€1,100 FPS Main Event | 2023 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo

04-30-2023 13:29 UTC+1

Sellam Finds a Lucky Jack To Stay Alive

Andrew Knowles

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Rubens Sellam open-jammed for 1,550,000 from under the gun and it folded to Tomas Patka in the big blind who snap-called to put Sellam at risk.

Rubens Sellam: J♠J♣
Tomas Patka: Q♦Q♣

Sellam was in rough shape preflop and would need a jack to stay alive. The board gave him his wish on a J♦9♥7♠6♥2♣ and Sellam scored the full double up off Patka.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tomas Patka	20,200,000 2,820,000	2,820,000

Rubens Sellam	3,550,000 1,400,000	1,400,000

Tags: Rubens Sellam Tomas Patka

04-30-2023 13:08 UTC+1

Adel Rahou Eliminated In 7th Place (€48,010)

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Andrew Knowles

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Quentin Laugt opened to 600,000 from under the gun with and only Adel Rahou made the call in the big blind.

The flop came J♦4♣3♥ and Rahou checked to Laugt who continued for 600,000. Rahou took some time before moving all in for 1,800,000 total and Laugt made the call with a bigger stack.

Adel Rahou: Q♣J♠
Quentin Laugt: 6♠6♥

Rahou got it in as good as he could hope for against the under-pair for Laugt, but when the turn fell the 6♦ Laugt had Rahou drawing dead. The inconsequential 5♣ completed the board and Rahou was sent to the payout desk in seventh place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Quentin Laugt	12,230,000 1,505,000	1,505,000
Adel Rahou	Busted

Tags: Adel Rahou Quentin Laugt

04-30-2023 12:55 UTC+1

Maksym Mamon Eliminated In 8th Place (€36,940)

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Andrew Knowles

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Daisuke Ogita opened to 525,000 from under the gun and Maksym Mamon moved all in for 2,275,000 in early position. The rest of the table got out of the way and Ogita made the call to put Mamon at risk.

Maksym Mamon: Q♠Q♥
Daisuke Ogita: K♦9♦

Mamon was in great shape preflop, but when the board ran out A♥K♠7♥6♠5♥, the flopped king for Ogita scored the pot to send Mamon to the rail in eighth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Daisuke Ogita	17,850,000 4,125,000	4,125,000
Maksym Mamon	Busted

Tags: Daisuke Ogita Maksym Mamon

Level: 34

Blinds: 150,000/300,000

Ante: 300,000

04-30-2023 12:35 UTC+1

Chen Makes Amazing Hero Call

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Andrew Knowles

Level 33 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Anatoly Chen opened the action from early position to 500,000 with A♦J♣ and it folded to Adel Rahou in the big blind with A♠8♣ who made the call.

The flop fanned out Q♠4♣3♦ and both players checked their options to the 6♦ turn. Rahou elected to take the betting lead with a sizing of 525,000 and Chen came along.

The 2♦ peeled off on the river and Rahou continued his bluff with a bet of 1,350,000. Chen took some time, but in the end made the hero call with ace-jack high to take down the sizable pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anatoly Chen	10,750,000 2,750,000	2,750,000
Adel Rahou	2,850,000 -3,700,000	-3,700,000

Tags: Adel Rahou Anatoly Chen

04-30-2023 12:15 UTC+1

Patka Takes From Chen With Better Ace-High

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Andrew Knowles

Level 33 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Anatoly Chen opened the action from the cutoff to 525,000 with A♦6♣ and Tomas Patka made the call on the button with A♠J♦. The blinds got out of the way and the pair saw the flop of Q♥2♣2♠.

Both players checked their options to the 4♣ turn and again action went check-check. The 10♦ completed the board and after a few moments both players checked to a showdown.

Patka scored the pot with his ace-jack high and took down the first hand of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tomas Patka	17,380,000 1,030,000	1,030,000

Anatoly Chen	8,000,000 -525,000	-525,000

Tags: Anatoly Chen Tomas Patka

Level: 33

Blinds: 125,000/250,000

Ante: 250,000

04-30-2023 11:45 UTC+1

Livestream Coverage Starts Soon

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Matt Hansen

Seven consecutive days of cards-up coverage from #EPTMonteCarlo start today.
— James Hartigan (@J_Hartigan)

04-30-2023 11:31 UTC+1

Cards In The Air

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Andrew Knowles

The action is underway and cards are now in the air in the €1,100 FPS Main Event. The PokerNews team will be providing all the cards-up coverage on a 30-minute delay. Updates will start at approximately 1:00 p.m. local time.

04-30-2023 11:22 UTC+1

Final Table Player Profiles: Seat 8: Tomas Patka, 27, Trencin, Slovakia, resides in Austria - 16,350,000

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Andrew Knowles

Tomas Patka hails from Slovakia, but he currently lives in Austria, about 15 minutes from the border with his home country. Online poker has to do with it.

Patka is a tournament specialist who started playing the game when he was 18. Patka said he used to play hockey, but an injury prevented him from pursuing a sports career, so he chose poker. You wouldn't see him here in Monaco had he not qualified to the FPS for €100 at PokerStars.

Now on the biggest live event final table of his career, he's already locked up a great return on his investment. He's in excellent shape to squeeze even more from the record-breaking prize pool, having vaulted into the chip lead on the last hand of Day 3.

Tags: Tomas Patka