Welcome to Day 1 of the Prestigious €25,000 EPT High Roller
Another staple event of the 2023 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® is set to kick off today at 12.30 p.m. local time. The players with a larger bankroll will gather at the beautiful Sporting Monte Carlo for Event #42: €25,000 EPT High Roller.
The event will run for three days and a winner will be crowned on the final day of the festival, Saturday, May 6th. All players will have the option for a single reentry, with late registration closing at the start of Day 2.
Everyone will start with a stack of 50,000 chips, which is good for 250 big blinds in Level 1 and 2, where blinds will be 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. Day 1 will play through ten levels of 60 minutes each, with a 20-minute break scheduled after every two levels. After level six that break will be 75 minutes instead, to allow the players to go and have dinner.
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 min | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 2 | 60 min | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 20 min break | ||||
| 3 | 60 min | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 4 | 60 min | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 20 min break | ||||
| 5 | 60 min | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 60 min | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| 75 min dinner break | ||||
| 7 | 60 min | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 60 min | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 20 min break | ||||
| 9 | 60 min | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 10 | 60 min | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
Gianluca Speranza is the defending champion in this event, besting a field of 179 entries to win €853,000 during EPT Monte Carlo 2022. He defeated a strong final table line-up that included Bruno Lopes, Dimitar Danchev, and Steve O’Dwyer. All of these players have already been spotted in the tournament halls this year, and they are expected to make another attempt at coming out on top in the €25,000 buy-in this year.
Players who already forked over €25,000 at the registration desk and are confirmed to compete include Tom-Aksel Bedell, Harry Lodge, Julien Sitbon, and Felipe Ketzer, whose latest recorded tournament result is a second place in a €25,000 buy-in during EPT Paris for €232,800. Of course, many more household names are expected to appear throughout Day 1 and at the start of Day 2.
PokerNews will be providing the live report from hand one to the final one, so be sure to tune in today to not miss any of the High Roller action.