Paul Runcan opened from under the gun to 50,000. Eugenio Peralta reraised to 150,000 from the cutoff. Action folded around and Runcan called.
Runcan check-called a bet of 125,000 on the 8♠5♥9♣ flop. He checked on the 4♠ turn before Peralta announced all in for 465,000. Runcan went into the tank and stared at his opponent in attempt to get a read. He ended up making the call.
Eugenio Peralta: K♦J♦
Paul Runcan: 10♠10♥
"Well I have two live cards" said Peralta, before the 6♣ river confirmed his elimination from the tournament. He said "Nice call, man" to Runcan as he left the table.
Samuel Rudin raised to 75,000 from the button, prompting Luca Giovannone to shove his remaining 150,000 all in from the big blind. Rudin made the call.
Luca Giovannone: A♣J♥
Samuel Rudin: Q♦10♦
Giovannone's hopes dimmed as soon as the board unveiled 4♠10♣10♠4♣5♣. Rudin secured a full house, tens full of fours, and eliminated Giovannone from the tournament.
Thomas Santerne raised to 50,000 from under the gun and was called by Jamie Flynn in the hijack and Nicola Grieco in the big blind.
On the 5♦4♠6♦ board, Santerne bet 90,000 after Grieco checked. Flynn called, and Grieco quickly followed suit.
All players checked through the 6♥ turn.
Grieco bet 105,000 on the J♥ river, prompting Santerne to raise to 750,000. With two players already in the pot, Flynn decided to fold after some thought. Grieco snap-called again and immediately revealed 5♠5♥ for a full house.
"Why doesn't he show?" Grieco asked the dealer after Santerne mucked his cards. "Because he wasn't all in," came the response. But Grieco had already shifted his focus to stacking chips.
Nicola Grieco opened from the hijack to 75,000. Thomas Santerne called from the cutoff.
"Check" declared Grieco, before the J♠K♥2♠ flop rolled off. Santerne checked. Grieco checked the Q♠ turn before Santerne fired a bet of 125,000. Grieco snap-jammed all in. He had Santerne covered and the Frenchman went into the tank. He counted his chips before putting in the call.
Thomas Santerne: Q♦J♦
Nicola Grieco: A♠6♠
Grieco had turned the nut flush, Santerne had outs to fill up. The 10♥ confirmed Santerne's exit from the tournament, prompting Grieco to celebrate boisterously, pumping his fists and making noises. Santerne remained calm as he departed the table despite the unsportsmanlike conduct being performed by Grieco.
Mathieu Di Meglio said to Grieco to be "tranquilo" adding "that's not nice, say good game, that's it." The floor reminded Grieco that this is the second time he has been warned for this sort of behaviour.
Jack O'Neill went all in on the A♣8♣9♦ flop and was called by Mathieu Di Meglio.
Jack O'Neill: J♠10♠
Mathieu Di Meglio: A♦7♦
O'Neill needed some assistance, but the turn and river failed to provide it, showing 2♣5♠. Di Meglio added to his stack, while O'Neill was sent to the rail.
Julien Sitbon raised almost his entire short stack in early position, leaving just a single 5,000 chip behind. Action folded around to Adrian State, who moved all in. Sitbon made the call and the hands were turned up.
Julien Sitbon: Q♥10♣
Adrian State: A♥9♥
Sitbon was unable to improve on the 7♣J♥J♣4♥4♠ runout, hitting the rail in 18th place.
David McConachie moved all in on the button before Sylwester Fortuna called off the rest of his stack in the big blind.
Sylwester Fortuna: A♣6♠
David McConachie: K♦Q♠
Fortuna got his chips in ahead, but the K♥7♠J♠10♠2♥ board left McConachie claiming the bounty. Fortuna was eliminated in 17th position, ending the night for the remaining players.
May Day brought fireworks to the felt at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, as 246 players who took part on the European holiday were trimmed down to the final 16 in the €3,000 Mystery Bounty.
Italy’s Nicola Grieco celebrated in style, picking up numerous bounty tokens on his way to claiming the chip lead at Sporting Monte-Carlo. Grieco picked up some key pots as the day progressed to collect 2,850,000 chips, good for 71 big blinds when play resumes on Thursday, May 2.
The tournament attracted 91 new entries before late registration closed to begin Day 2, bringing the total field to 743. That created a €1,274,988 prize pool, with Grieco in the best position to claim the top prize of €232,898.
A trio of notable names are right behind, including Adrian State and Romain Lewis, who both will sit with more than seven figures in career earnings. In between those two is Mathieu Di Meglio, coming off a big score in the €2,200 FPS High Roller here in Monte Carlo for €278,123 after a three-way ICM chop.
Mathieu Di Meglio
End of Day 2 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Nicola Grieco
Italy
2,850,000
71
2
Adrian State
Romania
2,330,000
58
3
Mathieu Di Meglio
France
2,000,000
50
4
Romain Lewis
France
1,835,000
46
5
Gediminas Uselis
Lithuania
1,785,000
45
6
Yves Piacentino
France
1,740,000
44
7
Milos Petakovic
Serbia
1,505,000
38
8
Paul Runcan
Romania
1,420,000
36
9
Javier Fernandez
Spain
1,350,000
34
10
Jamie Flynn
Ireland
1,150,000
29
11
Sonny Franco
France
940,000
24
12
Sergi Reixach
Spain
905,000
23
13
David McConachie
United Kingdom
805,000
20
14
Mohamed Mehalleg
France
670,000
17
15
Fiodor Martino
Italy
505,000
13
16
Martin Stausholm
Denmark
300,000
8
The race to the bubble began early, with players eyeing a spot among the top 111 finishers to earn a spot in the money and take home at least €2,980. After reaching hand-for-hand play, the clock sat on 112 remaining for almost an hour before Klemens Roiter saw his pocket aces get cracked to bow out empty-handed.
Many players used the time during the extended bubble to pull their Mystery Bounty prizes, which came into play on the third level of the day. For Yiannis Liperis, the timing could not have been better as he pulled the first top prize of €75,000. Later on, Ghassan Bitar managed to pick out the second €75,000 bounty, adding an extra payday as both players cashed the event as well.
Among the rest of the players who found a cash were PokerStars AmbassadorsRamon Colillas (65th - €3,940), Benjamin Spragg (102nd - €2,980) and Parker Talbot (106th - €2,980), who saw a big bluff get called on the bubble before busting a few hands into the money.
Parker Talbot
Remaining Mystery Bounties
Prize
Bounties
Remaining
Total
€75,000
2
0
€0
€40,000
2
0
€0
€25,000
7
1
€25,000
€10,000
10
1
€10,000
€5,000
21
4
€20,000
€1,000
123
10
€10,000
€1,000 & Draw Again
10
1
€1,000
Play will resume on Level 26 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 along with a 40,000 big blind ante. Action will continue until a champion is crowned here in Monte Carlo.
Be sure to stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will have every moment covered until the trophy is lifted.
