Day 4 is done in Monte Carlo and France’s Lucille Cailly has become the first woman ever to make the final table of the PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final.
Cailly, who is already guaranteed the biggest payday of her poker career, sits third in chips behind leader Bernard Guigon and BrazilianRodrigo Capriolo who heads into the finale in second.
“It’s hard to think that €1.5 million is just seven players away but it would mean the world to me to win,” Cailly told PokerListings.com moments after the final hand.
“To be honest I don’t think I can realize that I’m at the final table of one of the biggest poker tournaments in the world. I have no words. I’m speechless,” she said.
New Record for Female Player at Grand Final
When Lucille Cailly made the final table tonight she bested the previous record for a female player at the Grand Final, set by Isabelle Mercier in Season 1 when she finished 10th.
Leading the final table is Bernard Guigon, a 64-year-old pharmacist who lives in Dakar, Senegal. The father of three has been playing Draw Poker since the 1980s but switched to Texas Hold’em just three years ago.
Rounding out the final table in terms of star power is American Mohsin Charania. Despite enjoying massive success online Charania has yet to break through in the online arena.
“It would mean everything to me to make the final table here,” Charania told PokerListings on Day 2 of this event. “I’ve had three or four years of live poker and obviously I’ve won a good amount online but I haven’t really had a breakthrough live yet,” he said.
Chip leader Bernard Guigon.
“Winning this would be the biggest thing ever,” he added.
Here are the official final table chip counts:
- 1 - Bernard Guigon - 4,900,000
- 2 - Rodrigo Caprioli - 2,945,000
- 3 - Lucille Cailly - 2,865,000
- 4 - Daniel Gomez - 2,665,000
- 5 - Mohsin Charania - 2,215,000
- 6 - Michael Dietrich - 1,550,000
- 7 - Clayton Mozdzen - 1,430,000
- 8 - Sergio Castelluccio - 1,410,000
Makhija, Wheeler Headline Busted List
Highlighting the list of players who made the top 26 but failed to make the final table is a group of pros that have done big things in the poker world.
When the day began it was live and online pro Amit Makhija on the shortest stack, but he wouldn’t be the first one to hit the rail. The man known as “amak316” online navigated his way to 23rd place, earning himself €40,000.
The first player to go broke this afternoon was Canadian Andrew Pantling and he did it on the very first hand of the day.
Pantling, who won the €5k Heads-Up event here two years ago, was short and got it in with K♦ 6♦ against pocket aces from Lucille Cailly.
Makhija was able to work his stack up to about 20 big blinds before running queens into kings all-in preflop.
UK pro Ben Vinson.
American pro Jason Wheeler, who’s made about $3.1 million playing online tournaments, managed to chip up a bit before flopping two pair against top set to go broke.
Pratyush Buddiga, who finished eighth at the recent EPT Berlin main event, made it to 16th in this tournament before being eliminated.
It was a sick hand that sent Buddiga packing and it started with Bernard Guigon limping with pocket kings. Buddiga then moved all-in with A-8 and had to endure waiting for Guigon, who asked for a full count of Buddiga’s short stack before making the call.
Guigon received no instant karma for the slow-roll. His kings held up to bust Buddiga.
Last among the name players to fall short of the final table was Brit Ben Vinson. The UK pro shoved with 9-T and ran into pocket nines.
The final table will be streamed live with hole cards tomorrow beginning at 8:30am Eastern Time and can be viewed here.
