€1,100 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT
€1,100 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
After twelve levels of play, Day 1 of the €1,100 NLHE Freezeout has come to an end with 42 players, out of 198 in total, bagging up at the end of the day. The 198 entries in total created a total prize pool of €192,060 and the winner will walk away with €42,590. Claiming the chip lead in the first event of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour is Zakhar Babaev from Israel with 242,500 in chips.
He collected most of those chips when he rivered a full house and eliminated Aladin Reskallah in a hand where Julien Martini folded his straight in the end in a big pot. Babaev finished in second place in this year’s EPT Sochi’s Main Event for $258,896. Martini also bagged big tonight with 165,000 and is familiar with a second-place finish in a PokerStars event as he lost his heads-up match against Platinum Pass Winner Ramon Colillas during the PokerStars Players Championship at the beginning of the year.
Second in the chip counts is Canada’s Jeffrey Colpitts with 222,500, followed by Paul Testud who bagged 205,000. Closing out the top five are Olivier Ferrero (192,000) and another Platinum Pass winner, Natalie Teh with 188,000. Other notable players who found a bag to tag at the end of the day include the Pupillo brothers Nick and James Pupillo who bagged 155,500 and 100,500.
Unfortunately, not everyone was lucky enough to make it through. PokerStars Ambassador Kalidou Sow busted in the final hand of the night when he shoved his five-deuce off-suit in the small blind when Paul Testud had limped in from the cutoff with ace-queen suited. No help came on the board and Sow was sent packing without a bag. The only other PokerStars Ambassador to participate today was Celina Lin but she also failed to find a bag at the end of the night. This was also the case for players like Romain Lewis, June Jenkins, Michael Wang, Paul Tedeschi, Jack Sinclair, Erwann Pecheux, Randy Lew, Alexandre Reard, Pierre Calamusa, Ami Barer, Antoine Saout, Joey Weissman, Timur Margolin, Sonny Franco, and Jean-René Fontaine.
Day 2 will start at 12:30 PM on Friday, April 26 with Level 13 which features a small blind of 1,000, big blind of 2,500 and a big blind ante of 2,500. Levels will continue to be 40 minutes each with a 20-minute break after every three levels. Another 75-minute dinner break is scheduled after the ninth level of play on Day 2. With 42 players remaining, the bubble is expected to burst early in the day as only 27 players will be in the money for at least €1,920.
So, who will make it into the money? Make sure to return for Day 2 to see who will cash and who will walk away as the winner at the end of the day as the PokerNews live reporting team will bring you all the action from the EPT Monte Carlo!
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Deividas Daubaris | Lithuania | 185,500 | 74 |
| 1 | 2 | Jeffrey Colpitts | Canada | 222,500 | 89 |
| 1 | 4 | Morgan Aceto | France | 111,000 | 44 |
| 1 | 5 | Zorlucan Er | Turkey | 27,500 | 11 |
| 1 | 6 | Giancarlo Imperati | Italy | 77,000 | 31 |
| 1 | 7 | Benjamin Saada | France | 37,000 | 15 |
| 1 | 8 | James Pupillo | United States | 155,500 | 62 |
| 2 | 1 | Paul Testud | France | 205,000 | 82 |
| 2 | 2 | George Schiavo | Australia | 67,500 | 27 |
| 2 | 3 | Mattias Hansen | Denmark | 14,500 | 6 |
| 2 | 4 | Simone Agnoletto | Italy | 52,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 6 | Boutros Naim | Lebanon | 56,000 | 22 |
| 2 | 7 | Shahar Levi | Israel | 123,500 | 49 |
| 2 | 8 | Itai Danziger | Israel | 95,000 | 38 |
| 3 | 1 | Olivier Ferrero | France | 192,000 | 77 |
| 3 | 2 | Leonel Graterol | Venezuela | 55,500 | 22 |
| 3 | 3 | Meddi Ferrah | France | 64,500 | 26 |
| 3 | 5 | Anton Serhiienkov | Ukraine | 128,000 | 51 |
| 3 | 6 | Danilo Colomba | Italy | 111,500 | 45 |
| 3 | 7 | Zakhar Babaev | Israel | 242,500 | 97 |
| 3 | 8 | Zorlu Er | Turkey | 56,000 | 22 |
| 4 | 1 | Natalie Teh | Malaysia | 188,000 | 75 |
| 4 | 2 | Frederic Delval | France | 82,500 | 33 |
| 4 | 3 | Marco Montruccoli | Italy | 64,500 | 26 |
| 4 | 4 | Julien Bolimowski | France | 56,000 | 22 |
| 4 | 6 | George Rotariu | Romania | 80,500 | 32 |
| 4 | 7 | Julien Martini | France | 165,000 | 66 |
| 4 | 8 | Francois Evard | Switzerland | 31,000 | 12 |
| 5 | 1 | Shachar Haran | France | 24,500 | 10 |
| 5 | 2 | Salvatore Camarda | Italy | 14,500 | 6 |
| 5 | 3 | Oskar Jonsson | Iceland | 77,500 | 31 |
| 5 | 4 | Gabriel Chiva | Romania | 84,000 | 34 |
| 5 | 5 | Raul Paez | Spain | 106,000 | 42 |
| 5 | 6 | Remi Castaignon | France | 35,000 | 14 |
| 5 | 8 | Mounir Tajiou | Sweden | 161,000 | 64 |
| 6 | 1 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | 64,000 | 26 |
| 6 | 3 | Lawrence Andreys | France | 30,000 | 12 |
| 6 | 4 | Renjun Yang | China | 44,500 | 18 |
| 6 | 5 | David Domjan | Germany | 75,000 | 30 |
| 6 | 6 | Emanuele Pavoni | Italy | 27,000 | 11 |
| 6 | 7 | Semen Kravets | Russia | 134,500 | 54 |
| 6 | 8 | Nick Pupillo | United States | 100,500 | 40 |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
242,500
-1,500
|
-1,500 |
|
||
|
222,500
82,500
|
82,500 |
|
205,000 | |
|
192,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
188,000
77,000
|
77,000 |
|
185,500
65,500
|
65,500 |
|
165,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
161,000
89,000
|
89,000 |
|
155,500
-33,500
|
-33,500 |
|
134,500
20,500
|
20,500 |
|
128,000
-34,000
|
-34,000 |
|
123,500
8,500
|
8,500 |
|
111,500
44,100
|
44,100 |
|
111,000
-61,000
|
-61,000 |
|
106,000
101,000
|
101,000 |
|
100,500
50,500
|
50,500 |
|
95,000
-10,000
|
-10,000 |
|
84,000 | |
|
82,500
50,500
|
50,500 |
|
80,500 | |
|
77,500
-5,500
|
-5,500 |
|
77,000 | |
|
75,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
67,500
-12,500
|
-12,500 |
|
64,500 | |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Paul Testud limped in from the cutoff and Kalidou Sow decided to shove for 36,700 in the big blind in the very last hand of the night. Testud called with the bigger stack.
Kalidou Sow: 
Paul Testud: 
The board ran out 
for Sow to not get any help of the board and he was eliminated before being able to bag up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
205,000
205,000
|
205,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and the players need to play three more hands before they can bag and tag their chips for Day 2 tomorrow.
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Zakhar Babaev raised to 3,300 from the hijack and was called by Julien Martini in the cutoff. Aladin Reskallah shoved on the button for 26,700 and the blinds quickly folded. Babaev and Martini both made the call.
The flop came 
on which both players checked to the on the turn. Babaev bet 10,500 and Martini called.
The river completed the board with the 
and Babaev continued with a bet of 25,500. Martini took some time to think and then reluctantly folded.
"Good fold" Babaev commented and then tabled 
for the rivered full house.
Reskallah got up from his chair and showed he held 
which wasn't good enough to stay in the tournament.
"I folded 
" Martini said. "How disappointed are you?" he added with a smile.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
244,000
94,000
|
94,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
146,000
96,000
|
96,000 |
|
Busted | |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Simone Agnoletto raised to 4,500 from mid-position and Zorlucan Er shoved for 8,600 in the hijack. The rest of the table folded and Agnoletto made the call.
Zorlucan Er: 
Simone Agnoletto: 
The board ran out 
for Er to flop a pair of tens and improve to two pair on the river to secure the double-up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
67,000 | |
|
22,200 |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
172,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
140,000
46,000
|
46,000 |
|
|
120,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
|
|
83,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |