Day 3 of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Main Event is in the books here at Sporting Monte-Carlo, with only 49 players remaining from the day's starting field of 154, after five 90-minute levels of play.
Selahaddin Bedir of Turkey (1,895,000) leads the way, closely followed by Jonathan Guedes of Brazil (1,810,000), Uruguyan Francisco Benitez (1,755,000) and Natan Chauskin (1,745,000) of Belarus, all of whom will have their eyes firmly fixed on the first place prize of €1,000,000.
Bedir has career earnings of over $5,000,000 and posted a second place finish in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller at EPT Cyprus 2023.
Benitez is also no stranger to the EPT. He already has two EPT titles under his belt after taking down two events at EPT Barcelona 2022: The €25,000 No Limit Hold'em for €341,565 and the €5,200 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty for €114,080. He will be looking to claim another victory, this time worth a seven-figure score.
Chauskin boasts live earnings of almost $700,000 and is looking to follow up his 10th place finish in the €25,000 High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo 2023.
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Selahaddin Bedir | Turkey | 1,895,000 | 126 |
| 2 | Jonathan Guedes | Brazil | 1,810,000 | 120 |
| 3 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | 1,755,000 | 117 |
| 4 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | 1,745,000 | 116 |
| 5 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | 1,680,000 | 112 |
| 6 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | 1,610,000 | 107 |
| 7 | Nathan Tetart | France | 1,445,000 | 96 |
| 8 | Boris Angelov | Bulgaria | 1,170,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 1,160,000 | 77 |
| 10 | Vladimir Troyanovskiy | Russia | 1,100,000 | 73 |
Other notable names who remain in the mix include 2023 Irish Open winner David Docherty (1,680,000), Spanish crusher Adrian Mateos (1,160,000) and Dan Smith (1,020,000), who is on the hunt for the final missing piece of the Triple Crown.
PokerNews caught up with Smith and asked about his chase for the Triple Crown, Smith replying "Obviously winning would be great. I don't really worry about the future. It's still a long ways away. I'm just going to go out there and play my best and maybe get lucky and get a W."
Smith also confirmed he'd been enjoying Monte Carlo, "despite the fact that I'm buried so far. In years past at a stop like this, I would've just skipped the Main to play the 50k. It's fun to make a run, and I think I might get my action in the future."
On potentially following Mike Watson as the champion, Smith replied, tongue firmly in cheek "I saw Mike Watson was able to win last year, and I thought to myself if that idiot could win, think about a real player like myself, how easy it would be."
Alexander 'Wolfgang Poker' Seibt (620,000) also remains in the mix, playing his first EPT Main Event. PokerNews grabbed a quick word with Seibt, who confirmed he'd had a "crazy, rollercoaster day" and that he's really enjoyed the overall EPT experience, saying "It's been top notch, everything from the floor to the dealers to just everything, the production on the live stream was amazing."
Recap of Day 3 Action
154 players started the day, and the short-stacked Philippe Souki was the first player to exit Day 3. Defending champion Watson departed in 149th after running into the overpair of Theo Degrave, while Juan Pardo's pocket queens were downed by Rutger Hennen's pocket fours to spell the end of the road for the Spaniard.
Bedir's run to the top of the podium began relatively late in the day when he won a huge pot against Silviu Baltateanu with a higher two pair.
Baltateanu was also at the center of some controversy, folding preflop out of turn, which affected the action and led to Gareth McMahon four-bet jamming ace-five suited to result in his exit, and a one-round penalty for Baltateanu.
Jonathan Guedes challenge began to pick up some momentum when he doubled through an opponent's top pair with pocket kings, and he continued to chip up through the remainder of the day.
Benitez came into Day 2 in fourth place and continued to steadily build throughout the day. Chauskin's surge to the top of the standings began when he was on the right side of a cooler versus Roman Hrabec, and he never looked back, steadily building thereafter.
Jamil Wakil got off to a great start and at the second break of the day had almost a 32 big blind lead over his closest challenger, after he rivered a higher full house than his opponent in a monster pot. He remains in the hunt, starting Day 4 with 1,070,000.
PokerStars Ambassador Felix Schneiders and streamer Elias Gutierrez's tilts at the title came to an end in 109th and 72nd place respectively, while PokerStars Gold Power Path pass winner Kevinas Korsakas bowed out in 57th place for €15,200 after a fantastic run.
Benjamin Pollak, Chris Dowling and Alexandre Reard all departed during the final level of the day, with Dowling running into Hennen's kings and Reard exiting via Cedric Schwaederle's aces.
The 49 players still standing will return at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 2 for Day 4, which will feature 90-minute levels, with blinds commencing at 10,000/15,000, with a 15,000 big blind ante.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage as we start to get towards the business end of the 2024 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event.
