Mateos Holds Commanding Lead Heading to Final Day of €100,000 EPT Super High Roller
Just under eight levels were completed on Day 2 of the €100,000 Super High Roller at the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️ before play concluded for the day. It turned out to be a run-away show for Spanish poker pro Adrian Mateos who will enter the final day with an overwhelming chip lead.
A total of 42 entries were recorded before late registration closed at the start of the day which meant the final six players would reach the money. It was Mateos who closed the curtains on Day 2 when he eliminated Orpen Kisacikoglu on the money bubble, bringing his stack to 4,485,000 for the final showdown. Mateos will be looking to add another seven-figure payday to his already impressive career that includes multiple titles across all types of events.
Final Table Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 4,485,000 | 150 |
| 2 | Kent Staahle | Norway | 1,235,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Laszlo Bujtas | Hungary | 1,105,000 | 37 |
| 4 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Belarus | 1,010,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 660,000 | 22 |
| 6 | Marius Gierse | Austria | 2,005,000 | 67 |
Although Mateos will come into the final day as the clear favorite, there is still plenty of work to do to take home the title. Marius Gierse is starting to become familiar in the high-stakes tournament fields and he is looking to make his mark with his first EPT high-roller victory. Gierse will enter the day with 2,005,000 chips, sitting in second place behind Mateos. Third place currently belongs to Norwegian businessman Kent Staahle (1,235,000) who will most certainly record his largest career poker tournament score in whichever place he finishes.
Rounding out the rest of the field is Laszlo Bujtas (1,105,000), Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (1,010,000), and Mikita Badziakouski (660,000). Although they are sitting in the bottom half of the field, these three poker pros all have plenty of high-stakes tournament experience and they can not be counted out as of yet.
There will be plenty of money up for grabs when the final table resumes on Day 3 with a prizepool of €4,074,840 still to be handed out. Each player has locked up over €285,000 while the winner will be taking home €1,385,430.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1st | €1,385,430 |
| 2nd | €957,590 |
| 3rd | €611,230 |
| 4th | €468,610 |
| 5th | €366,740 |
| 6th | €285,240 |
With late registration closing at the start of Day 2, there were two new entries (Byron Kaverman and Andras Nemeth), along with six re-entries to kick things off. It didn't go well for one of those re-entries as Seth Davies was eliminated in short order thanks to back-to-back coolers. In fact, all eight players were eliminated before any of them could get a sniff at reaching the money.
There was also some heartache for Sam Grafton and Christoph Vogelsang who were eliminated at the same time just prior to the dinner break, which allowed the final eight players to gather at the final table. Joao Vieira and Kisacikoglu entered the final table as the two short stacks and low and behold, they were unable to battle their way up the leaderboard. Vieira's stack dwindled to just a few big blinds before he was eliminated in eighth place. Kisacikoglu battled a while longer with a couple of double-ups but was unable to prevail when he ran into a dominating Mateos.
The final table is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. local time with just under 30 minutes remaining in level 16. The blinds will resume at 15,000/30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante. The final table will also be streamed on the feature table with hole cards up on a 30-minute delay. The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you all of the updates in accordance with the live stream.