The 2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Main Event in swanky Monaco attracted 1,073 runners with 326 re-entries for a total prize pool in excess of €5.2 million. Brazil's Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu defeated Morten Hvam from Denmark heads up for the title. Mesqueu became the first Brazilian to win the EPT Monte Carlo and he banked €939,840. Ramon Colillas, the Spanish Moneymaker, final tabled the event but busted in seventh place.

Ship it to Brazil, vamooooos! The European Poker Tour is one of the most prestigious live poker circuits in the world and one of the reasons why it's the best of the best is because of the anchor event at the PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo. How could you host a tournament series in Europe without a stop in the elegant, swanky, and baller enclave of Monaco at one of the most opulent gambling hotspots in the world with Monte Carlo.
The 2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo felt a little different this year because no one took it for granted in the post-pandemic world and the war drums beating in Eastern Europe. With that said, the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event had a €5,200 price tag and attracted 1,073 total entrants with 326 additional re-entries. This group of international poker enthusiasts generated a prize pool north of €5.2 million. The top 159 places paid out with most of the cheddar set aside for the top three at the final table. The winner would earn nearly €940K for a week of poker excellence.
Seven different countries were represented at the final table including France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Brazil, Moldova, and USA. The Spanish Moneymaker, aka Ramon Colillas, attempted to pull off a remarkable feat with an EPT Tour victory to go along side his epic win in the inaugural PokerStars Players Championship in the Bahamas back in 2019. It's crazy to think that feels like a decade or even longer ago when Colillas was the last player standing in the one and only $25K PSPC event. The second one -- slated for Barcelona in 2020 -- never happened due to the pandemic. PokerStars recently announced the return of the PSPC, which will also mark the return to the Bahamas for the triumphant reprise of PokerStars Caribbean Adventure set for January 2023.
The final table for the 2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Main Event included Spain's Ramon Colillas, along with two players from France -- Yannick Cardot and Hugo Pingray -- plus Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu from Brazil, Morten Hvam from Denmark, Dragos Trofimov from Moldova, Erkan Soenmez from Germany, and Jaime Cervantes from the USA.
Spain's Alejandro Romero bubbled the final table in ninth place. Other notable players who went deep and cashed included... Justin Saliba, Niall Farrell, Jason Wheeler, Arthur Conan, Ana Marquez, Jonas Lauck, Ole Schemion, Simone Andrian, Julien Martini, Sofia Lovgren, Guillaume Diaz, Gaelle Baumann, Sylvain Loosli, Alexandros Kolonias, Arnaud Mattern, Mikita Badziakouski, Pierre Calamusa, Koray Aldemir, Fabian Quoss, Merijn Van Rooij, Stefan Schillhabel, Rainer Kempe, Spraggy, Rafael Moraes, Yuri Dzivielevski, Christoph Vogelsang, Alexandre Reard, Julien Martini, Davidi Kitai, Leo Margets, Tim Adams, and Matas Cimbolas.
Yannick Cardot from France busted first at the final table in eighth place, followed by Roman Colillas when his magical run ended in seventh place. Erkan Soenmez from Germany busted in sixth place, followed by France's Hugo Pingray in fifth place. Jaime Cervantes, the lone American at the final table, saw his run come to an abrupt halt in fourth place. Moldova's Dragos Trofimov busted in a three-way pot when his Ace-four lost to Jack-six when Hvam flopped two pair.
Mesqueu held a sizable lead when heads up began with 25.2 to Hvam's 6.9M. They briefly flirted with a deal but decided to play on. On the final hand, Mesqueu woke up with pocket Kings and Hvam made a final stand with King-ten. Hvam flopped a gutshot draw, but whiffed on the turn and the river. The pocket cowboys prevailed for Mesqueu.
Morten Hvam hit the rail in second place, which paid out €564,640 to the Dane. Not too shabby, eh?
Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu banked €939,840 and binked the first EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for Brazil. Vamooooooos!
2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Main Event
Buy-in: €5,300
Entrants: 1,073 (326 re-entries)
Prize Pool: €5,204,050
Payouts: 159
Final Table Results
1. Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu (Brazil) €939,840
2. Morten Hvam (Denmark) €564,640
3. Dragos Trofimov (Moldova) €397,590
4. Jaime Cervantes (USA) €298,710
5. Hugo Pingray (France) €228,460
6. Erkan Soenmez (Germany) €167,050
7. Ramon Colillas (Spain) €125,420
8. Yannick Cardot (France) €89,770