American Pros Crush European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €25,000 High Rollers

Monaco has been the host of some of the biggest buy-in poker tournaments in history, and so it should come as little surprise that the 2025 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo series has high roller events in plentiful supply.

After an opening week that was heavy on bounty events, the second wave of high rollers at EPT Monte Carlo followed a standard tournament format.

And much like Jesse Lonis did early on in the series, the American high roller players in attendance stepped in and claimed trophies and millions of dollars at the Sporting Monte-Carlo Casino.

As the biggest and most lucrative events reach a crescendo in Monaco, here’s how three of the high rollers during the second week of the series played out.

EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

Sean Rafael

Before this event in Monte Carlo, Sean Rafael had posted some strong results in high rollers all over the world. But the one thing missing was a title, and Rafael changed that in a hurry by taking down the €25,000 pot-limit Omaha for $430,664 and 336 Card Player Player of the Year points.

Rafael, who lives in Las Vegas, topped a 34-entry field, defeating Laszlo Bujtas of Hungary heads-up to secure the trophy. Stephen Chidwick, the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and high roller crusher with over $65 million in career live tournament earnings, finished third. With their respective results, both Chidwick and Rafael jumped into the top 100 in the 2025 POY race.

Liangce Ni finished fifth in this tournament, making it back-to-back PLO high roller final tables after placing seventh in a €10,200 buy-in at this stop. Italy’s Dario Alioto, also a bracelet winner, was the sixth-place finisher.

EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em I

Ben Tollerene

The American run of high roller crushing in Monte Carlo continued with Ben Tollerene, who outlasted a field of 72 to lock down the trophy and a first-place prize of $485,926 in this €25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller. Tollerene made a heads-up deal with a fellow high roller crushing Ben, Ben Heath of the United Kingdom, as the pair walked away with the two biggest payouts. Heath earned $419,683 as the runner-up.

With the 420 POY points he earned for this victory, Tollerene entered the top 30 in the 2025 standings.

Tollerene’s longtime friend and fellow American, Jason Koon, finished in third place for $253,668 and officially eclipsed $60 million in lifetime tournament earnings. Brazil’s Alisson Piekazwicz, who won the €12,300 knockout event, made his third final table of the series and settled for fourth place in this tournament.

Four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (5th), 2023 WSOP $50,000 high roller winner Leon Sturm (6th), and Byron Kaverman (9th) also featured at this final table.

EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em II

David Peters

David Peters continued the American dominance by taking down the next €25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller on the schedule. The Ohio native outlasted 67 entries to claim the $464,112 top prize, the trophy, and 504 POY points. It was Peters’ second final table of this series, following a sixth-place finish in a €10,200 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty.

The four-time bracelet winner and 2016 POY award winner now has over $52 million in career cashes to his name.

Peters made a heads-up deal with Italy’s Enrico Camosci, who claimed $438,998 for second place. It was Camsosci’s third runner-up finish at this stop, with identical results in both the €100,000 no-limit hold’em super high roller and the aforementioned €10,200 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty. Across those three results alone, Camosci has banked over $2 million in cashes.

Artur Martirosian (3rd), Manuel Fritz (4th), Mario Navarro (6th), and Stephen Chidwick (7th) each recorded their second high roller final table appearances of the festival in this event.

Photo credits: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Manuel Kovsca, Eloy Cabacas.