€25K Monte Carlo High Roller hits tournament sweet spot
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The European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo High Roller tournament announced its prize pool today, and there’s going to be another winner of a seven-figure amount.
With 211 entries, including 49 re-entries, the prize pool pushed past €5 million, with the winner set for €1,070,260.
The buy-in for this one is €25,000, as it has always been for High Rollers in Monte Carlo. This year’s renewal becomes the fourth-largest of its kind and the biggest since 2016.
Notably, the €100K Super High Roller event here this week had a comparatively small turnout. With 37 entries, it was the smallest €100K this venue has hosted. But €25K now seems to be the buy-in of choice, some kind of tournament sweet spot.
The game is thriving at that level, much like it is at all smaller buy-ins where we always expect big fields.
WHY €25K?
It’s difficult to establish a firm reason for the popularity of €25K High Rollers. Perhaps events like the PSPC has given players with smaller bankrolls the confidence they may have lacked to take a higher shot. Or perhaps the boom in €25K-level events merely reflects this particular period in poker history.
We’re in a post-pandemic uptick, with players re-engaging with the live game after the enforced absence. The fact that they’re doing so at the €25K level is neither here nor there.
There are, of course, multiple ways for players to qualify for these events, and these satellites are sending increasing numbers of players into the bigger tournaments. A qualifier last night added nine players to the field. A similar event the night before added eight.
With a year-on-year increase of 32 entries between 2022 and 2023, it may not be long before we get back to the dizzy heights of 2016. At that event, Alexandru Papazian beat a field of 231 entries and won €1,197,000. Something similar is very much in sight again.
MONTE CARLO HIGH ROLLER EVENTS THROUGH THE AGES
2023 EPT MONTE CARLO HIGH ROLLER PRIZES
Event 42 – €25,000 EPT High Roller
Dates: May 4-6, 2023
Entries: 211 (inc. 49 re-entries)
Prize pool: €5,066,110
1 – €1,070,260
2 – €668,850
3 – €477,750
4 – €367,500
5 – €282,700
6 – €220,800
7 – €184,000
8 – €153,350
9 – €133,350
10-11 – €115,950
12-13 – €100,800
14-15 – €87,650
16-17 – €76,200
18-20 – €66,250
21-23 – €57,600
24-27 – €50,150
28-31 – €43,550
More about EPT Monte Carlo
- Main EPT site
- EPT Monte Carlo coverage hub
- The complete guide to Monte Carlo
- PokerStars Travel
- All Monte Carlo Blog coverage
