2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT

The 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT festival kicked off today and many notables made their first appearance. An abbreviated Day 1 has drawn to a close in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller. Only eight levels of 40 minutes were on the schedule and Erik Seidel closed it out on the top of the chip counts with 186,000 chips.

Seidel got things started on the second hand of the day when he eliminated Alex Foxen for the first time. Seidel flopped top set while Foxen had a straight and flush draw. All of the chips got in the middle on the turn and Seidel held on to quickly double up his stack. Foxen headed to the re-entry desk but his second bullet was no better than the first and he was eliminated from the tournament.

It was cruise control from there for Seidel who continued to stack chips throughout the rest of the day without any major swings. The American poker-pro has been around the high-roller scene for quite some time and has amassed nearly $34.8 million in live earnings. Seidel's last major victory came in this same building four years ago. It was the 2015 EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller where Seidel claimed the title for over €2,000,000.

Isaac Haxton is another American who made the trek to Monaco and he too had a strong opening day. Carrying the chip lead throughout most of the day, Haxton bagged up 121,300 chips to sit among the leaders. Some other big stacks at the top of the leaderboard include Matthias Eibinger (159,500), Ole Schemion (141,600), Ben Heath (124,900), and Hiroyuki Noda (123,000).

The action didn't get started until 6 p.m. local time at the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Casino and wrapped up just over six hours later. A single re-entry option was available for anyone that was eliminated and there were a few that took advantage. A total of 57 entries were gathered today with only 40 players bagging chips to move on to Day 2. Late registration will remain open until the cards go back in the air at approximately 12:30 p.m.

While most players managed to scrounge their way to Day 2, whether it be on one or two bullets, there were a couple forced to the sidelines. James Romero, Ali Reza Fatehi, and Denys Shafikov were among those to not fire a second bullet as of yet. Kristen Bicknell will have an uphill road ahead of her after losing a big coin flip in one of the last hands of the night. Bicknell will return to just 1,200 chips when Day 2 begins, enough for one big blind.

The prizepool and payouts will be calculated tomorrow once the registration period is officially closed. The seat draw for Day 2 will also be posted just prior to the action getting underway. Continue to follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team for all of the latest live updates throughout the entire festival.

The action has come to an end on Day 1 and Erik Seidel will carry the chip lead forward to Day 2. A full list of chip counts along with a recap of the day's action will be posted shortly.

The action folded to the cutoff who raised to 2,200 and Kristen Bicknell three-bet shoved all in from the big blind. Her opponent wasted little time before making the call for his last 27,800 chips.

Kristen Bicknell:
Opponent:

It was a coin flip that would not favor Bicknell when the flop came . The landed on the turn and the hit the river. After the stacks were counted, Bicknell was left with just 1,200 chips with one hand remaining.

Seth Davies opened to 2,300 in middle position and Adrian Mateos defended from the big blind. The flop fell and Mateos checked to Davies who continued for 2,500. Mateos check-raised to 7,500 and Davies called.

The turn was the and both players checked to the on the river. Mateos led out for 5,700 and Davies moved all in. Mateos was left with a decision for the rest of his 18,600 chips and he sat with his head in his hands before eventually folding his hand.

Timothy Adams raised to 1,700 from under the gun and Ben Heath re-raised to 5,300 in the hijack. The action folded back to Adams who called to see a flop of .

Adams started with a check and Heath continued for 3,700. Adams used a time extension and then check-raised to 10,100. Heath also used a time extension and then moved all in. Adams quickly called off the rest of 28,100 stack and the cards were tabled.

Ben Heath:
Timothy Adams:

Heath was well out front and the on the turn nor the on the river was any help to Adams who was sent to the rail.

Philipp Gruissem opened to 2,000 in middle position and Anthony Zinno called from the cutoff. Isaac Haxton three-bet to 8,000 on the button and Yake Wu counted out a four-bet of 22,000 from the big blind. Both Gruissem and Zinno folded while Haxton made the call.

The flop came and both players checked to the on the turn. Wu led out for 14,500 this time and Haxton quickly released his cards to the muck.