With 387 total entries on Day 1a, tournament officials announced that play will conclude once 58 players remain.
The tournament clock currently shows 106 players left in this opening flight.
In the closing stages of the last level, Serhii Leonov opened to 4,000 from under the gun and was called by Harry Lodge and Cedric Theveniaud from the hijack and big blind.
Leonov continued for 7,000 on the 7?8?5? flop and only Theveniaud called.
The 3? turn saw Theveniaud check-call for 19,000 which brought in the 6? river. Theveniaud led out for 22,000 and was quickly called.
Amazingly, Theveniaud turned over 6?4? for a flopped straight flush while Leonov was shocked to see he was beat as he had K?J?.
Theveniaud's good times continued shortly after, as he picked up pocket kings and used them to see off Diego Angeli after the latter jammed for around 100,000 with pocket sevens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
450,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
127,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
90,000
-90,000
|
-90,000 |
|
Busted |
Serhii Leonov raised to 8,000 in the hijack before Ankit Ahuja three-bet to 20,000 on the button. Leonov then moved all in for around 70,000 and Ahuja snap-called.
Serhii Leonov: 10?10? 
Ankit Ahuja: K?K?
Leonov was far behind Ahuja's kings as the board ran out J?5?2?2?5? to earn Ahuja the pot and send Leonov to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
300,000
126,000
|
126,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Antoine Labat moved all in for 29,000 under the gun and Marlon Arch reshoved for 157,500 in middle position. Action folded to Enis Rouissi who called in the big blind to put both players at risk.
Antoine Labat: A?4?
Marlon Arch: A?K?
Enis Rouissi: J?J?
The flop came 3?K?2? and Arch took the lead with a pair of kings. The turn was the 7?, but the 5? river gave Labat a straight as he tripled up. Arch took the side pot off Rouissi worth around 260,000, leaving Rouissi on a short stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
260,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
|
90,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
35,000
-165,000
|
-165,000 |
Ankit Ahuja had a raise of 23,000 in front of him from under the gun on a board of Q?4?4?4? before Clement Michaud moved all in for around 50,000 in the big blind. Ahuja practically beat him into the pot.
Michaud had Q?J? for a full house, but Ahuja had the goods as he showed down A?4? for quads. The inconsequential river was the 3? and Michaud was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
410,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
Busted |
Stephanie Bobin was already all in on an extreme short stack as Gabi Livshitz and Stefano Coletti built a side pot of 25,000 heading to the river on a board of 4?K?3?4?J?.
Livshitz then moved all in from the small blind and Coletti, in middle position with around 50,000 left, open-folded K?Q?. Livshitz showed 5?3? for two pair, while Bobin also had K?Q? as she tripled up.
"Nice play. I put you on a four," Coletti told Livshitz.
The next hand, Mihai Niste raised to 8,000 under the gun, Coletti moved all in from early position, and Niste called.
Stefano Coletti: Q?J?
Mihai Niste: A?K?
"I'm live, at least," Coletti said as the flop came K?8?A? to give Niste two pair. "Not anymore," he added.
Niste improved to a full house on the K? turn, while the river was the 8? and Coletti was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
540,000
127,500
|
127,500 |
|
160,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
10,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Fabrice Bigot moved all in for around 40,000 from under the gun and Silviu Nemes called in the hijack.
Fabrice Bigot: Q?J?
Silviu Nemes: A?K?
The K?Q?10? flop gave both players a pair, but Nemes was ahead with his kings. The rest of the board came 8?7? and Bigot couldn't improve on his way to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
120,000 | |
|
Busted |
Brandon Mifsud raised to 10,000 in early position as action went on Domenico Paparo in middle position. He tanked for a minute until Mifsud called the clock.
"He's done this multiple times," Mifsud said. Paparo eventually moved all in for 77,000 and Mifsud called.
Domenico Paparo: Q?Q?
Brandon Mifsud: A?Q?
Paparo was ahead with his queens as the flop came K?10?7?. The A? turn gave Mifsud a pair of aces, but it also improved Paparo to a flush and left Mifsud drawing dead.
The river was the 7? and Paparo doubled up, knocking Mifsud down to an extreme short stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
160,000 | |
|
15,000
-167,000
|
-167,000 |
It took a big cooler, an incredible run of cards, and a massive bad beat for three Frenchmen to finish atop the leaderboard on Day 1a of the €1,100 PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event at Sporting Monte-Carlo.
Come Thevenin flopped a full house against Patrick Clarke’s straight to win a big pot on his way to ending up as chip leader over the remaining 58 players with 525,000. Cedric Theveniaud follows close behind with 518,000; in back-to-back hands, Theveniaud flopped a straight flush and then eliminated a player with pocket kings.
Then there is Laurent Polito, the third member of the 500,000-chip club who was on the fortunate end of the most incredible runout of the day. Polito attempted a big bluff when he five-bet jammed with king-three. Unfortunately, Hicham Hachoumi had woken up with aces and called for his last 110,000. Hachoumi hit top set to take an even bigger lead in the pot, but Polito made a running straight as a stunned gasp arose from the table. He ended up with 505,000.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Come Thevenin | France | 525,000 |
| 2 | Cedric Theveniaud | France | 518,000 |
| 3 | Laurent Polito | France | 505,000 |
| 4 | Atanas Malinov | Bulgaria | 487,000 |
| 5 | Dan Ben Ittah | France | 477,000 |
| 6 | Ankit Ahuja | India | 446,000 |
| 7 | Sylwester Fortuna | Poland | 444,000 |
| 8 | Kin Hang Man | Netherlands | 367,000 |
| 9 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | 348,000 |
| 10 | Miroslav Alilovic | France | 339,000 |
Atanas Malinov (487,000), Dan Ben Ittah (477,000), and Ankit Ahuja (446,000) are also among the top stacks; Ahuja, who won a similar event at EPT Cyprus last October, made quad fours to bust Clement Michaud.
Other players to survive the day include Gabi Livshitz (348,000), Miroslav Alilovic (339,000), and Jack O’Neill (327,000). Jason Wheeler, who wrote on social media that he sensed “something legendary” was going to happen here in Monte Carlo, got through step one as he made the money with 130,000. Past EPT Barcelona champion Sebastian Malec (101,000), Antoine Labat (87,000), Team PokerStars Pro Felix Schneiders (74,000), and Vivian Saliba (48,000) survived with short stacks.
Players who weren’t as fortunate to survive the day included Team PokerStars pros Parker Talbot, Fintan Hand, Maria Konnikova, Simon Wiciak, and Alejandro Lococo, as well as EPT Prague runner-up Jon Kyte, Marle Spragg, Fabrice Bigot, and Conor Beresford. They’ll have to try again on one of the other three flights if they want to take a shot at the title.
A total of 387 players entered Day 1a through the 10 levels of late registration. Only 58 remain who are now in the money and will return to play for Day 2 on April 26 at noon local time. Day 1a ended with 12 minutes and 47 seconds left on Level 16 with blinds of 2,000-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Day 2 begins on the earliest level that an opening flight finished.
Day 1b is currently ongoing. There are two more starting flights tomorrow, beginning with Day 1c at 11 a.m. local time. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates as another crop of players and returning hopefuls try to survive into the money.
