Day 2 of the EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event has come to an end and 126 players are moving on to Day 3 of the flagship event of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®.
A total of 1,098 entries joined the action over two starting flights to create a massive prize pool of €5,325,300 with the winner taking home €890,000 and the prestigious EPT trophy. Day 2 saw 367 hopefuls return to the blue felts and, after six levels of play, only 126 remain in the hunt for EPT glory.
Estonia's Markkos Ladev leads the way with an impressive stack of 881,000, good for 176 big blinds. Having come off a recent cash in the 2023 EPT Paris High Roller, Ladev will have eyes set on a deep run to up his previous highest score of $22,840. Belgium's Pieter Aerts and high-stakes regular Artur Martirosian round out the top three.
2023 EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | 881,000 | 176 |
| 2 | Pieter Aerts | Belgium | 876,000 | 175 |
| 3 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 857,000 | 171 |
| 4 | Kenan Taylor | United Kingdom | 711,000 | 142 |
| 5 | Mike Watson | Canada | 675,000 | 135 |
| 6 | Oleg Vasylchenko | Ukraine | 657,000 | 131 |
| 7 | Ramon Colillas | Spain | 636,000 | 127 |
| 8 | Ryhor Karapanau | Latvia | 624,000 | 125 |
| 9 | Maduka Meragal | Canada | 620,000 | 124 |
| 10 | Juan Pardo | Spain | 570,000 | 114 |
Day 2 Action
Many notables returned to action at the start of the day and some who couldn’t find enough run-good to bag include high-stakes regulars Patrik Antonius, Isaac Haxton, Timothy Adams, Conor Beresford, and Stephen Chidwick, who hit the rail two away from the money.
Some other notables who managed to find a cash but couldn’t make it to a Day 3 run include Maria Lampropulos (153rd - €8,700), Sam Greenwood (151st - €8,700), Aleksejs Ponakovs (143rd - €9,850), Stefan Dimitrov (129th - €9,850) and Jeremy Palvini (127th - €9,850).
Many PokerStars Ambassadors also took to the field in hopes of a deep run. Benjamin Spragg, who recently finished 21st in the €1,100 FPS Main Event a few days ago, was back for another chance at a big score. Unfortunately for him, his day came to an end when he got his last nine big blinds in with ace-queen against the ten-nine for Killian Kramer. The board rivered a nine for Kramer to send Spragg out in 136th place for €9,850.
Parker Talbot had an impressive run to bag a healthy stack of 283,000 and will look to add to his over $1.1 million in live tournament earnings with a deep run here. Ramon Colillas was the only other PokerStars Ambassador to find a bag with a hefty stack of 636,000.
With 67 minutes left in the fifth level of the day, the money bubble burst in brutal fashion when Yasuhiro Waki picked up pocket aces and got his remaining chips in the middle preflop. Ryhor Karapanau made the call with queen-jack of clubs and a double-up looked probable for Waki. The flop, however, brought a massive sweat on an ace-high board with two clubs to give Karapanau a flush draw. The turn was a brick, but the river fell the two of clubs, sending Waki out on the stone bubble. The remaining 159 players were in the money and guaranteed a minimum payday of €8,700.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) | Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €890,000 | 14-15 | €45,900 |
| 2 | €556,600 | 16-17 | €39,950 |
| 3 | €397,450 | 18-20 | €34,700 |
| 4 | €305,750 | 21-23 | €30,200 |
| 5 | €235,150 | 24-27 | €26,250 |
| 6 | €180,900 | 28-31 | €22,850 |
| 7 | €139,150 | 32-39 | €19,850 |
| 8 | €107,050 | 40-55 | €17,250 |
| 9 | €82,350 | 56-71 | €15,000 |
| 10-11 | €63,300 | 72-95 | €13,050 |
| 12-13 | €52,750 | 96-119 | €11,350 |
| 120-143 | €9,850 |
Day 3 will kick off tomorrow, May 3rd, at noon local time with blinds resuming at 2,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante and a 20-minute break at the end of each level. The schedule is to play another five levels and bag for Day 4 on Thursday. All of the action can be seen on PokerStars TV via YouTube and Twitch, with live streaming featured on a 30-minute security delay.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team throughout the rest of the week for live updates from the floor of the EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event at Monte Carlo Sporting Complex on the shores of the French Riviera.
