It took a big cooler, an incredible run of cards, and a massive bad beat for three Frenchmen to finish atop the leaderboard on Day 1a of the �1,100 PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event at Sporting Monte-Carlo.
Come Thevenin flopped a full house against Patrick Clarke��s straight to win a big pot on his way to ending up as chip leader over the remaining 58 players with 525,000. Cedric Theveniaud follows close behind with 518,000; in back-to-back hands, Theveniaud flopped a straight flush and then eliminated a player with pocket kings.
Then there is Laurent Polito, the third member of the 500,000-chip club who was on the fortunate end of the most incredible runout of the day. Polito attempted a big bluff when he five-bet jammed with king-three. Unfortunately, Hicham Hachoumi had woken up with aces and called for his last 110,000. Hachoumi hit top set to take an even bigger lead in the pot, but Polito made a running straight as a stunned gasp arose from the table. He ended up with 505,000.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Come Thevenin | France | 525,000 |
| 2 | Cedric Theveniaud | France | 518,000 |
| 3 | Laurent Polito | France | 505,000 |
| 4 | Atanas Malinov | Bulgaria | 487,000 |
| 5 | Dan Ben Ittah | France | 477,000 |
| 6 | Ankit Ahuja | India | 446,000 |
| 7 | Sylwester Fortuna | Poland | 444,000 |
| 8 | Kin Hang Man | Netherlands | 367,000 |
| 9 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | 348,000 |
| 10 | Miroslav Alilovic | France | 339,000 |
Atanas Malinov (487,000), Dan Ben Ittah (477,000), and Ankit Ahuja (446,000) are also among the top stacks; Ahuja, who won a similar event at EPT Cyprus last October, made quad fours to bust Clement Michaud.
Other players to survive the day include Gabi Livshitz (348,000), Miroslav Alilovic (339,000), and Jack O��Neill (327,000). Jason Wheeler, who wrote on social media that he sensed ��something legendary�� was going to happen here in Monte Carlo, got through step one as he made the money with 130,000. Past EPT Barcelona champion Sebastian Malec (101,000), Antoine Labat (87,000), Team PokerStars Pro Felix Schneiders (74,000), and Vivian Saliba (48,000) survived with short stacks.
Players who weren��t as fortunate to survive the day included Team PokerStars pros Parker Talbot, Fintan Hand, Maria Konnikova, Simon Wiciak, and Alejandro Lococo, as well as EPT Prague runner-up Jon Kyte, Marle Spragg, Fabrice Bigot, and Conor Beresford. They��ll have to try again on one of the other three flights if they want to take a shot at the title.
A total of 387 players entered Day 1a through the 10 levels of late registration. Only 58 remain who are now in the money and will return to play for Day 2 on April 26 at noon local time. Day 1a ended with 12 minutes and 47 seconds left on Level 16 with blinds of 2,000-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Day 2 begins on the earliest level that an opening flight finished.
Day 1b is currently ongoing. There are two more starting flights tomorrow, beginning with Day 1c at 11 a.m. local time. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates as another crop of players and returning hopefuls try to survive into the money.
