EPT Online Day 1: David "MonkeyBausss" Laka Becomes First EPT Online Champion

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Nov 09, 2020 5 min read

On Sunday night, the first-ever digital European Poker Tour (EPT), the 2020 EPT Online, kicked off its first three of twenty total events. With buyins ranging up all the way to $25,000, this $20M Gtd. festival will be one to watch as the action unfolds between 8 and 18 November at PokerStars.

With cards in two of the three tournaments still in the air, one winner was crowned on Sunday night in the form of David MonkeyBausss" Laka. Representing Georgia (the Asian country, not the US state), Laka outlasted a field of 131 hopefuls to claim the $143,567 top prize in EPT Online 03: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller], and therefore became the first-ever EPT Champion in the tour's rich history.

The final table has been reached in EPT Online 02: $10,300 PLO [6-Max, PLO High Roller], while the first of four days was completed in the $1.5M Gtd EPT Online 01: $1,050 NLHE [Arena Championship]

Keep reading for an extensive overview of all that transpired on the EPT Online's opening night.

David "MonkeyBausss" Laka Becomes First EPT Online Champion ($143,567) in EPT Online 03: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller]

After almost six hours, the first PokerStars EPT Online champion has been crowned and it is David "MonkeyBausss" Laka who is going into the history books as the winner of EPT Online 03: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller].

Laka claimed the famous EPT trophy and $143,567 when he overcame Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois heads-up in a field which attracted 87 unique players and 44 reentries for a total prize pool of $655,000.

The 24-year old Laka has over $1,600,000 in live tournament cashes with his last result taking place at the EPT in Prague back in 2018. He has also collected several cashes online already but this is his biggest score ever after coming in second-place during WCOOP-08-H: $1,050 NLHE [Progressive KO], $750K Gtd for $59,792.

Lefrancois was the other player to collect over a ton today to add to his already impressive resume of over $5 million live results. Lefrancois's cash today comes in his top three of online cashes behind a SCOOP win earlier this year and High Rollers win in 2019.

As expected, the final table was filled with some of the bigger names in the poker world. The other players on the final table included Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov, Vyacheslav "VbV1990" Buldygin, "zufo16", Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet, and Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver.

EPT Online 03: $5,200 NLHE Final Table Results

Check out full blow-by-blow coverage of EPT Online 03

Torbergsen, Hollink lead final table in EPT Online 02: $10,300 PLO High Roller

The first of three mixed games of the 2020 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Online attracted a field of 70 entries in EPT Online 02: $10,300 PLO [6-Max, PLO High Roller], consisting of 39 unique players and 31 re-entries.

After more than seven and half hours of near non-stop action, the seven-handed final table has been reached and players from seven different countries have a shot at the $188,937 top prize while the top nine finishers locked up a portion of the $700,000 prize pool.

EPT Online 02: $10,300 PLO [6-Max, PLO High Roller] Final Table Line-Up

Players from seven different countries remain in contention for the first EPT Online PLO title and in quite remarkable fashion, four of those seven finalists fired the maximum allowed four entries whereas the other three contenders made it through their first and only bullets. Norway's Andreas "Skjervoy" Torbergsen grabbed the overnight lead with a stack of 1,601,224 after being responsible for the final two eliminations of the night.

Second-placed Rob "batoelrob" Hollink has a long track record of PLO cashes and also won the 2005 EPT Grand Final in Monte-Carlo. The Dutchman burst the money bubble and accumulated 1,371,950, narrowly ahead of Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas (1,352,317).

The remaining finalists include Eelis "EEE27" P?rssinen (955,066), Ka Kwan "kaju85" Lau (925,665), Dante "dantegoyaF" Goya (542,732) and "d.apollo777" (251,046)

Don't miss the final table of EPT Online 02 tonight!

Toby "sadface11" Joyce Leads After Day 1 of EPT Online 01: $1,050 Arena Championship

After 15 levels and just over 8 hours of play, Day 1 is now complete for the opening event of 2020 PokerStars EPT Online. A total of 2,179 entries have been recorded so far, with just 622 left in play. At the top of the pack is Ireland's Toby "sadface11" Joyce with 4,336,056, the only player with more than 4 million chips.

Registration for this event is still open, and players can still buy in until the start of Day 2 play. When they resume in Level 16, blinds will be at 6K/12K/1.5K, which means that the 250K starting stack will be worth just over 20 big blinds for the first level of Day 2 play. While the prize pool for EPT Online 01: $1,050 NLHE [Arena Championship] has already surpassed the $1.5 million guarantee with more than $2 million in the kitty, there's still plenty of time for that to grow even larger.

EPT Online 01: $1,050 Arena Championship Top Stacks After Day 1

Follow along with the Arena Championship right here

Events Scheduled on November 9

Both the Arena Championship and PLO High Roller will continue on Monday, while two new events will see the virtual cards being pitched off the deck as well. In addition, the highly-anticipated Mini EPT Online will kick off as well.

The Mini EPT Online mirrors the EPT Schedule at 1/100th of a buy-in, making 'high rollers' accessible for everyone. Read all about the Mini EPT Online right here on PokerNews.

Follow along with the dedicated PokerNews EPT Online Hub to stay on top of all things EPT Online.

A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.

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