€10,600 Main Event | 2015 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

05-08-2015 09:07 UTC+1

Seat 2 - Jose Carlos Garcia, 21, Poland

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As his name indicates, Garcia was born in Spain but his mother is Polish and he lives in Poland - making him a leading light in the new wave of talented Polish players who have been tearing up the European Poker Tour in recent years.

It all got going when Dominik Panka won the PCA last year, the followed it up with an EPT Deauville High Roller victory last year and third place at last month's EPT Malta.

Garcia’s best result came in the LAPT Bahamas Main Event at the PCA in January, when he finished fourth for $119,820. He's guaranteed to eclipse that record.

He has another EPT "spade" trophy after taking down the €2k Turbo at EPT Sanremo three years ago and his live cashes already total more than $620k to date. Playing online on PokerStars as "TryToExploit", he has already made nearly $600k with his biggest result coming in March 2014, when he won the Sunday Million for $230,707.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jose Carlos Garcia	1,435,000

Tags: Jose Carlos Garcia

05-08-2015 09:07 UTC+1

Seat 3 -Muhyedine Fares, 52, Senegal

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Muhyedine Fares, who has previously played under the French flag at poker events, is a businessman now on a poker-playing vacation with two friends to Monaco. He plays both hold 'em and Omaha in the Senegalese capital, and is not new to EPTs: he cashed for €21,800 in the EPT10 Grand Final Main Event last year, and finished eighth earlier this week in the €5k NL Turbo 8-handed for €14,200.

If this roll continues for Fares, there could be a chance of Senegal getting its own official GPI “all time money list” - not available at the moment! However the Hendon Mob does have results for some 35 Senegalese players.

Player	Chips	Progress
Muhyedine Fares	3,955,000

Tags: Muhyedine Fares

05-08-2015 09:07 UTC+1

Seat 4 - Hady El Asmar, 47, Lebanon - PokerStars qualifier

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El Asmar, from Beirut, qualified for the EPT11 Grand Final in a €700 satellite on PokerStars and is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his countryman Nicolas Chouity, and become the second Lebanese Grand Final champion.

El Asmar is a recreational player, and has been on a massive roller coaster during the whole event. He was lucky to squeeze in to Day 3, and was trailing 96 percent of the field at that stage.

With six players left, he is the current chip leader and already guaranteed a cash worth more than his lifetime tournament winnings to date.

Player	Chips	Progress
Hady El Asmar	3,970,000

Tags: Hady El Asmar

05-08-2015 09:07 UTC+1

Seat 5 - Ole "wizowizo" Schemion, 22, Germany

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Ole Schemion is the reigning EPT Player of the Year and an all-round poker sensation. Born in Berlin, but now living in Vienna, Schemion is 22 years old yet has become a fixture in the biggest games in Europe, amassing live tournament winning of close to $8 million since 2011.

Before that, he was an online sensation and, as “wizowizo” on PokerStars, has been destroying the toughest MTT fields since pretty much the moment he picked up a mouse.

He has 11 outright tournament victories, including one on the Partouche Poker Tour, an Aria Super High Roller, the Master Classics in Amsterdam, an EPT High Roller, and three side events here in 2013. But he has not yet won an EPT Main Event despite a ninth and a fifth place finish in Barcelona and Prague, respectively.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ole Schemion	3,530,000

Tags: Ole Schemion

05-08-2015 09:07 UTC+1

Seat 6 - Johnny Lodden, 29, Oslo, Norway - Team PokerStars Pro

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Lodden took up cards playing Uno with his family before progressing to playing poker for money at school with his friends. By the time he was 20, Johnny had started crushing the cash games on PokerStars, moving up the levels to the highest stakes available.

He has been playing EPTs since Season 3 and has been exceptionally consistent in his Main Event results. Over the last five years, he had numerous deep runs and made the final 20 a total of nine times - including eighth place at EPT5 Budapest. However it wasn't until Season 9 when the Norwegian had his first really big EPT success money-wise (and by then he'd already had his first six-figure cash when he finished 27th in the 2010 WSOP Main Event).

None of the remaining players at the final table have as much as EPT experience as Lodden, who is now on his way to his 19th Main Event cash. However Lodden still has a tough fight on his hands.

Player	Chips	Progress
Johnny Lodden	2,250,000

Tags: Johnny Lodden

€10,600 Main Event

Day 6 Started