Gianluca Speranza Wins �25,000 High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo (�853,000)
Gianluca Speranza defeated Bruno Lopes in heads-up play to win the �25,000 High Roller on the final day of the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino?. Speranza outlasted 179 entrants to win �853,000 after a final two deal from a total prize pool of �2,297,790.
Dimitar Danchev finished in third, while Marton Czuczor was fourth and bracelet winner Byron Kaverman rounded out the top five. Players finishing outside the final table on Day 3 include Ramiro Petrone, Dominik Nitsche, and Joao Vieira.
This is Speranza��s first win at an EPT event and his best finish since he was runner-up in the 2017 WSOPE Main Event. Speranza continues a winning stretch that includes winning $609,950 for his third place finish at the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic in December of 2021. Today��s win brings Speranza over $4 million in career earnings.
EPT Monte Carlo �25,000 High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gianluca Speranza | Italy | �853,000* |
| 2 | Bruno Lopes | France | �703,990* |
| 3 | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | �427,760 |
| 4 | Marton Czuczor | Hungary | �329,040 |
| 5 | Byron Kaverman | United States | �253,100 |
| 6 | Rodrigo Seiji | Brazil | �194,690 |
| 7 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | �162,160 |
| 8 | Manig Loeser | Germany | �135,120 |
| 9 | Steve O��Dwyer | Ireland | �112,600 |
*- denotes final two chop deal
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Final Table Highlights
Davidi Kitai fell in 10th place when his ace-jack was outdrawn by Czuczor��s ace-eight and the final nine made their way to the unofficial final table. First out was Steve O��Dwyer after riding his short stack for much of Day 3. O��Dwyer got it in with ace-jack but he ran into the pocket kings of Kaverman. Also losing with ace-jack was Manig Loeser, who ran into the pocket queens of Speranza to finish in eighth place.
Next to go was Jean-Noel Thorel in seventh after Lopes cracked his pocket aces to leave him with crumbs. Thorel got it in with seven-six soon after, but Lopes was there again to eliminate him with king-queen.
Rodrigo Seiji got it in good with pocket nines, but Speranza knocked him out when his ace-seven made two pair. The elimination of Seiji added fuel to a run for Speranza that was already well underway throughout the day, and the pot put him over 4 million.
Speranza��s run continued immediately after dinner break when he knocked out Kaverman in fifth place with ace-king and then Czuczor in fourth with pocket queens. The Italian went into three-handed play with over 5.5 million chips and held a commanding lead over the two remaining players, Lopes and Danchev.
It wasn��t long into three-handed play before Danchev found himself short and got it in against Lopes with a pair of kings on the turn, but Lopes called after making two pair with his six-five to eliminate Danchev in third place.
A deal was struck just before heads-up play began that awarded �813,000 to Speranza and �703,990 to Lopes, leaving �40,000 to play for along with the EPT championship trophy.
The final two played for nearly 90 minutes, but the big moment came when Speranza called a shove from Lopes and turned over a flush to claim victory.
Congratulations to Gianluca Speranza for winning the �25,000 High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo!
Be sure to check out the PokerNews team's reporting on other events at the French Riviera, including the EPT Monte Carlo �5,300 Main Event.
