Charlie Carrel Leads Final Six Players in EPT Monte Carlo €10,300 High Roller
It was an exhausting Day 2 for the remaining six players in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller as they battled it out for nearly 13 hours. Many of the top players from all around the world have gathered for the 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT to play in some of the largest buy-in events in the world.
Heading into the final day of the tournament, Charlie Carrel holds a commanding chip lead over his five other tablemates. Carrel had a dominating day at the felt that was accelerated even more at the final table. Entering the final table as the chip leader, Carrel continued his dominance by eliminating two more players in a short process.
The English poker pro will carry 1,499,000 chips into Day 3 in search of the first-place prize of €198,610. Carrel has fond memories of playing at the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Casino with a total of seven cashes coming in the same building, including the largest of his career. In 2015, Carrel topped the €25,500 High Roller for a whopping €1,114,000 payday.
He will be in tough competition though as the other five players at the table have been around the high roller circuit for quite some time. In second place, Seth Davies (791,000) also held the chip lead for periods of time on Day 2. Georgios Kitsios (433,000) may be the biggest unknown player of the remaining six but his rollercoaster day ended on an upswing as he rounds out the top three.
Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgios Kitsios | Greece | 433,000 | 36 |
| 2 | Sylvain Loosli | France | 182,000 | 15 |
| 3 | Charlie Carrel | United Kingdom | 1,499,000 | 125 |
| 4 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 258,000 | 22 |
| 5 | Erik Seidel | United States | 337,000 | 28 |
| 6 | Seth Davies | United States | 791,000 | 66 |
Coming into the day, Erik Seidel held the chip lead pretty much from the start of the tournament. He didn't relinquish that lead until halfway through the day and he found himself at risk on multiple occasions but managed to survive thus far.
A total of 13 new entries passed through the registration desk before the start of play to bring the total number of entries to 70. It didn't take long for players to start hitting the rail in the opening few minutes. Surprisingly enough, Kristen Bicknell who returned with one big blind, wasn't the first player eliminated. Some other early bust-outs included Ivan Deyra, Michael Addamo, Michael Soyza, Aviv Meiri, and Jack Salter.
It took until the last level of the night to finally break through into the money when Philipp Gruissem was eliminated on the bubble. There were multiple double ups that took place during the hand-for-hand process, including Gruissem himself, but he was unable to survive one last time. He ran into the steamrolling Carrel who out-flopped him and the final nine players were guaranteed some cash.
Pablo Melogno (9th Place - €19,690) had been battling with Carrel in some large pots throughout the bubble process but it finally came to a halt when Carrel turned the nut flush and Melogno rivered trips. Just a couple of hands later, Thomas Muehloecker (8th Place - €25,800) ran his pocket fives into the pocket aces of Kitsios and he also hit the rail.
It seemed like just a matter of minutes when Carrel sent another one to the payout desk. Ole Schemion (7th Place - €33,270) moved in with ace-jack and Carrel called with pocket sixes. A six on the flop spelled the end to Schemion's run and he was the final elimination of the night. The final six players held on throughout the last level to bag up their chips and return for the final day.
The action will get back underway at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and play until a winner is crowned. The levels will continue to be 60 minutes in length and the blinds will resume at 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante. Be sure to follow the PokerNews live reporting team for all of the updates throughout this and many other events.
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