Benny Glaser opened to 4,500 first to act and was called by Alexandre Moreau and Jack Salter in the big blind. On a flop all three players checked and Salter led the turn for 12,500, both Glaser and Moreau came along.
The followed on the river and Salter moved all in for 76,100. Glaser folded and Moreau gave it plenty of thought before making the call. Salter rolled over with the words "good call" and Moreau claimed the big pot with for top pair.
Jack Sinclair was busy on his phone and typing a social media post with the words "Sorry Kristen," which he showed openly. That confirms the elimination of Kristen Bicknell, who had been on Sinclair's table and lost with jacks to the ace-king suited of the Brit.
Soon after, Malek Grabsi jammed up his stack and then defended his big blind against Timur Margolin's open raise from late position. Grabsi led the flop for 6,500 and Margolin jammed for his last 52,500. Grabsi had that barely covered and needed some time, but made the call eventually.
Timur Margolin:
Malek Grabsi:
The turn improved Grabsi to a straight and he dodged the hearts redraw with the river.
One limp was followed by a raise to 10,000 by Maria Lampropulos at the end of the previous level and Ole Schemion called in the big blind, the limper folded.
Schemion checked the flop and Lampropulos checked behind. A bet of 21,500 by Schemion followed on the turn and Lampropulos came along to face another bet of 61,500 on the river. Lampropulos was sent into the think tank for more than three minutes and she then called for about half her remaining stack.
Schemion flipped over for a flush and won the pot. "I wanted to fold, but couldn't," Lampropulos replied.
Philippe Le Touche had been up to more than 600,000 in level 12, but was spotted walking out of the tournament area. Was he taking a break? He had no hurry to return to his seat and a quick look at table 13 revealed another player in the seat of the former dominating chip leader.
"He is gone, but his chips are still here. Crazy table 13," Nikola Trajanov said. Trajanov and Renjun Yang are the two chip leaders there now and Trajanov chopped with Giuseppe Carbotti when both showed and in the showdown, the flop already secured the split pot.
Harry Lodge had nursed a short stack and eventually got it in with against the of Maurizio Pili. The board came and Pili piled misery on Lodge with his full house. Pavel Ignatov has also been eliminated, which means there are 103 players remaining.
Ole Schemion opened first to act and Balazs Biri three-bet shoved out of the big blind for more than 200,000 only for Schemion to snap call. There was also an all in and call one table over, as Dinesh Alt looked up Stefano Schiano for more than 200,000.
Balazs Biri:
Ole Schemion:
Biri was already out of his seat and watched the action unfold from the rail as he found no sufficient help on the board.
Schiano avoided the same fate as he held up with against Alt's on a board of . Right after, all remaining 102 players bagged and tagged for a short night, as Day 2 already commences at 12 p.m. local time.
The 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour (EPT) is off to a great start for German superstar Ole Schemion, who hasn't been traveling as much on the international poker circuit in the last few years, but still showcases his talents whenever he shows up and takes a seat at the poker tables.
Schemion already finished 7th in the €10,000 Single Re-Entry Event for €33,270 and topped the 679-entry strong field in the second starting day of the €1,100 French National Championship at The Sporting Monte-Carlo.
After a lengthy bubble period in the early morning hours, it was the German who now resides in Vienna that made sure the top 15% and final 102 players were reached. Schemion raised first to act with aces and Balazs Biri jammed in the big blind for more than 25 big blinds with queen-nine to become the Day 1b bubble boy. Schemion bagged up 782,000 to claim the overall lead for Day 2 and narrowly edged past Catalan Josep Maria Galindo Lopez, who advanced with 770,000.
Several other players burst through half a million in chips such as WSOP APAC bracelet winner Sam Higgs (631,000), Dennis Schienagel (620,000), Mikhail Soltanov (600,000), Artur Martirosian (584,000), Bruno Volkmann (548,000), Luca Famea (520,000) and Davor Lanini (513,000).
Higgs decided on short notice to make the trip from Dubai to Monte-Carlo with his fellow countryman Michael O'Grady, and bagged the third-biggest stack on Day 1b. Martirosian was one of the players that survived an all in on the bubble when his flip with ace-king suited against the pocket queens of David Splettstoesser provided an ace on the board.
Sam Higgs
Other notables and big stacks that advanced include Denis Timofeev (438,000), Paul-Francois Tedeschi (328,000), Benny Glaser (237,000), Norbert Szecsi (221,000), Jack Sinclair (214,000), former French football professional Jimmy Kebe (166,000), Erwann Pecheux (148,000), Sonny Franco (46,000) and Gaelle Baumann (24,000).
For the red spade, the second of three flights was an unfortunate affair, as Maria Konnikova, Kalidou Sow, Ramon Colillas, Celina Lin and Fatima Moreira De Melo all ran out of chips much earlier than they had hoped for. Defending champion Guillaume Diaz also failed to make it through, he never recovered from paying off the top set of aces of Bruno Caron and bowed out without being able to lift the trophy once more in Monte-Carlo.
The story of the day would have very likely been Frenchman Philippe Le Touche, who had already amassed six starting stacks by the end of level three. Le Touche would soar up to more than 620,000 with the elimination of Lucas Sfez in level 12, however, just three levels later he had distributed his monster stack evenly on the table and headed out of the tournament area.
Many other notables were sent to the rail without anything to show for such as Yan Li, Anson Tsang, Darie Vlad, Pierre Calamusa, Michael Wang, Remi Castaignon, Jan Bendik, Marton Czuczor, Davidi Kitai, Antoine Saout, Maria Ho, Kristen Bicknell, and Nick Pupillo. Bicknell lost a flip with jacks against the ace-king suited of Jack Sinclair and Wang jammed at the wrong time with ten-nine against the ace-king of Artur Martirosian.
All 102 Day 1b survivors will join the 53 players that bagged up the previous night and the 59 survivors in the final flight as of 12 p.m. local time. Day 1a finished with 12:12 minutes left in level 16 at blinds of 2,000-5,000 with a big blind ante of 5,000 and that's where the action resumes for all players on Day 2, and the payout structure will be announced before the cards go back in the air.
Make sure to tune back in then, as the PokerNews live reporting team will provide continued updates from the floor until a champion is crowned.
![[user38873]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop all three players checked and Salter led the 
turn for 12,500, both Glaser and Moreau came along.
followed on the river and Salter moved all in for 76,100. Glaser folded and Moreau gave it plenty of thought before making the call. Salter rolled over 
with the words "good call" and Moreau claimed the big pot with 
for top pair.
flop for 6,500 and Margolin jammed for his last 52,500. Grabsi had that barely covered and needed some time, but made the call eventually.
turn improved Grabsi to a straight and he dodged the hearts redraw with the 
river.
flop and Lampropulos checked behind. A bet of 21,500 by Schemion followed on the 
turn and Lampropulos came along to face another bet of 61,500 on the 
river. Lampropulos was sent into the think tank for more than three minutes and she then called for about half her remaining stack.
for a flush and won the pot. "I wanted to fold, but couldn't," Lampropulos replied.
and 
in the showdown, the flop already secured the split pot.
against the 
and Pili piled misery on Lodge with his full house. Pavel Ignatov has also been eliminated, which means there are 103 players remaining.
against Alt's 
