EPT

Roman Stoica wins EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for €825,000

Published

2 hours ago

May 12, 2026

roman-stoica-wins-ept-monte-carlo-main-event-for-e825,000

Roman Stoica won the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event, taking €825,000 after coming through a 1,011-entry field on the French Riviera. Stoica defeated Austria’s Bernhard Binder heads-up to secure the title.

Stoica, 31, is from St Petersburg in Russia. PokerStars said he became Russia’s ninth EPT winner and followed Aleksandr Shevliakov, named by the operator as the 2025 EPT Monte Carlo champion. “I’m very happy that I’ve become an EPT champion,” Stoica said. “This is the dream of every poker player. I’m feeling great – I just won €825,000, so how else can I feel! The secret to running as deep as I did is to play and practice as much as you can. It’s what brings you to the final table and to winning the tournament.”

The Main Event final table payouts listed by PokerStars were: Stoica (€825,000), Binder (€515,000), David Djian (€368,750), Samuel Ju (€283,550), Jose Malpelli (€218,300), Longmao Fan (€167,850), Raul Mestre (€129,050) and Oshri Lahmani (€99,450).

In the high-roller schedule, PokerStars said the festival’s €250,000 Super High Roller was the largest buy-in event ever held at a PokerStars-branded event. Alex Kulev won the tournament for €2,786,332, beating Bryn Kenney heads-up.

Elsewhere, the €100,000 High Roller for One Drop raised €228,000 for the One Drop Foundation, with PokerStars stating 3% of each €100,000 buy-in was donated. Albert Daher won €2,055,000 after defeating Stephen Chidwick heads-up. Jason Koon won a €100,000 Sit & Go Invitational for a winner-takes-all €1 million first prize, beating Chidwick in heads-up play.

PokerStars also reported movement in the PokerStars Live League standings after EPT Monte Carlo, with Juan Pardo leading the High leaderboard, Julien Sitbon leading Medium, and Danilo Donnini leading Low. A total of €157,500 in PokerStars LIVE credit is set to be awarded across the top three finishers in each leaderboard category, according to the operator.

The post Roman Stoica wins EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for €825,000 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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EPT

PokerStars adds PokerStars Open Aix-en-Provence and confirms EPT Prague for 2026

Published

2 weeks ago

April 29, 2026

Wladimir P.

pokerstars-adds-pokerstars-open-aix-en-provence-and-confirms-ept-prague-for-2026

New France stop runs Nov 2-8; EPT Prague returns to the Hilton Prague on Dec 2-13, both counting toward the PokerStars Live League.

PokerStars has added two stops to its 2026 live poker calendar: EPT Prague returns on Dec 2-13 at the Hilton Prague, and a new PokerStars Open event will debut in Aix-en-Provence, France, on Nov 2-8. The operator announced the dates on April 22, 2026.

Both events will award points in the PokerStars Live League, PokerStars’ annual leaderboard system across High, Medium, and Low tiers. PokerStars said more than €150,000 in PokerStars LIVE credit will be paid out to the top three finishers in each tier at year-end, plus a live freeroll with a €100,000 prize pool at the first EPT of 2027 for the top 30 finishers in each tier.

EPT Prague is set to run as an 11-day festival, with PokerStars flagging the High Roller and EPT Main Event among the headline tournaments. PokerStars cited last year’s Prague Main Event at more than 1,200 entries for a prize pool of more than €5.9 million, with Matan Krakow winning for more than €770,000.

The new PokerStars Open Aix-en-Provence stop will run in partnership with Texapoker at Pasino GRAND Partouche Aix-en-Provence. It becomes the latest confirmed date in PokerStars’ 2026 live lineup, which also includes EPT Monte Carlo (April 30 – May 10), PokerStars Open Namur (May 27 – June 7), PokerStars Open Malaga (June 22-28), and EPT Barcelona (August 16-29).

“We’re delighted to bring players two more incredible live events and welcome the return of EPT Prague,” said Cédric Billot, Associate Director, Live Events. ”Each stop offers a unique experience and world-class competition and strengthens an already exciting 2026 schedule. We look forward to welcoming everyone for another standout year of live poker.”

More relevant data as follows:

PokerStars Live; https://www.pokerstarslive.com/ Official schedule and event information source referenced in the announcement.
PokerStars blog; https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/learn/news/ PokerStars’ news hub cited for additional details on live events and updates.
European Poker Tour (EPT) – PokerStars Live; https://www.pokerstarslive.com/ept Background and official overview of the EPT brand and tour stops mentioned in the release

The post PokerStars adds PokerStars Open Aix-en-Provence and confirms EPT Prague for 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.