EPT Monte Carlo 2025 Main Event – Cruising on Day 3

EPT Monte Carlo 2025 Main Event, So Far

Italian player Andreas Goeller ended Day 2 as the chip leader, bagging a whopping 831,000 chips. He secured the top spot after a gutsy call against former November Niner Antoine Saout, who is no stranger to deep runs at these events. Goeller himself is also familiar with going deep, having made the final table of the Main Event back in 2014 in San Remo.

Not far behind Goeller is Jeremie Beneteau, who already impressed with a strong Day 1A and missed the overall chip lead by just one big blind. Mariusz Golinski from Poland rounds out the top 3. It’s a tightly packed field in terms of chip counts, and the average stack heading into the money and later stages has never been this high. Expect plenty of action on Day 3!

Top 10 End of Day 2 Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chips	Big Blinds
1	Andreas Goeller		831,000	208
2	Jeremie Beneteau		829,000	207
3	Mariusz Golinski		820,000	205
4	Leon Zeaiter		796,000	199
5	Sebastian Gaehl		757,000	189
6	Mengshi Tian		755,000	189
7	Juan Pardo		685,000	171
8	Nicolas Tytgat		559,000	140
9	Ramana Epparla		510,000	128
10	Manuel Carvalho		500,000	125

Photo Credit: Manuel Kovsca

Day 2 Action Recap

Day 2 kicked off with 448 players returning from the two Day 1 flights. The atmosphere was electric, and with the roof finally retracting over the stunning Sporting Monte-Carlo venue, the tables were bathed in sunshine.

It didn’t take long for the field to narrow to 149 players, which was already reached by Level 15. Conor Beresford, known for his online poker escapades, burst the bubble with a flopped set of fours against the ace-queen of Ian Gascoigne (no word yet on whether he’s related to the footballer…). A total of 175 players made the money, with a min-cash of €8,500, and everyone was ready to battle their way into the next day.

Big Stacks, Big Names

Several familiar faces are still in the mix heading into Day 3. Spain’s Juan Pardo ended the day seventh overall with 685,000 chips, while Sebastian Gaehl (757,000) and Leon Zeaiter (796,000) also built big stacks.

EPT regular Cesar Garcia, who led the field after Day 1B, bagged 212,000 and remains in contention, along with Boris Angelov (194,000), who is still chasing redemption after finishing runner-up in this event last year.

Other notables still alive include Andras Nemeth (400,000), Nacho Barbero (282,000), Niclas Thumm (127,000), and Sebastian Malec (395,000), one of several former EPT champions to advance.

Photo Credit: Ploy Cabacas

Ambassadors and Champions

It was a mixed day for the PokerStars ambassadors. Benjamin Spragg, who fired two bullets, managed to cash but was eliminated in 155th place for a min-cash. Kenny Hallaert fared slightly better, making it through with 83,000 chips — the last ambassador left standing in the Main Event.

Unfortunately for last year’s champion Derk van Luijk, the run for back-to-back titles came to an end just shy of the money.

Among the surviving EPT champions are Patrik Antonius (227,000), Dimitar Danchev (163,000), Manig Loeser (129,000), Noah Boeken (102,000), and Antonio Buonanno (100,000). With blinds climbing and stacks tightening, experience could prove decisive in the race to the final table.

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

What’s Next

Day 3 resumed earlier today, Wednesday, May 7 at 12 p.m. local time, with blinds at 2,000/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play five 90-minute levels, and things are sure to heat up as the pay jumps start to become more meaningful.