Founded in 2004 by John Duthie and now sponsored and owned by PokerStars, European Poker Tour (EPT) is one of the richest and most iconic tours. Known for its prestige, history, and high-stakes drama, the latest edition of the tour, the 2025 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, was hosted at the stunning Sporting Monte-Carlo. The prestigious festival ran from April 30 to May 10, 2025 featuring 60 action-packed tournaments.
The key highlight of the series was the €5,300 Main Event, which crowned a champion in 37-year-old Aleksandr Shevliakov. An IT professional and online grinder from Russia, Shevliakov won his seat via a €530 online satellite on PokerStars and turned it into a massive €1,000,000 ($1,130,000) payday. The event drew a massive 1,195-entry field, making it the second-largest in the tour’s Monte Carlo history, just shy of the 1,208 record set in 2024 Main Event, which ultimately found a champion in Derk Van Luijk who took home €1,000,000 in top prize.
2025 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo 2025 Main Event Quick Recap
The massive turnout for this event resulted in $6,751,750. The lion’s share of the prize pool eventually went to Aleksandr Shevliakov, who with this historic win, more than doubled his previous best score of $541,206 that he had earned for a 2nd place in a €10K buy-in at the 2023 EPT Paris festival.
The top 175 finishers earned a share from the prize pool with India’s Apoorva Goel (41st for €17,150), four-time bracelet winner Ari Engel (34th for €19,800), Jose Barbero (31st for €22,750), Spanish high roller Juan Pardo (19th for €34,600), and 2019 WSOP Europe main event champion Alexandros Kolonias (15th for €48,450) being among the notable cashers.
The sixth and final day began with six players with last year’s runner-up Boris Angelov in lead and the eventual champion Aleksandr Shevliakov in second chip position. Shevliakov started in thundering fashion, knocking out Canada’s Jamil Wakil and Poland’s Mariusz Golinski in sixth and fifth place, with AK both times. He continued on an elimination spree and eliminated Enrico Coppola with pocket sixes. The next player to fall was last year’s runner-up Boris Angelov, who failed at improving on his runner-up finish and falling in third place for $496,451.
Heads-Up
The final heads-up battle saw Hossein Kokhestani holding a slight lead over Shevliakov. The final duel lasted for several hours and Shevliakov managed to navigate a tense battle against Ukraine’s Kokhestani. While the lead was exchanged several times, the turning point came when Shevliakov won a massive pot with sixes full against fives full, and soon after, clinched the title. On the final hand, he held Kc 2h against As 6c and paired his deuce against Kokhestani’s ace-high to win the title.
EPT Monte Carlo 2025 Main Event Final Table Results (USD)
| 1st | Aleksandr Shevliakov | $1,130,352 |
| 2nd | Khossein Kokhestani | $695,167 |
| 3rd | Boris Anzhelov Angelov | $496,451 |
| 4th | Enrico Coppola | $381,946 |
| 5th | Mariusz Golinski | $293,779 |
| 6th | Jamil Wakil | $225,788 |
Victory For Maria Konnikova In 2025 EPT Monte Carlo Final Event
Meanwhile, American journalist, best-selling author and poker pro Maria Konnikova closed out the festival in fitting style. Having steadily built an impressive resume in recent years, Konnikova outlasted a field of 51 entries in Event #60: € 1,050 NLH Last Chance Super Hyper Turbo Freezeout, claiming her fourth EPT spade trophy and a €15,910 cash prize. Italy’s Vincenzo Ventimiglia placed runner-up for €10,550.
Pedro Chaves Wins EPT Monte Carlo €25K No Limit Hold’em High Roller
Running alongside the Main Event final table was the final table of the €25,000 No Limit Hold’em – EPT High Roller (Event #49), which drew 226 entries and generated €5,426,260 prize pool. In the end, the lion’s share went to Pedro Chaves of Brazil who beat France’s Thomas Santerne in heads-up to claim a life-changing €1,146,000.
Pedro Chaves had just $33,000 in prior live earnings, but this latest result skyrocketed into Brazil’s top 30 all-time money list. The same final table also had Nacho Barbero, who led initially, but finished in seventh.
The final €25,000 event of 2025 EPT Monte Carlo was won by Latvia’s Aleksejs Ponakovs, who defeated a field of 22 entries and American poker legend Steve O’Dwyer to take home €227,120 from the € 528,220 prize pool. Dwyer walked away with €142,600 for his runner-up finish in the event.
Other High Roller Winners at EPT Monte Carlo 2025
Besides, there were several other big winners crowned at 2025 EPT Monte Carlo, including Jesse Lonis, Christopher Nguyen, Sean Rafael, Ben Tollerene, Mikita Bodyakovsky and more. Here is a quick recap of their victories.
Jesse Lonis – EPT Monte Carlo €30,000 Super High Roller Warm-Up
Dates: May 2-3, 2025
Entries: 61 (including 7 re-entries)
Prize pool: €1,781,505
Jesse Lonis continued his phenomenal 2025 run by winning Event#10: €30K Super High Roller Warm-Up early in the series by beating Chris Brewer in heads-up. Both Americans took home $508K each, but it was Lonis who took the trophy. With three titles and nine final-table finishes in 2025, he is now sitting on the ninth spot in this year’s POY standings.
Christopher Nguyen – EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller
Dates: May 3-5, 2025
Entries: 74 (including 21 re-entries)
Prize pool: €7,179,480
Germany’s Christopher Nguyen emerged victorious in Event #18: €100K EPT Super High Roller from a record field of 74 entries to take home a career-high € 2,022,000 from the total €7,179,480 prize pool.
Sean Rafael – EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Dates: May 4-5, 2025
Entries: 46 (including 12 re-entries)
Prize pool: €1,104,460
Las Vegas pro Sean Rafael secured his first major title by winning the Event #24: €25,000 EPT PLO High Roller for $430,664. He eventually defeated Hungary’s Laszlo Bujtas in a 46-entry field, while legends like Stephen Chidwick and Dario Alioto also made it to the final table.
Ben Tollerene – EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em I
Dates: May 5, 2025
Entries: 72 (including 26 re-entries)
Prize pool: €1,728,720
Ben Tollerene added another prestigious title to his resume by taking down Event #29: €25,000 NLH Unlimited Re-Entry. Finally, he and Ben Heath struck a heads-up deal, with Tollerene banking $485,926. The stacked final table included Jason Koon (3rd), Adrian Mateos (5th), and Leon Sturm (6th), showcasing Tollerene’s dominance in elite fields.
Mikita Bodyakovsky – EPT Monte Carlo €50K NLH Super High Roller
Dates: May 6-7, 2025
Entries: 50 (including 7 re-entries)
Prize pool: € 2,425,500
Mikita Badziakouski from Belarus emerged victorious in Event #35: € 50K No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller Second Chance, adding $893,272. With the latest result, he took his live poker earnings to over $65 million, propelling him to the third spot on the global All-Time Money List.
David Peters – EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em II
Dates: May 7, 2025
Entries: 67 (46 re-entries)
Prize pool: € 1,608,670
American pro David Peters emerged victorious in Event #38: € 25,000 No Limit Hold’em after outlasting 67 entries. He walked away with a massive $464,112, cementing his legacy as one of the game’s most consistent performers. This was his second final table of the series, following his sixth place finish in the €10,200 mystery bounty.
Top Winners from European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo 2025
| Player | Event Won | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Won |
|---|
| Christopher Nguyen | €100K EPT Super High Roller (Event #18) | €100,000 | 74 | €2,022,000 |
| Pedro Chaves | €25K High Roller (Event #49) | €25,000 | 226 | €1,146,000 |
| Aleksandr Shevliakov | EPT Main Event | €5,300 | 1,195 | €1,000,000 |
| Mikita Badziakouski | €50K Super High Roller Second Chance (Event #35) | €50,000 | 50 | €788,500 |
| Ben Tollerene | €25K No-Limit Hold’em I (Event #29) | €25,000 | 72 | €429,860 |
| David Peters | €25K No-Limit Hold’em II (Event #38) | €25,000 | 67 | €409,412 |
| Sean Rafael | €25K Pot-Limit Omaha (Event #24) | €25,000 | 46 | €381,000 |
| Jesse Lonis | €30K Super High Roller Warm-Up (Event #10) | €30,000 | 61 | €449,802 |
| Aleksejs Ponakovs | €25K No-Limit Hold’em (Final €25K Event) | €25,000 | 22 | €227,120 |
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Sources: The HendonMob, PokerStars Blog & CardPlayer
