Mikita Badziakouski Looking for Second Million-Plus Score as €25,000 EPT High Roller Concludes
The time has arrived. It is the 11th and final day of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️. On this day, not only will the Main Event winner be crowned, but so will the champion of the €25,000 EPT High Roller.
Out of the total 211 entries, 21 players have made it through to the third and last day. A prize pool of €5,066,110 was generated and the first-place finisher is set to walk away a millionaire, with €1,070,260 being reserved for the eventual champion. All 21 players are guaranteed to cash for €57,600, as the money bubble burst on Day 2 and a few pay jumps have already been made.
Prize Money Left
| Place | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) | Place | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,070,260 | $1,195,855. | 9 | €133,350 | $148,999 | |
| 2 | €668,850 | $747,340 | 10-11 | €115,950 | $129,557 | |
| 3 | €477,750 | $533,814 | 12-13 | €100,800 | $112,629 | |
| 4 | €367,500 | $410,626 | 14-15 | €87,650 | $97,936 | |
| 5 | €282,700 | $315,875 | 16-17 | €76,200 | $85,142 | |
| 6 | €220,800 | $246,711 | 18-20 | €66,250 | $74,024 | |
| 7 | €184,000 | $205,592 | 21 | €57,600 | $64,359 | |
| 8 | €153,350 | $171,346 |
High stakes staple Mikita Badziakouski is sitting comfortably in third place on the leaderboard and will bring 1,055,000 chips into Day 3, equating to 70 big blinds. Badziakouski’s poker prominence is widely known, as the Belarusian player has been entering poker’s highest-stakes live tournaments since 2015. In the eight years since then, he has racked up almost $40 million in lifetime tournament earnings, enough to occupy 9th place on the all-time money list.
The latest addition to that was his €1,009,853 score for finishing second in the €100,000 Super High Roller during EPT Monte Carlo earlier this week. Winning the €25,000 EPT High Roller would mean Badziakouki’s second seven-figure score within a week, a feat not even he has accomplished before.
It will not be an easy fight, however, as Badziakouski has two other stacks of over a million to contend with. Sitting on top is Lithuania’s Dominykas Mikolaitis with a stack of 1,525,000, while Roman Samoylov is in second place with 1,120,000 chips.
Other notables in the top 10 include Steve O'Dwyer, who is looking to best his ninth place finish from the 2022 edition of this event, with 705,000 chips and Daniel Dvoress, who plays a 663,000 stack.
PokerStars’ very own Alejandro Lococo, meanwhile, is sitting at the bottom portion of the top 10, playing a slightly above-average stack of 575,000. Lococo had gotten very short during bubble play on Day 2, but three double-ups after the money was reached brought him back in contention.
Start of Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominykas Mikolaitis | Lithuania | 1,525,000 | 102 |
| 2 | Roman Samoylov | Israel | 1,120,000 | 75 |
| 3 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,055,000 | 70 |
| 4 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | 705,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | 690,000 | 46 |
| 6 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | 675,000 | 45 |
| 7 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | 663,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Alejandro Lococo | Argentina | 575,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Enrico Camosci | Italy | 480,000 | 32 |
| 10 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | 475,000 | 32 |
Other notable regulars who made Day 3 include Nacho Barbero (395,000), Adrian mateos (275,000), Conor Beresford (250,000), Ben Heath (220,000), and Dominik Nitsche (150,000).
Blinds will kick off at 10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 big blind ante. Levels are scheduled to last for 60 minutes each, but the tournament director reserves the right to shorten the clock when five players or fewer are left. If a deal is made, the clock will also be halved. Play will resume at 12:30 p.m. local time and will not stop before a champion is crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live updates from the final day of the €25,000 EPT High Roller.