Roman Stoica Wins EPT Monte Carlo Main Event

The 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event attracted a 1,011-entry field, making it the sixth-largest turnout in this tournament’s long history. After two starting flights and five more days of combined-field action inside the Sporting Monte-Carlo, Russia’s Roman Stoica emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of €825,000 ($965,250 USD).

This was the largest payday yet for the 31-year-old from St. Petersburg, topping the $431,367 that he earned for a win in a €3,250 mystery bounty event at the 2025 EPT Barcelona festival. Stoica now has nearly $1.6 million in career cashes to his name.

“I’m very happy that I’ve become an EPT champion. This is the dream of every poker player,” Stoica told PokerStars staff after coming out on top. “I’m feeling great… I just won €825,000, so how else can I feel!”

In addition to the hardware and the money, Stoica also earned 1,920 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first POY-qualified score of 2026, but it alone was enough to catapult him within striking distance of the top 50 in the year-long standings presented by CoinPoker.

Thinning A Sizable Field

The solid turnout for this, the 18th running of this event, made for a prize pool of $5,736,920. The top 151 finishers earned a share, with big names like Juha Helppi (55th), Derk van Luijk (46th), Joao Vieira (44th), Benjamin Pollak (39th), Benny Glaser (27th), Dimitar Danchev (26th), Thomas Eychenne (22nd), Boris Kolev (21st), Mehdi Chaoui (17th), Ognyan Dimov (13th), Jason Wheeler (12th), and Leonard Maue (9th) all running deep.

Bernhard Binder, who recently managed two multi-million-dollar scores within the span of just over three months, came into the last day with the chip lead. The Austrian took down the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise super main event at the end of December, followed by the 2026 Triton Jeju $125,000 high roller in late March.

The first elimination of the day saw David Djian come from behind with pocket eights to best the pocket jacks of Oshri Lahmani (8th – $116,357).

Pocket jacks strike again 🙄

Watch the final table at https://t.co/SB357usSaR or https://t.co/ZarB0RN21O#EPTMonteCarlo pic.twitter.com/l98DNTns1Z

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) May 10, 2026

Shortly after that, Binder’s A♦K♥ held against the K♦9♣ of Spain’s Raul Mestre (7th – $150,989) to narrow the field to six.

Stoica won a key preflop coin flip during six-handed action, with pocket jacks outracing A-K suited for China’s Longmao Fan. Fan was left on fumes after that, and Binder landed the final blow with pocket sixes, besting K♦7♦. Fan flopped the nut flush draw but failed to improve any further from there and was eliminated in sixth place ($196,385).

From Five To Two

Stoica won another massive race with A♦Q♣ against the 9♥9♣ of France’s Jose Malpelli. The flop and turn of 8♥4♥4♣5♥ kept Malpelli in front, but the A♣ on the end gave Stoica aces and fours and the pot. Malpelli secured a career-best haul of $255,411 for his efforts.

Germany’s Samuel Ju was the next to hit the rail. He fell behind the rest of the pack during short-handed play, and was still in trouble even after earning one double-up through Stoica. Ju got the last of his stack in with 10♠10♣ narrowly leading the A♠Q♥ of Binder, but the J♣10♥2♠5♥K♥ runout gave Binder broadway on the river to end Ju’s run in fourth place ($331,754). He now boasts career earnings of nearly $4.2 million after this latest strong showing.

The next crucial clash was a battle of the blinds. Stoica limped for 200,000 total with 10♦9♦ and Djian checked his option with 10♠6♥. The flop came down 8♣6♦3♦ and Stoica checked. Djian bet 250,000 and Stoica check-raised to 900,000. The A♦ turn appeared after Djian made the call, giving Stoica the flush. Stoica fired 800,000 and received a call from Djian, who made tens up on the end with the 10♥. Stoica moved all-in and Djian made the call to finish third ($431,438). This was the first six-figure score for the Frenchman.

We’re heads-up at #EPTMonteCarlo

It’s Roman Stoica vs Bernhard Binder for the Main Event title and €825,000.

Watch at https://t.co/SB357usSaR or https://t.co/ZarB0RN21O pic.twitter.com/CASOfPie1n

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) May 10, 2026

Binder Tripped Up At The Finish Line

Stoica took roughly a 3:1 chip advantage over Binder into heads-up play. It didn’t take long for him to convert that lead into the win. After a handful of deals, Stoica limped the button for 200,000 with 7♥5♥ and Binder raised to 800,000 with K♦Q♦ from the big blind. Stoica called and the flop came down 7♦7♣4♠ to give Stoica trips. Binder check-called 350,000 with his overcards to the board and backdoor flush possibilities. The 9♠ on the turn drew another check from Binder. Stoica fired 1,100,000 and Binder made the call. The Q♠ on the river gave him queens and sevens with a king kicker. Binder checked and Stoica moved all-in, an effective bet of 3,225,000 into the pot of 4,700,000. The shove was soon called, ending Binder’s tournament in second place ($602,550).

This was Binder’s fourth final-table finish of 2026, with two titles won and more than $3 million in POY earnings accrued along the way. The 1,600 POY points that came with this second-place showing brought his total to 2,928, which is currently good for eighth place in the overall standings.

This score increased the 27-year-old’s career earnings to nearly $13.9 million, an especially impressive total given his first recorded score came as recently as 2022.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Eloy Cabacas.