€5,300 Main Event Day 1b | 2026 PokerStars EPT Monte-Carlo

3 days 20 hours ago

Final Starting Flight of EPT Monte-Carlo €5,300 Main Event Begins at Noon

Stewart Morrison

As the sun battles through the grey clouds over the Mediterranean coast, attention in Monte-Carlo shifts from the beaches to the felt for the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour as the Sporting Monte-Carlo hosts Day 1b, the second and final starting flight, of the €5,300 Main Event.

Yesterday’s opening flight drew a field of 374 entries, generating a prize pool of €2,192,200, with 111 players advancing to Day 2 after navigating ten levels of play.

When those entering today look back at yesterday’s Day 1a flight for inspiration, they will see Mehdi Chaoui atop the leaderboard. The Moroccan high roller bagged 357,000, finishing well clear of the chasing pack after leaving the rest of the field in his wake.

Joining Chaoui inside the top ten stacks from the opening flight, accomplished French pro Florian Ribouchon bagged 210,500, with Finnish poker legend Juha Helppi ending the day with 188,500.

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

Players in Day 1b will each start with a 30,000 stack with blind levels starting at 100/100 and a 100 big blind ante. Each level will last 60 minutes, with late registration remaining open until the beginning of Day 2. Players are permitted one re-entry during that period. 

Upon the completion of Level 10, the remaining players will bag their chips and advance to Day 2, scheduled for 12:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, May 6th.

Day 1b Schedule

Level	Duration	Small Blind	Big Blind	Big Blind Ante
1	60 min	100	100	100
2	60 min	100	200	200
	15 min break
3	60 min	100	300	300
4	60 min	200	400	400
	15 min break
5	60 min	200	500	500
6	60 min	300	600	600
	75 min dinner break
7	60 min	400	800	800
8	60 min	500	1,000	1,000
	15 min break
9	60 min	600	1,200	1,200
10	60 min	600	1,200	1,200

Stay tuned into PokerNews where you will find live coverage of all the major moments until an EPT Monte-Carlo Champion is crowned.

Tags: Andrei Shmakov Florian Ribouchon Hamza Nasir Jose Malpelli Juha Helppi Laurent Polito Leonardo Pires Mehdi Chaoui Ravi Sheth Stanislau Shylkou

3 days 19 hours ago

Kuznetsov Surging Early

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Frank Visser

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Three-way to the Q♠10♣10♥ flop, Nikita Kuznetsov bet 300 under the gun, which Matthew Micallef raised to 1,100 in the cutoff. The third player quickly moved out of the way, but Kuznetsov stuck around with a call.

After the 2♠ turn was checked through, Kuznetsov fired 1,300 on the 3♦ river. Micallef surrendered the pot by mucking his cards.

A short time later, Kuznetsov was in the big blind and, with about 18,000 in the pot, made it 5,000 to go on the A♣Q♦J♦4♦5♠ river.

His opponent was Jack Edjourian in the cutoff, who weighed his options for a while before letting go of his hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikita Kuznetsov	40,600
Matthew Micallef	28,400
Jack Edjourian	21,000

Tags: Jack Edjourian Matthew Micallef Nikita Kuznetsov

3 days 19 hours ago

Iaculli Doubles Early

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Frank Visser

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

The action was picked up on a Q♣5♣4♥ flop. With 11,000 already in the middle, Elvis Petcu, in the big blind, check-raised Gianfranco Iaculli's earlier bet to 11,500. Ianculli called in middle position, and the dealer flipped over the 5♠ turn.

Petcu then put Iaculli all-in for his 6,500 remaining chips, and Iaculli snap-called for his tournament life.

Gianfranco Iaculli: Q♠Q♥ All in
Elvis Petcu: A♦Q♦

Iaculli's full house left Petcu with no outs remaining, and he was awarded the pot as the meaningless A♥ river completed the board.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gianfranco Iaculli	47,000 47,000	47,000
Elvis Petcu	4,200 4,200	4,200

Tags: Elvis Petcu Gianfranco Iaculli

3 days 18 hours ago

Garcia Bluffs It Off

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Frank Visser

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Vasileios Panagiotidis opened the action with a raise to 300 in early position. Alejandro Vazquez made it 1,000 to go in the next seat over, which Cesar Garcia cold-called in the big blind. Panagiotidis also came along.

The trio checked through the 8♦Q♣6♦ flop, and Garcia continued checking on the 9♥ turn. Panagiotidis then took a stab at the pot with a bet of 1,200, seeing Vazquez call. Garcia had other plans, however, and bumped it up to 7,200.

Panagiotidis instantly mucked his cards, but Vazquez called after some thought. The 9♠ river prompted a quick all-in from Garcia, sending Vazquez into the tank.

After some time, Vazquez tossed in a calling chip. Garcia stood up as he turned over 7♥7♦. Garcia became the first elimination of Day 1b when Vazquez tabled K♦9♦ for rivered trips, and he quickly exited the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alejandro Vazquez	59,800 59,800	59,800
Vasileios Panagiotidis	30,500 30,500	30,500
Cesar Garcia	Busted

Tags: Alejandro Vazquez Cesar Garcia Vasileios Panagiotidis

3 days 18 hours ago

Rubiralta Rakes In Double-Up

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Frank Visser

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Toni Kaukua made it 500 to go in the hijack. Ramiro Petrone bumped up the price to 1,600 in the cutoff before Gerard Rubiralta shoved all in for 10,400 in the small blind.

Kaukua quickly mucked his hand, but Petrone looked Rubiralta up after some thought.

Gerard Rubiralta: J♠J♥ All in
Ramiro Petrone: K♣Q♣

Rubiralta's jacks remained best across the A♥3♠2♥8♥9♠ runout, and he doubled up to a stack of over 100 big blinds.

Player	Chips	Progress
Toni Kaukua	36,000 1,000	1,000
Ramiro Petrone	29,000 15,500	15,500
Gerard Rubiralta	21,700 10,700	10,700

Tags: Gerard Rubiralta Ramiro Petrone Toni Kaukua

3 days 18 hours ago

Full Double for Lappin

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Stewart Morrison

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Alexander Kopylkov limped in under the gun, prompting the player in the cutoff to follow suit. David Lappin put an end to the limping party, raising to 1,000. Kopylkov called, but the second limper folded.

The dealer spread a Q♣5♥10♥ flop, and Kopylkov led out for 1,500. Lappin responded in kind, raising to 4,500. Kopylkov then put in another raise, making it 15,500 to go. Lappin studied his stack, the board, and his opponent before moving all in for 29,900, which Kopylkov called.

David Lappin: Q♠Q♥ All in
Alexander Kopylkov: Q♦10♦

Kopylkov was drawing dead to running quads, but the 3♦ turn ensured Lappin wouldn't have to deal with that scenario.

The A♦ river completed the board, and Lappin scooped in a full double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Lappin	50,600 20,600	20,600

Alexander Kopylkov	15,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Alexander Kopylkov David Lappin

3 days 17 hours ago

Aces Versus Kings, No Blood Spilled

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Stewart Morrison

Level 3 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

Facing a raise to 700 from the player under the gun, Yuliyan Kolev three-bet to 2,400. The action then folded to Mattia Tagliavini in the big blind, who four-bet to 6,500. The original raiser folded, but Kolev moved all in for roughly 24,000. Tagliavini called, putting himself at risk with just a few chips less.

Mattia Tagliavini: K♥K♦ All in
Yuliyan Kolev: A♣A♥

The dealer spread a 8♠9♥7♠ flop, followed by a J♥ turn.

The 10♦ river completed the board, and as Tagliavini pushed his chips into the middle and prepared to leave, the dealer pointed out that he had chopped the pot, owing to the straight on the board.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yuliyan Kolev	24,200 24,200	24,200
Mattia Tagliavini	24,000 24,000	24,000

Tags: Mattia Tagliavini Yuliyan Kolev

3 days 17 hours ago

Zerjav Spikes River to Double Through Carbo

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Stewart Morrison

Level 3 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

Arriving with 7,400 already in the pot and a 6♣10♣3♣ flop face up on the felt, the action was on Blaz Zerjav in the big blind. Zerjav checked before facing a bet of 1,800 from Gerard Carbo from the hijack. Zerjav responded with a raise to 7,400, which Carbo called.

The 4♦ turn joined the board, and Zerjav moved all in for 25,300. Carbo took his time but ultimately chose to call.

Blaz Zerjav: A♣K♠ All in
Gerard Carbo: Q♣Q♦

The dealer burned and turned the K♥ river, improving Zerjav to top pair, seeing him awarded a full double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Blaz Zerjav	73,000 36,400	36,400
Gerard Carbo	23,500 32,800	32,800

Tags: Blaz Zerjav Gerard Carbo

3 days 16 hours ago

Pressure Pays Off for Ruijs

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Stewart Morrison

Level 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

In the final hand before the blinds increased, Joris Ruijs raised to 700 from the cutoff and faced immediate resistance as Elia Salerno three-bet to 1,700 on the button. The action folded back to Ruijs, who four-bet to 5,200, which Salerno called.

Ruijs continued for 2,700 on the 5♥10♦4♠ flop, and Salerno called again.

The 6♥ turn saw Ruijs fire a more substantial 11,500 into the middle. That gave Salerno pause for thought, but after studying his opponent's stack and then his own, he elected to fold.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joris Ruijs	51,400 18,400	18,400
Elia Salerno	44,300 44,300	44,300

Tags: Elia Salerno Joris Ruijs

3 days 16 hours ago

Parmar Keeps Adding to Massive Stack

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Frank Visser

Level 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Taran Parmar limped in under the gun. It folded to Abdullah Turan in the small blind, who upped it to 1,400. Fabiano Cappelli called in the big blind, and Parmar tossed in calling chips as well.

Turan then fired a bet of 3,300 on the 10♠3♦6♣ flop. Cappelli quickly folded, but Parmar called to stick around. Turan's bet of 5,200 on the 7♣ turn did not shake Parmar either, as the latter called to see the 8♥ river.

Turan completed his triple barrel with a bet of 5,400. Parmar quickly made the minimum raise to 10,800, and Turan called to showdown.

Parmar tabled 10♣9♣ for a rivered straight, and Turan sent his cards into the muck in defeat.