The 13th running of the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event drew a record field of 74 entries, creating a final prize pool worth more than $8.1 million that was split amongst the top 11 finishers.
Germany’s Chris Nguyen walked away with the largest payday as the champion in 2025, earning nearly $2.3 million for a new career-high score.
This beat out the $2.1 million that Nguyen, a 25-year-old player based in Austria, earned for a fifth-place showing in the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise $25,000 super main event. He is now approaching $4.7 million in recorded tournament earnings thanks to this latest triumph in Monaco.
“It’s just fun for me, I think. I enjoy it. It’s definitely the most fun to play against strong players,” Nguyen told PokerStars reporters after coming out on top.
The third and final day of this nosebleed stakes event began with six players remaining and Nguyen in the middle of the pack. Belarusian tournament superstar Mikita Badziakouski was the first to fall on the final day, earning $495,279 for his 175th recorded score. He now has nearly $65 million in career cashes to his name, which is good for fourth place on poker’s all-time money list.
2023 WSOP $50,000 high roller champion Leon Sturm was the next to hit the rail ($623,059), with 2022 WSOP Europe €50,000 event winner Orpen Kisacikoglu soon following. The Turkish player was awarded $810,097 as the fourth-place finisher, surpassing $21 million in lifetime earnings in the process.
A potential deal was discussed amongst the final three, but Nguyen declined and they played on with the event’s existing payout structure. Two-time Super High Roller Bowl title winner Seth Davies was eventually knocked out in third place when his trips ran into the full house of an anonymous player. Davies walked away with $1,053,047 as the third-place finisher. This was his fifth career seven-figure score.
Heads-up play began with Anonymous out in front, but Nguyen was able to overtake the lead and then close out the title. Anonymous cashed for $1,474,085 as the runner-up.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Chris Nguyen | $2,284,860 |
| 2 | Anonymous | $1,474,085 |
| 3 | Seth Davies | $1,053,047 |
| 4 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | $810,097 |
| 5 | Leon Sturm | $623,059 |
| 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | $495,279 |
Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Danny Maxwell.
