| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
135,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
130,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
Thanh Hai Pham probably had a lot higher hopes for his last level of play here on Day 1a. First we witnessed Pham facing a 7,000-chip river bet on a 
. After taking for a while the Vietnamese player called and mucked when his opponent turned over 
.
After turning away for second Pham was involved in another hand and this time he was up against Freddy Deeb. The flop read 
when Pham bet 5,000 and Deeb made the call in position.
On the turn the 
hit and Pham bet 9,000, Deeb called once again. The river brought the 
and this time Pham checked. Deeb went into the tank for quite a while but eventually he bet 33,500 with just 12,000 left behind. Pham seemed sure about his decision but it took him a while before he released his chips into the pot. Deeb tabled 
and Pham mucked after the dealer confirmed that his opponent had made a full house.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
105,000
45,500
|
45,500 |
|
|
14,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
Just three more hands and then Day 1A is in the books. We will provide chip counts of the remaining players shortly.
Just as the tournament clock was paused with ten minutes remaining, (so each table could play three last hands) Barry Greenstein was bust raking in a pot to more than double up.
He was up against two players in a three-bet pot and the flop read 
. The agressor bet 5,600 and was called before the Team PokerStars Pro moved all in for 27,525. The aggressor was the only caller with 
.
Greenstein opened 
and got there as the board ran out 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
56,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
||
The enthusiastic Artem Litvinov was tonight beaten to his first live trophy as German player Gleb Privalov claims first place in the €5k PLO six-max turbo. Read more at the PokerStars Blog.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
136,500
86,500
|
86,500 |
|
||
|
|
135,900
900
|
900 |
|
|
133,900
28,900
|
28,900 |
|
|
127,100
2,100
|
2,100 |
|
|
119,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
111,700
111,700
|
111,700 |
|
110,800
35,800
|
35,800 |
|
108,900
33,900
|
33,900 |
|
||
|
108,100
13,100
|
13,100 |
|
98,800
11,200
|
11,200 |
|
95,400
11,400
|
11,400 |
|
90,700
15,700
|
15,700 |
|
83,200
30,200
|
30,200 |
|
81,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
75,400
50,400
|
50,400 |
|
75,200
10,200
|
10,200 |
|
70,700
10,700
|
10,700 |
|
|
70,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
||
|
64,100
9,100
|
9,100 |
|
62,900
20,900
|
20,900 |
|
||
|
59,700
59,700
|
59,700 |
|
57,700
9,200
|
9,200 |
|
|
||
|
56,500
56,500
|
56,500 |
|
55,900
55,900
|
55,900 |
|
55,200
55,200
|
55,200 |
On Monday, the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final kicked off with Day 1a of the Main Event. Leading the remaining 53 players is Dan Smith. After "some bluffing and two full houses" after the dinner break, he bagged 136,500 chips, and biting at his heels are Pablo Fernandez, Freddy Deeb, Arlo Dotson, and Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody.
Only 108 players turned up for the first of two flights here in the beautiful city of Monaco, which is 163 players short of last year. In order to reach the same number of players that played in the Season 8 EPT Grand Final, Day 1b will need to attract 557 players.
Among the few participants today was Season 9 EPT Player of the Year leader Jan Bendik. Bendik, who currently holds a near 1,000-point lead over Kent Lundmark (although the EPT Berlin points have yet to been calculated), got off to a nice start and busted both Alex Bilokur and Richard Milne. Bilokur moved all in on the turn with two pair, only to be snapped off by Bendik who held Broadway. The river was a brick, and the Season 8 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller winner was eliminated.
Bendik finished the night with 108,900 chips, and is looking to finish the season out strong and ship the POY award.
Cody finished Day 1a among the leaders. In the penultimate level of the evening, he won a very strange pot off of Swede Daniel Carlsson. After check-calling bets from Cody on the flop and the turn, Carlsson appeared to have check-raised Cody on the river. The bet was less than double Cody's, but enough to make it a raise, yet Carlsson opted to open up his hand, revealing a pair of jacks. Confused, Cody did the same, tabling a pair of aces, and the Brit picked up the pot.
Cody was one of the few players who crossed the six-figure threshold, and will return on Day 2 119,000 chips.
Another player who was in good form on Day 1a was Dotson. Dotson won a crucial hand against Micah Raskin and Marvin Rettenmaier, wherein he and Raskin called a three-bet from Rettenmaier. Both Dotson and Raskin called a bet from Rettenmaier on a four-high flop, and the turn brought an eight. Dotson and Rettenmaier checked to Raskin, who fired out a bet, and both Dotson and Rettenmaier called. A king completed the board, bringing a third spade, and Dotson led out for the first time. Rettenmaier quickly folded, but Raskin called. Dotson tabled queen-jack of spades for the second-nut flush, and Raskin mucked his hand.
Dotson ended the day on 127,100, later finishing off Rettenmaier and Raskin was eliminated as well.
Joining Rettenmaier and Raskin on the rail today were Alex Gomes, Mike McDonald, Kane Kalas, Griffin Benger, Sorel Mizzi, Erik Seidel, Gilbert Diaz, Team PokerStars SportStar Boris Becker and Team Poker Stars Pros Jonathan Duhamel and Vanessa Rousso.
Rousso was crippled in a very interesting hand. According to Pratyush Buddiga, Ignat Liviu opened to 1,200, Rousso three-bet to 3,200 out of the small blind, and Liviu four-bet to 8,000. Rousso called. Rousso then check-called on every street, including the river where Liviu moved all in for 22,375. Liviu showed two queens for a rivered set of queens, and, to her disappointment, Rousso was forced to show jack-six off suit for fourth pair.
Minutes later, at a new table, Rousso found her self all in with king-deuce of spades on a two-spade flop. She could not best her opponent’s top pair however, and she was eliminated.
Becker was eliminated with unknown action on the last hand of the evening.
Day 1b of the EPT Grand Final Main Event will begin on Tuesday at 12:00 CET. Be sure to follow PokerNews.com for all of the up-to-the-minute updates from the tournament floor, and if you’re playing in the event, don’t be afraid to contribute to the blog using the My Stack app, available for both iPhone and Android users.
Main Event
Day 1a Completed
