The last big win for the Polish player was the WPT Main Event in Barcelona in 2016
Sebastian Malec is once again making headlines on the European Poker Tour, nearly grabbing a second major win at EPT Monte-Carlo. The Polish player, who first caught the poker world’s attention with a €1.1 million (US$1.1 million) victory in Barcelona back in 2016, came into Day 3 of the Main Event ready to climb. By the end of the session, he found himself in a strong position, ending third in chips with 1,684,000.
Malec had a productive day at the tables, eliminating tough opponents and building momentum. He knocked out Andras Nemeth by showing a full house, convincing Nemeth to call off his stack with just ace-high. Later, Malec won a key flip with ace-king against pocket queens to bust Jozef Cibicek, another deep runner from last year. His calculated aggression and timely hands kept him in the top tier throughout the day.
The only players ahead of Malec were Khossein Kokhestani and Matthew Davenport. Kokhestani pulled in the tournament’s biggest pot so far when he called a gutsy river shove with two pair, correctly reading that Charles La Boissonniere was bluffing with just king high.
That decision brought his stack to 1.8 million. Davenport, meanwhile, took the overall lead at the end of play. He won a massive five-bet pot against Rafael Navas, then picked up pocket aces to knock out Dimitri Joubert on the final hand of the day. He bagged 1,939,000 chips in the process.
The field has now shrunk to 52 players from the original 1,195 entries. Each is guaranteed at least €17,150 (US$19,500), but all eyes are on the €1,000,000 (US$1.13 million) prize waiting for the winner. With Malec near the top and chasing a rare second EPT title, the next few days at Monte-Carlo promise plenty of drama on the felt.
