Cards were on their backs and stacks were in the middle in a hand between Jamie Flynn on the button and Oleksii Lazarchuk in the small blind, with Lazarchuk all-in for 58,500 and at risk.
Oleksii Lazarchuk: 5?5?
Jamie Flynn: A?Q?
Lazarchuk was ahead in a race and remained so after the 9?7?6?K?5? runout, improving to a set of fives and securing a timely double-up.
Gianluca Cammarata opened to 10,000 under the gun and was called by Nikolay Arzumanyan in the next seat.
On the 9?Q?3? flop, Cammarata checked to his opponent. After some thought, Arzumanyan moved all in for around 36,000 and Cammarata made the quick call.
Nikolay Arzumanyan: Q?10?
Gianluca Cammarata: A?Q?
Arzumanyan was in trouble with his pair of queens dominated by Cammarata's ace kicker, but picked up additional outs to the flush draw after the 8? turn.
The 10? then rolled off on the river to give Arzumanyan top two pair and the double up, leaving Cammarata to lament his misfortune.
Action folded to Jozef Cibicek in the cutoff, who opened to 8,000, only to be faced with a three-bet to 28,000 from Saam Pishvaie in the small blind.
After a brief period of thought, Cibicek moved all in for around 100,000, with Pishvaie making the snap-call.
Jozef Cibicek: A?Q?
Saam Pishvaie: A?A?
Cibicek had run his ace-queen straight into Pishvaie's pocket aces, and no unlikely escape was provided by the K?J?5?K?A? runout, Pishvaie taking the pot with a full house.
The action was caught as the full board read 9?9?9?6?2?.
Andrew Hawkins, in the hijack, moved all in putting opponent Nikolay Ponomarev to the test for his remaining stack. Ponomarev didn't seem overly pleased to make the call.
Nikolay Ponomarev: Q?Q?
Andrew Hawkins: K?K?
Ponomarev's inferior full house fell to Hawkins and he was sent to the rail.
Gaspare Sposato opened to 16,000 from the cutoff and Francensco Arcidiacono, who already had half his stack in the middle via the big blind and ante, moved in for the rest of his stack, totaling 17,000. Sposato called.
Day 1b of the €1,100 French Poker Series Main Event, running as part of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour at the Sporting Monte-Carlo has now reached its conclusion. A total of 225 entries were made, but after 18 levels of play, only 34 advanced to Day 2 and secured a minimum cash.
As this chaotic flight died down, Hugo Machado bagged the overall chip lead taking through a total of 437,000 for the Day 2 restart. Following close behind Machado is Saam Pishvaie with a stack of 405,000; the only other player to eclipse to 400,000 chip mark.
Mateusz Moolhuizen, who won the FPS Main Event in Paris just two months ago, continued his hot streak tonight bagging a stack of 296,000. Moolhuizen's prior win secured him a payday of €470,830 for besting a field of 4,149 and is set on continuing his campaign for back-to-back titles.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Hugo Machado
Portugal
437,000
2
Saam Pishvaie
France
405,000
3
Andrew Hawkins
United Kingdom
388,000
4
Pieter De Necker
South Africa
374,000
5
Gaspare Sposato
Italy
360,000
6
Sokratis Linares
Greece
300,000
7
Mateusz Moolhuizen
Netherlands
296,000
8
Julien Pavon
France
276,000
9
Arnaud Enselme
France
270,000
10
Alexandre Suss
France
262,000
Day 1b welcomed some of the best players in Europe and beyond, including PokerStars Team Pro members Alejandro Lococo, Fintan Hand and Parker Talbot. Although all three manage to accumulate chips earlier on in the day, both Hand, Lococo and Talbot failed to materialise a Day 2 stack, firing a combined four bullets between them.
Fintan Hand
Other notable names to hit the rail included EPT Prague Main Event runner-up Jon Kyte and veteran of the European circuit, Alexandre Reard.
Day 2 will kick off on the 26th of April, but before then, players have plenty more opportunities to get into the mix with flights 1c and turbo flight 1d happening tomorrow at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. respectively.
The PokerNews live reporting team will return to bring you more coverage of the French Poker Series Main Event here at EPT Monte Carlo, so stay tuned.
