The player at the centre of the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event angle-shooting controversy has responded this week, claiming there were “no angles, no tricks, just an unfortunate sequence in a high-pressure spot.”
Hi, my name is Alexander Shevliakov, and this is my message regarding the AKs hand against Jamil Wakil.
I held off posting this immediately because I wanted to speak privately with Jamil first and give him the full version. Now that I’ve done that, I’m sharing it publicly so…
— Aleksandr Shevliakov (@AlexShevliakov) May 13, 2025
Alexander Shevliakov was accused of shooting an angle en route to winning €1million at the flagship PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Main Event. However, he claims it was a “stupid, unlucky sequence of events”.
The player he was accused of angling, Jamil Wakil, had already taken to X/Twitter to give his thoughts on the drama after he bust out in 6th spot.
That painful exit came after Shevliakov had apparently missed Wakil’s UTG raise, which led to what happened next
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
Today, Shevliakov claimed it was not an angle-shoot but simply the end result of “an unfortunate sequence in a high-pressure spot”.
The Other Side of the Story
His lengthy post on social media, having already spoken to Wakil about his intentions, is intended “so people can hear the other side” after much media speculation and community discussion about his actions.
He relates how he had already messed up twice on day 4, short-calling and then an invalid raising of Stoyan Obreshkov in the same hand. Boris Angelov, who was at the final table, also witnessed this shitshow of a hand.
“I don’t think Boris was fully paying attention to this hand, but it’s likely he saw the sizing confusion or at least noticed something odd. To me, it’s obvious this situation is completely different from the AKs hand on the final table,” explained Shevliakov.
Mobiles and Smartwatches “Banned”
On day 5, it was Shevliakov who was unhappy, claiming Boris and another player were receiving “delayed stream information” from their rail, though “without leaving the table”.
“Phones and smartwatches were technically banned,” states Shevliakov, adding: “I didn’t like the situation — it hurt my EV and the EV of everyone else who didn’t have people feeding them stream data — but it wasn’t against the rules, so I didn’t complain.”
This, he says, is why on day 6 he wasn’t keen on placing his cards correctly on the table, where the RFID chip could be read—another bone of contention with his detractors.
The result? “The floor came over and made what I believe was a perfect decision — devices were banned from the rail… perfectly fair. I was fully satisfied and immediately began placing the cards correctly.”
Angleshoot or Human Error?
That brings us to the final table “angleshoot”. In the build-up, Shevliakov claims he was at times “nervous” and “clearly not in the best mental state”. This is how the hand played out…
A strange hand…
It's good game to Jamil Wakil. He's out in sixth place, good for €199,750.
👉https://t.co/SB357usSaR or https://t.co/ZarB0RN21O#EPTMonteCarlo pic.twitter.com/Z4XYmpZkJu
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) May 10, 2025
“I was focused on my action, my tea, the timer, and avoiding mistakes,” says Shevliakov, reiterating that he had no intention of angling Wakil.
“My reputation has always been clean — no debts, no broken deals, no history of angle shooting.”
No Handshake
As Wakil bust, Angelov mentioned the previous days’ episode, while Shevliakov’s attempted handshake went unanswered.
“He refused. I understand. From his side, with the info he had, it looked dirty.”
He added: “From my side — it was a stupid, unlucky sequence of events and inattentiveness brought on by cumulative EPT stress and the stress of that morning.
Shevliakov finished by saying that, although he is unknown to most English-speaking poker players, his standing in the Russian-speaking community is untarnished.
“My reputation has always been clean — no debts, no broken deals, no history of angle shooting.”
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