Editor
The first week of May produced several significant tournament poker results around the globe as the entire poker world gears up for the 2025 WSOP, which is right around the corner at the end of the month.
EPT Monte Carlo
The final 2025 EPT tournament series before the summer WSOP is at its traditional May stop in the illustrious Monte Carlo. There has been a plethora of huge money results worth highlighting:
- Jesse Lonis chopped the €30,000 NLH Super High Roller with Chris Brewer for €449,802 and was declared the official winner. This result came just days after Lonis won the $10,300 GGMillion$ High Rollers online, qualifying from a $1,000 satellite. This was his first $10K GGMillion$ victory as well as his maiden win on the European Poker Tour.
- Norwegian player Jon Kyte won the massive 2387-entry €1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event for €340,000, not having planned to play the event and registering the final flight at the last possible moment. Kyte moved to over $3 million in career earnings with this win as he sits in 7th on the all time Norway money list.
- Christopher Nguyen took home a massive €2,022,000 huge score by winning the €100K Super High Roller. Remarkably, this is the second $2 million result in the last six months. Nguyen also finished 3rd in the €50,000 Second Chance event for € 352,000 and 5th in the €10K Cuatro Knockout (€50,100) to send his career earnings soaring over $5 million.
APT Taiwan
Old school poker legend John Juanda made headlines at APT Taiwan by winning his first Asian Poker Tour title in 15 years. Juanda, fresh off a $288,284 victory at Poker Dream 16 in Jeju, took down the NT$85,000 (~$2,800) Single-Day High Roller for an equivalent of $110,401, topping the 230-entry field.
Originally from Indonesia, Juanda was one of the prominent faces on many poker broadcasts during the poker boom era. The four-time WSOP bracelet winner and former L.A. grinder has posted an incredible $26 million in career live tournament earnings since his first live recorded cash in 1997.
- The APT Taipei Main Event continued the momentum created for the APT from the large APT Manila with big numbers itself. It had 2,547 entries to create a massive prizepool. Japan’s Akira Takasugi captured the title and the $586,710 top prize, besting a final table that included representation from seven different Asian countries.
WSOPC Cherokee
The largest and arguably best destination on the WSOP Circuit in Cherokee had another stop with massive numbers drawing from the surrounding states. The prizepools and top prizes have been much larger than the rest of the circuit, which is typical of poker in Cherokee.
- Among the results so far, the most notable winners were Matt Higgins and Preston McEwen who each won their eighth-career WSOP Circuit ring. The two of them clashed heads in the $600 Pot-Limit Omaha event when McEwen outlasted Higgins in a back and forth heads up battle to win his eighth ring and deny Higgins his ninth.
