The money just keeps getting bigger bigger in this great game of ours. The massive lucre is in the millionaire’s playground of Monte Carlo this week, with the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final underway.

The tournament is breaking all kinds of records, including highest turnout – with 298 players compared to last year’s 87, making it the richest tournament ever held in Europe, with a prize pool of nearly €3,000,000 ($3,552,000), and a top prize of €900,000 which equates to over one million dollars.

The big boys are in town with three WSOP champions gracing the felt. Joe Hachem (2005), Greg Raymer (2004) and Carlos Mortensen (2001) - are among the dozens of world-class players who have turned up for the event, held over five days (March 7-11) at the glamorous new Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort.

Also rocking up are Kiwi Lee Nelson who has made the long trip from down-under and will be looking to add to his Aussie Millions win, along with other big names such as French WPT Ladies Champion Isabelle Mercier, Italy's Luca Pagano, EPT Grand Final winner Rob Hollink, Irishman Andy Black (who won $1,750,000 after finishing 5th in this year's World Series), Dutch star Marcel Luske and WPT champion Martin de Knijff.

Online players get a look in as well with a total of 84 players qualified through PokerStars.com.

European Poker Tour founder John Duthie said: "This is the biggest concentration of poker talent we've ever had at an EPT tournament. No one is going to get an easy ride in this tournament, however much experience they've had at big events - and whoever picks up the €900,000 top prize will have earned every euro of it".

The Monte Carlo turn-out is the climax to a hugely successful Season 2 for the EPT which has attracted a total of 2,009 players to this year's seven tournaments, generating an overall prize pool of €9,824,000 - a 54% increase on Season 1.

The EPT Grand Final has also attracted record numbers of media to the French Riviera, with more than 80 TV, press and online media from around the world attending the first day - four times the number who attended last year.