PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Main Event concluded Day 4 play earlier today. With the field whittled down to just 49 remaining players to start the day, the final table and €1,000,000 top prize lay firmly in sight.
Throughout the day, players hit the rail as their dreams of EPT glory faded into nonexistence and the field shrunk down to just 16 remaining combatants. Among the Day 4 casualties were high stakes crusher Dan Smith, Day 3 chip leader Selahaddin Bedir, Mustapha Kanit, and YouTube sensation Alexander "Wolfgang" Seibt.
Philipp Wenzelburger holds the chip lead headed into Day 5. The German managed to more than 10x his stack over the course of Day 4 play.
Mateos looks to join two-time EPT Main winners club
Adrian Mateos managed to navigate his way through murky waters after starting the day within the top ten on the chip counts. The leader on Spain's all-time money list finished with a little more than a million extra chips from his count to start the day, largely thanks to a massive pot that went his way on the final hand of play.
After calling David Docherty's button three-bet with 
, Mateos check-called two bets from his opponent on a 
board. Docherty's 
had outs heading into the river — not to mention plenty of fold equity against Mateos' exact holding — but any hope of winning the pot went right out the window as the 
completed the board, improving Mateos to a full house. Docherty, left with just queen-high, committed all but one big blind's worth of his remaining chips. Mateos asked for a count before moving in for the remaining big blind, eliciting an exasperated fold from Docherty.
Clearly, Mateos knows what it takes to win events of this caliber — in fact, he won the 2015 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event exactly nine years ago to the day, taking home the top prize of €1,082,000. It took a few years, but the Spaniard managed to add to his EPT trophy cabinet in 2022 by winning the EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller for €1,385,430.
Should Mateos find his way to a win over the next two days, he would land himself in hallowed company as only the fourth person in poker history to win two EPT Main Events. Canada's Mike Watson — winner of last year's EPT Monte Carlo Main Event - joined Victoria Coren Mitchell and Mikalai Pobal in the exclusive club.
Wolfgang crashes out in 18th
Poker's own YouTube maven Alexander "Wolfgang" Seibt started the day smack dab in the middle of the chip counts. Unfortunately, Seibt struggled to pick up meaningful pots throughout the day and the increasing blinds saw his stack whittle away. Finally, he committed his remaining chips with 
against Docherty's 
. The runout failed to provide the necessary three-outer - or even the chop - to keep Wolfgang's hopes alive and he finished in 18th place, cashing for €35,100.
In an emotional bust-out interview, Seibt expressed his feelings on the deep run and how it ended. "It's just four days of grinding - I'm not a tournament grinder, I mostly play cash. So, just being able to represent for cash game vloggers and people who love poker. Being an ambassador for poker is really what's making me emotional right now."
As he fought back tears, Seibt continued, saying "My dad just beat cancer and so he's watching from the hospital. I'm just super glad I could give him a little bit of enjoyment the past couple days."
Seibt concluded the interview with an absolute mentality gem: "Maybe I got it in bad, but I feel like a winner."
PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Main Event continues tomorrow with Day 5 action. The remaining 16 players will battle down to the final table - catch all the action live on the PokerStars YouTube channel.
Images Courtesy of PokerStars/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
