Xavier Cortazar made the minimum raise to 100,000 under the gun. It folded to Miroslav Rizov three-bet jammed for 855,000 in the big blind. Cortazar immediately called with the covering stack.
Miroslav Rizov: Q♠Q♣ 
Xavier Cortazar: A♣K♥
Rizov locked up the pot on the Q♥7♠8♦4♣ turn, meaning he doubled up as the 5♠ rolled off on the river.
Xavier Cortazar opened to 90,000 in the cutoff. Stefan Dimitrov then committed his stack of 490,000 from the big blind, and Cortazar immediately called with the covering stack.
Stefan Dimitrov: A♠4♦
Xavier Cortazar: Q♠Q♣
Cortazar flopped a set on 2♥A♥Q♦ and left Dimitrov without outs on the 8♠ turn. The meaningless 10♠ river was dealt as a formality as Dimitrov took his exit in 16th place.
Bernhard Binder raised his button to 80,000, and Mehdi Chaoui defended his big blind. Binder continued for 85,000 on the 2♦10♥J♠ flop, which Chaoui check-called.
The 3♥ turn saw Binder size up to 190,000. Chaoui then check-raised all in for 460,000, only to be snapped off by Binder.
Mehdi Chaoui: J♥7♦
Bernhard Binder: Q♦J♣
Chaoui was outkicked and at risk of elimination. The 9♠ river did not provide a miracle for the Day 1a chip leader, who departed the EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event in 17th Place.
Diego Zeiter opened to 80,000 and found himself facing a three-bet to 280,000 from tournament chip leader Bernhard Binder in the small blind. The action returned to Zeiter, who moved all in for 1,400,000, and Binder snap-called.
Diego Zeiter: Q♠10♠
Bernhard Binder: K♠K♦
Zeiter was unable to find any help on the 5♣7♣2♥ flop, and his elimination was confirmed when the J♣ turn was revealed.
Zeiter was already up and out of his seat before the 6♦ river made it official.
Mehdi Chaoui raised to 80,000 in the cutoff. Stefan Dimitrov was on the button and moved all in for 545,000, which Chaoui called after some thought.
Stefan Dimitrov: 7♠7♥
Mehdi Chaoui: A♠J♣
Dimitrov flopped a set on J♦6♠7♦, leaving Chaoui drawing slim. The 8♦ left Chaoui without outs, and the meaningless A♦ river rolled off as Dimitrov raked in his double-up.
Chaoui, meanwhile, was left with just over 15 big blinds in his stack.
Laurent Polito tossed in his final 10,000 from the hijack. Miroslav Rizov then raised to 125,000 in the cutoff, prompting the remaining players to get out of the way.
Laurent Polito: K♥2♦
Miroslav Rizov: A♥Q♦
Both players paired on the 2♠4♥Q♣ flop, but the A♠ turn made Rizov two pair to leave Polito with two outs. The J♣ river did not present the Frenchman with trips, eliminating him in 19th place.
With a raise to 80,000 in front of him, Laurent Polito three-bet to 255,000 on the button. The action then folded to Xavier Cortazar in the big blind, who moved all in for 1,095,000. The original raiser got out of the way, but Polito snap-called.
Xavier Cortazar : J♠J♣
Laurent Polito: A♠A♦
Polito couldn't watch as the dealer spread the flop, but he soon realized it was bad news.
The K♣8♠J♥ flop catapulted Cortazar into the lead with a set.
A dejected Polito could only watch on as the 9♣ turn and J♦ river only served to improve Cortazar to quads, leaving Polito with half of a small blind.
Raul Mestre opened his button to 90,000. Ognyan Dimov then jammed in his stack of 845,000 from the big blind, and Mestre immediately called.
Ognyan Dimov: 9♥9♣
Raul Mestre: 10♥10♣
Dimov was in dire shape against Mestre's higher pair, and the 2♣Q♣A♥ flop and 5♣ turn left him with just two outs in the deck. The river brought the miraculous 9♠, however, upgrading Dimov to a set to double him up.
In the first hand of the day, Hugo Blaison opened to 80,000 in the hijack, and Jason Wheeler called in the cutoff. Next to act, Miguel Franco moved all in for 405,000. When the action returned to Blaison, he chose to move all in as well, and Wheeler folded.
Miguel Franco: A♦Q♣
Hugo Blaison: A♥J♥
Franco was a big favourite to start his day with a double up, but the window card on the J♠4♦K♠ saw the roles reversed.
The 6♣ and 9♠ completed the board, and Franco was up and out of his seat almost as soon as he had sat down for the day.
Twelve years ago, Raul Mestre noted his last in-the-money finish at a PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event, getting tenth place at EPT Sanremo after two final table appearances in 2011 and 2008. Mestre then took a long break from live poker until he was picked up as a PokerStars Ambassador earlier this year. He returned to the live scene with a bang, winning the Spin & Go Championship at EPT Paris in February. He then set his eyes on the 2026 EPT Monte-Carlo €5,300 Main Event, and now finds himself among the 20 remaining players at the dawn of Day 5.
Outlasting a field of 1,011 entries, Mestre has already proved he can still dominate in the modern era. Despite his prolonged absence from live tournament poker, the Spanish player and coach has consistently been among the top counts the past few days and returns to Sporting Monte-Carlo at noon local time with 2,910,000 in chips. For the third day in a row, Mestre will sit down with a top-four stack at the start of play, this time having only Bernhard Binder's 4,540,000 to catch up to.
Roman Stoica will begin the day in third place with a stack of 2,480,000, having his sights on the €825,000 top prize, the largest share of the €4,903,350 prize pool. Another big stack belongs to Jason Wheeler, who is looking to turn his 2,140,000 into his first EPT victory on his 20th in-the-money appearance, while Laurent Polito rounds out the top ten with 1,245,000 as the highest-placed Frenchman.
| 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 |
2015 EPT Deauville winner Ognyan Dimov is the last player remaining who can claim an incredibly rare second EPT Main Event trophy, sitting just below the average stack with 1,040,000 in chips. Day 1a chipleader and Moroccan all-time money leader Mehdi Chaoui is still in the race with a stack of 805,000, while 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo runner-up Leonard Maue will have to spin up his short stack of 460,000 for a chance at capturing the title this time around.
The 20 returning players have all secured €32,350 already, with a pay jump to €37,200 happening when 17 remain. Making the final eight will guarantee a payout of €99,450, while the top four will all take home at least a quarter million euros.
| 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 |
The EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event will resume in Level 25. Blinds will be at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante, and levels will remain 90 minutes long until the final table has been reached. The tournament will then switch to a certain number of hands per level instead. The penultimate day of the Main Event will aim to play down to six players, although play may be concluded earlier.
The PokerStars stream will be on full force on their YouTube and Twitch channels. Implementing a new dynamic delay means the stream starts at 3 p.m. local time, promising a better viewing experience with fewer breaks. The PokerNews live report will follow the same delay as the stream for the final two days of the EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event to prevent spoilers.
Twenty remain with only eight spots at the final table. Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out who will make the cut and follow all the exciting action along the way.
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