It was a short day at the office for the high-stakes tournament players who were in and out of the tournament area in just over four hours, for those that made it to the end of the day. It was the opening day at the 2023 PokerStars EPT presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️ and a total of 52 entries were recorded for Day 1 of the €10,200 Mystery Bounty event.
After a quick eight levels were completed, just 29 players advanced to Day 2 tomorrow with Kayhan Mokri in a very familiar position. Mokri's last four results at an EPT/PCA event have all resulted in final tables to start off 2023 and he hopes to keep that streak alive. In fact, three of those events were also mystery bounty formats where Mokri raked in many of the top prizes when it came to drawing the envelopes.
While there is a luck factor when it comes to drawing the right bounty tickets, Mokri has continued to put himself in a successful spot by holding a big stack when the bounties come into play. The largest pot of the opening day also went to Mokri in a massive three-way all in. Mokri out-flopped his opponents and then needed a lucky river to make a full house as he scored the double knockout and accumulated a large portion of his stack.
There will be some stiff competition when Day 2 rolls around with other big stacks like Joao Vieira (450,500), and Nacho Barbero (396,000). Some other notables advancing on just a single bullet include Sosia Jiang (263,000), Sam Greenwood (260,500), and Erik Seidel (145,000) who was one of the later entries on the day.
EPT Monte Carlo €10,200 Mystery Bounty Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
| 1 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | 488,500 | 163 |
| 2 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 450,500 | 150 |
| 3 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | 396,000 | 132 |
| 4 | Sosia Jiang | New Zealand | 263,000 | 88 |
| 5 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 260,500 | 87 |
| 6 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 250,500 | 84 |
| 7 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | 249,500 | 83 |
| 8 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 246,500 | 82 |
| 9 | Ding Biao | China | 231,500 | 77 |
| 10 | Maksim Vaskresenski | Poland | 227,500 | 76 |
Some players were forced to fire multiple shells throughout the first eight levels and they will be given the chance to do so tomorrow as well. Although it is a single reentry event, late registration will remain open until the end of Level 10, approximately 1:30 p.m. local time on Day 2. The bounty portion of the event will begin at the start of Level 13 where each elimination will earn you a chance to draw an envelope from the treasure chest.
There will be a new champion this year as Jean-Noel Thorel fired off both of his bullets but was unable to make his way through the opening day. Joining him on the sideline was PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton, Mike Watson, Davidi Kitai, and Bruno Fitoussi, but they will have a chance to reenter tomorrow.
The cards will go back in the air at 12:30 p.m. local time, with the blinds resuming on Level 9 at 1,500/3,000 and a 3,000 big blind ante. The level will continue to be 30 minutes in length throughout the event until just three players remain where the level duration will be cut in half. Join us tomorrow as the PokerNews team will be here to bring you all of the live updates along with the excitement that the mystery bounty format brings to the felt.
