In just over two weeks’ time the streets of Monte Carlo will resonate with the sound of roaring engines, as the global Formula 1 roadshow hits town for the iconic Monaco Grand Prix. In fact, a walk around this historic locale will reveal crash barriers and hoardings are already in place on certain streets, there to prevent disaster should a driver lose control on race day.
Nearby in the Salle Des Etoiles, meanwhile, the cordons have been up around the main feature table, but this time to give the players in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Main Event the chance to focus undisturbed on the high-stakes game being played. There’s a €1M first-place prize to be won, and just one wrong move, a loss of concentration or an unlucky bump in the road could mean they, too, hit the skids.
Of course, we’re not talking life or death here — each of the final six players remaining from the near-record field of 1,195 is guaranteed at least €199,750 in prize money — but a difference of over €800K between 6th and 1st means there’s little room for error. Boris Angelov has pole position heading into the final day’s play, after a big hand sent Miguel Capriles out on the final day bubble.
With blinds at 60K/120K with a 120K big blind ante, Angelov raised under-the-gun to 250K holding 
. Ameer Wakil called from the cutoff with pocket sixes, and Capriles called along from the big blind with 
.
The two hearts on the 
flop gave Capriles a flush draw, which he checked, then shoved after Angelov fired a continuation-bet of 230K into the 930K pot. Wakil had folded his sixes, Capriles had put his remaining 2M chips in the middle, and Angelov wasted no time in calling.
With two cards to come, Capriles needed a king or a heart. He got no help from the 
and the 
, but did pick up €153K for seventh place, and we got our final six players.
Here’s how they line up on the starting grid for tomorrow’s final day.
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boris Angelov | 8,400,000 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Shevliakov | 7,250,000 |
| 3 | Mariusz Golinski | 6,495,000 |
| 4 | Ameer Jamil Wakil | 4,975,000 |
| 5 | Enrico Coppola | 4,715,000 |
| 6 | Khossein Kokhestani | 3,860,000 |
With all players having over 32 big blinds, it could be anyone's day by the time the chequered flag is waved.
The single re-entry €5,300 Main Event has drawn a truly international field. Almost half that field, 448, advanced to Day 2 when registration closed, including the likes of 2024’s €100K Super High Roller champ Patrik Antonius, last year’s €50K High Roller victor Nacho Barbero, Dimitar Danchev, Ari Engel, Ben Spragg, Martin Kabrhel and Erik Seidel.
By the end of Day 2 they were down to 149, before a third day trimmed the field to 52 and a fourth to just 18, topped by Russia’s Aleksandr Shevliakov, who remains present and dangerous heading into the final day’s play. Today’s Day 5 thinned the pack down to the final 6, with the final table employing the now-standard hands-per-level system in place of the traditional tournament clock.
Chip-leader Boris Angelov of Bulgaria may be experiencing some deja vu after a 2024 run in 2024’s EPT Monte Carlo Main Event that very nearly ended with him holding all the marbles. Angelov finished runner-up last year, winning €620K after a prolonged heads-up duel with the eventual champion Derk Van Luijk.
Angelov will be hoping to go one better tomorrow and pocket the million Euros up top, and his big stack of 8.4M chips can only help.
More winners this week
The Main Event has seen players falling left, right and center all week, but there’s been plenty of poker action to keep everyone entertained and to dull the sting of elimination.
Take the €25K NLH with unlimited re-entries, for example. While a tournament with a buy-in that high is not going to slot seamlessly into everyone’s schedule, Monday’s talent-stacked final table was certainly worth watching. It ended up with, among others, Byron Kaverman, Adrian Mateos, Leon Sturm and Jason Koon, and the play was as high-level as you might expect from these elite crushers.
None of them made it to heads-up, though, which was contested by the UK’s Ben Heath and the USA’s Ben Tollerene. The latter won the battle of the Bens for €429K, while his British namesake pocketed €371K for second.
Tuesday’s highlights included a win for PokerStars ambassador and all-round ‘top bloke’ Barny Boatman who, fresh from talking to PokerOrg about the 20-year history of the EPT, set his sights on the €1,100 PLO8 event and only went and won it for €19K.
Elsewhere, spare a thought for those elite high rollers who, having already spent a good amount of time in each others’ company in the record-breaking €100K Super High Roller earlier this week, sat right back down with one another in the €50K High Roller, which ended on Wednesday with a win for Mikita Badziakouski (€788K). Brian Kim of the USA got 2nd (€521K) while Christopher Nguyen followed up his success in the €100K SHR with 3rd place, good for another €352K.
The last hurrah(s)
Enough big buy-in events? Not quite. The usual suspects are back for a €25K High Roller, which will end tomorrow when the Main Event — and the festival as a whole — draws to a close.
226 ponied up to play this one, creating a prize pool of €5,426,260, with the final survivors returning tomorrow to play for the €1,146,000 first prize.
Then there’s the matter of the €10,200 NLH with unlimited re-entry, which kicked off on Friday evening and will accept entrants right up until the start of Day 2. Those looking to make a splash in this one include formidable names like Ike Haxton, Ren Lin, Steve O’Dwyer, David Peters, and whoever else wants to hop in before lunchtime on Saturday.
Get in (PokerStars) gear
It’s not just the PokerStars ambassadors who are rocking the branded threads in Monte Carlo, thanks to an on-site merch store packed with a new line of PokerStars apparel and accessories.
But if you’ve not made the Monaco coast your home this week, you can still get your hands on some gear and rep the Red Spade in your local home game, should you wish.
There’s a 10% discount available, too. Just head to the PokerStars Store and sign up to their newsletter for your one-off discount.
Images courtesy of Manuel Kovsca/Eloy Cabacas/Jules Pochy/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
