Derk Van Luijk Wins 2024 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Main Event

This year’s running of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event attracted 1,208 entries, the largest turnout yet for this storied event. This marks the fourth overall time that the tournament has drawn a field of over a thousand entries, including each of the last three times it was held. The record turnout resulted in a prize pool worth nearly $6.3 million. After a week of action, the field was narrowed down to a single player: Derk van Luijk.

The 43-year-old Dutchman was nearly out the door in eighth place, but managed to win an all-in with A-J trailing pocket aces to stay alive late on day 5, and ultimately walked away with the title and the top prize of $1,080,000 the following evening.

“I still can’t realize it. I’m serious, it’s amazing,” Van Luijk told PokerStars reporters.

This was far and away the largest recorded score yet for Van Luijk, blowing away the $101,053 he secured for a win in a 2022 EPT Barcelona €2,200 side event. He now has more than $1.3 million in recorded earnings to his name after this marquee title run.

Van Luijk also earned 1,920 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year, but it alone was sufficient to catapult him up the rankings and into 38th place on the 2024 POY leaderboard presented by Global Poker.

The top 176 finishers made the money in this event, with big names like Dan Smith (29th), Mustapha Kanit (26th), and 2015 champion of this event Adrian Mateos (11th) among those who ran deep.

The final day began with Boris Angelov in the lead and Van Luijk sitting in sixth chip position among the remaining seven contenders. Angelov won a preflop race to eliminate Jonathan Guedes (7th – $167,292). He added to his lead again when his pocket kings came from behind against the A-8 suited of Niclas Thumm, who had flopped trip aces after committing most of his stack preflop. Angelov rivered kings full to send Thumm packing in sixth place ($217,080).

Bracelet winner Jonathan Pastore was the next the fall. His top pair top kicker could not fade the two overcards and open-ended straight draw of Angelov, who rivered a pair of queens to earn his third knockout of the day. Pastore earned $282,636 as the fifth-place finisher, his third-largest score yet.

Van Luijk became the first player other than Angelov to send someone to the rail when his pocket jacks held against the A-K of Jovan Kenjic (4th – $367,740). Despite winning the crucial flip, he remained the short stack heading into three-handed action.

Rania Nasreddine and Van Luijk squared off in a massive pot that catapulted Van Luijk into the lead. With a board of J435 Van Luijk bet 3,000,000 into an already sizable pot with J10. Nasreddine shoved and Van Luijk called for 8,450,000. Nasreddine showed 54 for two pair and the lead, but the 10 on the river gave Van Luijk a higher two pair and the double up.

Nasreddine was left with just three big blinds after the hand and was soon eliminated in third place ($478,332). The World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner from Tulsa, Oklahoma now has nearly $1.1 million in career earnings after this huge result.

Heads-up play began with Van Luijk holding more than a 2:1 lead over Angelov, with the shorter stack still on nearly 40 big blinds. The two went on to battle it out for several hours, with plenty of swings along the way. Van Luijk was ahead when he picked up AQ on the button and limped. Angelov shoved for 13 big blinds with K7 and Van Luijk quickly called. The board came down QJ439 and Angelov was eliminated in second place ($670,140). The Bulgarian now has more than $1.2 million in lifetime cashes to his name.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Manuel Kovsca.