Aleksandr Shevliakov Brushes Off Controversy to Win the EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event

In the movie Rocky IV, Russian boxer Ivan Drago is trained to be a powerful, emotionless fighting machine, showing no mercy towards his opponents. Aleksandr Shevliakov did his best impersonation of his fictional compatriot today at the final table of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte-Carlo Main Event held at Sporting Monte-Carlo.

Shevliakov, barely cracking a smile or displaying any hint of the pressure of the moment, seized the chip lead early and powered through the rest of the final table on his way to hoisting the Golden Shard trophy and taking home the €1,000,000 first prize after defeating Ukrainian amateur Khossein Kokhestani heads-up and conquering the 1,195-player field.

Final Table Results

“Ran good, of course. Just good,” Shevliakov said, characteristically short on words after the biggest moment of his poker life when he became the first Russian to win an EPT title outside of his home country since Andrey Pateychuk took down San Remo in 2011.

Poker is just a hobby for the 37-year-old Saratov, Russia native, who now works in IT in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It’s been quite a lucrative one, as Shevliakov came into the final table with more than $1 million in live earnings. He finished second in the High Roller at EPT Paris in 2023, and also made the final table of the same event in Barcelona that year. His lone prior EPT Main Event cash came from the 2023 Barcelona festival, where he came in 116th place.

Despite the title, Shevliakov doesn’t expect it to impact his poker career too much. He still plans to treat it as just a hobby, even if he has a few other titles he wants to check off on his resume. “I don’t know. Maybe I will play some high roller tournaments, but I don’t think it will change,” he said. “WSOP will be great as well, Triton too, but let’s start with this.”

Shevliakov’s win wasn’t without some controversy, however. In a moment that will be remembered in EPT lore long after everything else that happened today is forgotten, and threatened to cloud his triumph in the eyes of many in the poker community, Shevliakov got involved in a pot with Jamil Wakil early at the final table. Wakil had opened from under the gun, and Shevliakov, in the small blind, didn’t notice and tried to make his own raise. The tournament floor forced him to make a legal min-raise as action went back on Wakil, who shoved all in. Shevliakov had the goods, ace-king suited. Wakil stood up from his seat and leered across the table at Shevliakov. If looks could kill, Wakil would’ve been charged with murder. The board ran out blank for Wakil, and the Canadian high roller busted under suspicious circumstances.

Shevliakov afterwards continued to insist it was just an honest mistake. “Just check the broadcast. Because I open-raised from the small blind, and then I realized that Jamil had open-raised it. So it wasn’t an angle shoot or anything like that,” he said. “I’m very sad for Jamil, but it is what it is. It’s my mistake, but he’s a victim. I’m very sorry.”

Final Table action

The remaining six players from the second-largest EPT Monte-Carlo in history returned to Sporting Monte-Carlo at 12:30 p.m. to play down to a champion. A familiar name stood atop the leaderboard. Boris Angelov had the chip lead going into the final table of this event for the second straight year as he tried to get redemption for his runner-up finish a year ago.

The controversy between Shevliakov and Wakil darkened the mood of the final table early. Wakil raised to 270,000 under the gun as action folded around to Shevliakov in the small blind. Shevliakov, turned away from the table to take a sip of his tea, didn’t notice, and tried to raise to 350,000. The floor had to be called over, and it was ruled Shevliakov had to make it 420,000. Wakil then moved all in for 3,895,000, and Shevliakov snap-called with ace-king suited. Wakil had queen-jack but couldn’t connect with the board as he busted in sixth place.

Shevliakov overtook Angelov for the chip lead with that pot, but Angelov narrowed the gap when he hero-called a bet of 800,000 on the river with just a pair of fours as Shevliakov was caught bluffing. Angelov, though, slid down the leaderboard over the course of three hands.

First, he ran into Kokhestani’s pocket tens and paid off a bet of 900,000 on the river. He then bet into Mariusz Golinski’s full house for 535,000 on the turn before checking back on the river. Finally, he lost another big chunk of his stack in a three-bet pot against Enrico Coppola, who turned a ten to beat Angelov’s ace-king.

Angelov was all in for 1,600,000 from the small blind with two sixes, and Shevliakov called with queen-ten. Angelov survived the flip to double up, then doubled up again, this time off Coppola, when both players hit top pair of queens on the flop but Angelov’s ace-kicker played.

Golinski then shoved for 3,775,000 with ace-nine, and Shevliakov woke up with the same hand he used to bust Wakil, ace-king suited. The flop gave him a straight, while the turn improved him to the nut flush to secure the pot as Golinski busted in fifth place.

Soon afterward, Coppola moved all in for 2,725,000, and Shevliakov called with a pair of sixes. Coppola had been caught making a move with just jack-high and missed the board as the Italian hotel owner became the fourth-place finisher.

Shevliakov climbed above 20,000,000 with that pot, more than his two opponents combined, as he began to play some power poker. He got a big bluff through Angelov when he three-bet the flop to 1,700,000 with just queen-high, then bet another 1,500,000 on the turn as Angelov finally gave up his hand. Angelov won another flip against Shevliakov to double up once more, but last year’s runner-up soon had his incredible run come to a sudden end. Heads-up on the turn, Kokhestani moved all in and Angelov burned through multiple time banks before calling for his last 4,725,000 with ace-high and a straight draw. Kokhestani had a pair of tens, and Angelov missed the river, sending him to the rail one spot short of his finish a year ago.

Kokhestani’s bustout of Angelov catapulted him above Shevliakov to begin heads-up play, with Kokhestani holding a small 18,250,000 to 17,450,000 chip lead. The two opponents were still more than 70 big blinds deep and primed for a long heads-up duel that had the potential to last deep into the night here in Monte-Carlo.

The lead changed hands multiple times over the course of the battle. Shevliakov moved in front when he rivered two pair and got paid on a 1,500,000 river bet. He was then forced to fold a king-high flush on a double-paired board as Kokhestani moved back in front. The lead flipped again when Shevliakov flopped two pair and got three streets of value from Kokhestani’s pocket threes, including a big bet of 3,000,000 on the river as he went ahead 26,100,000 to 9,600,000.

Kokhestani drew closer by going for value with a bet of 2,000,000 on the river holding just a pair of eights on a king-high board. Shevliakov called with a pair of threes and surrendered the pot. Kokhestani then filled up on the river as he put in a raise to 3,500,000 on the river. Shevliakov got rid of a smaller full house, and Kokhestani took the pot to draw nearly even once more.

In another boat-over-boat situation, Shevliakov was on the right side of it this time and retook a big lead as Kokhestani paid off a river bet of 4,500,000. On the next hand, Kokhestani limped in, Shevliakov jammed, and Kokhestani called for his last 9,570,000 with ace-six. Shevliakov had king-deuce and paired his deuce on the flop to take the lead as Kokhestani couldn’t catch up, sending the Hamburg dentist to the rail in second place.

Shevliakov took down the title with cool efficiency. Even when hoisting aloft the gold-plated trophy that capped off his victory, he had to be reminded to let out a smile. For the IT specialist, used to dealing with computers and emotionless technology on a daily basis, it was like another day at the office. What started with a boiling controversy ended with a cold, calculating triumph for the Russian.

That concludes PokerNews coverage of EPT Monte-Carlo. The EPT next heads to Barcelona from August 18-31, followed by further stops this year in Malta, Cyprus, and Prague.