Norwegian poker player Jon Kyte went straight from the airport to the casino and barely made it in time to the registration desk and entered last minute to the turbo flight of €1,100 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Open.
He managed to cruise through the early turbulence of the four-day event to finally sit at and win the final table, earning €340,000 and a new trophy for his collection.
The event attracted 2,387 entries, which generated a prize pool of €2,291,520. This win was Kyte’s second most significant win after his second-place finish in the 2023 EPT Prague Main Event, where he won $643,000.
- Read more: Interview with Norwegian Jon Kyte after coming 2nd in the EPT Prague Main Event for $692,246!
Kyte managed to build the stack on Day 2, with still around 300 players to beat on his road to the gold. At some point, he was in a hard spot where he had to go big or go home, and he made a bluff catch that doubled his stack and set him for big things as he had a huge stack to play straight to the final table.
He also said that he is not used to playing four-day events and that he had to bring his best game as they were deep in the money, and every decision was crucial.
€1,100 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Open Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Jon Kyte | Norway | €340,000 |
| 2nd |  Gilles Cadignan | France | €214,070 |
| 3rd |  Conor Bergin | Ireland | €153,330 |
| 4th |  Scutaru Razvan | Romania | €117,720 |
| 5th |  Javier Tazón | Spain | €89,320 |
| 6th |  Jack Corrigan | USA | €70,240 |
| 7th |  Pavlo Bilonozhko | Ukraine | €54,030 |
| 8th |  Patrik Jaros | Czech Republic | €41,370 |
| 9th | Michael Lichtle | France | €31,890 |
Entering the Final Table as the Chip Leader
Kyte entered the final table as the chip leader, but things changed as time passed, and he found himself short-stacked once the stakes went big and they were sitting three-handed. Kyte said that he started to doubt himself but managed to stay focused and turn things around. He also admitted that he was reviewing hands in bed instead of sleeping during the whole tournament and managed to keep his composure on just five or fewer hours of sleep per night.
The first final table knockout belonged to Gilles Cadignan, who eliminated Jack Corrigan as his A♣K♠ held against Corrigan’s A♦Q♥. Corrigan was out in sixth place for €70,240.
Javier Tazón was eliminated next after his A♣9♥ was dominated by Kyte’s K♦K♥, ending his run in fifth place for €89,32.
Kyte continued with eliminations after Razvan Scutaru called off his shove and was dominated with K♠2♦ against Kyte’s 3♣3♥, which held, and Scutaru was out in fourth place for €117,720.
Kyte also eliminated Conor Bergin after his K♣J♣ outran Bergin’s A♦10♠ on the middle connected board. Bergin managed to hit a pair of tens, but it wasn’t enough, and he was out in third place for €153,330.
The Heads-Up
Once we were heads-up, Kyte got the better of Gilles Cadignan from France, who won €214,070 for his second-place finish. The final hand happened after Cadignan shoved with K♠7♦, and Kyte snap-called, dominating him with K♣Q♦. The board ran K♥9♥10♣3♥3♠, and that was it. Celebration and possibly some decent sleep days were waiting for Kyte.
This win boosted Kyte’s all-time earnings to $3,201,068, which puts him at 7th place on Norway’s All-Time Money List. After the win, Kyte told PokerNews, “To be honest, I only came to Monte Carlo for the Main Event, maybe the €2,000 event. But now I’ve got this win under my belt. It definitely boosts my confidence heading into SCOOP and the WSOP.”
