Hand #1: With just a big blind and no small, Zeiter received a walk with .
Hand #2: Michael Kolkowicz opened under the gun for 185,000 with . Raise and take it as all the players folded.
Hand #3: In the cutoff, Andreas Klatt found and he raised to 185,000. Michael Kolkowicz defended his big blind with and checked on . Klatt checked behind. The saw both players check as well so the pot remained 470,000. Kolkowicz bet 245,000 on the river and Klatt folded.
Hand #4: From the button, Raffaele Sorrentino opened for 180,000. Small blind Michael Kolkowicz woke up with and three-bet to 470,0000. Sorrentino folded.
Hand #5: Action folded to Michael Kolkowicz on the button and he opened with a raise to 235,000. Big blind Andrey Bondar called with to grow the pot to 570,000. Both players checked and Kolkowicz picked up the pot with a 185,000-bet on the turn.
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Raffaele Sorrentino (L) and Michael Kolkowicz
Who will join Christian Harder, Kenny Smaron and Elliot Smith as Main Event winners in the first season of the PokerStars Championship era?
That's the question that will be answered today when PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino? kicks off its final day, with six runners remaining out of 727. Michael Kolkowicz, Andrey Bondar, Andreas Klatt, Raffaele Sorrentino, Diego Zeiter, and Maxim Panyak are the players still in contention for €500,800 and the title here in Monaco.
Kolkowicz, a Frenchman, holds the chip lead, but it's still anybody's game as everybody is between 20 and 60 big blinds heading into the final day of the event. Kolkowicz has 4.6 million as blinds will restart at 40,000/80,000/10,000, and the shortest stack belongs to Diego Zeiter (1,780,000), so it's a tightly bunched group indeed.
Klatt, meanwhile, has come out of nowhere to emerge as a breakout player here at PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo. He won the PokerStars National Championship here, topping a field of over 1,200, and he has followed that up with this final table run. No matter what happens today, he's a big favorite to score a prize as one of the top players on the MonteDam Swing leaderboard, a special PokerStars promotion in partnership with the WPT.
Cards are in the air at 1 p.m. local time, but the live stream and corresponding PokerNews coverage kicks off at 2 p.m.
Andrey Bondar's road to the final table was a quiet one, but now there are just seven opponents between him and the prestigious PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Main Event title. The 44-year-old from Russia won his seat in a live satellite, and then slowly continued through each of the days. He was in the second half of the rankings after Day 1 only to finish Day 2 in mid-table. Day 3 was critical for Bondar, who survived the day with less than 20 big blinds to sit in 38th place out of 45 remaining runners. But he made it through yet again, and then dodged a deadly bullet on Day 5 when he doubled with ace-king against ace-queen of Dmytro Shuvanov, who spiked a queen on the flop. The river brought a king to bring a huge relief for Bondar, who could remain sitting firmly in his chair. So far, Bondar has 11 reported live cashes to his name, worth just over $200k combined. His best result was €66,780 for 19th place in the EPT12 Grand Final €25k High Roller. Bondar's second-largest payday came also here in Monaco. Two years ago, he finished third in the EPT11 Grand Final €2k Event, earning €62,489.
Andreas Klatt certainly knows what one has to do when they win a big poker tournament - try to win another one. The 30-year-old German pro outlasted the 1,252-entry PokerStars National Championship here in Monaco, pocketing €151,445. And his momentum has carried on during the Main Event, too. Klatt navigated his way to the final table, making a giant leap towards winning the MonteDam Swing leaderboard. Klatt lives near Stuttgart, and plays poker for living. He discovered the game several years ago but then abandoned poker in order to focus on his studies. However, Klatt returned to poker after graduating in economics and now aims for a remarkable back-to-back win here at PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo. Mainly an online player, Klatt may transition to the live tournaments in the near future. The first-place prize from the PokerStars National Championship will help him increase his bankroll, and Klatt plans to invest in travelling, too. Klatt will spend summer grinding at the World Series of Poker. So far, he's racked up $240,000 in live tournaments. His Hendon Mob résumé includes cashes from Australia, The Bahamas, Panama, Malta, Barcelona and Rozvadov.
Diego Zeitar was born in Argentina, but grew up in Switzerland where he graduated in economics last year. Zeiter resides in Bern but says his heart belongs to Argentina. He has just one word for his Main Event deep run: "Vamos!" Done with school duties, the 29-year-old can now fully focus on poker again. Zeiter is a long-time poker pro, who picked up the game back in 2007. He's accumulated nearly $600K in live tournaments so far. Zeiter's biggest payday was $113,819 for sixth place in a $1,500 NLH Event at 2013 World Series of Poker. Zeiter has already captured a trophy at PokerStars sponsored events. He won the EPT13 Prague €2k Turbo Knockout for €25,700. However, Zeiter's bread and butter are online tournaments. His stellar CV includes several six-figure cashes on PokerStars. When he's not present at live or online poker tables, Zeiter can be often found on a football pitch, slopes and a tennis court.
Webjoker
Raffaele Sorrentino (L) and Michael Kolkowicz
Originally from Calabria, Italian poker pro Raffaele Sorrentino relocated to Malta so that he could continue crushing the virtual realm in the shared liquidity pool. He's known as "1mDonuts" on PokerStars, and his packed online résumé includes both second and third place in a Sunday 500 and a final table in a Sunday Million. However, Sorrentino's biggest online score came during his trip to EPT13 Prague. It started with his bustout in a €500 Turbo tournament. Sorrentino then went up to his room, registered in to the Thursday Thrill, and eventually ended up winning it for $106,166. The 37-year-old has been successful on the live scene, too. He has amassed over $400k in cashes, good for 83rd place on the Italian all-time money list. Sorrentino's biggest payday was €102,000 for first place in the EPT13 Barcelona €1k Turbo Event. Sorrentino went also deep in the EPT11 London Main Event, falling just shy of the star-studded final table when. He was forcted to leave in 10th place after a cruel knock out by the eventual champion Sebastian Pauli. Sorrentino held queens back then, and had flopped the top set while Pauli was drawing for a nut-flush. A third spade card on the river left Sorrentino collecting a receipt for a ￡33,500 reward.
Michael Kolkowicz may be an amateur poker player, but the 31-year-old from Paris has been steadily building his stack through the whole tournament. Kolkowicz was amongst the top five at the end of each day. He first took the overall chip lead at the end of Day 3. Remarkably, he didn't plan to play the Main Event but changed his mind after having a solid first night at the cash game tables. Kolkowicz certainly doesn't regret his decision to register. Playing in the Salle des étoiles may be his advantage as the real-estate agent calls it his "lucky room". Kolkowicz got married in this room ten years ago. "Winning this tournament would be my second best memory from this room," he said. He now has three children with his wife Cynthia, who's supporting her husband during the Main Event, albeit remotely as the family lives in Lyon. Kolkowicz keeps Cynthia updated about his poker journey through frequent Facebook messages. And she would travel all the way to Monaco to support Kolkowicz here in the rail, should he make it to the final day. Kolkowicz admires Davidi Kitai's game, considering him the best pro he's ever played against, pointing out Kitai's abilities to read his hand "all the time". When playing poker, Kolkowicz can be mostly seen in cash games. He also likes chess, and plans to share his passion for it with his children.
From all the Russian players who regularly travel around the poker circuit, Maxim Panyak may have been the one who has been flying under the radar until now. The 44-year-old from Yekaterinburg, however, has already racked up more than $1 million in live tournaments. Panyak earned the biggest prize of his career when he took down the 2015 €10k TonyBet Open Face Chinese tournament in Prague for €110,000 but he's proved his abilities in No-Limit Hold'em, too. Panyak won the Russian Poker Tour Main Event in Kiev six years ago, collecting €73,888 along with the title. His show-case also features a trophy from Monaco as Panyak topped the EPT12 Grand Final €2k Hyper Turbo Win the Button, scooping €44,280 together with the silverware. Panyak has notched up four EPT Main Event cashes in his career, with the best result earned at PCA 2013 where he finished in 27th place for $47,000. He's active online, too. His accolades include several five figure results including a SCOOP final table and a Sunday Supersonic title. Panyak is the oldest player on the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Main Event final table; he's five months older than his fellow countryman Andrey Bondar.
.
. Raise and take it as all the players folded.
and he raised to 185,000. Michael Kolkowicz defended his big blind with 
and checked on 
. Klatt checked behind. The 
saw both players check as well so the pot remained 470,000. Kolkowicz bet 245,000 on the river 
and Klatt folded.
and three-bet to 470,0000. Sorrentino folded.
with a raise to 235,000. Big blind Andrey Bondar called with 
and Kolkowicz picked up the pot with a 185,000-bet on the 
turn.
