€100,000 EPT Super High Roller
Day 1 Completed
2024 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo
€100,000 EPT Super High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2024 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo
Buy-in
€100,000
Prize Pool
€6,985,440
Entries
72
Level
24
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
58
Players Left
29
Reigning €100,000 EPT Monte Carlo SHR Champion Alex Kulev Bags Big on Day 1
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
The 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo continued today with the biggest buy-in tournament on the schedule; the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller. The Sporting Monte-Carlo opened its doors to high rollers from across the globe, all willing to compete at some of the highest stakes here in Monaco.
Over the eight levels of play, a total of 58 entrants tried their luck on the felt contributing to a prize pool that already stands at a massive €5,627,160. But with registration still open until the start of Day 2 tomorrow, this figure is only expected to grow.
As the dust settled, 29 players found a bag for tomorrow, with Jacob Amsellem capturing the title of the chip leader as he takes through a total of 1,094,000 for the Day 2 restart. Amsellem only took his seat on Level 8 of the day but seemingly used his time wisely to convert his late start into the largest stack in the room.
End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Amsellem | France | 1,094,000 | 182 |
| 2 | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | 1,092,000 | 182 |
| 3 | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | 1,091,000 | 182 |
| 4 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 851,000 | 142 |
| 5 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | 848,000 | 141 |
| 6 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 818,000 | 136 |
| 7 | Vicente Delgado | Spain | 692,000 | 115 |
| 8 | Shyngis Satubayev | Kazakhstan | 599,000 | 100 |
| 9 | Masashi Oya | Japan | 590,000 | 98 |
| 10 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 555,000 | 93 |
The Fall and Rise of Heath and Kulev
With players starting with 250 big blinds, it was going to take a real cooler to see these confrontations ending in an all-in and a call, but that’s exactly what happened to Ben Heath on the second level of the day. Heath picked up pocket kings, but was unfortunate enough to run into the pocket aces of Dan Smith, resulting in one of the day's first casualties.
Heath was quickly onto his second bullet and virtue of a flopped nut flush against Juan Pardo on the last level of the day, managed to bag big for the Day 2 restart.
Heath wasn’t the only one to experience a swingy session on the felt as the reigning champion of the EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller, Alex Kulev, saw off his first bullet when a hero call against opponent Masashi Oya went wrong.
However, Kulev gained a lot of traction on his second attempt, and managed to bag the third largest stack of the remaining players, meaning all eyes will be on Kulev as he navigates his 1,091,000 into back-to-back titles here in Monaco.
Day 2 is set to commence tomorrow, Sunday, April 28 at 12:30 p.m. local time which is when registration will end. Players will be returning to blinds of 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to bring you more coverage of the EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller, so stay tuned.
End of Day 1 Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,094,000
664,000
|
664,000 |
|
||
|
1,092,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
1,091,000
-119,000
|
-119,000 |
|
851,000
171,000
|
171,000 |
|
848,000 | |
|
818,000
188,000
|
188,000 |
|
692,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
599,000
334,000
|
334,000 |
|
590,000
-70,000
|
-70,000 |
|
555,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
|
516,000
216,000
|
216,000 |
|
505,000
145,000
|
145,000 |
|
490,000
-102,000
|
-102,000 |
|
||
|
479,000
-196,000
|
-196,000 |
|
435,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
425,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
425,000
73,000
|
73,000 |
|
375,000
161,000
|
161,000 |
|
362,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
350,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
||
|
333,000
333,000
|
333,000 |
|
311,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
289,000
-166,000
|
-166,000 |
|
|
||
|
204,000 | |
|
203,000
51,000
|
51,000 |
Day 1 Concludes
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Day 1 has concluded with 29 players bagging up chips for Day 2, which will commence at 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, April 28.
Updated chip counts and a recap of the day will follow shortly.
Eibinger Gets Three-Bet Through in Last Hand of the Day
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Action folded to Nick Petrangelo in the cutoff, who opened to 11,000.
Matthias Eibinger was in the small blind and produced a three-bet to 127,000, leading to a swift fold from Petrangelo.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
848,000
328,000
|
328,000 |
|
|
204,000
204,000
|
204,000 |
Chidwick Spikes River to Bust Vaskaboinikau and Double Through Vieira
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Joao Vieira opened to 10,000 from early position, only to be met with a three-bet jam from Mikalai Vaskaboinikau to 56,000.
Action folded to Stephen Chidwick in the big blind, who produced a cold four-bet jam of 250,000. Vieira made the quick call.
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau: 5♠4♦ 
Stephen Chidwick: A♥9♥
Joao Vieira: A♠K♣
Vieira looked in great shape to scoop the pot and remained so after the J♠2♦10♣ flop and 8♠ turn.
However, the 9♠ rolled off on the river to give Chidwick a pair of nines and send him a chunky pot just before the end of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
595,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
|
80,000
-250,000
|
-250,000 |
|
Busted |
Last Five Hands
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
The tournament clock has been stopped and the floor has just announced that the players will play five more hands before bagging for the night.
Kulev Continues to Chip Up
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Alex Kulev opened to 10,000 in the cutoff and was called by Lewis Spencer on the button and Pasacal Lefrancois in the big blind.
On the J♣10♥9♥ flop, action was checked to Spencer, who put out a bet of 9,000. Lefrancois called before Kulev produced a check-raise to 40,000. Spencer called and Lefrancois got out of the way.
On the 2♠ turn, Kulev continued to fire, putting out a bet of 75,000. Spencer again called.
The 5♣ completed the board and after some thought, Kulev put out a bet of 200,000, earning a swift fold from Spencer.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,210,000
375,000
|
375,000 |
|
|
420,000
-83,000
|
-83,000 |
|
120,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
Heath Scoops a Massive Pot
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Yaman Nakdali raised to 10,000 from the hijack, Ben Heath called in the cutoff, and Juan Pardo three-bet to 40,000 from the button. Both players called.
The action checked to Pardo, who continued for 26,000 on the Q♥9♥4♥ flop. Nakdali called and Heath check-raised to 58,000. Pardo called and Nakdali got out of the way.
Heath slowed down on the 7♣ turn. Pardo retook the lead for 70,000 and Heath responded with a second check-raise to 164,000. Pardo made the call.
The 8♠ landed on the river and Heath placed a bet of 163,000; an effective all in with just 1,000 behind the line. Pardo made a quick call. Heath tabled A♥10♥ for the flopped nut flush. With 1,000 still behind the line, Pardo was not required to show and slid his cards to the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
917,000
537,000
|
537,000 |
|
|
245,000
148,000
|
148,000 |
|
60,000
-615,000
|
-615,000 |
Nikiforov Doubles Through Dvoress
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Ilya Nikiforov moved all in for 70,000 from middle position. Action folded to Daniel Dvoress in the small blind, who rejammed for around 260,000, forcing a fold from the big blind.
Ilya Nikiforov: A♥10♥
Daniel Dvoress: K♣Q♦
Nikiforov's ace-high was ahead and remained so after the 2♦6♣6♦5♣9♥ runout, sending him a timely double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
190,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
|
|
152,000
37,000
|
37,000 |