Feature Coverage
Dia 2 Começado
2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT
Feature Coverage
Dias: 2
Coverage of Day 2 of the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Starts at Noon
While the sun itself has been notoriously absent in the normally sun-drenched city of Monte Carlo, the action in Le Sporting Casino at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort is undoubtedly heating up today. On the second day of the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT, the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em continues at 12:30 p.m. local time. 31 out of 47 entries have made their way into Day 2, with late registration still open for another two hours to allow more players to crack a shot at the already near half a million prize pool.
Maria Ho, who recently spoke about her first-ever job before discovering poker, sits in second place after the starting day, behind Tim Adams. Familiar faces such as Benjamin Pollak, Ryan Riess, Stephen Chidwick and Rainer Kempe also bagged big after Day 1. The high rollers will play eight more levels of 60 minutes each before chips are bagged and tagged for the night.
At noon, cards will also be in the air for the first of three starting days of the ever popular €1,100 EPT National. Ten levels of 60 minutes are scheduled for Day 1a, before play is suspended for the night. Day 1a will then continue tomorrow and play down until the money has been reached. On Thursday, April 26, Day 1b and 1c will commence with shorter levels directly from the start and will play down to the money as well.
This allows all surviving players to rack up a cash before returning on Friday, April 27 for Day 2. The final table of this event will be played out on Saturday, April 28 at noon. The big blind ante will be in play, replacing the need for everyone to post their ante and speeds up gameplay.
PokerNews will be on the floor during the day to track the progress in the €10K opening event and €1,100 EPT National, as well as bringing interesting stories and interviews on the side.
Ho, Mateos Lead as €10K Grows
After the first 90 minutes of the day, the field in the €10,300 opening event has grown to 65 entries with 38 of them remaining. Among the new entries that took a seat today are Jack Salter, Imad Derwiche, Ali Reza Fatehi and Patrik Antonius, although the Finnish high staker already hit the rail shortly after entering.
More players have busted but are back on a second bullet, such as Orpen Kisacikoglu, Philipp Gruissem, Ole Schemion, Sylvain Loosli and Bryn Kenney. Maria Ho is the presumable chipleader with a stack of 245,000, shortly followed by Adrian Mateos (230,000). Timothy Adams (185,000), Mustapha Kanit (140,000) and Benjamin Pollak (135,000) are also way above the average stack of 85,000.
The €1,100 EPT National has also kicked off its first of three starting days, with 269 entries taking their seats in the early levels of the day. Players receive 30,000 in chips to start with and a single reentry per flight is allowed. Ten levels of 60 minutes await them before chips are bagged for the night. The flight then continues on Thursday until the money has been reached.
From Hollink to Bendik: A Look at Past Winners of the EPT Grand Final Main Event (2012-2014)
While 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT continues to slowly build towards the biggest events on tap, we're still continuing our look at the history of this prestigious event under the EPT Grand Final banner. Two parts are already in the books — check them out here and here — and this will be part three of the series, taking a look at 2012 through 2014.
| Season | Year | Players | Champion | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 2012 | 665 | Mohsin Charania | USA | €1,350,000 |
| 9 | 2013 | 531 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | €1,224,000 |
| 10 | 2014 | 650 | Antonio Buonanno | Italy | €1,240,000 |
2012 - Winner: Mohsin Charania (€1,350,000)
In perhaps the first EPT Grand Final to really feel the effects of Black Friday — taking place shortly afterward, the 2011 event likely had plenty of American qualifiers — an online crusher from the U.S. wound up winning in 2012.
Mohsin "chicagocards1" Charania conquered a field of 665 as he got heads up with Lucille Cailly. The only other recognizable name at the final table was Italian reg Sergio Castelluccio, who got fourth for €400,000.
Cailly and Charania agreed to a deal that saw Charania lock up €1,150,000 and Cailly €100,000 less. They left €200,000 on the table for which to play, and that money was on the line in a hurry as Charania picked up queens and Cailly ace-king for a massive flip. The queens held unimproved and Charania took down the first of what would be a slew of major titles — he's since added two WPTs and a WSOP bracelet. It's still the biggest cash in a career that's spanned nearly $6 million in winnings.
Justin Bonomo, Amit Makhija, Jason Wheeler, Pratyush Buddiga and future WSOP Main Event final tablist Andoni Larrabe were among those who made runs to the final few tables in this one but came up just short.
Here's the PokerNews winner's interview with Charania:
2013 - Winner: Steve O'Dwyer (€1,224,000)
In some ways, 2013 EPT Grand Final was the birth of a superstar as Steve O'Dwyer rose from the ranks of merely great players to become of the players in the absolute top tier as far as live tournament results.
Backing up a bit, the 2013 EPT Grand Final drew a field of 531 and produced a legendary final table, to this day considered one of the best in EPT history. The final six featured Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Lodden, Jake Cody, Noah Schwartz, Andrew Pantling and O'Dwyer, to say nothing of Jason Mercier, Grant Levy and Freddy Deeb, who finished seventh through ninth, respectively.
O'Dwyer had come up grinding the American circuit but really burst onto the scene with a series of cashes in Europe, making two official EPT final tables and finishing seventh in another, including a second-place finish to Benny Spindler at EPT London. O'Dwyer also booked a win in WPT National Vienna and finished runner-up in WPT Venice.
The American transplant to Ireland had the lead going into the final table but had the shortest stack three-handed. However, he won a flip against Lodden and then busted him picking off a bluff shove to get heads up with Pantling. The Brit would get it in good after turning a flush against O'Dwyer's flopped trips, but O'Dwyer hit quads on the river for the first of five seven-figure scores in what's become a legendary tournament career.
2014 - Winner: Antonio Buonanno (€1,240,000)
The 2014 EPT Grand Final is remembered for one thing: one of the most incredibly drawn out final tables in major poker tour history, as a heads-up match between Antonio Buonanno and Jack Salter stretched out across about 10 hours and dragged into breakfast time the next day.
Buonanno made the final table against a group of young online qualifiers, but the 47-year-old Italian found an early double against Salter and made it to heads-up play against the top British pro, who had entered the final day as chip leader.
Discussions of a deal had begun three-handed between Salter, Buonanno and Malte Moennig, but Salter had a strong position with more than half of the chips in play and wouldn't give up any equity. Buonanno again tried to discuss a deal after busting Moennig, but nothing came to fruition.
Going into heads-up play with about 200 big blinds total in play, nobody could have imagined what followed. Salter and Buonanno battled back and forth across nearly 250 hands and about 10 hours. Salter had Buonanno on the brink, all in and at risk, a number of times, including needing to duck a three-outer once. He failed to get the cards to line up, though, and the match took so long the PokerNews reporting team had to wave the white flag and get to their planes, leaving the coverage in the hands of a remote editor watching the stream.
Finally, Buonanno turned the tables on Salter and finished the job, denying his younger foe a signature title in the exhausting match and leaving a pained Salter to wonder how his luck could have run so poorly in the series of all-in pots.
Late Registration in €10,300 No Limit Hold'em Closed; 71 Entries, First Place Prize of €201,500
Late registration for the €10,300 No Limit Hold'em tournament has now officially closed. 49 unique players plus 22 reentries created a total prize pool of €688,700, with 9 players leaving richer than they came. The winner will take home a first place prize of €201,500 on Thursday, April 26.
Four tables of eight players each remain after a little over three hours, with Maria Ho (295,000) still leading the way. Mustapha Kanit (290,000), Timothy Adams (270,000) and Stephen Chidwick are among the top stacks in the room. Also in contention are John Juanda, Rainer Kempe, Joao Vieira, Isaac Haxton, Steve O'Dwyer, Justin Bonomo, Davidi Kitai and Philipp Gruissem, while the red spade is represented by Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez.
They'll be playing for the following nine prizes:
| Place | Prize in EUR | Prize in USD |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €201,500 | $245,337 |
| 2 | €145,000 | $176,545 |
| 3 | €94,000 | $114,450 |
| 4 | €71,000 | $86,441 |
| 5 | €55,000 | $66,962 |
| 6 | €42,700 | $51,987 |
| 7 | €33,500 | $40,786 |
| 8 | €26,000 | $31,653 |
| 9 | €20,000 | $24,349 |
Ole Schemion is one of the players that busted the high roller, which ended the defending champion's attempt at a back-to-back. After busting, Schemion quickly jumped into the €1,100 EPT National and is one of the 301 active players, out of 367 entries. Michal Mrakes, Matthias de Meulder, Antoine Saout, Benny Glaser, Ana Marquez. Platinum Pass holder and Friend of PokerStars Maria Konnikova are also out in the field today.
Konnikova, a Russian-born journalist from New York City, is working on her book project "The Biggest Bluff" which is set to appear at the end of 2018. The book details her journey through the poker world, working her way up from amateur to pro in the process. Using Erik Seidel's tutelage to her advantage, Konnikova topped the PCA $1,650 National at the PCA earlier this year, where she won $84,600 and a Platinum Pass worth $30,000, punching her ticket to another Bahamas trip right away.
Down to 24 in the €10K
Sylvain Loosli flopped top pair with 
on a flop that was nine-high with two clubs. Unfortunately for him, Juan Prado held 
and had Loosli drawing for his tournament life. The turn was a 
, but Loosli couldn't find a ten, nine or club on the river to survive.
With the elimination of the French pro in 25th, that leaves 24 players left who redrew to three tables with blinds going to 1,500/3,000/3,000. Here's a look at how the remaining field is arrayed:
| Seat | Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Behzad Ahadpour (80,000 | Michael Dix (180,000) | Sam Greenwood (122,000) |
| 2 | Imad Derwiche (119,000) | Jan Schwippert (184,000) | Juan Prado (183,000) |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos (150,000) | Maria Ho (298,000) | Stephen Chidwick (294,000) |
| 4 | Rainer Kempe (102,000) | Adrian Hanauer (54,000) | Orpen Kisacikoglu (170,000) |
| 5 | John Juanda (85,000) | Vladimir Troyanovskiy (111,000) | Mustapha Kanit (218,000) |
| 6 | Leo Fernandez (38,000) | Davidi Kitai (73,000) | Paul Newey (246,000) |
| 7 | Timothy Adams (308,000) | Justin Bonomo (124,000) | Benjamin Pollak (122,500) |
| 8 | Philipp Gruissem (107,000) | Joao Vieira (37,000) | Ryan Riess (114,000) |
From Hollink to Bendik; A Look at Past Winners of the EPT Grand Final Main Event (2015-2016)
In the fourth and final instalment regarding the past winners of the EPT Grand Final, we take on the last two years of the EPT Grand Final: 2015 and 2016, as well as last year's PokerStars Championship. Three parts are already down — you'll find them here, here and here.
As we come to the end of this storied event's history, we'll come across possibly the biggest shake-up the stop has ever seen. In 2016, the buy-in was reduced to €5K after being a €10K event since the start. Besides the two remaining EPT events, we'll also take a bonus peek at Raffaele Sorrentino's victory last year, which was achieved under the PokerStars Championship banner.
| Season | Year | Players | Champion | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 2015 | 564 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | €1,082,000 |
| 12 | 2016 | 1,098 | Jan Bendik | Slovakia | €961,800 |
| PSC | 2017 | 727 | Raffaele Sorrentino | Italy | €466,714 |
2015 - Winner: Adrian Mateos (€1,082,000)
Much like 2013, the year Steve O'Dwyer launched himself into the absolute upper echelon of tournament poker, the 2015 EPT Grand Final Main Event saw one of poker's biggest current stars Adrian Mateos firmly establishing his name by winning it all at just 19 years of age, ending Spain's 11-year EPT title drought in the process.
A massive setup on Day 5 proved pivotal on Mateos' road towards the championship. Holding pocket queens, Mateos was facing all ins from both Juan Martin Pastor and Christopher Frank, who held aces and kings, respectively. Indeed, you won't believe what happened next!
Despite winning big in the massive setup, Mateos still entered the final table as one of the shorter stacks. The Spaniard also faced tough opposition in the likes of Ole Schemion and Johnny Lodden. Mateos dispatched a short-stacked Schemion first, before successfully pulling off a gigantic bluff against Lodden to take on the other big name.
Soul crushed, Lodden busted not long after in fourth. After Hady El Asmer bowed out in third, Mateos was left with a 2-1 chip disadvantage against Muyedine Fares from Senegal. After a flopped two pair held up against top pair for piles, it was easy cruising after and Mateos secured the victory shortly after. It was the Spaniard's second seven-figure cash at just 19 years of age, after winning the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event earlier in 2013.
Still only 23, Mateos already holds three WSOP bracelets and the EPT Main Event title and boasts over $13 million in lifetime winnings, undoubtedly making him one of poker's biggest tournament stars of today.
2016 - Winner: Jan Bendik (€961,800)
For the first time in EPT Grand Final history, the buy-in got slashed; the €10K was shed and reduced to €5,300, in line with all other EPT events. As a result, the field saw a massive increase in contestants to 1,098, almost double compared to the previous year's 564.
Jan Bendik of Slovakia conquered the biggest ever field in Monaco and took home €961,800 in the process. Bendik's victory was a fitting conclusion to the season of the "reg," with all the titles going to already well-established and experienced players. A former EPT Player of the Year, the Slovakian got another crowning moment as he made his way to the biggest cash of his career.
The final table was dominated by the French, who held no less than four trump cards with Adrien Allain, Jimmy Guerrero, Pierre Calamusa and Antoine Saout. Bendik navigated the French minefield, eventually dispatching Allain heads-up after a closely fought contest. The final hand was one of the biggest coolers in EPT history: after Allain flopped a set of eights, Bendik turned a higher set of tens to dust off the Frenchman in cruel fashion.
PokerNews' Sarah Herring interviewed Bendik after his victory:
2017* - Winner: Raffaele Sorrentino (€466,714)
*under the PokerStars Championship brand
After PokerStars had opted to shelve the EPT for a year, it was Raffaele Sorrentino that showed his prowess on the new PokerStars Championship tour. While essentially the same event under a different banner, audiences disagreed and turnout dropped to 717 players. Sorrentino defeated an ultra-hot Andreas Klatt heads-up, who just got off a PokerStars National victory worth €151,445 days before.
It was one of the fastest heads-up in Monaco history due to a big cooler: Klatt got dealt pocket queens and ran those in Sorrentino's pocket aces to bust in second. Sorrentino nearly pulled off an incredible second win in Barcelona later that year, eventually finishing third to add another €850,110 to his lifetime winnings.
In the video below, Sorrentino speaks with PokerNews about his victory:
Who will join this exclusive club in 2018? Follow all the excitement on PokerNews as we bring complete coverage from the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Main Event starting April 28, all the way down to the final table on Friday, May 4.
15 Remain as High Rollers Enter Dinner Break
It's time for the dinner break in both the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em, as well as the €1,100 EPT National. In the high roller, play is down to two tables with Stephen Chidwick as the chipleader.
The redraw and chipcounts in the dinner break are as follows:
| Seat | Table 1 | Counts | Table 2 | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | --empty-- | -- | Maria Ho | 75,000 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | 85,000 | Jan-Eric Schwippert | 198,500 |
| 3 | Michael Dix | 122,000 | Ryan Riess | 79,500 |
| 4 | Justin Bonomo | 130,000 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | 117,000 |
| 5 | Timothy Adams | 395,000 | Stephen Chidwick | 540,000 |
| 6 | Juan Pardo | 195,000 | Vladimir Troyanovskiy | 460,000 |
| 7 | Rainer Kempe | 488,000 | Benjamin Pollak | 260,000 |
| 8 | Behzad Ahadpour | 165,000 | Paul Newey | 204,500 |
Imad Derwiche Gains Valuable Experience Facing Incredibly Tough Table
Timothy Adams bagged the chip lead at the end of Day 1 in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT. A reporter asked him about his experience grinding through a lineup of the same players all day, and Adams dropped a relatively innocuous quote that nonetheless seemed startlingly relevant for himself and six other players on Day 2.
"There are favorable table draws and there are not-so-favorable table draws," he said. "Of course, you'd want a favorable table draw."
The reason this quote sprang to mind on Day 2 was because Adams and some of his competitors had drawn a table startling far on the not-so-favorable side of the spectrum. Take stock of the following lineup, which would not look out of place in a $100K, that PokerNews recorded as Level 12 wound to a close. Also note that Steve O'Dwyer just busted in the currently empty #8 seat shortly before.
| Seat | Player | Seat | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | 5 | Justin Bonomo |
| 2 | Timothy Adams | 6 | Imad Derwiche |
| 3 | Ryan Riess | 7 | Adrian Mateos |
| 4 | Sam Greenwood | 8 | --empty-- |
That's six of the best no-limit players in the world who need no introduction. Their total winnings amount to about $75 million — the "low" man is Timothy Adams with a "measly" $8.5 million.
Oh, and there's Imad Derwiche, too.
Derwiche laughed at his predicament, well aware of the situation and completely self-effacing.
"I am the fish of this table."
But, it's a line Derwiche has used before, and in a situation that showed he might not be so fishy as he proclaims. Last year here in Monte Carlo, Derwiche made it to three-handed play in the €10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, facing off with Sampo Ryynanen and Sylvain Loosli.
"Two professionals and a fish," he announced.
Derwiche showed he might have some shark in him, though, as he emerged victorious for €174,600. It wasn't his first big score here, either. He's showed he can play a little two-card as well, coming runner-up to Charlie Carrel in the €25K High Roller here in 2015 for €750,000.
Overall, Derwiche has done all right for himself with $1.6 million in cashes, and his attitude about facing off with as tough a table as you'll find might be a hint as to why the so-called fish might not be chum after all. Far from worried or intimidated, he expressed excitement.
"It's incredible," he said. "It's fantastic. You learn every day. They are technically better than me. But, I am fighting."
That ability to fight, and have a chance, distinguishes poker from so many other sports, games and other competitive pursuits, Derwiche pointed out. Sure, anyone can step onto a tennis court and try to swing a racket at a Roger Federer serve. Anyone can pair up with Rory McIlroy and try to ape his shot after he tees off on a par five.
But the chances of hitting the ball back past Federer or matching McIlroy shot for shot are essentially nil. A person might still be able to say they're fighting, but it's really no fight at all. In poker, good timing and some luck can put lesser-skilled players on equal footing with even the world's best.
"Don't be afraid," Derwiche said simply, summing up his approach. "You can't be afraid. You have to be strong."
And indeed, Derwiche was holding his own. He had a stack of 120,000, just a bit below the average count, heading into the three-table redraw.
Whether he winds up with a successful finish or not, Derwiche looks like he's going to have to retire his go-to line soon if he keeps making runs in these events. Deception might be a part of poker, but at some point, the fish camouflage isn't going to fit anymore.
2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT Day 2 Photos
Photos by René Velli & Neil Stoddart / PokerNews.
