Mark Demirdjian Leads PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Day 1a
After ten levels of play in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Main Event, it is Mark Demirdjian who bagged a jaw-dropping 350,500 to lead at the end of Day 1a.
Helped by the eliminations of Stephen Chidwick and two-time EPT champion Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Demirdjian is way clear of his rivals and is in good shape going into Day 2.
Other big stacks include Nick Petrangelo (213,000), David Peters (191,300), Antoine Saout (123,100) and Christopher Frank (126,700).
Notables advancing include Justin Bonomo (32,100), former EPT winner Mark Teltscher (54,000), Ryan Riess, (34,100), PokerStars Team Online Randy Lew (74,400), Team Pros Leo Fernandez (66,700) and Jake Cody (18,300), Rainer Kempe (87,000), Sosia Jiang (90,900) and Paul Newey (30,300).
The day started at midday, with the first players taking their seats with Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin and former EPT Grand Final champion Steve O'Dwyer in the mix. Lin was soon joined by fellow Team Pro Fatima Moreira de Melo and two-time EPT champion Mitchell
Coren-Mitchell was seated at a table with Ondrej Drozd, Kenny Hallaert and Jan-Eric Schwippert and didn't have an easy day before she was eliminated with jacks into the aces of Demirdjian.
Another notable in the field was Andreas Klatt, who last year won the PokerStars National Championship Monte Carlo (€151,445) and finished runner-up in the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Main Event (€402,786).
The big names would continue to arrive, with Team Pros Liv Boeree, Leo Fernandez and Jake Cody along with Team Online's Randy Lew joining the field, along with €100k High Roller final tablists Ole Schemion, Justin Bonomo and Ike Haxton.
Among the players who failed to make it through to Day 2 at the first time of asking were Mikita Badziakouski, Team Pros Boeree and Moreira de Melo, Mustapha Kanit, Benjamin Pollak, Dominik Nitsche, Matthias De Meulder and Bryn Kenney.
Day 1b gets underway at midday local time tomorrow (29th April) and PokerNews will bring you all the live updates.