Day 3 of the Main Event Kicks off at Noon
At 12 p.m. noon local time, the 2017 PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® €5,300 Main Event will see 134 players out of a 727-entry strong field return to the tables of "Le Sporting" at Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort for another day filled with poker action. Everyone is guaranteed a minimum cash worth €7,580, but all eyes are set on the first-place prize of €500,800 and lifting the first ever PokerStars Championship trophy on European soil this upcoming Friday.
High Roller regular Nick Petrangelo, who finished 5th in the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller the previous night, shot to the top of the counts on Day 2 and claimed the top stack with 562,000. He is followed by Michael Kolkowicz (470,500), Patrik Antonius (452,200), Faraz Jaka (416,500) Mark Teltscher (408,000), Stefan Schillhabel (402,000) EPT13 Barcelona Main Event champion Sebastian Malec (382,500), Andreas Klatt (375,000) and Fabrice Soulier (364,500). Klatt already knows how to lift a trophy here in the Principality of Monaco, as the German emerged victorious in the 1,252-entry strong €1,100 National Championship Main Event.
Other notables with above-average stacks include Day 1 chip leader Jeff Hakim (350,000), Dan Smith (333,000), Manig Loeser (323,500) and Hossein Ensan (290,000). Furthermore, four PokerStars Team Pros advanced to Day 3: Daniel Negreanu (300,000), Celina Lin (200,500), Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (121,500) and Liv Boeree (63,500). Fellow Team Pro Jason Mercier busted in the last hands of the previous day and finished in 141st place for €7,580.
All previous 14 levels thus far lasted 75 minutes each, but as of now the level duration increased to 90 minutes and five of them are scheduled for today. After every level, there will be a 20-minute break and the bagging and tagging should take place around 9 p.m. local time to still enjoy the evening at the beautiful French Riviera after.
Day 3 Level Structure
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 90 min | 2,000 | 4,000 | 500 |
| 16 | 90 min | 2,500 | 5,000 | 500 |
| 17 | 90 min | 3,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 |
| 18 | 90 min | 4,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 |
| 19 | 90 min | 5,000 | 10,000 | 1,000 |
There will be a feature table live stream for the Main Event, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action. You can also follow updates of the €10,000 Pot-Limit High Roller as of 12 p.m. noon local time as well.