Manig Loeser wins EPT Monte Carlo 2019 Main Event for €603,777

After a lengthy marathon on the final table, Manig Loeser was crowned champion of the 2019 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event. The 30-year-old professional poker player took home €603,777, following a three-way deal with Wei Huang and Viktor Katzenberger.

Loeser, who has been regularly competing in the highest buy-in tournaments around the world, is the 16th German player to lift the EPT Main Event trophy. His victory in the 922-entry field helped him eclipse $10 million in live tournament earnings.

While Loeser was arguably one of the more experienced players among the finalists, he had to earn his title through a patient grind as the final table stretch was an exceptionally gruelling, 15-hour affair.

"You have to concentrate so hard. They all play so good and put so much pressure on you," Loeser told PokerNews.

Luis Medina started with the shortest stack, and his stint was only brief. Medina walked away with the €152,800 sixth-place prize, but the remaining five players hit one of the most prolonged stalemates in the EPT history. It took nine hours before another player left the contest, with lots of doubles keeping everyone afloat in the meantime.

Loeser eventually broke the deadlock with the elimination of start-of-day chip leader Nicola Grieco, calling the Italian's six-blind shove with eight-seven to spike two pair against Grieco's ace-king. Grieco was sent to the rail in fifth place, earning €206,590.

Next to go was former World Champion Ryan Riess who nursed a micro stack, looking for a double up. Riess got his chips in the middle against Wei Huang, and while the flop fell massively into Riess' favour, a bad runout saw his campaign end in fourth place for a €265,620 payday.

Three-handed, Loeser was pulling ahead, but the gap narrowed after Huang mastered a monster bluff with a nut-flush blocker, risking his tournament life to convince Loeser to fold a straight.

The three players then agreed to take a look at the numbers, and they took almost a full hour before finally coming to terms on a deal which guaranteed each player more than €520,000.

Viktor Katzenberger then lost a huge coin flip versus Loeser, and Huang took his remaining shrapnel to dispatch Katzenberger in third for the pre-agreed €529,707.

Loeser entered the heads-up match with a slight lead. Huang, however, seized the lead for a while before Loeser pulled back. They continued to trade chips back and forth for over an hour before Huang picked an unfortunate spot to move all in, just when Loeser had turned a straight. A blank river card finally sealed the deal for Loeser who could celebrate his triumph in the early Sunday morning hours.

The EPT Monte Carlo Main Event attracted 689 unique players who created a total of 922 entries, generating a €4,471,700 prize pool.

EPT Monte Carlo 2019 Main Event final table results:
1st - Manig Loeser, Germany, €603,777 *
2nd - Wei Huang, China, €552,056 *
3rd - Viktor Katzenberger, Hungary, €529,707 *
4th - Ryan Riess, USA, €265,620
5th - Nicola Grieco, Italy, €206,590
6th - Luis Medina, Portugal, €152,800

n1 manig.

wow what a loeser