The first of two starting days for the 2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €5,300 Main Event attracted a field of 286 entries. Eight levels of 75 minutes each were played on Day 1a and 152 participants bagged up chips with the hopes of etching their name in the poker history books.
Defending champion Adrian Mateos was not in today's field, and the early attention belonged to Ronaldo. The former international football star lasted less than one level and was the first player on the rail. EPT Grand Final champion Ivan Freitez, from Season 7, followed next after getting his stack in with ace-ten suited against the ace-king of EPT Season 10 Grand Final champion Antonio Buonanno.