A memorable victory took place in Monte Carlo for young Swiss star Luca Marki won the first major title of his burgeoning career. At a final table including legends of the modern game such as Pedro Neves, Lander Lijo and Masashi Oya, Marki triumphed and won the biggest prize of his poker career to date, banking $1.1m after beating Colombian player Mauricio Sanchez heads-up.

Bumper Field Sees Stars Make the Money

With over $6 million in the prizepool, 247 entrants had put up €25,000 in a bid to become the latest EPT Monte Carlo champion. There were early bust-outs on the final day for some superstars as the final two dozen players battled down to a winner. Triple Crown (WPT, WSOP and EPT) winner Roberto Romanello departed, so too did Brazilian player Rafael Moraes, and when PokerStars Team Pro Ramon Colillas left in 19^th place, the race to the final table was on.

Elias Gutierrez got unlucky to bust soon after in 12^th place, his ace-six ahead of Arsenii Karmatckii’s king-queen, but a rivered straight gave the Russian the pot. Chris Puetz lost to Mauricio Sanchez’ two pair in 10^th place, and the nine-handed final table was in place. It was the British player Sergei Lebedev who went into the final shootout with the chip lead.

One hand was all it took to send Brazilian player Felipe Boianovsky to the rail from the final table. He earned $168,000 when his pocket sixes was shot down by Masashi Oya’s pocket kings. The cowboys won out. After that bust-out, Russian Karmatckii was the player to leave. Unlucky to bust with pocket queens to Kayhan Mokri’s queen-ten when the latter turned trips, seven remained, with Karmatckii cashing for $193,150.

Lijo Loses Out

Spanish player Lander Lijo was the next player to depart the final table after losing to the Portuguese player Pedro Neves. Lijo was all-in with ace-queen, but he started and ended his final stand well behind Neves’ pocket kings, and cashed for $231,770 in seventh.

Soon, Lijo’s conqueror Neves was joining him on the rail, ousted in sixth place for a score of $278,050. All-in with a flush draw and two overs on the flop, he even picked up a straight draw on the turn but missed a world of outs to fall to Sanchez when the Colombian’s top pair reigned supreme and reduced the field to five.

The overnight leader Lebedev left next. Dropping to short stack after a confrontation with the Norwegian player Mokri, Lebedev then shoved pre-flop with ace-jack. Called by Luca Marki with ace-king, Lebedev was dominated and couldn’t catch up across the board to head to the rail with $356,050.

Oya Heads Off as Marki Wins First Major

The final four assembled and as the light died outside at the foot of the French Alps, the bright lights of the final table illuminated the last handful of players in with a chance of glory. All four players were open to discussing a deal, but Mokri was leading by some distance and wasn’t satisfied with the ICM numbers.

It was the Japanese player Oya who left in fourth for $462,900. All-in with pocket queens, he lost to Mokri who rivered a flush to continue his golden run. That was all to change, however, as Mokri lost with ace-king to Luca Marki’s ace-five as the latter paired his five to survive. Soon, Mokri was on the rail with $601,700 as he lost a flip to Sanchez.

Heads-up, a deal was again discussed and this time, the numbers added up. Both Luca Marki and Mauricio Sanchez took home over a million dollars, a generous deal for the runner-up as Sanchez won $1,022,050 and the winner Marki banked $1,168,500.