after his 2025 EPT Barcelona win. However, the Frenchman had a disastrous last level, doubling up two players to eventually be eliminated in 22nd for €28,150. EPT regular Boris Kolev took home the same amount when he became the final departure of Day 4, falling to Binder in the dying minutes of the day.
The remaining 20 players have each locked up €32,350 by making it to Day 5, with the next pay jump taking place when 17 players remain. With the final table tantalizingly close, however, all eyes will be on the six-figure sums reserved for the top seven.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €825,000 | 9 | €76,500 | |
| 2 | €515,000 | 10-11 | €61,700 | |
| 3 | €368,750 | 12-13 | €51,400 | |
| 4 | €283,550 | 14-15 | €42,800 | |
| 5 | €218,300 | 16-17 | €37,200 | |
| 6 | €167,850 | 18-20 | €32,350 | |
| 7 | €129,050 | |||
| 8 | €99,450 |
Day 5 will begin at noon local time tomorrow, Saturday, May 9. The tournament will restart with blinds at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante. The levels will remain 90 minutes long until the final table has been reached, at which point the Main Event will switch to a certain number of hands per level instead. The plan for Day 5 is to reach the final six players, although play may be halted earlier if the day gets too long.
PokerNews will be back on the floor for Day 5 of the EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event to provide an in-depth live report on the way to the final table and beyond, so make sure to tune back in for all the latest news and updates.