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

1 day 2 hours ago

Player	Chips	Progress
Rania Nasreddine	30,000 30,000	30,000
Samantha Abernathy	30,000 30,000	30,000
Andrew Hulme	30,000
David Lappin	30,000 30,000	30,000

Mark Teltscher	30,000 30,000	30,000

Boris Kolev	30,000 30,000	30,000
Govert Metaal	30,000 30,000	30,000
Timothee Rey	30,000 30,000	30,000
Josef Huber	30,000 30,000	30,000

Kashino Wins Multi-Way Pot

Stewart Morrison

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Maria Konnikova raised to 300, which Yoshiaki Kashino called in the cutoff, prompting both the player on the button and the big blind to join in.

All four players checked on the 9♠Q♥J♣ flop, seeing the 10♥ turn join the board.

When the action checked to Kashino, he bet 600, which only Konnikova called.

The A♦ river completed the board, and Konnikova wasted no time in check-folding to a bet of 1,500.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yoshiaki Kashino	31,900 31,900	31,900
Maria Konnikova	29,100 900	900

Tags: Maria Konnikova Yoshiaki Kashino

1 day 2 hours ago

Breyton Battles Dubanov

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Frank Visser

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Martin Breyton opened his button and called when Vladislav Dubanov tossed in a three-bet to 1,200 from the small blind.

Dubanov continued for 700 on the 8♦2♣A♠ flop and 3,000 on the 2♥ turn, both of which Breyton called.

The 7♥ river slowed Dubanov down, as he checked it over to Breyton. After a short tank, Breyton settled on a bet worth 3,600. Dubanov quickly mucked his cards, forfeiting the pot to his opponent.

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Breyton	34,900
Vladislav Dubanov	24,900 24,900	24,900

Tags: Martin Breyton Vladislav Dubanov

1 day 2 hours ago

Bull Takes First Pot of the Day

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Stewart Morrison

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Playing four-handed, Julien Veyssiere raised to 300 from the cutoff, which Robbie Bull called on the button, and the big blind came along too.

The action checked to Bull on the 6♦7♦7♥ flop, who bet 300. The big blind folded, but Veyssiere called.

The 7♠ turn joined the board, and Bull continued for 1,200, which again, Veyssiere called.

When Veyssiere checked for a third time on the 10♥ river, Bull bet 3,000. On this occasion, Veyssiere relinquished his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Robbie Bull	32,100 2,100	2,100
Julien Veyssiere	28,200 28,200	28,200

Tags: Julien Veyssiere Robbie Bull

1 day 2 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

1 day 2 hours ago

In From the Start

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Stewart Morrison

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Gerard Carbo	30,000 30,000	30,000
Mathew Frankland	30,000 30,000	30,000
Toni Kaukua	30,000 30,000	30,000
Sachin Joshi	30,000 30,000	30,000
Antoine Labat	30,000 30,000	30,000
Blaz Zerjav	30,000 30,000	30,000
Maria Konnikova	30,000 30,000	30,000

Fahredin Mustafov	30,000 30,000	30,000
Gerard Rubiralta	30,000 30,000	30,000
Nikolai Mamut	30,000 30,000	30,000
Koen De Visscher	30,000 30,000	30,000
Robbie Bull	30,000 30,000	30,000
Keith Johnson	30,000 30,000	30,000
Mitchell Johnson	30,000 30,000	30,000
Paul Newey	30,000 30,000	30,000
Dimitrios Angelakos	30,000 30,000	30,000

1 day 2 hours ago

Shuffle Up and Deal

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Stewart Morrison

Level 1 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante

Day 1b of EPT Monte-Carlo is underway, with 175 players in from the start.

Level: 1

Blinds: 100/100

Ante: 100

1 day 3 hours ago

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

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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