In a blind versus blind battle, Clement Michaud got his last 650,000 in the middle against Fabian Rolli.
Clement Michaud: A?K?
Fabian Rolli: K?K?
Michaud had run into Rolli's kings and found no help on the 10?9?3?Q?7? board as he was eliminated.
At the same time on another table, Brice Guido moved all in for 300,000 from the big blind on a board of A?8?Q?4?5? as action went on Eusebiu Jalba in the cutoff.
Jalba took several minutes until the clock was called. He eventually called and Guido showed 9?8? for a pair of eights. Jalba turned over A?J? for top pair to win the pot and send Guido to the rail.
Uri Gilboa raised to 80,000 under the gun before Marco Gambini moved all in for 225,000 on the button. "He's a nice guy. I'll give it to him," Gilboa said as he called.
Marco Gambini: 4?4?
Uri Gilboa: 8?7?
The 8?5?Q? flop gave Gilboa the lead with a pair of eights. but Gambini spiked the 4? on the turn to make a set. The river was the J? and Gambini doubled up.
Around 600,000 was already in the pot as Guido Pezzotta and Kin Hang Man saw a flop of J?3?A?. Hang Man then bet 100,000 from the cutoff before Pezzotta moved all in from early position. Hang Man looked up at the ceiling in anguish before calling for 725,000.
Kin Hang Man: A?K?
Guido Pezzotta: A?Q?
Both players had a pair of aces, but Hang Man was ahead with his king-kicker as the 4? turn also gave him a flush and a lock on the pot. The river was the 9? and Hang Man doubled up.
At another table, Alessandro Merelli was all in for around 750,000 from the hijack and up against Federico Fundaro in the small blind.
Alessandro Merelli: K?K?
Federico Fundaro: A?Q?
Merelli had picked up kings and stayed in the lead through the 6?2?7?Q?8? board to earn a double up.
Andrew Hulme was all in for his last 800,000 from under the gun and up against Remy Murcia on the button.
Andrew Hulme: A?K?
Remy Murcia: 9?9?
Hulme needed to win the race to survive as the flop came 2?6?10?. The Q? turn gave Hulme a straight draw to go with his overcards, but the river was the 9? and Murcia made a set to send Hulme to the rail.
Action folded to Davidi Kitai in the small blind who got his last 350,000 in the middle against Kuljinder Sidhu.
Davidi Kitai: A?8?
Kuljinder Sidhu: A?9?
Kitai found himself dominated as the board ran out 2?3?6?2?10?. Sidhu's nine-kicker continued to play to earn him the pot and send the EPT champion to the rail.
Remy Murcia and Federico Fundaro built a pot of 400,000 as they saw a flop of 8?J?6?.
Fundaro then bet 500,000 from the big blind and Murcia moved all in from under the gun. Fundaro called for 400,000 more.
Federico Fundaro: 10?10?
Remy Murcia: 8?8?
Fundaro showed down two tens, but Murcia had flopped a set to leave Fundaro at risk. The 2? turn gave Fundaro a flush draw, but he missed on the 7? river and the former chip leader was sent to the rail.
Nikolay Arzumanyan moved all in for 275,000 in the cutoff and Alessandro Merelli called on the button.
Nikolay Arzumanyan: 3?3?
Alessandro Merelli: K?J?
The flop came 9?6?6?, while the K? turn improved Merelli to kings and sixes. The river was the 10? and Arzumanyan was eliminated.
At another table, Jacques Der Megreditchian moved all in for 555,000 from the big blind on a flop of 8?6?5? and Guillaume Nolet called on the button.
Jacques Der Megreditchian: 10?8?
Guillaume Nolet: 7?4?
Der Megreditchian had flopped top pair, but Nolet turned over a straight and left Der Megreditchian drawing dead after the Q? turn. The river was the A? and Nolet scooped the big pot to send Der Megreditchian to the rail.
After 26 levels of play in the �1,100 PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event, the final 31 contenders have emerged at Sporting Monte-Carlo. Leading the way is Virgile Turchi, carrying 4,270,000 chips into the weekend with a shot at FPS glory.
The Frenchman is coming off four cashes at 2024 EPT Paris in February, and scored a 13th-place finish in the �5,300 EPT Main Event here in Monte Carlo last year. Turchi will carry 71 big blinds into play on Day 3, sitting as one of only two players above the 4,000,000 chip mark after vaulting into the lead with Big Slick late in the final level.
The other is Remy Murcia, who also had a massive last level of the night. Murcia was on the right side of a big flip to cross the 3,000,000 chip mark and gained even more ground not long after. Murcia spiked a set to score a knockout and vault further up the leaderboard, finishing the night in second position.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Virgile Turchi
France
4,270,000
71
2
Remy Murcia
France
4,015,000
67
3
Federico Macori
Italy
3,730,000
62
4
Atanas Malinov
Bulgaria
3,640,000
61
5
Guillaume Nolet
Canada
3,210,000
54
6
Eusebiu-Nicolae Jalba
Romania
3,155,000
53
7
Kuljinder Sidhu
United Kingdom
3,150,000
53
8
Uri Gilboa
Israel
3,065,000
51
9
Gil Aboodi
United States
2,905,000
48
10
Antonino Venneri
Italy
2,770,000
46
Ankit Ahuja
The event attracted 2,096 entries from 70 countries over four starting flights, creating a total prize pool of �2,012,160. The surviving 314 players that began Day 2 had locked up a minimum of �1,630, but all eyes were on running up a stack to challenge for the �303,190 first-place prize and the PokerStars trophy.
By the time play concluded, just 10% of those players found a bag for Day 3. That list includes Ankit Ahuja, who sits just outside the top 10 after collecting 2,625,000 chips. Among the other names to watch are Gabi Livshitz (1,810,000) and Harry Lodge (835,000), with all 31 remaining players locking up at least �6,590.
Simon Wiciak
A trio of PokerStars Ambassadors started the day with hopes of a deep run, but it was not to be for Simon Wiciak or Lasse Jagd Lauritsen. Felix Schneiders was the last to hit the rail, bowing out after getting it in good to finish in 153rd position for �2,480.
Among the other notable names to bow out were Day 1a chip leader Come Thevenin, Day 1b leader Hugo Machado, Day 1c big stack Vladimir Erceg and defending champion Mateusz Moolhuizen.
�1,100 FPS Main Event Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
�303,190
10-11
�21,550
2
�189,220
12-13
�17,950
3
�135,160
14-15
�14,960
4
�103,970
16-17
�12,460
5
�79,980
18-20
�10,370
6
�61,520
21-23
�8,720
7
�47,330
24-27
�7,590
8
�36,410
28-31
�6,590
9
�28,020
Action will resume on Saturday, April 27 on Level 27. Blinds will climb to 30,000/60,000 and a 60,000 big blind ante, with the goal of playing down to the final six players for the award-winning PokerStars Livestream on Day 4.
The PokerNews live reporting team will continue to cover all of the action here in Monaco as the path to crowning a new FPS champion rolls on.
