Theodore McQuilkin raised and picked up a single caller in Darie Vlad from one seat over. On the flop, McQuilkin checked and Vlad bet 5,700. McQuilkin opted for a check-raise to 20,200 and Vlad came along.
After the turn, McQuilkin bet big for 55,000 and forced a reluctant fold from his opponent. Further notables on the same table can be found below.
In one of the defining hands of the day, it all began with an open to 2,600 from Julien Martini. Kalidou Sow was sat on the button and three-bet to 7,500. Martini called and with everyone else out of the way, the two players went to the flop.
It came the and when Martini checked, Sow checked it back. The turn was the and following another check from Martini, Sow made it 8,600 to proceed. Martini called and the two players headed onto the river.
The dealer laid the down and Martini checked once more. This time the price to play was 26,500 but Martini wasn't done yet and moved all in for 97,500 in total. Sow was in a tough spot, with a similar stack size, Martini had just enough to send him to the rail and he went into the tank.
After a couple of minutes, he put a stack of chips over the line to signify the call and they turned their cards over.
Julien Martini:
Kalidou Sow:
It was trips for Sow but he had been bested on the river by Martini's full house and he leaves the table half an hour before the end of play. Martini meanwhile, has risen through the rankings and is one of the top stacks now.
The Main Event of the 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour kicked off today at The Monte-Carlo Sporting. In the first of two starting flights, the flagship event attracted 342 runners, of which 128 have secured themselves a place in Day 2.
There were many big names scattered around the cardroom but when it was time to bag at the end, it was undoubtedly Ludovic Geilich’s day. The professional chipped up to an impressive 271,400, for a decisive chip lead during the 10 hours on today’s schedule.
His run was even more impressive considering the table he was on during the last couple of levels. Featuring poker heavyweights that included Ryan Riess, Julien Martini, Dominykas Karmazinas and PokerStars Ambassadors Ramon Colillas and Kalidou Sow, Geilich survived where others were unable to do so. Most notable was the huge clash between Sow and Martini, which sent Sow to the rail 30 minutes before the end. Sow had turned trips with queen-nine suited and after a checked flop, Martini check-called a bet on the turn. The river was a six that gave Martini a full house with pocket-sixes and saw the rest of the chips go into the middle.
Kalidou Sow
It was also the hand that saw Martini net second place in the counts, with the Frenchman taking 218,000 through, the only other player in the field to exceed the 200,000 mark. He is followed by Conor Beresford (195500) and Ibrahim Ghassan (182000), taking third and fourth respectively. Dominykas Karmazinas rounded out the top five with 178,600.
Of the PokerStars Ambassadors in contention today, Maria Konnikova (133200) takes forward the biggest stack. Ramon Colillas also bagged but dropped to 55,000 after a promising start. Fatima Moreira De Melo busted after the last break and Andre Akkari also failed to bag and tag, but all is not lost as the trio still have one re-entry remaining apiece.
Maria Konnikova
Many of the most well-known names who took part today will return for Day 2 on Wednesday. They include Boris Kolev (160,000), Paul Michaelis (159,000), Vlad Darie (153,000), Dario Sammartino (144,900), Winfred Yu (144,400), Govert Metaal (138,700), Manig Loeser (128,600), Georgios Karakousis (120,300), Orpen Kisacikoglu (109,900), Florian Duta (108,400), Sam Greenwood (107,700), Arsenii Karmatckii (104,200), Ryan Riess (86,400), Maria Lampropoulos, (84,800), Norbert Szecsi (76,700), Pierre Calamusa (71,000), Randy Lew (48,700), Michael Soyza (48,500), Christoph Vogelsang, (44,100), Chin Wei Lim (34,900) and Mohsin Charania (18,000).
Not all of the well-known players were able to advance. Throughout the course of the day, we said goodbye to Adrian Mateos, Alexandru Papazian, David Peters, Denys Shafikov, Eric Sfez, Chen An Lim, Jean-Noel Thorel, Joao Simao, Koray Aldemir, Kristen Bicknell, Lars Bonding, Luc Greenwood, Maria Ho, Mark Teltscher, Marton Czuczor, Matas Cimbolas, Maxim Panyak, Nick Petrangelo, Paul Newey, Rainer Kempe, Sam Grafton, Sylvain Loosli, Timur Margolin, and two-time EPT Champion Victoria Coren Mitchell.
Jean-Noel Thorel
For those who haven’t used their single re-entry, there is always Day 1b tomorrow, which - in terms of the structure - will be pretty much an exact replica of today. Play will start at 12 pm and there are 10 one-hour levels on the clock. There will be a 20-minute break after every two hours, except for the 75-minute dinner break at the end of Level 6.
Join PokerNews then for live updates on all of the Main Event action, from the moment cards are in the air, until the last chip has been bagged.
![[user38873]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, McQuilkin checked and Vlad bet 5,700. McQuilkin opted for a check-raise to 20,200 and Vlad came along.
turn, McQuilkin bet big for 55,000 and forced a reluctant fold from his opponent. Further notables on the same table can be found below.
and when Martini checked, Sow checked it back. The turn was the 
and following another check from Martini, Sow made it 8,600 to proceed. Martini called and the two players headed onto the river.
down and Martini checked once more. This time the price to play was 26,500 but Martini wasn't done yet and moved all in for 97,500 in total. Sow was in a tough spot, with a similar stack size, Martini had just enough to send him to the rail and he went into the tank.
