Everybody loves the story of a qualifier crushing a Main Event, and the smaller the fee it cost them to get there, the more delightful the yarn becomes. David, for instance, got into that tournament against Goliath for a mere two pebbles in an online super sling-sat. And we all know what it meant to him.
Evgeny Chulak is the de facto David in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final today after it emerged that this 26-year-old from Montreal, Canada, got into this event for a total outlay of about $2. He hopped in a super sat with a big overlay on PokerStars (there were only about ten players), then got into a $200 qualifier from that. He took that one down too, and here he is in Monaco.
The thing is, Chulak is not exactly a rookie. “I’m a Supernova,” he said, when we caught up with him in during a break in play, describing his diet of online six-max cash games that he juggles with studies in software engineering at Concordia University, Montreal.
Nevertheless, this is his first major live tournament, on the EPT or anywhere else. “It’s been kind of stressful for me,” he said. “I’ve had to make some adjustment. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing.”
He was referring specifically to the etiquette side of things rather than anything with the cards. It’s been going rather well in that department and Chulak has increased his overnight stack of 32,800 to about 110,000 now, which is right around average.
He picked up aces against kings, which always helps, and now has enough in his stack to play the kind of game he knows so well from the online tables. And even if it all goes wrong from here, a trip to Monaco for $2 is hardly going to break the bank.
Follow all the action from the €10,000 Main Event is on the Main Event page. Also watch on EPT Live. It’s also about time you downloaded the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS.
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