Oleg Vasylchenko opened to 18,000 from early positon, and Magnus Carlsen called from the hijack. Mike Watson then three-bet to 72,000 from the cutoff, prompting Vasylchenko to make it 180,000. Carlsen folded, but Watson stuck around.
Vasylchenko continued for 90,000 on the J?10?2? flop and was called. He then check-called for 145,000 on the 6? turn. The 3? completed the board, and Vasylchenko once again took the betting lead by firing out 50,000. As the shot clock nearly hit zero, Watson raised to 401,000, leaving just 1,000 behind. Vasylchenko used up a time bank, which was the first one for the pot, and folded.
On the following hand, Leo Worthington-Leese opened to 16,000 from early position before Magnus Carlsen reraised to 46,000 on his direct left. Watson, now in the hijack, four-bet to 92,000 and both of his opponents folded.
Harry Lodge opened to 12,000 from under the gun and was called by Martin Guerrero on his direct left. Kelvin Kerber also called from the button. Vanessa Kade then wasted little time before moving all in for 78,000 from the small blind. Lodge and Guerrero got out of the way, but Kerber called.
Vanessa Kade: A?K?
Kelvin Kerber: 2?2?
The deuces remained ahead on the J?10?9? flop and 3? turn but the Q? river gave Kade a straight to survive.
"I can't beat you," joked Kerber as Kade took in the pot.
"Oh, come on, you took a big one with that six-seven earlier," replied Kade.
Lodge then pointed out that he thought the deuces were going to hold out, and Kade agreed, commentating that she saw herself heading out as soon as the cards were tabled.
The action was picked up in a three-way pot with close to 50,000 in the middle on a flop of 6?5?3?. Kiryl Asaulenka led out from the small blind to 14,000 and both Parker Talbot in the cutoff and Maduka Meragal on the button made the call.
The J? hit the turn and action checked around to Meragal who cut out a bet of 40,000. Asaulenka called and Talbot got out of the way.
The 9? completed the board and Asaulenka checked again to Meragal who sized to 60,000. Without much thought, Asaulenka made the call and was shown the bad news when Meragal tabled J?J? for top set to scoop the sizable pot and move into the chip lead.
"Running good," said Talbot as Meragal stacked up his tower of chips with a smile.
The action was picked up when all the chips hit the middle between Kenan Taylor under the gun and Romain Lewis in the hijack, who was at risk for his last 190,000.
Romain Lewis: A?K?
Kenan Taylor: A?A?
Lewis ran into the ultimate cooler and would need a lot of help to stay alive. The flop came K?10?3? to give Lewis hope, but when the rest of the board ran out 4?9?, it was the aces for Taylor that held up to send Lewis to the exit in 85th place.
Action was caught on the river with the A?10?9?8?A? completed board on show. There was around 105,000 in the pot, and Ramon Colillas overbet to 150,000 from under the gun. After some thinking time, Karlic chucked in a chip to make the call.
Karlic became immediately frustrated after seeing Colillas had rivered a boat with his 9?9? and mucked.
In a heads-up pot on a flop of Q?9?Kx, Daniel Dvoress checked from the big blind and Erik Seidel bet 15,000 from the hijack. Dvoress called.
Dvoress checked again on the A? turn and Seidel checked back. Dvoress checked a third time on the 3? river and Seidel bet 30,000. The Canadian laid it down.
Erik Seidel opened to 11,000 from under the gun and was only called by Dinesh Alt from the big blind.
The J?8?3? flop checked through to the 3? turn, and Alt led out for 17,000. Seidel called. Alt then sized up to 40,000 on the 3? river before Seidel jammed for 54,000. Alt quickly called and the cards went on their backs.
Alt tabled his K?J? for a full house, threes full of jacks. However, Seidel had the better hand as he turned over his J?J? for jacks full of threes.
Two hands later, the €100,000 EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller bubbe boy Santhosh Suvarna moved all in from early position for around 75,000 and Seidel called from the small blind.
Santhosh Suvarna: A?Q?
Erik Seidel: 8?8?
Suvarna paired up to take the lead on the Q?J?9? flop. However, Seidel had a gut-shot straight draw to go along with his set outs. The 5? turn was a brick, but the 10? river completed Seidel's straight for him to rake in another big pot.
Moments after playing a four-bet pot against each other, Sirzat Hissou and Arunas Sapitavicius were once again battling each other. Hissou opened to 11,000 from the hijack with Sapitavicius and Harry Lodge calling from the button and big blind, respectively.
Hissou continued for 14,000 on the Q?4?3? flop, and only Sapitavicius called. Hissou then check-called for 22,000 on the 8? turn. Fireworks began to spark on the A? river as Hissou fired for 13,000. Sapitavicius then moved all in as the bigger stack, and Hissou, with around 245,000 behind, called for his tournament lifevafter a small bit of thinking time.
Sapitavicius tabled his A?Q? for aces and queens, which bested the A?3? held by Hissou.
The 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino? headline tournament, the EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event, is approaching its business end with just 126 players remaining from the record-matching 1,098 entries.
Those returning for Day 3, which begins at noon local time, are all duking it out for the lion's share of the €5,325,300 prize pool, where the winner will walk away with €890,000 and the prestigious EPT trophy.
Despite being a few days away from the champion being crowned, there is plenty to be excited about as the Main Event is littered with some of poker's biggest stars.
Among those still in contention is PokerStars' ambassador and inaugural PokerStars Players Championship winner Ramon Colillas, who is starting today's session as one of the big stacks. Also donning the PokerStars patch is Ambassador Parker Talbot, who finds himself sitting in the middle of the pack.
Parker Talbot
Talbot is no stranger to a deep run in an EPT Main Event, as he managed a fifth-placed finish at the EPT Prague Main Event last December for €278,450. The Canadian is still looking to book his first-ever live tournament win and is one of the players that poker fans worldwide will be rooting for.
Also looking to taste glory on the live felt once again is Mike Watson. The Canadian already has a collection of "spadie" trophies thanks to his €25,000 High Roller win at EPT Barcelona last year and his PCA Main Event win back in 2016.
While also being an absolute behemoth in live tournaments, Watson is also a formidable online player. He is one of the most successful players ever in PokerStars' Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), and with the 2023 edition around the corner, a big performance in Monte Carlo could put him in good shape to add to his seven SCOOP titles.
2023 EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event 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
The Day 2 survivors can take comfort in knowing that they've already locked up €9,850, with the payout increasing to €11,350 when 119 players remain. But of course, each player will do all they can to capture the winner's spoils.
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
As mentioned, Day 3 will kick off at 12 p.m. local time, with blinds resuming at 2,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. A 20-minute break is scheduled at the end of each level, and the plan for today's proceedings is to play five levels.
And as always, all of the action can be seen on PokerStarsTV via YouTube and Twitch, with the Main Event broadcasting cards-up coverage 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.
