European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Returns From April 24
The 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT returns for the first time since 2016 from April 24 and the schedule of events looks nothing short of amazing.
It was April 2016 that an EPT in Monte Carlo last took place as PokerStars dropped the EPT in favor of Championship and Festivals. PokerStars has now completed a U-turn and one of the most popular stops on the EPT returns to the fray in less than two weeks.
There are more than a dozen tournaments scheduled for EPT Monte Carlo’s return, however, a handful of them stand out from the crowd.
| Dates | Tournament | Buy-in | Reentries |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 25-28 | EPT National | €1,100 | Single reentry per flight |
| April 26-28 | EPT Super High Roller | €100,000 | Single reentry |
| April 27-28 | EPT National High Roller | €2,200 | Single reentry |
| April 26-29 | EPT Cup | €330 | Single reentry per flight |
| April 28-May 4 | EPT Main Event | €5,300 | Single reentry |
| May 2-4 | EPT High Roller | €25,000 | Single reentry |
Several events will feature shot clocks, including the Main Event from Day 2 onwards, while all no-limit hold’em events implement the big blind ante concept, which will increase the speed of play.
PokerStars plans to give away five PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) packages,each worth $30,000, during the EPT Monte Carlo festival, meaning five lucky winners will be heading to the Bahamas in 2019 armed with a $25,000 entry to the PSPC event, six nights accommodation at Atlantis Resort and $2,000 in food and beverage allowances.
2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Schedule
PokerNews’ live reporting team will be on the ground in Monte Carlo with a team of writers dedicated to covering the Main Event. We will also be bringing you updates, interviews, recaps and videos from several of the other EPT Monte Carlo tournaments. The full schedule of EPT Monte Carlo events:
| Date | Time (CET) | Event | Buy-in | Starting stack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 24 | 6:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em 8-Handed Shot Clock Day 1 | €10,300 | 50,000 |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €1,100 Cash Qualifier | €170 | 15,000 | |
| April 25 | 12:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National Day 1a | €1,100 | 30,000 |
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em 8-Handed Shot Clock Day 2 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | PL Omaha | €550 | 20,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €1,100 Cash Qualifier | €170 | 15,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €100,000 Cash Qualifier | €10,200 | 15,000 | |
| April 26 | 12:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National Day 1b | €1,100 | 30,000 |
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em 8-Handed Shot Clock Day 3 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | EPT Super High Roller Day 1 | €100,000 | 250,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National Day 1c | €1,100 | 30,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT Cup Day 1a | €330 | 20,000 | |
| April 27 | 12:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National Day 2 | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | EPT Super High Roller Day 2 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National High Roller Day 1 | €2,200 | 20,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €5,300 Cash Qualifier | €880 | 15,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT Cup Day 1a | €330 | 20,000 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Hyper Turbo Freezeout | €1,100 | 15,000 | |
| April 28 | 12:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National Day 3 | ||
| 12:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Day 1a | €5,300 | 30,000 | |
| 12:30 p.m. | EPT Super High Roller Final Day | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT National High Roller Day 2 | |||
| 2:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT Cup Day 1c | €330 | 20,000 | |
| 2:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €50,000 Cash Qualifier | €5,200 | 15,00 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | Charity Event Unlimited €50 rebuys | €150 | 5,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €5,300 Cash Qualifier | €880 | 15,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT Cup Day 1d | €330 | 20,000 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Hyper Turbo Freezeout | €1,100 | 15,000 | |
| April 29 | 12:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Day 1b | €5,300 | 30,000 |
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em 8-Handed | €50,000 | 100,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em EPT Cup Day 2 | |||
| 4:00 p.m. | PL Omaha Day 1 | €1,100 | 20,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Turbo Freezeout | €2,150 | 20,000 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Hyper Turbo Freezeout | €550 | 15,000 | |
| April 30 | 12:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Day 2 | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | PL Omaha Day 2 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | PL Omaha Day 1 | €10,300 | 50,000 | |
| 4:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em | €2,200 | 20,000 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Hyper Turbo Freezeout | €550 | 15,000 | |
| May 1 | 12:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Day 3 | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | PL Omaha Day D | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em Day 2 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em | €25,000 | 100,000 | |
| 4:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Day 1 | €1,100 | 20,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em €25,000 Cash Qualifier | €2,700 | 15,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Turbo Freezeout | €330 | 15,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | PSPC Qualifier One $30K Package added | €1,650 | 15,000 | |
| May 2 | 12:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Day 4 | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em Day 2 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | EPT High Roller Day 1 | €25,000 | 50,000 | |
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em | €220 | 20,000 | |
| 4:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Freezeout | €1,100 | 20,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | NL Omaha Hi/Lo | €220 | 20,000 | |
| 8:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Turbo Win the Button | €330 | 15,000 | |
| May 3 | 12:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Day 5 | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | EPT High Roller Day 2 | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em Final Day | |||
| 2:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Deepstack Day 1 | €2,200 | 30,000 | |
| 4:00 p.m. | PL Omaha Hi/Lo Freezeout Day 1 | €550 | 20,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em Win the Button Day 1 | €550 | 20,000 | |
| May 4 | 12:30 p.m. | EPT High Roller Final Day | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em Deepstack Final Day | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | PL Omaha Hi/Lo Freezeout Final Day | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em Win the Button Final Day | |||
| 12:30 p.m. | NL Hold’em Turbo Edition of EPT Main Event | €330 | 30,000 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | EPT Main Event Final Day | |||
| 4:00 p.m. | NL Hold’em 6-Handed Turbo | €3,200 | 30,000 |
Past EPT Monte Carlo Events
The EPT Monte Carlo was previously the tour's Grand Final, which took place on every season from Season 1 through to Season 12 with only Season 13 seeing it omitted from the schedule. Monte Carlo has been the venue for all but one of the EPT Grand Finals with Season 7 concluding in Madrid.
Jan Bendik is, therefore, the reigning EPT Monte Carlo champion having outlasted a star-studded field of 1,098 players to get his hands on €961,800 in the process. The Slovakian was a regular feature on the EPT circuit and came close to winning an EPT Main Event in 2011 when he finished fifth in Sanremo.
Two EPT's in Monte Carlo have seen their winner walk away with more than €2 million. Glen Chorny emerged victorious in Season 4 and claimed the €2,020,000 top prize after topping a field of 842. Netherlands’ Pieter de Korver holds the record for the largest EPT Grand Final prize thanks to winning €2,300,000 in Season 5; both Chorny and de Korver won the Main Event when it had a €10,600 buy-in.
| Season | Buy-in | Entries | Prize pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | €5,300 | 1,098 | €5,325,300 | Jan Bendik | €961,800 |
| 11 | €10,600 | 564 | €5,640 | Adrian Mateos | €1,082,000 |
| 10 | €10,600 | 650 | €6,500,000 | Antonio Buonanno | €1,240,000 |
| 9 | €10,600 | 531 | €5,310,000 | Steve O’Dwyer | €1,224,000 |
| 8 | €10,600 | 665 | €665,000 | Mohsin Charania | €1,350,000 |
| 7 | €10,400 | 686 | €6,860,000 | Ivan Freitez | €1,500,000 |
| 6 | €10,600 | 848 | €8,480,000 | Nicolas Chouity | €1,700,000 |
| 5 | €10,600 | 935 | €9,350,000 | Pieter de Korver | €2,300,000 |
| 4 | €10,600 | 842 | €8,420,000 | Glen Chorny | €2,020,000 |
| 3 | €10,000 | 706 | €6,636,400 | Gavin Griffin | €1,825,010 |
| 2 | €10,000 | 298 | €2,801,200 | Jeff Williams | €900,000 |
| 1 | €10,000 | 211 | €2,110,000 | Rob Hollink | €635,000 |
Qualify for the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT
Online satellites for the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT are available now at PokerStars. Download PokerStars via PokerNews, enter the marketing code “PNEWS” when creating your account and use the bonus code “STARS600” when making your first deposit to receive a 100 percent match up to $600 bonus on your deposit.
If this is you first deposit, you will also be eligible for the PokerNews-exclusive Bi-weekly $3,000 freerolls.
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