Kitsios Takes Home the Trophy and €72,170 in the €2,200 Deep Stack
After finishing runner-up to Sylvain Loosli in a €10,300 event earlier in the series, Greece's Georgios Kitsios took down one of the closing events of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo?Casino European Poker Tour.
Kitsios beat Enrico Rudelitz heads-up for €72,170 and the trophy in the €2,200 No-Limit Hold'em Deep Stack event that attracted 160 entries. Rudelitz had to settle for second place and €48,890 while the bronze and €32,590 went to Dinesh Alt.
They started the day with 29 players, six eliminations from the money, with the top 23 to be guaranteed at least a min-cash worth €3,600.
Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Nationality | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgios Kitsios | Greece | € 72,170 | $80,860 |
| 2 | Enrico Rudelitz | Germany | € 48,890 | $54,777 |
| 3 | Dinesh Alt | Switzerland | € 32,590 | $36,514 |
| 4 | Viliyan Petleshkov | Bulgaria | € 26,690 | $29,904 |
| 5 | Artur Koren | Austria | € 21,420 | $23,999 |
| 6 | Alexandre Reard | France | € 16,610 | $18,610 |
| 7 | Roger Tondeur | France | € 12,290 | $13,770 |
| 8 | Romain Piraux | France | € 9,030 | $10,117 |
| 9 | Yake Wu | China | € 7,200 | $8,067 |
€2,200 No-Limit Hold'em Deep Stack Day 2 Action
Zero reentries were made since the tournament format was freeze-out. On top of the leaderboard at the start of the day was Frenchman Alexandre Reard.
Among the six eliminated outside of the money were Dimitar Yosifov, Filippo Lazzaretto, and Winfred Yu. Eric Lenoir ended on the bubble and he was the last player to exit the tournament empty-handed.
Ariel Celestino (23rd - €3,600) was the first one to bust in the money. Celestino made a deep run in the Main Event but busted in the last level of Day 3 for €17,310.
Others that made the money but not the final table were Maria Lampropulos (20th - €3,910), Jean-René Fontaine (16th - €4,350), 2018 EPT Sochi Main Event champion Arsenii Karmatckii (15th - €4,810), and Aylar Lie (12th - €5,280).
Professional poker player Thomas Muehloecker ended up bubbling the unofficial final table when he wasn't able to win a coin flip with king-ten suited against the pocket sevens of eventual champion Kitsios. Muehloecker received €6,050 for his tenth-place finish.
Final Table Action
China's Yake Wu was the first to exit on the final table. He started the final table with just four big blinds and he lost those with 
against the 
of Rudelitz. No surprises fell on the board and the Chinese player was eliminated in ninth place, cashing for €7,200.
Next to go were Romain Piraux (8th - €9,030) and Roger Tondeur (7th - €12,290). Then, Day 1 chip leader Reard took a bad beat to bust out. He got his chips in the middle with king-queen from late position and Alt called him from the big blind with queen-ten suited. A ten fell right away on the flop and Reard went from chip leader to out in sixth place for €16,610.
Artur Koren busted in the very next hand against Alt, who got his money in good this time with 
against the 
of Koren. The board ran out 
and Koren was sent to the rail in fifth for €21,420. Just a couple of minutes later it was Viliyan Petleshkov who busted from the tournament. Petleshkov lost all his chips to Rudelitz and he had to settle for fourth place and €26,690.
The three-handed battle went on for a little while and most of the pots were kept small. Kitsios won most of them and he pulled ahead with the chip lead. He extended his lead by sending Alt to the rail in third place for €32,590 when Kitsios' better ace held.
The heads-up match seemed unwinnable for Rudelitz. The first ten hands were all won by Kitsios. Rudelitz then caught a double and he was back in contention with 20 big blinds. The chips then went back and forth for about thirty minutes before the fatal hand took place.
Rudelitz limped from the button and big blind Kitsios put him all in with 
. Rudelitz quickly called with 
but the 
ran out in favor of Kitsios. Rudelitz took runner-up for €48,890 while Kitsios took home the trophy and the first-place prize worth €72,170.
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the €2,200 Deep Stack tournament at EPT Monte Carlo.