Antoine Labat won his first-ever title on the European Poker Tour as he beat Brazilian player Felipe Boianovsky to a top prize of $125,000 on the Monte Carlo coast. The EPT Monte Carlo schedule isn’t limited to high rollers and the Main Event, with a variety of other games taking place in different formats. The €10,200 ($10,910) Mystery Bounty event saw 93 produce a prizepool of close to half a million dollars as some of the world’s best players took to the felt in pursuit of glory.

Russian Roulette of Money Bubble

With just 13 players being paid, it was the Russian player Artur Martirosian who was eliminated in 14^th place for nothing. The GG MILLION$ serial winner was put to the test on a board showing as Vicente Delgado shoved with . Martirosian wasn’t a believer with and hero-called only to be shown that his mistake had cost him his tournament life.

Inside the money places, Welsh Triple Crown winner Roberto Romanello lost a flip to bust in 13^th place for $9,300. The Bet Clever owner was all-in with but couldn’t beat Damian Salas’ . A flop of paired Romanello’s ace but gave the Argentinian WSOP Hybrid Main Event winner middle set and after the offered Romanello straight outs, the river slammed the back door shut.

Also leaving before the final nine players formed the last table of the tournament were Byron Kaverman (12^th for $9,300) and Thomas Santerne (11^th for $11,540). With ten left, the Estonian player Ilya Nikiforov shoved from early position with . Alex Kulev, who had doubled when at-risk on the money bubble earlier, was priced in to call with and was rewarded by a board of which sent Nikiforov home with $11,540 too.

Giraf Ganger is Gotten

Heading into the final nine, it was Damian Salas who led the field. At the bottom of the chipcounts was Aliaksei Boika, who had just 22 big blinds to his name. He bounced off the canvas and saw the Spanish player Vicente Delgado ousted in ninth instead, as he won $14,440. Delgado shoved with but was in horrible shape as Salas, who had three-bet before Delgado committed his stack, snap-called with . An ace on the flop was overkill and Delgado was out.

With Delgado on the rail, it felt like the flag had gone up for players to make moves – all-in moves. Ole Schemion shoved with on a board showing but his semi-bluff with a backdoor flush draw was called by a better one in Antoine Labat’s . The river was an inconsequential and the German player was ousted by the Frenchman, Schemion cashing for $18,075 in eighth place.

Boika eventually fell in seventh place, losing a flip when his couldn’t hit against Salas’ , and the Belarussian made his way to the rail for a return of $22,675. Play went on for some time before Bert Stevens was the next player to leave, losing when dominated as he called off his stack with , saying ‘All right, let’s go!”. Felipe Boianovsky had made the all-in move with and survived an easy board, the flop of leaving Stevens, known to the online world as ‘girafganger7’ drawing dead to the turn and on the rail moments later with $28,250, the Belgian poker legend just missing out on the top five.

Salas Slain as Labat Toasts Success

The Bulgarian player Alex Kulev resides in the glorious capital city of Dublin, Ireland. He brought no luck of the Irish to his exit hand in fifth place for $35,400, however. All-in with , he lost to Boianovsky’s as the board ran out king-high with no queen to reduce the field to four.

Spanish player Jon Vallinas departed in fourth for $44,175 when his all-in move with ran horribly against his caller, Felipe Boianovsky, with . A flop of looked safe enough but running hearts came to flush Vallinas away as a on the turn was followed by a on the river.

Three-handed, Damian Salas was ousted for a score of $57,450. All three players led the trio at some stage including the Argentinian but he missed out on the heads-up when his was dominated to defeat by Boianovsky’s . Pulling a huge nine bounties in the event, Salas more than doubled his result in the tournament but now it was the Brazilian Boianovsky (6,385,000) against Antoine Labat (2,915,000) for the title.

Labat doubled up with trip queens and grabbed the lead, prompting a period where the advantage switched on numerous occaions. Eventually, the Frenchmen had the bigger stack as the chips went in with him holding against the of Boianovsky. The flop was a moist , but a turn was followed by an river and the event was over, the first EPT title of Labat’s career landing him the top prize of $125,000 plus over $46,000 in bounties to boot.

Headline photo courtesy of Manuel Kovsca for PokerStars, the home of the 2024 European Poker Tour.