On a flop of 5?J?6?, Soraya Estrada, in early position, checked the action to Hiroshi Nishiyama, in middle position. Nishiyama bet out 3,000 and Estrada made the call.
The 9? turn saw a repeat of the action, this time Nishiyama sized down to 2,900.
The 3? river checked to a showdown. Estrada tabled A?5? for a pair of fives; good enough to take down this pot.
Marian Mitran open jammed for 20,500 from under the gun. Axel Hallay, in middle position, moved all in himself for approximately 25,000 and Hiroshi Nishiyama made the call, having both players at risk, from the small blind.
As the cards were about to be tabled, in a dealer error Nishiyama's cards were swiped into the muck. The tournament staff were called but due to its complexity, the decision was deferred to another member of the floor. The gravity of the situation required a third opinion, so the tournament director was requested to make the final ruling.
The floor retrieved two cards from the top of the muck which matched the holding Nishiyama said he had. The cards were retrievable and it was an all-in pot so all hold cards must be tabled, the hand was considered live.
Marian Mitran: A?10?
Axel Hallay: A?K?
Hiroshi Nishiyama: J?J?
In dramatic fashion, the dealer spread the five-card runout as it came 9?4?J?J?Q?; Nishiyama made quads to eliminate both players.
Conor Beresford opened from the button to 3,000. Malcolm Trayner raised to 10,500 in the small blind before Ekrem Sanioglu moved all in in the big blind for 18,000. Beresford folded and Trayner called.
Ekrem Sanioglu: K?9?
Malcolm Trayner: A?8?
Sanioglu flopped trips on 9?J?9? and improved to quads on the 9?. The inconsequential river Q? was dealt and Sanioglu secured the double.
The player under the gun raised to 3,000, Parker Talbot three-bet jammed for 36,000 from middle position and Mateusz Moolhuizen moved all in himself for 37,000, from the big blind. The original raiser folded.
Parker Talbot: 10?10?
Mateusz Moolhuizen: A?K?
The board ran out 7?8?J?Q?5?; this flip fell in the favour of Talbot, leaving Moolhuizen with just 1,000 behind the line.
Hand Two:
Moolhuizen was all in for his last 1,000 by posting the small blind. Luca Giovannone raised to 5,000 from middle position, Jonathan Bussieres moved all in for 23,000 from the button and Giovannone called.
Mateusz Moolhuizen: K?3?
Jonathan Bussieres: Q?Q?
Luca Giovannone: A?J?
The board ran out 2?8?8?6?6?; Bussieres' queens held to send Moolhuizen to the rail.
After four players were caught in a preflop raising war, Martin Stausholm moved all in from middle position, covering all remaining opponents. Alan Ferraro, on the button, called off the bet for his effective stack of 161,000. Andrey Andreev, in the small blind, also called his last 91,000. The player in the big blind folded.
Andrey Andreev: A?J?
Alan Ferraro: Q?Q?
Martin Stausholm: J?J?
The board ran out K?6?9?8?6?; Ferraro's queens held to claim this monster pot, sending Andreev to the rail.
Thomas Santerne limped from the hijack. Vitalijs Kohrs called in the small blind and Gabi Livshitz called in the big blind.
The blinds checked to Santerne on the Q?9?Q? flop and he bet 4,000. Kohrs folded and Livshitz called. Livshitz checked again on the 4? turn and Santerne sized up to 12,500. Livshitz called again.
Livshitz checked the 6? river and Santerne bet 60,000, more than enough to put Livshitz all in.
Livshitz said "sorry one second," as he began to tank. He asked Santerne "what do you think I have?" Santerne replied "ace-jack with the ace of diamonds maybe?"
Livshitz took a moment before folding. Santerne tabled 4?4? for two pair.
Play has finished for the day here at the Sporting Monte-Carlo in Day 1 of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo €3,000 Mystery Bounty and Alan Ferraro is the chip leader with a stack of 429,000 heading into Day 2. This event attracted 652 entrants but only 155 found a bag at the end of the night.
Ferraro is no stranger to the EPT. He already has cashes including a 38th-place finish at the 2023 EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event for €31,250. In second place is Sylwester Fortuna with 392,500. Fortuna won the 2023 Pokercode Festival Madrid €550 Main Event for €40,000 and already has a cash here in Monte-Carlo in the €1,100 FPS Main Event. In third is Igor Pihela. He made the final table of the €10,200 Mystery Bounty at EPT Barcelona in 2022 and will be looking to make another deep run.
EPT Monte Carlo Mystery Bounty Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Alan Ferraro
Italy
429,000
2
Sylwester Fortuna
Poland
392,500
3
Igor Pihela
Estonia
380,000
4
Nir Sharon
USA
338,000
5
Kamal Bejjani
Lebanon
315,000
6
Mengshi Tian
Hong Kong
315,000
7
Alfonso Simone
Italy
300,000
8
Sergi Reixach
Spain
275,000
9
Umberto Zaffagnini
Italy
261,000
10
Andrija Robovic
Croatia
255,000
Other notable players that made it through to Day 2 include 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event champion Kalidou Sow with 240,000 and this year's €50,000 EPT Paris Super High Roller winner Thomas Santerne with 85,000. PokerStars AmbassadorsParker Talbot (216,000), Ramon Colillas (105,000), Benjamin Spragg (98,000) and Maria Konnikova (50,000) also found a bag.
Some of the familiar faces who tried their luck but fell short include Uri Gilboa, Mateusz Moolhuizen and Jason Wheeler.
Hiroshi Nishiyama
A candidate for craziest hand of this EPT so far, Hiroshi Nishiyama knocked out two players after having his cards accidently mucked by error of the dealer.
Ferraro's rise to the top of the chip counts was certainly helped by winning a huge three-way all that happened in the latter stages of today's play.
Fabrice Maltez also scored himself a double knockout by beating ace-king and pocket kings with pocket eights.
The current prize pool stands at €1,118,832 but expect that to increase as more players can still enter before start of play tomorrow. Day 2 starts at 12:30 p.m. local time tomorrow with blinds at 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante. At the start of Level 15, all players will be given a Mystery Bounty Token.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of this €3,000 Mystery Bounty here at EPT Monte Carlo.
