In one of the first hands back following the dinner break, Mark Teltscher moved all in for 7,300 from middle position, and only Shiina Okamoto gave him action, a couple of seats to his left.
Mark Teltscher: J♣J♦
Shiina Okamoto: A♥J♥
The dealer spread a 6♣8♣4♦5♠10♣ board, which was safe for Teltscher, who pulled in a double up at the expense of Okamoto.
Rania Nasreddine kicked the action off with a raise from early position, before calling an all-in of roughly 6,500 from Govert Metaal in the big blind.
Govert Metaal: A♣10♠
Rania Nasreddine: A♠Q♠
Both players paired up on the J♠Q♣10♦ flop, but when the 2♣ turn and 4♥ river completed the board, Metaal said his goodbyes and left the table.
Seeing an under-the-gun raise to 2,000 and three calls ahead of him, Ravi Sheth squeezed to 10,000 on the button. Dorian Machio moved all in from the small blind for 19,900, and, once all the other players had folded, Sheth called.
Dorian Machio: 7♦7♥
Ravi Sheth: 10♠10♦
A disgruntled Eric Lai let the table know that he had folded pocket jacks in the cutoff.
Things looked good for Sheth until the dealer spread a 9♥6♣K♦8♠5♦ board, improving Machio to a straight, earning him more than a full double-up.
The very next shuffle, Joao Diogo raised in middle position to 2,000, and faced a three-bet to 6,500 from Sheth in the cutoff. The action folded back to Diogo, who called.
The action checked all the way to the river on the Q♦9♠4♠10♠ board, and the 4♣ completed the board.
Diogo saw a green light to bet, putting 12,000 into the middle. Sheth returned in kind, raising to 45,000, which was almost his entire stack.
Diogo called and received bad news. Sheth rolled over 10♣10♥, revealing a full house, and Diogo mucked his cards.
With a raise to 2,400 ahead of him, Espen Jorstad opted to call in the small blind. Conor Bergin responded from the big blind with a raise to 9,600. The original raiser folded, but Jorstad called.
The dealer spread a 3♣5♦8♦ flop, Jorstad checked, Bergin continued for 12,000, and Jorstad called.
Jorstad checked for a second time on the J♠ turn, this time surrendering to a bet of 27,000.
Charles La Boissonniere kicked the action off with a raise to 2,500 from under the gun, which Julien Sitbon called before action folded to Jesse Yaginuma in the small blind. Yaginuma opted to move all in for 29,500, to which La Boissonniere responded with an all-in of his own, covering Sitbon behind him.
Sitbon went deep into the tank, ultimately electing to return his cards to the dealer.
Jesse Yaginuma: 10♠10♥
Charles La Boissonniere: A♦K♠
Sitbon made the table aware that he had folded pocket jacks, which stung even more when the dealer provided a Q♠A♣8♦J♣8♠ board.
While Sitbon was left to think about what could have been, La Boissonniere scooped in the pot, and Yaginuma was eliminated.
Vidar Oie opened to 2,500 from under the gun, which Ravi Sheth called in middle position. A couple of seats to Sheth's left, Francois Pradervand put in a three-bet to 5,500. Oie responded by moving all in for roughly 40,000, and Sheth followed suit, moving all in himself, having both players covered. A pained Pradervand took a few moments before mucking his cards.
Vidar Oie: 9♠9♣
Ravi Sheth: A♥K♠
The 3♣2♠4♦ provided Sheth a straight draw, which completed on the 5♠ turn.
Oie was left drawing to a chop, but the 8♣ river was unforthcoming, seeing him eliminated and Sheth increase his table chip lead.
With the sun set on another day on the French Riviera, Day 1a of the €5,300 Main Event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour in Monte-Carlo has come to a close.
As expected, a wave of players made their way to Sporting Monte-Carlo to take their seats at one of the tour’s most prestigious stops. In total, the first of two starting flights attracted 374 entries, generating a prize pool that currently stands at €2,192,200, and after ten levels of play, 111 of those players bagged chips and progressed to Day 2.
No stranger to the big stage, it is Mehdi Chaoui who leads the way. Having late-registered, the accomplished high roller went about his business in typical nonchalant fashion, building a commanding stack of 357,000.
Already atop Morocco’s all-time money list on The Hendon Mob, he will begin Day 2 with a mammoth 238 big blinds.
The chasing pack are tightly bunched, but completing the podium are Jose Malpelli of France, who finished the flight with 263,000, and Brazil's Leonardo Pires, who bagged 243,000.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Mehdi Chaoui
Morocco
357,000
238
2
Jose Malpelli
France
263,000
175
3
Leonardo Pires
Brazil
243,000
162
4
Florian Ribouchon
France
210,500
140
5
Andrei Shmakov
Russian Federation
206,500
138
6
Laurent Polito
France
204,000
136
7
Stanislau Shylkou
Belarus
199,000
133
8
Ravi Sheth
United Kingdom
191,000
127
9
Juha Helppi
Finland
188,500
126
10
Hamza Nasir
United Kingdom
187,000
125
Further down the chip counts, heavy hitters such as Juha Helppi (188,500), Espen Jorstad (172,000), Roberto Romanello (146,000), Adrian Mateos (112,500) and Zdenek Zizka (107,500) all ensured that they will be in the mix when the chips are emptied onto the felt for Day 2.
Reigning champion Aleksandr Shevliakov (104,000) also progressed, while Elias Gutierrez (68,000) was the sole survivor from PokerStars Team Pro.
Rania Nasreddine
Not all who entered enjoyed the same success, as players such as Rania Nasreddine, Kenny Hallaert, Maria Konnikova, Ole Schemion and Ben Heath can attest. All of whom fell short of putting chips into a bag.
All hope is not lost, however, as each player is allowed one reentry, which they can use any time up until cards are in the air for Day 2.
Day 1b provides the next opportunity to join the field, getting underway at noon local time on Tuesday, May 5th.
EPT Monte-Carlo Remaining Schedule
Day
Date
Time
Day 1b
May 5
12pm
Day 2
May 6
12pm
Day 3
May 7
12pm
Day 4
May 8
12pm
Day 5
May 9
12pm
Day 6
May 10
12:30pm
Day 1b will feature ten hour-long levels, with a 75-minute dinner break scheduled at the end of Level 6.
Players will start with a 30,000 stack, with blinds starting at 100/100 and a 100 big blind ante.
Be sure to tune into PokerNews where you will find live coverage of all the major moments until an EPT Monte-Carlo Champion is crowned.
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