Multiple Titles Won by Pros at 2018 EPT Monte Carlo

The EPT Monte Carlo took place in Monaco from April 24 to May 4, and offered a full schedule of events with buy-ins ranging from as low as €330 for the EPT Cup event, and as much as €100,000 for its Super High Roller.
The series subsequently produced a number of high profile winners, including Bryn Kenney Steve O’Dwyer, and Sam Greenwood, but with Justin Bonomo and Albert Daher both claiming two titles each in the micro-state situated on the French Riviera. Winning its €5,300 Main Event, however, was Nicolas Dumont, a driving instructor who had just $24,303 in career earning prior to his victory.
€5,300 Main Event
The latest PokerStars Festival took place at the Sporting Monte-Carlo, with the building complex featuring the Salle des Etoiles concert hall where many of Monaco’s high profile society fundraisers are held, including the Monte-Carlo Red Cross Ball, and the Rose Ball.
The EPT Monte Carlo Main Event subsequently attracted 574 entries and 201 re-entries to create a prize pool of €3,768,450 ($4,560,632). Erik Seidel then became the first player to make the money after finishing in 111th place for €9,400, with other notable cashes including Leo Margets in 98th (€9,400), Nick Petrangelo in 57th (€11,900), Antoine Saout in 25th (€20,300), Adrian Mateos in 13th (€39,300), and Davidi Kitai in 11th (€44,100).
Final Table
Frenchman Nicolas Dumont entered the final table of eight in pole position with 5.255m in chips, but had to contend with a stacked final table which included the likes of Patrik Antonius (2.975m), David Peters (2.4m), and Ole Schemion (1.16m). Other lesser known finalists included Tomas Jozonis (3.8m), Honglin Jiang (2.985m), Javier Fernandez (2.755m), and Krisztian Gyorgyi (1.94m).
Nevertheless, Tomas Jozonis (A-10) eliminated Javier Fernandez (A-4) in 7th, while Dumont (A-8) took care of Patrik Antonius (K-Q) in 6th, after which Honglin Jiang (4-4) sent Krisztian Gyorgyi (A-K) to the rail in 5th. During three-handed play, Jozonis looked good to progress through to the heads-up phase after being dealt Qs-Qc and calling Jiang Ac-2c preflop shove. Unfortunately for Jozonis, though, the board ran out 9c-8c-8d-5c-Jh to eliminate him in 3rd place, leaving Nicolas Dumont and Honglin Jiang to battle it out for the title.
Heads-Up
As the final battle commenced, Jiang held a 13.4m to 9.8 chip advantage over his last opponent, but before long Dumont managed to reverse the situation when the deciding hand was played with Jiang shoving preflop holding pocket sixes, and Dumont calling with pocket queens. The dealer then laid out a K-7-3-8-3 board to consign Jiang to a runner-up finish worth €434,000, while Nicolas Dumont won the EPT Main Event title, €712,000 ($809,458) in prize money, and the tournament’s $30,000 Platinum Pass.
Final Table Results
1: Nicolas Dumont (France) €712,000
2: Honglin Jiang (New Zealand) €434,000
3: Tomas Jozonis (Lithuania) €308,000
4: David Peters (US) €232,000
5: Krisztian Gyorgyi (Hungary) €184,000
6: Patrik Antonius (Finland) €139,050
7: Javier Fernandez (Spain) €99,900
8: Ole Schemion (Germany) €68,300
Other Winners
Other big name pros bagging titles at the EPT Monte Carlo included Justin Bonomo, who won €1,276,400 from four cashes, including taking down the €25k NLHE for €378,000, and €25k NLHE Single Re-Entry for €259,700. As a result, Bonomo is currently in second place on the 2018 POY Leader Boards on 4,299 points, and has won five titles already this year.
Meanwhile, Albert Daher also captured two titles, namely the €1,100 NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout for €26,700, and the €25k NLHE High Roller for €595,386, while Bryn Kenney claimed the €10,200 NLHE event for €153,000; and Sam Greenwood the €100k EPT Super High Roller for €1,520,000.
Finally, Steve O’Dwyer bested a field of 41 players to emerge victorious at the €50K High Roller for €676,300, with his final table competitors including Nick Petrangelo, Steffen Sontheimer, Justin Bonomo, Daniel Dvoress, and Rainer Kempe. Following a victory which pushes his career earnings to $22,504,233, O’Dwyer commented:
“Luckily, I ran really hot all in. Made some good reads.. and probably some bad plays. That’s poker. That was one of the most absurd final tables I’ve ever played. You just have to be on your toes. Dynamics change so fast. If you have the chips, you get to be the bully, and if you don’t you have to figure who else is the bully and adjust.”