Day 1c of the €1,100 PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event running as part of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo ended in dramatic fashion as an incredible one-outer wrapped up proceedings, to see 149 more players advance to Day 2.
Yves Piacentino could only look on in horror as his set of queens were usurped by Tommy Alm Bo, who rivered quad fives, causing pandemonium inside Sporting Monte-Carlo.
While the poker gods dished out penance to Piacentino, they smiled upon Vladimir Erceg who ended the starting flight as chip leader. The Serbian ended up with a stack of 762,000, partly thanks to rivering a set of sixes against Jensen Bernard that saw him shoot up the counts.
Kevin Tedesco (699,000) was the only other player to finish near the 700,000 mark, with WSOP bracelet winner Stephen Nahm (644,000) rounding out the top three chip counts.
PokerStars Team Pro and 2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event champion Simon Wiciak (190,000) was also among those to navigate the first hurdle but the same could not be said for the likes of fellow Team Pros Fintan Hand and Parker Talbot, who crashed out late in the night.
Wiciak joins Felix Schneiders and Lasse Jagd Lauritsen as the only players representing the Spadie brand. Schneiders qualified from Day 1a, while Lauritsen survived the Day 1d Turbo flight.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Erceg | Serbia | 762,000 | 152 |
| 2 | Kevin Tedesco | France | 699,000 | 140 |
| 3 | Stephen Nahm | Canada | 644,000 | 129 |
| 4 | Clement Michaud | France | 628,000 | 126 |
| 5 | Christian Alilovic | France | 626,000 | 125 |
| 6 | Muhamet Perati | Italy | 516,000 | 103 |
| 7 | Andrew Hulme | United Kingdom | 485,000 | 97 |
| 8 | Kai De Windt | Belgium | 478,000 | 96 |
| 9 | Felix Schlott | Germany | 458,000 | 92 |
| 10 | Kacper Swiderski | Poland | 456,000 | 91 |
Across the four starting flights, 2,096 entries were recorded, creating a prize pool of €2,012,160, which will be announced when Day 2 kicks off. The second stage of the tournament will start with 314 players, and begins at 12 p.m. local time on Friday, April 26.
The action will resume with around ten minutes left at Level 16, where the blinds are 2,000/5,000/5,000, so be sure to stick with PokerNews as we bring you all the news and updates from EPT Monte Carlo.
