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Day 3 Completed
2026 PokerStars EPT Monte-Carlo
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 3
Players Left 48 / 1,011
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Less than a year after his iconic victory in the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event, Thomas Eychenne is gearing up for another deep run at a history-rich PokerStars European Poker Tour stop, as he leads the field on the hunt for the prestigious EPT trophy and the €825,000 top prize after Day 3 of the 2026 EPT Monte-Carlo €5,300 Main Event.
Eychenne was one of the 48 players still standing from the field of 1,011 entries at Sporting Monte-Carlo at the end of the night and shoveled the massive amount of 1,846,000 into his bag, good for over 150 big blinds when play resumes. Moroccan all-time money leader Mehdi Chaoui also had a stellar day and sits in second with 1,686,000, closely followed by 2015 EPT Deauville champion Ognyan Dimov (1,634,000) and Team PokerStars' Raul Mestre, the latter of which made a splendid hero-call on his way to a stack of 1,627,000.
The 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo runner-up Leonard Maue and 2024 winner Derk van Luijk both ended Day 3 with top ten stacks as well, looking for repeat success at this legendary venue as they eye one of the bigger shares of the €4,903,350 prize pool.
End of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Eychenne | France | 1,846,000 | 154 |
| 2 | Mehdi Chaoui | Morocco | 1,686,000 | 141 |
| 3 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | 1,634,000 | 136 |
| 4 | Raul Mestre | Spain | 1,627,000 | 136 |
| 5 | Leonard Maue | Germany | 1,236,000 | 103 |
| 6 | Stanislav Anufriiev | Ukraine | 1,103,000 | 92 |
| 7 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 1,058,000 | 88 |
| 8 | Miroslav Rizov | Bulgaria | 1,044,000 | 87 |
| 9 | Derk van Luijk | Netherlands | 963,000 | 80 |
| 10 | Longmao Fan | China | 935,000 | 78 |
The rest of the field is no less stacked than the top ten. Dimitar Danchev and Jason Wheeler recorded their 21st and 20th cashes in an EPT Main Event, respectively. They both made Day 4, with Danchev sitting on 340,000 chips and Wheeler having bagged 508,000. High-stakes prodigy Bernhard Binder finished the night with 740,000, while start-of-day chipleader Rodrigo Selouan ended up with 547,000 after a rough day. Meanwhile, Benny Glaser and Joao Vieira are among the shorter stacks, bringing stacks of 278,000 and 105,000 into Day 4.
On the other side of the coin, 2009 EPT Warsaw winner Christophe Benzimra (151st - €9,200) was the first casualty of Day 3, with fellow champion Hossein Ensan and PokerStars ambassador Maria Konnikova receiving the same amount not much later. David Lappin played his first EPT Main Event under the Red Spade flag, but fell in 74th for €12,150, while Finnish poker legend Juha Helppi was among the final eliminations of the night after a fatal encounter with Eychenne, cashing €16,100 for his 55th-place finish.
The remaining 48 players have secured the same amount, with a pay jump to €18,500 happening when 39 remain. Six-figure prizes are waiting for the top seven finishers, while making the final table will guarantee a payout of €99,450.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €825,000 | 10-11 | €61,700 | |
| 2 | €515,000 | 12-13 | €51,400 | |
| 3 | €368,750 | 14-15 | €42,800 | |
| 4 | €283,550 | 16-17 | €37,200 | |
| 5 | €218,300 | 18-20 | €32,350 | |
| 6 | €167,850 | 21-23 | €28,150 | |
| 7 | €129,050 | 24-27 | €24,450 | |
| 8 | €99,450 | 28-31 | €21,300 | |
| 9 | €76,500 | 32-39 | €18,500 | |
| 40-48 | €16,100 |
Day 4 will begin tomorrow, Friday, May 8, at noon local time. The blinds will be at Level 20: 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante, and another five levels of 90 minutes are scheduled. A short break will take place after every level, with the day ending around 9 p.m. local time.
PokerNews will be back on the floor at the start of Day 4, so check back in then as the EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event will get into the business end of things.
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
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EPT event seat draws can also be found online here.
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,846,000
104,000
|
104,000 |
|
||
|
1,686,000
116,000
|
116,000 |
|
||
|
1,634,000
94,000
|
94,000 |
|
|
||
|
1,627,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
||
|
1,236,000
531,000
|
531,000 |
|
1,103,000
82,000
|
82,000 |
|
1,058,000
318,000
|
318,000 |
|
1,044,000
154,000
|
154,000 |
|
963,000
348,000
|
348,000 |
|
|
||
|
935,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
904,000
196,000
|
196,000 |
|
892,000
163,000
|
163,000 |
|
881,000
109,000
|
109,000 |
|
801,000
41,000
|
41,000 |
|
752,000
57,000
|
57,000 |
|
740,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
732,000
228,000
|
228,000 |
|
694,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
638,000
86,000
|
86,000 |
|
606,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
599,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
579,000
127,000
|
127,000 |
|
547,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
||
|
510,000
156,000
|
156,000 |
|
508,000
97,000
|
97,000 |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
The remaining 48 players have bagged their chips and vacated the room.
Play will resume tomorrow, Friday, May 8, at noon local time.
All those returning for Day 4 have locked up €16,100, and are one step closer to the €825,000 first-place prize.
Stay tuned for the full chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
With a raise to 20,000 ahead of him, Amirouche Zekhmi moved all in for 137,000. The action folded back to the original raiser, Mehdi Chaoui, who called.
Amirouche Zekhmi: 2♥2♣ 
Mehdi Chaoui: K♥Q♥
The pocket deuces held firm on the J♠6♣4♣ flop, but the K♦ turn flipped the script.
Chaoui then improved to two pair on the Q♠ river, seeing Zekhmi eliminated with just a couple of hands left on the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,570,000
260,000
|
260,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Laurent Polito open-raised from the cutoff and called button Miroslav Rizov's subsequent three-bet to 65,000. Rizov continued for 45,000 on the 2♥7♦5♣ flop, seeing his opponent check-call.
The 7♣ turn then checked through to the Q♣ river, where Polito flicked in a small bet of 25,000. Rizov announced a sizable raise to 225,000, which Polito called after some thought.
Rizov revealed K♣2♣ for a flush, and Polito nodded his head in acknowledgement before mucking his cards in defeat.
Just prior, Raul Mestre had eliminated Manuel Braunhofer at another table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,650,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
890,000
376,000
|
376,000 |
|
450,000
458,000
|
458,000 |
|
Busted | |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused, and the players will be dealt four more hands.
Once those hands are complete, the remaining players will bag their chips and advance to Day 4.
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Ognyan Dimov raised to 20,000, and then faced a three-bet to 65,000 from Rodrigo Selouan.
Dimov elected to fold, flipping over J♠9♠, telling Selouan that he was making a "respectful fold."
Selouan perhaps wasn't looking to be respected, though, as he turned over A♣A♦.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,540,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
570,000
91,000
|
91,000 |
|
|
||
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Jason Wheeler opened to 22,000 from early position, which only Stefan Dimitrov called in the big blind.
Dimitrov check-called a bet of 16,000 on the 6♦3♠2♣ flop, and the A♣ turn card joined the board.
Dimitrov checked for a second time, but then opted to fold when Wheeler barrelled for 44,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
411,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
252,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
