16 May 2025 Aleksandr Shevliakov won the €1,000,000 first-place prize in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, but not without controversy. Jamil Wakil, who came in sixth, claimed that Shevliakov was angle shooting during the hand that got him eliminated. The Hand That Sparked the Accusation With six players left and blinds at 60,000/120,000, Wakil opened the action from under the gun, raising to 270,000 with . The action folded around to Shevliakov in the small blind, who held . After a short pause, he raised to 360,000 chips, which was more than the original raise but less than the minimum needed for a legal re-raise. The floor manager was called over to explain what was going on. After looking into it, she decided that Shevliakov had to raise his chips to at least 420,000. The big blind folded, which put Wakil in a tough spot. He wasn't sure whether his opponent was trying to trick him with a strong hand or if Shevliakov had simply missed the initial raise and believed they were in a blind-versus-blind situation. Wakil, who had 3.6 million chips left, needed to decide whether to go all in, call, or fold. He decided to move all-in. Shevliakov called without hesitation, reportedly saying, “I really missed the action.” The board read , sealing Wakil’s elimination from the tournament as Shevliakov raked in a pot of more than 8 million chips. Wakil took home €199,750 for his deep run, while Shevliakov went on to claim the title and a seven-figure payday. Wakil Shares His Side on Social Media During an interview after the event, Wakil talked more about what happened. After giving it some thought, he wrote a long post on X (formerly Twitter) explaining his whole perspective. He thinks that Shevliakov's actions, even though they were legal, were an intentional attempt to trick people. I’ve been receiving a lot of messages about the situation with Aleksandr Shevliakov, leading to my 6th place finish in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event yesterday, so I’ve made some comments below to address it. The reason for this post is strictly because I believe that it is… pic.twitter.com/CiJXQDLptg— Jamil Wakil (@JamWakil) May 11, 2025 Wakil started his post by clarifying that he wasn't angry; rather, he genuinely cared about poker's reputation and believed it was important to call out behaviour that could harm the spirit of the game. He gave three main reasons why he thinks Shevliakov's angle shoot was on purpose: Wakil thought about what he was going to do for almost 15 seconds before he clearly announced that he was raising. The dealer also repeated the amount before Shevliakov acted. Before this hand, Shevliakov had not verbally announced any of his bets or raises at the final table. Boris Angelov, another player at the table, quickly said that Shevliakov was deliberately "fake misclicking". He even said that Shevliakov had dealt with a friend in a similar way earlier in the event. Wakil also showed a picture that he believes depicts Shevliakov observing him closely while he prepared to act, possibly to determine his next move. “It’s Legal, But That Doesn’t Make It Right” Wakil agreed that Shevliakov's actions did not violate any official rules, even though he was angry. Still, he said the move was wrong and hoped that pointing it out would help prevent others from acting in the same way again. Wakil concluded his post by congratulating Shevliakov on his victory, despite the controversy surrounding it. Barny Boatman, a veteran professional, was one of the many players who liked Wakil's message and claimed what he said was "clear, classy, and completely correct." The full final table stream can be found on the PokerStars YouTube channel for those who want to watch it. The disputed hand begins around the 46-minute mark.
