2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT

€1,100 French National Championship
Day: 1a
Event Info

2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
€209,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,100
Prize Pool
€1,382,250
Entries
1,425
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000

Martini Busts Pellegrino; Rises to the Top

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Julien Martini
Julien Martini

With around 30,000 in the middle and the board showing {10-Hearts}{7-Clubs}{3-Clubs}{8-Clubs}{10-Spades}, big stack Julien Martini made it 11,000 to go. Isabelle Pellegrino moved all in for 35,600 and Martini mulled over his decision for some time before making the call and revealing {j-Hearts}{j-Diamonds}.

Pellegrino nodded and briefly flashed {6-}{5-} for a missed gutshot and open-ender before heading to the rail.

Martini already had a massive stack, which grew even bigger to put the WSOP bracelet winner from France near the top of the leaderboard.

Player Chips Progress
Julien Martini fr
Julien Martini
245,000
245,000
245,000
$25K Fantasy
Isabelle Pellegrino fr
Isabelle Pellegrino
Busted

Tags: Isabelle PellegrinoJulien Martini

Double Knockout for Bicknell with a Straight Flush

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Kristen Bicknell
Kristen Bicknell

The board was already completed and showed {k-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{9-Spades}{j-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds} and Haim Dahan was waiting for Benoit Martin and Kristen Bicknell to battle for the main pot, as he was all in on a previous street. Martin led from the small blind and Bicknell jammed for more than 67,000, which Martin called after some consideration.

Bicknell rolled over {q-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds} for a straight flush, Dahan revealed {j-Hearts}{10-Hearts} and Martin had just {k-Spades}{8-Spades} for a straight.

According to Bicknell, Dahan had been all in on the flop with his pair and gutshot, and the Canadian soared to a big stack as Martin was also covered with around 60,000.

Player Chips Progress
Kristen Bicknell ca
Kristen Bicknell
170,000
128,000
128,000
$25K Fantasy
Chip Leader Coaching
Haim Dahan il
Haim Dahan
Busted
Benoit Martin fr
Benoit Martin
Busted

Tags: Benoit MartinHaim DahanKristen Bicknell

Registration Closed; Di Miceli No More

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Only a few minutes after the end of the late registration, Christophe Di Miceli got his short stack in with {5-Spades}{5-Clubs} and Afshin Taheri looked him up with the {a-Hearts}{4-Hearts}.

Taheri spiked an ace on the {a-Spades}{10-Clubs}{6-Diamonds} flop and on the {a-Clubs} turn, the river was a blank and Di Miceli was eliminated.

Player Chips Progress
Afshin Taheri ir
Afshin Taheri
35,000
35,000
35,000
Christophe Di Miceli fr
Christophe Di Miceli
Busted

Tags: Afshin TaheriChristophe Di Miceli

Level: 9

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

Speranza Enters; Busts

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

About 10 minutes before the end of the late registration, Gianluca Speranza headed into the tournament room with 30,000 in chips and was looking for his table. Just five minutes later, Speranza left the tournament area and that's all she wrote for the Italian on Day 1a as the registration period is about to come to an end with more than 350 entries on the first starting day.

Player Chips Progress
Gianluca Speranza it
Gianluca Speranza
Busted

Tags: Gianluca Speranza

Dunac Triples Up in Spectacular Fashion

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante
EPT Monte Carlo
EPT Monte Carlo

In a multi-way limped pot, the flop showed {a-Spades}{4-Clubs}{3-Spades} and Ami Barer bet, Benjamin Dunac reraised and Christophe Di Miceli made it three bets to more than 27,000. Barer moved all in and Dunac called that for less. Di Miceli gave it some thought and eventually called too, putting two players at risk.

Benjamin Dunac: {6-Spades}{5-Spades}
Ami Barer: {4-Spades}{4-Hearts}
Christophe Di Miceli: {3-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}

Dunac failed to connect with the {8-Hearts} turn, but secured a big triple up on the {2-Diamonds} river to get 58,700 off both opponents. Barer doubled his remaining 53,400 through Di Miceli, who went from one of the chip leaders to half the starting stack.

Player Chips Progress
Benjamin Dunac fr
Benjamin Dunac
182,000
116,000
116,000
Ami Barer ca
Ami Barer
106,800
21,800
21,800
Christophe Di Miceli fr
Christophe Di Miceli
15,000
-115,000
-115,000

Tags: Ami BarerBenjamin DunacChristophe Di Miceli

Assorted Bustouts

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Several big names failed to make it to the dinner break and that also includes PokerStars ambassador Kalidou Sow, WSOP Europe Main Event champion Jack Sinclair, Nicolas Chouity, Romain Lewis and Francois Evard to name just a few.

Player Chips Progress
Nicolas Chouity lb
Nicolas Chouity
Busted
EPT 1X Winner
Julio Vechina Cacoilo ca
Julio Vechina Cacoilo
Busted
Francois Evard ch
Francois Evard
Busted
Jack Sinclair gb
Jack Sinclair
Busted
Borge Sandsgaard no
Borge Sandsgaard
Busted
Marco Regonaschi it
Marco Regonaschi
Busted
Lucas Sfez fr
Lucas Sfez
Busted
Oswin Ziegelbecker at
Oswin Ziegelbecker
Busted
Hiroyuki Noda jp
Hiroyuki Noda
Busted
Thierry Delpui fr
Thierry Delpui
Busted
Raffaello Locatelli it
Raffaello Locatelli
Busted
Konstantin Farber de
Konstantin Farber
Busted
Denys Shafikov ua
Denys Shafikov
Busted
Duff Charette ca
Duff Charette
Busted
Fabien Motte fr
Fabien Motte
Busted
Kalidou Sow fr
Kalidou Sow
Busted
Abdenbi Abida
Abdenbi Abida
Busted
Joe Mouawad lb
Joe Mouawad
Busted
Romain Lewis fr
Romain Lewis
Busted
Jonathan Bussieres ca
Jonathan Bussieres
Busted

Tags: Francois EvardJack SinclairKalidou SowNicolas ChouityRomain Lewis

Barer Makes a Big Call Against Sfez

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

With plenty of chips in the middle and the completed board showing {9-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}, Ami Barer checked and Eric Sfez on the button made it 22,200 to go. Barer was sent into the think tank and the clock was called on him. Barer eventually called and Sfez tabled {3-Hearts}{3-Spades},. which Barer had beat with the {6-Spades}{6-Clubs}.

Sfez had some chips left over, but busted soon after as Jeremy Palvini moved to his seat.

Player Chips Progress
Ami Barer ca
Ami Barer
85,000
55,000
55,000
Eric Sfez fr
Eric Sfez
Busted

Tags: Ami BarerEric Sfez

Defending Champion Diaz Enters

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Celina Lin called a raise to 1,200 by the small blind and they checked a {j-Clubs}{10-Diamonds}{6-Clubs} flop. On the {k-Clubs} turn, the small blind check-called a bet of 1,200 by Lin and the {7-Diamonds} river was checked. The small blind showed ace-nine and Lin claimed the pot with {q-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}, but has dropped below the starting stack.

Further notable counts can be found below. Defending champion Guillaume Diaz and Romain Lewis entered the tournament in the last level of registration.

Player Chips Progress
Sergey Frizyak ru
Sergey Frizyak
115,000
Karim Rebei dz
Karim Rebei
100,000
13,000
13,000
Ariel Celestino br
Ariel Celestino
85,000
Randy Lew us
Randy Lew
55,000
25,000
25,000
Antoine Saout fr
Antoine Saout
48,000
6,000
6,000
Chen An Lin tw
Chen An Lin
48,000
Jose Astima fr
Jose Astima
47,000
13,000
13,000
Chin Wei Lim my
Chin Wei Lim
38,000
Alisa Sibgatova ru
Alisa Sibgatova
38,000
8,000
8,000
Fatima Moreira de Melo nl
Fatima Moreira de Melo
38,000
8,000
8,000
Guillaume Diaz fr
Guillaume Diaz
30,000
Defending Champion
Romain Lewis fr
Romain Lewis
30,000
Celina Lin cn
Celina Lin
27,000
-10,000
-10,000
Aladin Reskallah fr
Aladin Reskallah
20,000
-10,000
-10,000
Darie Vlad ro
Darie Vlad
13,000
-18,000
-18,000
Yilong Wang cn
Yilong Wang
12,000
-18,000
-18,000

Tags: Celina LinGuillaume DiazRomain Lewis