The €1,100 French National Championship Crowns a Winner Today
The 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour (EPT) is in full swing and today, the €1,100 French National Championship will be one of many tournaments crowning a champion. Out of a field of 1,425 entries, just sixteen are left standing as play recommences at noon local time. Each of them will take home at least €10,450, but the juiciest slice of the €1,382,250 prize pool is still up for grabs. The winner at the end of the day will take home €244,500 and accompanying bragging rights.
Last year, Guillaume Diaz took it home for the Frenchies in what was a widely celebrated victory across the Salle des Etoiles room. Sylvain Mazza is the nation's prime contender today, as he'll start off with the chip lead (5,200,000). Four more Frenchies are in contention as well, but they're hugging the bottom four spots on the leaderboard and have their work cut out for them. Arnaud Enselme (710,000) is one of them, but the dangerous French online star and best friend of €25,000 EPT Prague champ Corentin Ropert has to claw his way back from the shortest of stacks.
Hot on Mazza's heels are James Romero (5,140,000) and Dennis Schienagel (5,120,000), separated not even two big blinds from the chip leader. Romero took out Ole Schemion in brutal fashion late last night to claim a top spot and with more than 3M in lifetime winnings on The Hendon Mob, the American will be among the most experienced in the field to close it out today.
Behind the top three, there's plenty of firing power lurking in the wings such as 2015 WSOP Ladies Event champ Jacquelyn Scott (3,775,000), three-time Aussie Millions event winner Sam Higgs (3,535,000), rising Austrian talent Mario Mösbock (2,410,000), and 2018 WSOPE Main Event winner Jack Sinclair (2,035,000), among others.
There's just 1 minute and 20 seconds remaining in level 26, with blinds at 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante when players return to the Monte-Carlo Sporting at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. PokerNews will be your one-stop shop for all the action from the principality as no fewer than six tournaments are live covered today, with four of them playing down to a winner.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Table 1 | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | Table 2 | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dennis Schienagel | Germany | 5,120,000 | 102 | Shachar Haran | Israel | 1,735,000 | 35 |
| 2 | Daniel Ghionoiu | Canada | 2,175,000 | 44 | Jacquelyn Scott | USA | 3,775,000 | 76 |
| 3 | Baptiste Carteau | France | 965,000 | 19 | Jack Sinclair | UK | 2,035,000 | 41 |
| 4 | Arnaud Enselme | France | 710,000 | 14 | Morgan Aceto | France | 1,080,000 | 22 |
| 5 | Yota Mitsui | Japan | 4,760,000 | 95 | Stefano Schiano | Italy | 2,355,000 | 47 |
| 6 | Sam Higgs | Australia | 3,535,000 | 71 | Sylvain Mazza | France | 5,200,000 | 104 |
| 7 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 1,185,000 | 24 | Mario Mosböck | Austria | 2,410,000 | 48 |
| 8 | Emrah Cakmak | France | 1,070,000 | 21 | James Romero | USA | 5,140,000 | 103 |
to double up Cakmak.
.
flop, Higgs shook Schienagel out with a bet to get it heads-up to showdown.
turn and 
river ended the young French's attempt in 15th place.
. Carteau held 
flop, accompanied by a "holy f*ck" from Ghionoiu. Neither the 
turn nor 
river could turn it back around, ending the Russian's bid in 13th place.
flop, Ghionoiu led out for 500,000 on the 
turn, which Mitsui called.
and Ghionoiu shoved all in for 1,650,000, followed by an instant call from Mitsui.
for the turned set of sixes, but Mitsui slapped the 
open for the nut flush. He had the Canadian covered and the latter whipped out his camera to capture the board before bowing out in 12th.
and Aceto, who holds both the Italian and French nationality, showed the inferior 
. Cakmak checked and Schienagel simply ripped it in for 1,700,000, more than the size of the pot.
