The European Poker Tour has wrapped up its pre-World Series of Poker action with an exciting stop on the shores of the Mediterranean. Following the cancellation of the EPT stop in Paris due to political issues earlier this year, the EPT Monte Carlo was the first time that the crème of the European poker world had a chance to come together. On Friday, the final table of the €5000 Main Event was contested, with a million-euro award awaiting the champion and first blood on the EPT circuit for 2025.
One Step Beyond?
When the six men came together on Friday to determine the champion, one man was looking to shake some demons. A year ago, Bulgaria’s Boris Angelov came up just short of winning the championship, falling in second place to the Netherlands’ Derk van Lujik. This time, Angelov came to the final table with a sizeable stack of chips (8.4 million), but he faced several strong opponents amongst the other five competitors.
Hanging in second was Aleksander Shevliakov of the Russian Federation, holding a powerful stack of chips in his own right (7.25 million). Mariusz Golinski of Poland held the third spot on the board (6.495 million), while the only North American at the final table, Jamil Wakil (Canada), started in fourth place with 4.975 million in chips. Rounding out the final table were Italy’s Enrico Coppola (4.715 million) and Khossein Kokhestani of Ukraine (3.86 million), technically a short stack but with approximately 32 big blinds to play with.
The depth of the stacks made the initial action a bit of a surprise. Shevliakov came out with surprising aggression, putting several of his opponents to the test early. The Russian would take the lead over with the elimination of Wakil in sixth place, Shevliakov’s Big Slick besting the suited Q-J that Wakil decided to make a stand with on a dry board. Trying to keep pace, Angelov tried to up his aggression, but only saw the chips slide through his fingers until he reached a point where he needed a double through Coppola to stay alive.
Shevliakov, meanwhile, kept marching upward with his chip stack. He knocked out Golinski in fifth place when he once again held A-K, this time against Golinski’s A-9, and Shevliakov flopped a Broadway straight. Once Shevliakov mowed down Coppola in fourth (pocket sixes against Coppola’s J-3), Shevliakov held over twenty million in chips and seemed to be running away with the title.
Close, But…
One of the quiet players on the felt was Angelov, who watched the flurry of action from Shevliakov and maintained his patience. With three players remaining, however, Angelov had seen his lead disappear as Shevliakov and Kokhestani bypassed him. Angelov tried to jump-start his game, but he waited a bit too long as he was unable to mount much of a charge, falling in third place to Kokhestani when Kokhestani caught with his 10-6 on a 2-7-9-10-3 board against Angelov’s superior (pre-flop) A-8, sending Angelov to the rail one place lower than where he finished in 2024 at the EPT Monte Carlo.
Down to heads up, the stacks were roughly even between Kokhestani and Shevliakov. The mano y mano fight would start with some shuffling of chips between the players before going to dinner. After the sustenance, they returned to action, and Shevliakov went on the offensive.
Down about three million chips, Shevliakov won the first two hands back to action and took over the chip lead. Kokhestani would only see the lead once after that, as Shevliakov’s aggression and the cards began to swing the match his way. On the final hand, Kokhestani (coming off being on the losing end of a boat versus boat situation) completed the blind, and Shevliakov kept the aggression up by moving all in. Kokhestani made the call and held a slight edge pre-flop:
Kokhestani (SB/D): A-6
Shevliakov (BB): K-2
The flop was a cruel one for Kokhestani, coming down 7-2-9 to give Shevliakov a baby pair. No help came on the turn (the Q♥) or the river (8♣), earning the checkmark and the championship for Aleksandr Shevliakov at the EPT Monte Carlo:
1. Aleksandr Shevliakov (Russian Federation), €1,000,000
2. Khossein Kokhestani (Ukraine), €615,000
3. Boris Angelov (Bulgaria), €439,200
4. Enrico Coppola (Italy), €337,900
5. Mariusz Golinski (Poland), €259,900
6. Jamil Wakil (Canada), €199,750
7. Miguel Capriles (Venezuela), €153,600*
8. Leon Zeaiter (Germany), €118,150*
(* – part of official EPT final table, eliminated on Thursday)
(Photo courtesy of Poker Stars Live)