Sergio Aido Wins EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller for $1,772,393
One of the most prestigious events at the 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT has wrapped up and it was a comeback for the ages. Sergio Aido has risen to the top of the €100,000 Super High Roller to claim the title and the €1,589,190 ($1,772,393) first-place prize. Aido outlasted a total of 52 entries and defeated his fellow Spaniard Jesus Cortes in a quick heads-up battle.
Aido entered the final day of competition with less than seven big blinds and at the bottom of the barrel among the final nine players. In fact, he had less than five big blinds when he spiked a three-outer to double up for the first time. That swung the pendulum in his direction as he won a coin flip to double up again in the very next hand.
The rise to the top of the podium was fuelled by some patient play and a string of cards that led to pot after pot against some of the top players in the world. In the last hand of the day, Aido trapped Cortes by limping the button with king-queen. Cortes moved all in with rags and Aido snapped him off. He managed to hold throughout the five-card runout and was able to put his hands on the beautiful trophy.
Aido has been around the high roller circuit for quite some time now, but he also fancies the nosebleed cash games as well. With over $8.7 million in career tournament earnings, this will go down as his largest cash to date.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sergio Aido | Spain | €1,589,190 | $1,772,393 |
| 2nd | Jesus Cortes | Spain | €1,147,750 | $1,280,032 |
| 3rd | Sam Greenwood | Canada | €731,530 | $815,841 |
| 4th | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | €554,950 | $618,910 |
| 5th | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | €428,830 | $478,254 |
| 6th | Charlie Carrel | United Kingdom | €327,930 | $365,725 |
| 7th | Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | €264,860 | $295,386 |
The final day began with nine players returning to the felt but only seven of them would leave with some cash in their pocket. Things got off to a quick start when Luc Greenwood shoved his 11 big blind stack into the middle and was called by Koray Aldemir who had him dominated. Greenwood could not come from behind and was eliminated on the first hand of the day.
It took some time for the money bubble to burst with the short stacks finding some key double ups. However, it was Aldemir who found himself at risk with pocket nines against the ace-king of Daniel Dvoress. An ace on the river gave Dvoress the best hand and Aldemir was the last player to leave with nothing.
A newcomer to the live high roller scene, Wiktor Malinowski managed to keep his short stack alive for quite a while, but his time finally came to an end when he ran his six big blinds into a surging Aido. Charlie Carrel was next to dump his chips to the eventual winner when he shoved all in from the small blind with nine-five suited. Aido called with an ace in the big blind and managed to hold on to eliminate Carrel.
It was an up and down ride for Mikita Badziakouski who doubled up to an average chip stack but then saw it all disappear just one hand later. With just a small blind left, Badziakouski had to make something happen before the blinds came around. He was all in with six-three suited but Cortes held a premium hand with ace-queen suited and made a flush on the river.
As the chip leader coming into the day, Dvoress had a rough go of things. He doubled up Sam Greenwood on the money bubble for half of his stack and was never able to fully recover. His tournament was eventually cut short when his ace-nine ran into the pocket kings of Aido. Two kings on the flop gave Aido quads and Dvoress was sent to the rail in fourth place.
On the heels of losing a huge pot to Aido who flopped two pair, the last Greenwood standing picked up a big ace on the button and decided to go with it. Unfortunately for him, the pocket kings made their way back to Aido and Greenwood was in dire straits. No aces on the board meant he would have to take a back seat to the heads-up match that would feature two players from Spain.
Aido was in the driver's seat heading into the heads-up battle with nearly a five-to-one chip lead. No deal was made between the two friends as they were each guaranteed a seven-figure payday. Aido's lead continued to grow and within 15 minutes, he sealed the deal on the first all in.
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