Rajkovic Runs Deep in EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, Nguyen Wins Super High Roller
The €5,300-entry EPT Monte Carlo Main Event reached the final 52 players in the principality of the mega-rich today as British player Matt Davenport as PokerStake player Adi Rajkovic busted in 93rd place for €12,950. It was a dramatic 24 hours in Monte Carlo, as German player Chris Nguyen won his first-ever Super High Roller for a career-high score of $2 million.
Drama in the Main Event
The EPT Monte Carlo Main Event is reaching the business end of proceedings and there have been multiple narratives developing throughout the week. One of them – our favorite – has been the run of Austrian player Adi Rajkovic. We tipped him for a result earlier this week when he put his action on PokerStake and he never looked like letting us down.
Easily making the money and building a powerful stack, Adi cruised into profit in the €5,300-entry event. Sadly for his many fans, Benoit Lam’s ace-queen hit when committed pre-flop against Adi’s pocket jacks, as a board of 
played out to send the Austrian home.
Elsewhere in the Main Event, the final 52 players featured a very famous name, with the Polish winner of the 2016 EPT Barcelona Main Event, Sebastian Malec cruising into Day 4 third in chips. Malec, who qualified for that infamous Main Event for €27 online, parlayed that into €1.1 million after asking his opponent to call so that he could go to the restroom, instigating a call that led to his victory at the age of 21. Now 29 years old, Malec could yet add to his EPT Season 13 win with another in Monte Carlo.
Chris Nguyen Wins EPT Super High Roller for $2m
The €100,000 EPT Super High Roller also took place in Monte Carlo this week, with Chris Nguyen winning it for a massive $2 million score. Topping a final table featuring Seth Davies, Mikita Badziakouski and GGMillion$ legend Artur Martirosian, Nguyen finished ahead of 73 other entries and claimed the biggest result of an $8 million prizepool.
While he reached the money places, Triton Poker Series record-breaker Jason Koon could only make ninth place in the event, winning $255,300. The American high roller crusher was joined on the rail by Austrian player Klemens Roiter (8th for $319,000) and the aforementioned Martirosian (7th for $400,000) as six players remained ahead of the official six-handed final on the last day of the event.
Leon Sturm led the remaining half-dozen with 5.68 million chips with Enrico Camosci (4.57m) and the eventual winner Chris Nguyen (3.36m) closest to him. The Turkish player Orpen Kisacikoglu, Belarussian Mikita Badziakousk and Seth Davies completed the field.
It was Badziakouski who busted first. All-in with 
, the Belarussian fell to Leon Sturm, who had woken up with pocket aces. Minutes later, however, Sturm went from second in chips to out on the rail in fifth place for $627,300 when he moved all-in with 
and lost to the pocket sixes of Seth Davies, a board of after a run of hands where the young German bled chips then lost that key coinflip. The American’s sixes held through a teasing board of 
leaving Sturm sunk.
Camosci Can’t Close It Out
After the Turkish player Orpen Kisacikoglu lost with 
to Nguyen’s pocket eights, Kisacikoglu left with $825,600 in fourth place and play moved three-handed. A deal was discussed a deal, but players wanted to carry on, as Nguyen declared ‘I want to play’. Seth Davies then busted in third place for $1,060,250 when he turned trips but lost to Camosci’s full house that came in on the same street.
Heads-up, the Italian had the lead with 10.3 million chips to Nguyen’s 8.4m but a struggling Nguyen made a flush to recover then a turned pair to hold an advantage. Camosci called off his stack pre-flop when short with king-four against Nguyen’s king-five but a four on the river stayed his execution.
Up to 12 big blinds, Camosci was all-in with 
while Nguyen held 
. A flop of 
gave Nguyen hope and while the turn was no help to him, a 
on the river was a dagger to the heart of Camosci’s chances, as Nguyen celebrated.
“It’s definitely the most fun to play against strong players,” Nguyen told PokerStars after the tournament, describing why he rejected the deal. “I kind of felt that even though it was three-handed, there was so much heads up afterwards, I just wanted to play.”
| PokerStars €100,000 Monte Carlo EPT Main Event Day 1a Top 10 Chipcounts: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Chris Nguyen | Germany | $2,300,500 |
| 2nd | Enrico Camosci | Italy | $1,484,200 |
| 3rd | Seth Davies | United States | $1,060,250 |
| 4th | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | $825,600 |
| 5th | Leon Sturm | Germany | $627,300 |
| 6th | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $500,000 |
| 7th | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $400,000 |
| 8th | Klemens Roiter | Austria | $319,000 |
| 9th | Jason Koon | United States | $255,300 |
Photos courtesy of PokerStars, the home of the European Poker Tour.