German high-stakes poker player Manig Loeser won the prestigious 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event and took home €603,777 in cash prize along with his first ever EPT Main Event title. Loeser outlasted a field of 922 entries, including a tough final table and an interesting duel with Chinese player Wei Huang for the title.
With this victory, Loeser, who is currently considered one of the best poker pros in Germany and in all of Europe, increased his total live earnings to nearly $10.2 million. This is the second best live cash for him after winning HK$16,877,600($2,162,644) at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Main Event in Montenegro in July 2017. The start of the year was a bit shaky for him, finishing 13th at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,100 Turbo, but he managed to make a strong comeback with runner-up positions at one of the events at 2019 Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne and at a PLO tournament during the 2019 US Poker Open in Las Vegas.
After an epic final-table battle, congratulations to Manig Loeser on winning the #EPTMonteCarlo Main Event title and €603,777. ??? pic.twitter.com/9ujRRzuXAk
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) May 5, 2019
The €5,300 buy-in 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event attracted 922 poker players and generated a prize pool of €4,471,700. This was the third largest poker event in Monaco and it rewarded 135 runners for the title from all over the world. Along with the many professional poker players, there were also many recreational players, some of whom even made it to the final table. Among them was Chinese poker enthusiast Wei Huang who surprised everyone at the tournament, nearly becoming a champion.
Huang was left in the second position, receiving €552,056 – his second cashing from a professional live poker tournament ever. Plenty of notables could not make it to the final heads-up battle, including 2013 World Series of Poker main event champion Ryan Riess who was eliminated in the fourth place and bagged €265,620 in cash. Despite their experience, training, and reputation, many other notables were taken out even before the final table – Day 3 Chip Leader Timothy Adams (€78,030) left in the 8th place and Sam Greenwood (€45,570) was eliminated in the 12th position.
Surprising Opposition in the Final Table
After Adams and Rustam Hajiyev (7th, €109,510) left the tournament late on Day 4, only 6 players remained for the final table. The poker action on the Final Day lasted for nearly 15 hours, making the job of everyone still in the field even more difficult.
Luis Medina was the first one to go, receiving €152,800 for his 6th place, followed by Day 4 Chip Leader Nicola Grieco, who bagged €206,590. When Ryan Riess was eliminated, the last three survivors agreed to a deal, regarding the cash prizes for the first, second, and third place.
That winning moment. ?
Congrats to @swordfish007, this is how he took down the #EPTMonteCarlo Main Event, winning €603,777. ? pic.twitter.com/ErmobtuKYf— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) May 5, 2019
Shortly after the deal, Hungarian Viktor Katzenberger was eliminated by Manig Loeser and finished third for €529,707. Loeser’s only competition at that point was China’s Wei Huang but the newcomer was not an easy rival and had a real chance at becoming the first ever Chinese EPT champion in history. Finally, he lost to the German high roller, however, and took €552,056, the exact amount they had previously agreed upon.
EPT Monte Carlo Main Event Result
Manig Loeser – $676,890*
Wei Huang – $618,906*
Viktor Katzenberger – $593,772*
Ryan Riess – $297,745
Nicola Grieco – $231,576
Luis Medina – $171,280
Rustam Hajiyev – $122,755
Timothy Adams – $87,467
- Author
Harry Evans
