EPT Cyprus ran from October 9-20, 2024 at the mesmerising five-star all-inclusive Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa.

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The conclusion today of the EPT Cyprus Main Event duly brought the champion that had seemed certain from the start of play. It’s Germany’s Oliver Weis, one of the best-known pros of the online generation, who adds an incredible $1.03 million prize and a Main Event title to the EPT High Roller event he won in Paris earlier this year.

However, the manner in which Weis secured this victory was far from what anyone could have expected when he returned to play the final day with an overwhelming chip lead. Weis had close to half the chips in play with six players remaining, and had his name all but etched on the trophy already.

But after an incredible rise from the depths from the home talent Georgios Tsouloftas, Weis was on the ropes and a short stack, needing numerous double-ups to stay alive. He dug deep, weathered the storm that cost Anton Wigg, Bobby James, Andriy Lyubovetskiy and Mikhail Shalamov their chance of glory, and then managed to overcome Tsouloftas after a heads-up marathon.

He did this the hard way, but he got the job done, demonstrating some incredible tenacity and emotional maturity when others might have spiralled off into the world of tilt.

The 32-year-old, who plays on PokerStars as “Sk2ll_m0dR”, becomes the 17th Germany to win an EPT Main Event and takes his career live earnings past $3 million.

“I was kind of sure it wouldn’t be that easy today,” Weis told Joe Stapleton at the trophy presentation. “If one person doubles up, everything can go the wrong way. So you need to stay patient and just play your hands and your spots.”

Weis admitted that he was tired from the six-day grind, but obviously delighted with the outcome. “Main Events, the big ones, are always exhausting,” Weis said. “It’s just like five days, six days straight. Ten to 12 hours every day. This is a tough grind. I’m very happy, but exhausted.”

He also reserved some special compliments for the man who became something of a personal adversary during this final passage of play.

“Very tough to play,” Weis said of Tsouloftas. “I think he got me good, many times.” He added: “Very annoying” and it was a clear compliment to a tough opponent.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

One potential storyline for this final day was a blitz for Oliver Weis. He had the kind of chip lead that can sometimes mean a smooth sprint to the finish line — close to half the total chips in play, six handed.

Here’s how they lined up at the start of the final day:

Oliver Weis, Germany, 18,505,000
Mikhail Shalamov, Russia, 6,050,000
Robert James, UK, 5,215,000
Andriy Lyubovetskiy, Ukraine, 3,295,000
Anton Wigg, Sweden, 3,190,000
Georgios Tsouloftas, Cyprus, 2,255,000

However, although Weis started well, he found an enormous obstacle in the form of Georgios Tsouloftas, who refused to be bullied.

Tsouloftas was the first player to be put under risk at the final, but secured a come-from-behind double through Anton Wigg (Q♦ 10♥ beating Wigg’s A♣ J♥ ). That hand put him in second place and left Wigg with two big blinds, but on the very next deal, Tsouloftas picked up black pocket aces.

Weis, with Q♣ J♣ attempted to apply maximum pressure on his newly chipped-up opponent, betting all the way on a board that got more and more dangerous for the aces. By the time Weis shoved on the river, the board showed 8♠ 7♣ 6♠ 9♠ 6♣ . Could Tsouloftas make the call against the only player who could knock him out — and do so while another opponent had only two blinds?

He could, ICM be damned. Tsouloftas was right and doubled for the second hand in succession. It put him neck and neck with Weis at the top.

As for Wigg, he was now surviving on fumes — but he stuck around for longer than most. He managed to double a couple of times, and chopped another pot, and got himself up to around 10 big blinds for a while. However, his attempts to get back into contention eventually stalled when he played one flip too many.

Wigg’s pocket tens lost to Mikhail Shalamov’s A♣ K♥ , sending the Swede out the door with $208,720. Wigg’s two-time EPT dreams will need to wait for another day to be fulfilled.

This huge early drama put an immediate kibosh on the idea that the tournament would be done before dinner time. Instead, Weis had shown that he was mortal, Shalamov was another player moving upward, and the comparative short stack in front of Andriy Lyubovetskiy had obvious potential now too. Tsouloftas, meanwhile, was playing with fire, content to continue an aggressive line, showing bluffs when he got away with them, and continuing too to pick up hands.

He put distance between himself and the rest of the field when he turned a pair of aces into a bluff with four clubs on board, getting Weis to fold his nine-high flush. Lyubovetskiy then got aces to beat Shalamov’s kings, all-in pre-flop, which slid Shalamov back into the pack.

Bobby James had had a massive chip lead a couple of days ago, so he was someone who knew only too well how such an advantage can be eroded. He had done well to stick around all the way to the final day, but finally ran out of road with five left.

James tried an ambitious four-bet with K♦ 8♦ , quickly learning that Weis’s three-bet represented a real hand, A♦ K♠ , to be precise. “I’ve been running into it all day,” James grumbled. That applied not long after too when James four-bet jammed K♦ Q♥ for about 15 big blinds into Tsouloftas’ A♥ J♣ .

There was nothing on the board to help out James, forcing him to leave with $271,400 for fifth.

It was now Tsouloftas who was able to apply the ICM pressure on all opponents, sitting with more than half the chips in play. But Lyubovetskiy was able to double up through Tsouloftas to prolong his tournament, earning chips that eventually went to Weis.

Yesterday, Weis could do no wrong and was responsible for the vast majority of eliminations as the field shrank to the last six. And although Tsouloftas slowed his progress today, he got back in the saddle to end Lyubovetskiy’s resistance.

Lyubovetskiy and Weis went to battle, with the German player putting Lyubovetskiy to the test for all his chips staring at a board of 10♦ 5♦ 4♥ 7♠ 2♠ . Lyubovetskiy, with 2♠ A♥ , seemed to smell a rat and burned through several time-banks before committing everything he had left. However, Weis was not bluffing this time. His 10♥ 7♥ was two pair, better than Lyubovetskiy. The Ukrainian pro took $353,100 for his fourth place, perhaps feeling he should have believed his instincts.

Even though Weis was the player to knock out Lyubovetskiy, Tsouloftas was still adding to his stack too, cracking Shalamov’s aces with 10♥ 7♣ and building up to 180 big blinds. That was more than double his two opponents’ stacks combined.

Shalamov did his best to muscle his way back into contention, and he can look back on two very disciplined and correct folds that, had he not made them, would have ended his tournament sooner. However, you can’t win by folding alone, and Tsouloftas did finally do away with the final Russian in the field.

This was a straight pre-flop showdown: A♥ 7♣ versus A♦ 10♠ for Shalamov’s tournament life. There was a ten on the flop to further tighten Tsouloftas’s stranglehold. And though a seven turned, there was no miracle. Shalamov, an online superstar, recorded his biggest ever live cash of $459,000 for third.

It brought us, finally, to the heads-up battle that had seemed destined from the very word go. These players had been either ends of the chip counts at the start of the day, and their positions were now reversed, with Tsouloftas now in a massive chip lead.

He had 29.075 million to Weis’ 9.425 million.

Weis would have to pull off one of the great heads-up comebacks if he was to get his name back to the top.

It didn’t start well. Tsouloftas won most of the early pots, with Weis dribbling down to around 6 million. He then scored a double-up, however, with Tsouloftas making an ace-high hero call on a board of J♦ 2♣ 9♦ 2♠ Q♥ . Weis had a pair of jacks and the hero became the villain.

Weiss was back down to around 7 million when he found another double. This time he went to a flop calling a raise with his J♥ 4♥ . He hit a four on the flop of 3♣ 4♠ 8♥ and got the rest of his stack in when he called Tsouloftas’s three-bet shove.

Tsouloftas had A♥ 3♦ and couldn’t catch up. They went on a tournament break with Weis now sitting with 65-odd blinds to Tsouloftas’ 77. Another hero-call awry on the first hand back after the break, and Weis was back into the chip lead.

But it was never going to be easy. Tsouloftas battled back and got paid by king-high when he had a full house, but Weis maintained his composure and picked his spots — one of which involved calling three streets with just ace-high and being bang on the money. Tsouflotos had flopped an open-ender but missed and kept firing. That gave Weis the biggest lead of the heads-up battle: 60 bigs to 16 bigs.

Tsouloftas’ stack dwindled further after Weis picked off a big river bluff, and down to six bigs, it all went in with K♥ 2♣ . Weis made the call with Q♥ 7♥ and the board ran out 7♠ 4♦ 3♠ 5♠ 5♥ to secure him the title.

Weis was immediately smothered by a rail comprised of Germany’s elite, who were here supporting him all day. They never doubted he’d win for a second.

Event #27: $5,300 EPT Main Event
Dates: October 14-20, 2024
Entries: 1,284 (inc. 422 re-entries)
Prize pool: $6,227,400

HOW TO MAKE COMEBACKS IN POKER TOURNAMENTS

There’s an old adage for comebacks in poker tournaments: all you need is a chip and a chair. It’s an encouraging expression meaning as long you’re still in it (‘it’ being a tournament), then you can still win it. Never give up, even if you’re down to your last chip.

But it’s not just a hopeful motto. It actually happens. Italy’s Giuliano Bendinelli came back from just one big blind to capture the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event in 2022, winning almost €1.5 million.

We could be witnessing a comeback for the ages here in Cyprus, where at the time of writing, Anton Wigg has clawed his way back from just two big blinds back to 20.

But for you to get down to a single big blind and need comebacks in poker tournaments, something bad must have happened. Either a move went awry, a flip was lost, or a worst-case scenario: you took a bad beat. This can have a major impact on your mental state at the table, not to mention your poker strategy.

So, what’s the best way to proceed when you find yourself needing to make comebacks in poker tournaments, feeling down and out? How can you dig deep and put adversity in the rear-view mirror? And strategy-wise, what’s the best way to play a short stack and give yourself a shot at a comeback?

TIPS FOR TAMING TILT

We often see players give in to their anger when something frustrating happens – such as losing a big pot and dropping down to a short stack. The result? Bad play. Giving up and spewing off the rest of your chips, when you might have forged a comeback had you been patient.

This is known as ‘tilt’ and even the game’s greatest players would admit to feeling it from time to time. There are only so many times you can be all-in as a 90% favourite and lose before it starts to get to you.

The best course of action to counter it is to understand what tilt is, and how you can avoid it.

There are ways you can tame tilt to give yourself a shot at success. 

In ‘The Mental Game of Poker’ by mental game coach Jared Tendler and co-author Barry Carter (one of the most critically acclaimed poker books of the modern era) Tendler breaks down the seven types of tilt (yep, seven!) and provides strategies for not letting tilt negatively affect your game.

You can read a fantastic excerpt from the Mental Game of Poker here.

FORGING A COMEBACK

Once you’ve shaken off the loss of chips, your tournament begins again. Only this time, you’re starting behind.

Short-stack strategy is crucial in poker tournaments, particularly when you’re near the money bubble or when the pay jumps become significant. Sometimes outlasting a few more players can make all the difference.

At some point, though, you’re going to need to accumulate chips to make a comeback. That means going all in at the right time and doubling up. 

But that involves knowing when to push all in and when to fold. Check out this video from PokerStars Team Pro Lex Veldhuis, where he walks us through some short-stack play, showing us when to play aggressively and when to play passively as a player with few chips.

From there, it’s all about successfully manoeuvring your way through the rest of the tournament. Entering pots when it’s in your best interest. Sticking around when you have the right amounts of equity. Stealing blinds, using your fold equity, and hopefully, doubling up again and again.

In this video from Veldhuis, he shows us how to manage the many decisions a short-stack player faces as they rally to win chips and put themselves in a position to win.

HOW TO SURVIVE WHEN CARD DEAD

Of course, it’s hard to make a comeback if you’re dealt no good cards whatsoever. 

We’ve all been there. Hand after hand, orbit after orbit, you’re dealt nothing but bad cards. You can see your rejuvenated chip stack dwindling down once again as the blinds and antes escalate. You begin to feel the pressure.

And that’s when mistakes are made, and your tournament chances get destroyed.

So, what’s the best way to deal with a long stretch of being card-dead? 

You’ve got to stay disciplined. You’ve got to pay attention and observe. You’ve got to think about situations, not hands. And you’ve got to know when to make your move.

Here are some tips for tournament survival when you’re card-dead.

In a nutshell, when you’ve suffered a big loss in a poker tournament, the one thing you should never do is give away the remainder of your stack because you think you have no shot. 

Because you do.

Like Bendinelli, and now Wigg, all you need is a chip and a chair.

WHEN WILL IT END? THE AGE-OLD EPT QUESTION

Whenever an EPT Main Event gets to this stage, i.e., close to its conclusion, one obvious question tends to arise. It’s this: when will it end?

Correctly predicting the duration of a poker tournament is nigh on impossible, although it’s not purely a piece-of-string proposition. There are various mechanisms in place to ensure a tournament doesn’t extend indefinitely, most notably the age-old process of raising the blinds.

Not only that, but tournament directors also now truncate the levels when the tournament gets short-handed. Similarly, if players agree a deal, the length of the subsequent level will be halved.

It usually means that heads-up play has something like a 30 or a 45-minute clock, rather than the 90-minute levels that are in play from Day 2 onward.

All of that is fair enough, but our central question remains. When will it end? To be honest, nobody really knows, and even a close look at the stats doesn’t help very much.

In the 13 EPT Main Events since the Covid break, all of which had the same structure and starting stack, tournaments have finished in anything from Level 33 to Level 40. Of course, those tournaments have had varying field sizes, so it’s probably more relevant to look at the number of big blinds in play at the end.

The problem is that even that measure offers very little insight. In Monte Carlo this year, there were only 30 big blinds in play when Derk Van Luijk finally got things done. However, in Barcelona the year before, there were 159 big blinds in play when Simon Wiciak won.

Everyone in poker of course knows that long heads-up duels can be responsible for turning any tournament into an arduous marathon. To mitigate the heads-up vagaries, it’s usually more useful to look at the point a tournament loses its third-placed finisher. If we do that on the same 13 post-Covid EPT Main Events, we do just see the makings of a pattern.

At the earliest point at which a tournament went heads up, there were 193 big blinds in play. The latest point was when there were 99. The mean number of big blinds in play when an EPT Main Event goes heads up is 134.

Using that average and reverse engineering things with reference to this EPT Main Event, we can see that the tournament will probably go heads up with a big blind of either 250,000 or 300,000. That’s Level 33 or 34. Where it goes from there is anybody’s guess.

However, today’s final day begins towards the start of Level 29, which means in normal circumstances, we’re probably looking at five or six gradually shortening levels. It seems reasonable.

The one complicating factor today could be Oliver Weis’ enormous chips lead. This could skew things in either direction. If Weis’ momentum continues, it’s not impossible to think he could blaze through the final in record time. Previous overwhelming chip leaders like Stephen Graner in Prague and Jason Mercier in Sanremo have done this.

However, if a couple of the short stacks secure early doubles, drawing Weis back into the pack, it could end up slowing down significantly. And there, in a nutshell, is why this is so difficult. When will it end? We can never really know.

THE DATA

MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE PLAYER PROFILES

The EPT Cyprus Main Event is down to its final six players. Learn some more about the men aiming for a $1.03 million first prize when the tournament concludes on Sunday.

SEAT 1 – Mikhail Shalamov, 37, Russia (lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia) – 6,050,000 chips

Mikhail Shalamov tells a familiar story about his introduction to poker. Having learned 5-card-draw with friends, one of the group went on a student exchange trip the United States around 2008 and brought back the rules of Texas Hold’em. They quickly fell in love with the two-card variant, and Shalamov began studying the game closely.

He received a $50 sign-up bonus from an online training site and used it to start an online bankroll. More than 15 years later, he has still never made another deposit. 

Shalamov graduated with a degree in Computer Science and worked briefly in the retail industry. But he was living a double life as the online poker player “innerpsy” and quickly rose up the online stakes. In November 2009, he found the headlines with a successful bid at a World Record, playing 40,000 online hands in a single 24-hour period. 

“It was one of the toughest things I have ever accomplished, but I am proud I managed it,” he told PokerStars Blog at the time.

That record attempt was streamed live online and Shalamov got a taste for that side of the game. He launched his own Twitch channel and became an immediate hit, attracting a massive audience. By January 2011, it had earned him a place on Team PokerStars Online.  Although he no longer represents PokerStars, Shalamov remains a prolific content producer, recording streams and videos on several platforms. 

In comparison with his online exploits, Shalamov’s live results are modest. He has only once before made the final table of a live tournament, in a warm-up event to the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) in Macau, in 2015. This is his third EPT Main Event cash and by far his deepest run. If he finishes fifth or better, his prize will outstrip his entire previous live cashes combined.

Born in Russia, he recently spent two years living in Turkey and has recently relocated to Ljubljana, Slovenia.

SEAT 2 – BOBBY JAMES, 34 – WATFORD, UK – 5,215,000 chips

If it wasn’t for an unprepared substitute maths teacher when he was at school, Robert James – Bobby to his mates – might have never discovered poker. 

“He turned up and didn’t know what to teach so he told us to open up the textbook and pick something that interested us,” explains the 34-year-old from Watford. He settled on blackjack probabilities and, fascinated, learned how to count cards. “It was all I did,” he says. “I was addicted to learning.”

Alas, he was caught counting cards and barred from the blackjack tables on his very first visit to a casino, but it was there he saw people playing poker and a new passion was forged. “My commitment was insane,” he says. “Poker is a far more interesting game. There’s so much more that goes into it.”

In his late teens, James started taking the 90-minute bus from Watford to Luton to play live tournaments. The problem was that if he busted after midnight, he’d have to wait until 6 am before he could get a bus home. “So I was really determined to make poker work,” he says.

He’s pretty much been a pro ever since, grinding 180-player sit-and-go’s for years before transitioning permanently to online tournaments. He reckons he’s played more than 30,000 on PokerStars alone and has final tabled the Sunday Million twice, finishing fifth and ninth.

After a couple of years away from brick-and-mortar cardrooms he’s now focusing on live poker and says he regularly studies with PokerStars Ambassador and EPT champion Simon Wiciak. This Cyprus trip has been particularly successful for James as he took down a $1K 8-Game side event for $11,200 and then placed 12th in the Eureka High Roller for $24,880. 

This is only James’ second EPT Main Event (he debuted in Barcelona earlier this year) and whatever happens on the final table, he’ll head home with a new career-best score. 

SEAT 3 – OLIVER WEIS, 32 – GRENZACH-WYHLEN, GERMANY – 18,505,000 chips

Oliver Weiss was born in Basel, but he lives on the opposite side of the Rhine in a small German town called Grenzach-Wyhlen.

The 32-year-old has played poker since he turned 18, and regular fans might recognize not only his civil name but also his online moniker Sk2ll_m0dR, well known by the top regs at PokerStars.

Weis has enjoyed a ton of success both live and online, so much so that he’s no stranger to high buy-in fields. He’s been working on getting his name on a very exclusive EPT list…

The mission started in February when he took down the EPT Paris High Roller for €970,200 and celebrated what he called his first major trophy. Now he has an excellent shot at becoming only the seventh player in history to pair that title with an EPT Main Event win and the second to do so in the same calendar year. (Dominik Panka was the first in 2014.)

Weis says he likes to play MTTs and cash games but doesn’t dive into mixed games. He’s more than comfortable in the no-limit hold’em arena, which he showcased on Day 5 when he seized the chip lead thanks to a big bluff with fours in a four-bet pot.

Weis has dominated the tournament so far, and, with his high-stakes background, he will be the top favorite to bring home the 17th title for Germany, the first since Manig Loeser’s triumph at EPT Monte Carlo 2019. 

SEAT 4 – Georgios Tsouloftas, 34 – Limassol, Cyprus — 2,255,000 chips

Georgios Tsouloftas is on home turf. Not only is he a Cyprus native, from Limassol, but his poker career began several years ago here at Merit Poker. His first documented result came in 2017 with a victory at Merit for more than $27,000. He has been a regular here ever since, and also travels regularly to King’s Casino in Rozvadov, where he recorded his first five-figure win in August 2020. He went significantly better at the Merit Mediterranean Poker Cup in June 2022, which he won for $264,065.

“Cyprus is my home and this Resort even more,” Tsouloftas said. And although this is his first EPT Main Event cash, his recent fourth place finish in the Irish Poker Open in Dublin last March for €142,760 confirms his good shape for PokerStars sponsored events.

Now guaranteed more than $200,000, the Cypriot is close to his best career win and will surpass $1.5 million in career live earnings.

SEAT 5 – ANTON WIGG, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (LIVES IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA), 37 — 3,190,000

If Anton Wigg manages to take down the EPT Cyprus Main Event, he’ll become only the fourth player in history to win two live European Poker Tour titles, following in the footsteps of Victoria Coren Mitchell, Mikalai Pobal and Mike Watson.

Wigg was a fresh-faced 23 year old when he won his title back in 2010, taking down EPT Copenhagen for DKr 3,675,000 ($672,818) having won the Sunday Million for $213K a year prior.

It’s hard to believe that his Main Event prize remains the 37-year-old’s best live cash. Wigg has been a staple on the tour ever since and is up to $4.8 million in live earnings while continuing to crush the biggest buy-in tournaments on PokerStars, where he plays as “Bomber&Granater” and also has millions in cashes.

Originally from Stockholm but now living in Vienna, Wigg can be seen meditating before every session and boasts one of the best postures and most stoic demeanours you’ll see at the poker table. Good luck trying to get a read on him.

SEAT 6 – ANDRIY LYUBOVETSKIY, 33 – KYIV, UKRAINE — 3,295,000 chips

Andrey Lyubovetskiy sits comfortably in the top 10 of Ukraine’s all-time money list, and a victory here in Cyprus would vault him into the top five, coincidentally just behind the only other Ukrainian to have won an EPT Main Event. That player, Oleksii Khoroshenin, won in Vienna all the way back in 2014 and so Lyubovetskiy will be aiming to return Ukraine to the EPT top table a decade later.

There’s no doubt Lyubovetskiy has the skills. The 33 year old from Kyiv has two World Series bracelets, both secured in Rozvadov, and has had high-placed finishes in numerous major tournaments on the EPT and beyond. He is also much feared online where he plays under the moniker “Andre_Hansen” and has won one WCOOP title and three SCOOP tournaments, including a Sunday Million Special Edition.

He spends most of his life on the road playing poker and although he usually travels alone, including this trip to Cyprus, he says he has many friends on the circuit with whom he spends his downtime. 

DOUBLE BOARD BOMB POTS MAKE EPT DEBUT

The poker world is always looking for new ways to add more spice and gamble to gameplay, particularly in cash games where sessions can run long, for as long as players are willing. 

The seven-deuce game was all the rage for a while, thrust into poker’s collective consciousness thanks largely to the legendary TV show High Stakes Poker and players like Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth, who would often risk huge sums to win a relatively small prize from their opponents. (In that extension of no limit hold’em, if a player is dealt seven-deuce and manages to win the pot, they also collect a predetermined amount from each player at the table).

The stand-up game is another one you’ll often see on the biggest cash game streams. That’s where all players at the table agree to stand up as they play, and they can only sit down once they’ve won a pot. The last player standing has to pay a penalty to each player. 

These twists on tradition generate plenty of action and create huge pots, perhaps none more so than Bomb Pots, the popularity of which has swept cardrooms around the world in recent years.

Bomb Pots – or Double Board Bomb Pots, to be accurate – are making their debut on the European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament schedule here in Cyprus, where a $1,100 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Bomb Pot event kicked off today. 

It’s double board bomb pot at #EPT Cyprus today. Four cards, and ten on the felt. That’s over a quarter of the deck! How can you ever not make a hand?
Gamble!

— Barny Boatman (@barnyboatman) October 19, 2024

But what is a Bomb Pot in poker? Moreover, what is a Double Board Bomb Pot?

WHAT IS A BOMB POT?

A Bomb Pot is a twist on a regular hand of poker as all players are required to contribute chips to the pot in the form of an ante, and there’s no small or big blind. This builds a significantly larger pot than when traditional blinds are posted.

There’s also no pre-flop betting in Bomb Pots. The hand begins when the flop is dealt and proceeds like a regular hand thereafter, with the player left to the dealer acting first.

As community cards are out there from the get-go, there’s a far greater chance that players will collide as even terrible starting hands get to see a free flop. Collisions are even more likely in PLO as players are dealt four hole cards instead of the two you get in no limit hold’em.

The winner of the pot is the player with the best five-card hand at showdown, or if all opponents fold.

DOUBLE BOARD BOMB POTS

The brand new addition to the EPT Cyprus schedule is a Double Board Bomb Pot, Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) tournament. The buy-in is $1,100 and here’s how it works.

The tournament is ante only, meaning there’s no small blind or big blind. All players pay the ante before a hand begins and the ante increases incrementally as the tournament progresses, just like regular blind levels. 

All players are dealt four hole cards and the dealer immediately burns one card and then deals two three-card flops – there’s no pre-flop betting round. Once the two flops are out, a betting round begins with the player left of the dealer button.

The dealer then burns one card and deals two turn cards – one for each board. There’s another betting round before the dealer burns one card and completes each board with a river card. A final betting round wraps the hand up.

As this is PLO, players can only use two of their four hole cards to make the best five card hand on each board. But they don’t need to separate their cards into two hands, all cards can be paired up with each other to make the best possible hand.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE:

Let’s say you’re dealt A♠ 5♠ Q♣ K♣ .

The two boards read:

6♠ 7♠ J♠ / K♥ / 2♦
Q♥ 5♦ 3♠ / 9♣ / 4♥

On the first board, you’ve got the nut flush with the A♠ 5♠ , while on the second board, your best hand is two pair (queens and fives) using your Q♣ 5♠ .

In this example, you have the nuts on the first board, so you’re guaranteed at least half of the pot. But if an opponent holds a better hand on the second board – a straight, for example – they would take the other half. 

If one player has the best five-card hand on both boards, they scoop the lot.

Fancy playing a PLO Double Board Bomb Pot tournament? Keep an eye on upcoming EPT schedules as they could become a regular fixture.

POWER PATH RUNS CONCLUDE, UNTIL NEXT TIME…

Guillermo Gordo was knocked out of the EPT Cyprus Main Event on Day 4, bringing to a conclusion the involvement of Gold Pass winners in this tournament. It will have been a bittersweet moment for the Poland-based Spaniard. His $20,980 prize represents an incredible return on his $11 investment, but no doubt he had been eyeing the potential of an even bigger payday.

Gordo was not only the most successful holder of a Gold Pass here in Cyprus but he came close to matching the best performance from any Gold Pass winner ever. The Power Path promotion has only been sending players to the EPT for a little over a year — EPT Barcelona 2023 was the first — and in that time, 71 players have taken their seat at an EPT Main Event.

Of them, 13 players have translated their Gold Pass into a Main Event cash, with three of those doing so here in Cyprus.

Przemyslaw Cebrat finished 161st for $9,100; Ivan Zhechev finished 91st for $13,820 and, as stated, Gordo’s 34th earned him just shy of $21,000.

Prior to that, Paul Jurcuta’s 68th place finish in Barcelona had been the most profitable. That result earned the Romanian €23,650 ($25,533 approx). We had also seen Kevinas Korsakas (58th – €15,200) and Marcelo Sgari (96th – €11,500) cash in Monte Carlo, and six players cash in Barcelona: Angel Marrone (59th — €20,300), Pablo Urbierna (62nd – €20,300), Dionisio Vitti (87th – €17,600), Bartosz Kolendowski (177th — €11,600), Grzegorz Wyraz (191st — €10,050)and Cameron Sinclair (220th — €10,050).

These results may seem modest, especially in comparison with some of the “regular” PokerStars qualifiers, who continue to crush live events. But remember, Power Path is designed specifically with low-stakes recreational players in mind. The highest level anyone can enter the qualifying path is at $11, so the pros don’t tend to bother.

For anybody playing at that kind of buy-in level, a four-figure live score is significant. As ever, it’s all about encouraging recreational players to dream big and make the leap. It’s a pretty safe bet that by this time next year, we’ll be celebrating our first Gold Pass winner who has gone all the way to a Main Event final table.

POKERSTARS POWER PATH HALL OF FAME

Paul Jurcuta — 68th at EPT Barcelona 2023 – €23,650
Angelo Marrone — 59th at EPT Barcelona 2024 — €20,300
Pablo Ubierna — 62nd at EPT Barcelona 2024 — €20,300
Guillermo Gordo — 34th at EPT Cyprus 2024 — $20,980
Dionisio Vitti — 87th at EPT Barcelona 2024 — €17,600
Kevinas Korsakas — 58th at EPT Monte Carlo 2024 – €15,200
Ivan Zhechev — 91st at EPT Cyprus 2024 $13,820
Bartosz Kolendowski — 177th at EPT Barcelona 2024 — €11,600
Marcelo Sgari — 96th at EPT Monte Carlo 2024 – €11,500
Cameron Sinclair — 220th at EPT Barcelona 2024 – €10,050
Grzegorz Wyraz — 191st at EPT Barcelona 2024 — €10,050
Noa Chan – 204th at EPT Paris 2024 – €9,900
Przemyslaw Cebrat — 161st at EPT Cyprus 2024 for $9,100

Read more about the Power Path

NEW EVENTS, PACKAGES AND HIGH ROLLER ADDED FOR WOMEN

The success of the Women’s Event here in Cyprus persuaded tournament organisers to go again. That’s right, an originally unscheduled Event #70 got started today in the main tournament room, another €200 buy-in event for women only.

This is great news not only for the women players who happen to be at the Merit Resort. It is, of course, a long-standing aim of so many people involved with poker to get more women playing, and it’s always great to see popular demand increasing.

It also happens to be a perfect day to announce more good news on this subject: the PokerStars Women’s Winter Festival has added a £1,000 High Roller event to its busy schedule.

As you’ve probably seen, the Women’s Winter Festival already promised four events over four days at the Hippodrome Casino, London, this November, with a £100K guaranteed Main Event. That’s a pretty staggering guarantee for a £400 buy-in tournament, but it underlines PokerStars’ commitment to encouraging more and more women to play.

Read more about the Women’s Winter Festival

Several high-profile women players had been petitioning tournament organisers to add a high roller to the schedule too, and PokerStars answered the call. The £1,000 buy-in High Roller will take place on November 21st, and PokerStars Ambassador Marle Spragg is already signed up to play.

“I’m really looking forward to playing the High Roller in London,” Spragg says. “Hopefully this will be the first of many more events like this that make poker more welcoming to all players.”

Cédric Billot, Associate Director, Live Events Operations at PokerStars says: “It’s clear from talking to our players that women want more opportunities to play in high roller events so this is a fantastic addition to the schedule that will make the Women’s Winter Festival a truly unmissable event.”

The inaugural Women’s Winter Festival has been designed by Hippodrome Director of Poker and PokerStars Ambassador Kerryjane Craigie in response to feedback from women. It aims to continue in the effort to change the narrative around women in poker and open doors for more women to engage confidently at higher levels of play.

Craigie says of the High Roller addition: “The Women’s Winter Festival is all about elevating the game for women and women’s participation in poker, and the addition of the High Roller provides our players with more variety and more of the games they want to access.”

One other quick point: PokerStars has added a Women’s Winter Festival package to the prize pool of this impromptu second Women’s Event in Cyprus. In addition to the several thousand dollars going to the winner, the package is worth £1,300 and includes a £400 buy-in, £600 for three nights in a London hotel and £300 in expenses.

With registration still open on the event at time of writing, the prize pool is already close to $13,000, with 67 entries through the door.

***

It’s been a very good week for women’s poker already in Cyprus. There were 106 entries (including 36 re-entries) to the $330 Women’s Event, with Canada’s Ksenia Shuali beating Julie Klein, of Norway, heads up and winning $7,910.

But Event #3, which was a $1,100 NLHE Freezeout, open to all, finished with Alisa Sibgatova and Ekaterina Fediaeva heads-up. They agreed a chop, taking close to $30,000 apiece. But it was as refreshing as it was unusual to see two women heads-up in an open event, having defeated a field of 161.

Check out all the results from side events at EPT Cyprus

Meanwhile, Spain’s Marta Miquel is in the top 10 of 27 players remaining in the EPT Main Event. With Rania Nasreddine having made the previous two Main Event final tables on the EPT, Miquel is aiming to make it three in a row for women.

TASYUREK AND DATO CLOSE TO CONSECUTIVE CYPRUS FINALS

Making it to the final four tables of an EPT Main Event is an impressive feat but for Cyprus regulars Halil Tasyurek and Adrian Dato, it’s becoming a yearly occurrence. Both made last year’s final table and with 32 players remaining at the time of writing, both are poised to go back-to-back.

This time 12 months ago, Turkey’s Halil Tasyurek was in this same room telling us how he dreamt of making a deep run in a big live tournament every night for 13 years. That dream came true the following day when he made the inaugural Cyprus final table, finishing fourth for $358,075. Since that dam burst he’s seen a flood of stellar results.

For years, Tasyurek only played poker for fun while working in finance. Over time it led him to play semi-professionally, and three years ago he left work entirely to pursue poker full-time. He’s been travelling the poker circuit ever since, with great success.

Tasyurek – who began his poker career playing on PokerStars in 2010 – had a runner-up finish in a $5K High Roller at the Merit Poker Carmen Series earlier this year for $123,100, then came agonisingly close to clinching his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet this past summer, again finishing runner-up in a $5K for $272,305.

Now he’s riding that momentum into another deep Cyprus run. “You can count me as a local,” he told us. “But this is not a biased comment. In my opinion, this is by far the best EPT I have ever attended. The tournaments, the food, everything is great.”

Andrea Dato was also here this time last year telling us how much he enjoyed playing at the Merit resort. “I’ve been here before and I really like Cyprus, the location and the field,” he said at the time.

Now he’s got another shot at becoming EPT Cyprus champion. 

Dato has a long history with PokerStars events. The Italian cashed his first in 2010 on the IPT before finishing fourth at EPT Barcelona in 2014, earning €362,000. He then made the second EPT final table of his career here in Cyprus in 2023, falling to Gilles Simon heads-up but banking a career-best $652,200 for second.

He transitioned to poker after a spell playing Magic: The Gathering and gave up a career as an engineer to focus on poker more than 16 years ago. Since then, he has become one of the best-known Italian players and has almost $2.6 million in live tournament earnings.

Tune in to the live stream to follow Tasyurek and Dato’s progress.

21ST CENTURY BOY AIMS TO SET NEW EPT LANDMARK

It’s the kind of statistical landmark that will surely be broken soon, but at time of writing there has been no EPT Main Event champion born in the 21st century.

Here in Cyprus, Roeland Peeks has the chance to be the very first.

Peeks, sitting sixth in chips of 45 remaining on Day 4, was born in April 2000. It means he’s 24 years old, six years older than the youngest ever EPT champion, but in with a very good shout of following fellow 24-year-old Gilles Simon to the top table.

Last year, Simon became the youngest EPT winner since Artur Martirosian triumphed, aged 23, in Sochi March 2021. The average age of an EPT Main Event champion is 30, however, so all of Peeks, Simon and Martirosian are comparatively early developers.

“I started playing very young, for low stakes,” Peeks says, adding that a schoolfriend first introduced him to the game when they were about 16. A couple of years later, when he was old enough, Peeks opened an online account to continue to play.

He began his poker life as an online cash-game player, but says he transitioned to tournaments about a year ago, and recently took the leap into the live arena as well. This is his first experience of the European Poker Tour, but says it will not be his last.

“It’s very fun,” Peeks says. “I like the atmosphere. The dealers are quick, I like the shot clock. I’m enjoying it.”

Peeks was a purely recreational player before the Covid pandemic interrupted his university studies and gave him the opportunity to commit to the game more closely. He didn’t much fancy returning to his studies as a socially-distanced student, nor continuing with a temporary job in a call centre, so decided to put the hours in to pursue poker.

Peeks had identified Cyprus as his ideal location to try the EPT for the first time, and played online qualifier tournaments to both the Eureka Main Event and the EPT. Although he whiffed the latter, he won a full package to the Eureka and so made the commitment to play a full schedule of tournaments when he got here.

Peeks earned his first cash in a PokerStars-sponsored event when he finished 247th in the Eureka event for $2,210, but has continued his momentum into the EPT Main where he is now already guaranteed his biggest ever live tournament score.

“I really like it here,” Peeks says. “I’ve been to Vegas, but that was a bit different from here. That was more of a grind. Here it’s actually fun.”

Originally from the Netherlands, Peeks spent four months playing online from Mexico before finding a home in poker’s European hotbed of Vienna, Austria. “Everyone kind of knows each other there,” Peeks says. “I met a load of people in Vienna, for example Chris [Nguyen]. He’s also still in. He’s a friend of mine.”

He also name-checked the established greats of Dutch poker Jans Arends and Johannes Straver, both of whom are similarly now based in Vienna. He comes from very good stock.

Regardless of what happens on Day 4 and beyond, Peeks says he feels he has a new home on the EPT.

“Prague in the next two months, I’ll go there for sure,” he says. “Probably every EPT from now on.”

RETIRED PILOT POSTEL LANDS ON DAY 4

How do you say goodbye to a job you love? It’s a tough one. Dick Postel retired from a beloved career as an airline pilot in May but admits he’s found it difficult to leave his lifelong passion behind. “I’m now looking for a new place to go because it was such a nice job,” he tells us.

That new place turned out to be Cyprus, where the Malta-based Dutchman is making his return to the European Poker Tour. Postel won a $5,300 Main Event seat on PokerStars but unfortunately, that first bullet didn’t work out. 

“I got kicked out after two bad beats,” says the 58-year-old. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to re-enter but on the last level of Day 1B I said, let’s go for it.”

That’s proven to be an excellent decision as he ended that day with around 47K and has been around the average stack ever since. 

Postel has only one cash on his Hendon Mob profile – a 52nd-place finish at EPT Prague for €17,200 back in 2016 – but he says he’s enjoyed a few small, untracked cashes in Las Vegas tournaments, as well as qualifying for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event three times. “I always crash out on the first day,” he says, smiling. “Somehow the first day is always the most difficult.”

He got through it here in Cyprus, though (albeit with a re-entry), and he’s excited and happy to still be in on Day 4. The plan today is to play from 45 down to 16 and to get him through he’ll be relying on some of the qualities that made him a great pilot.

“It takes patience and observation,” he says. “You also have to be very strict with yourself. Sometimes I play hands and I think, hmmm, I shouldn’t have gone there. But I’m able to make quick decisions.”

POWERJAMMING WITH PATRICK LEONARD

Now and then a new piece of vocabulary enters the poker lexicon, but never has lingo been so easily credited to one particular player. The player in question is Patrick Leonard. The new lingo? Power Jam.

According to Leonard, he’s already made “many” Power Jams here at EPT Cyprus, and he claims to have pulled off an impressive 117 Power Jams throughout the 2024 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), a series that saw the Brit add two more titles to his incredible resume. Almost all of them were documented in his Instagram stories, where Leonard is one of the most prolific posters in poker.

But what is a Power Jam and when should you consider making such a polarising move? There’s no one better to ask than the man who coined the name.

WHAT IS A POWER JAM IN POKER?

“A Power Jam is when you bet many times the pot and usually it’s because you either have lots of hands that want to bluff, or you have a hand that wants to get lots of money in,” explains Leonard.

Here’s an example. Let’s say the cutoff opens and you defend the big blind. The flop is queen-ten-four and they bet, you call. The five turn goes check-check and there’s a six on the river, so the board reads QT456. You move all in for 10 times the pot.

“You’re going to get to the river with some hands like the nuts — like two pair, as he checked the turn so he never has you beat,” says Leonard. “But you’re also going to get there with hands like king-jack, jack-nine, straight draws, flush draws.”

Leonard explains that in spots like this, you don’t want to bet small with your bluffs because you’re going to get called often, while at the same time, you don’t want to bet small with your value because you want to get a lot of value.

“You match up lots and lots of bluffs with some really strong, powerful hands, so we call it a Power Jam,” he says. “You’re powering them out of the pot, but you’re also powering for value.”

DOES THE OPPONENT FACTOR IN?

A Power Jam is an extreme move, so we wondered if some opponents make better candidates to target. 

“Against some players, you’ll be able to get them to fold their entire range,” says Leonard. “But when you bet lots of big blinds on the river, they need to fold a lot for it to be a successful bluff anyway. So the idea is that they’re supposed to fold a lot so you make them fold. It makes you a bit unpredictable.”

Of course, pulling off a Power Jam in person is a bit trickier than clicking a button online. 

“You have to keep a straight face while your opponent is asking, ‘How much? HOW MUCH?’” Leonard says with a chuckle.

CONTRIBUTING TO THE LEXICON

Big overbets have long been studied and applied in poker, but that doesn’t take away from Leonard’s contribution to poker’s vocabulary. 

“It’s a theoretical concept, I’ve just given it a name,” he says. “There are lots of names we make up. We had MegaMaster where you make someone fold a better hand but call a worse hand. Maybe you jam the turn and they call you with a combo draw but fold middle pair. That’s a MegaMaster.

“[These terms] make it easier in-game because instead of thinking about the theory you can just think, oh this is a MegaMaster spot. This is a Power Jam spot. It’s an easier way to explain the game to students.”

But popularising the term comes with its downsides, too. “Now people call me a lot more than they should do,” he says.

BATTLING IN THE MYSTERY BOUNTY

Leonard is currently battling in the $3K EPT Mystery Bounty in Cyprus, so we stopped by his table on the off chance we might see him pull off the manoeuvre in person. 

In the very first hand we witnessed, action folded around to Leonard on the button and he limped in for 4,000 before Garik Tamasian checked his option in the big blind. The flop came 3♠ K♦ J♣ and Tamasian check-called when Leonard tossed in a 5,000 chip. He check-called again on the 6♥ turn when Leonard made it 18,000.

The A♣ river completed the board and when Tamasian checked a third time Leonard leaned back in his chair and shook his head. In most cases, this behaviour would be seen as a concession to defeat… but not with Leonard. He grabbed his biggest chips and slapped down a pile of them on his dealer button – enough to put Tamasian all-in for his remaining 67,000.

Tamasian gave it some thought but laid it down, only for Leonard to show Q♠ 9♣ with a smile – nothing but queen high. But with 60,000 already in the pot, this one doesn’t qualify as a Power Jam. 

We came back an hour later and Leonard opened under the gun to 10,000. Joran Kenjic called in middle position, Juan Marquez called from the small blind, then Priit Parmasto jammed for 41,000 from the big blind. With a precious bounty token now in the middle, Leonard moved all in with the biggest stack and Kenjic called all-in. 

Leonard: A♣ J♥
Kenjic: A♥ 10♣
Parmasto: 9♥ 9♣

The board ran out Q♥ 4♣ 5♥ Q♦ 6♦ to give Parmasto the triple up, while Leonard took down the side pot and added Kenjic’s bounty token to his pile.

No Power Jams yet though. We’ll keep an eye on Leonard throughout this tournament and see if he makes one before the day ends.

OFF THE FELT FUN IN CYPRUS

This long EPT Cyprus festival is gradually edging nearer to its conclusion, but there have been memories made here that will last a long time.

Here’s a look at some of the extra-curricular activities that have been going on away from the main tournament room. As ever, there’s been a packed activities schedule, with tons going on for all players and their guests.

Here’s just a sample.

SPRAGGY’S HOPES CRUSHED BY BRUTAL RIVER

We can forgive Benjamin Spragg for his minor admin error last night. After a long and exhausting Day 2 – which began with the PokerStars Ambassador firing his second EPT Cyprus bullet and max-late registering with 20 big blinds, and ended with everyone in the money – Spraggy miscounted his chips and wrote 161,000 on his chip bag as he left for the night. 

It wasn’t until he tuned into the stream’s final moments (Spraggy ended the night up on the feature table) while sipping a nightcap in the whiskey lounge that he noticed something was amiss. “I actually had 181,000,” he told the TV team before Day 3 began. “It’s thirty-something big blinds either way, so we can do a lot with that.”

This was an important day for the PokerStars Team Pro. Not only is there $1 million awaiting the winner in this tournament, but Spraggy was in a great position to make the deepest EPT run of his career so far.

“I’m a min-cash specialist,” he said. “I’ve cashed four or five of these but never for more than ten or eleven thousand, so I’ve got my eyes on going a bit further and it would be nice to have my deepest run.”

A scan of his Hendon Mob profile and the story (almost) checks out. Spraggy has consistently cashed EPT Main Events post-pandemic, but before this event his best score stood at €13,450 (slightly more than he remembers) and his best finish was 124th. 

Here’s a look at those results:

EPT Paris 2024: 174th – €11,400
EPT Barcelona 2023: 147th – €13,450
EPT Monte Carlo 2023: 136th – €9,850
EPT Barcelona 2022: 195th – €11,730
EPT Monte Carlo 2022: 124th – €9,320

Well, here comes the bad news. There’s a new addition to the “min-cash” list.

As reported by PokerNews, according to his tablemate Alexandre Vuilleumier Spraggy had three-bet to 50K from the small blind after an open from Chakib Mhiri on the button. Mhiri called and after an ace-seven-five flop with two hearts, Spraggy continued for 40K. That bet was called and Spraggy then shoved on a blank turn for 140K. 

When he was called he saw some good news: Both had flopped top pair but Spraggy’s ace-king was dominating Mhiri’s ace-jack. That is until a jack landed on the river.

Alas, it’s another near-miss for Spraggy who adds $12,020 and a 115th finish to his results. It’s his best placing, but not one he’ll look back on fondly.

Spraggy has had plenty of live poker success in between EPT Mains, mind. In September 2023 he captured his maiden live PokerStars title, taking down the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) event in Brighton for £69,120. These days he plays High Roller events and had a good run in the €10K at Barcelona in September.

The Cyprus equivalent kicks off tomorrow, but for now, a day off and another trip to the whiskey lounge might be in order.

ANOTHER TINY IMPROVEMENT TO KEEP THINGS FAIR

It may sound like a typical brainteaser from a puzzle magazine, but can you spot what the following numbers have in common?

256 — 176 — 288 — 192

If you noticed that they are all divisible by eight, congratulations. That’s the first part of the question correct. The next step is to figure out why these numbers are relevant on the European Poker Tour (EPT).

You’ll know the answer if you were watching the stream from EPT Cyprus yesterday at the point that the tournament reached the bubble. When the 193rd player was knocked out — i.e., at the point that 192 were left — EPT Tournament Director Toby Stone told his dealers to pause while they broke a table. They would then play hand-for-hand on precisely 24, eight-handed tables.

This is not a coincidence. As Kenny Hallaert explained on the live stream:

“At all PokerStars events, what we try to do is when we’re on the money bubble, we are on a balanced amount of tables, which means there will be an equal amount of people at each table.”

He added: “In a big field that will usually mean that every table will have eight people seated.”

The numbers listed above are the numbers of players remaining in the Paris, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Cyprus Main Events when play went hand-for-hand. It’s important that there are precisely eight people at every table to ensure that nobody is at a disadvantage, playing more hands than anybody else.

It takes a slight tinkering with the payout schedule to ensure that the stone bubble occurs with precisely eight players at a table, but it’s worth the extra effort.

Hallaert said: “You want to break a table, then have a double check around all tables to make sure that at every table all seats are filled.” He added that every tournament director has experienced the sinking feeling of thinking you’re approaching the bubble, but realising there’s been a miscalculation.

“Technically you were already in the money because all of a sudden there’s an open seat,” he said.

The hand-for-hand process is now well established, of course. It’s a way to reduce the incentive for players to stall approaching the money bubble. Previously, before hand-for-hand play became standard, play dragged to an absolute crawl as players essentially attempted to slowly fold their way into the money.

The theory is that if you could delay play enough, players from other tables would presumably get knocked out ensuring they burst the bubble, not you. But if everyone does that, the whole tournament would stop.

Hand-for-hand play ensures everyone sees the same number of hands during this critical moment of the tournament. And when you add the fact that everyone is at an eight-handed table, it’s a fair as it can possibly be.

This particular change may seem especially minor, but it’s just one more way in which the EPT attempts to iron out even the slightest wrinkle. And we were rewarded here in Cyprus by one of the smoothest and quickest bubbles in recent memory.

GORDO HOPING FOR MORE PROGRESS ON DAY 3

There was just time this morning for a quick check-in with Guillermo Gordo, or Gold Pass Gordo as he should now be known. Gordo is our Poland-based Spanish player who won a Gold Pass in the PokerStars Power Path in January and saved it up to play here in Cyprus.

It was a very good decision. Gordo now sits in 46th place from 144 remaining in this tournament, guaranteed at least $9,100 and aiming significantly higher.

Gordo has 325,000 chips with which to start Day 3 having yesterday been down to only around 40,000. He said he managed to keep himself afloat by stealing pots here and there, but then scored a double when an opponent open-jammed for 42,000 and Gordo found pocket queens. They stayed good against pocket eights.

“It was against a friend,” Gordo said. “Another one of the Spanish.” There’s no such thing as a friend at the tables, although Gordo is now essentially representing them both into Day 3.

Gordo had around 125,000 by the time the bubble came around so said there was no reason for him to feel tense during that part of the tournament. He added that he managed to steadily chip up through the last level of the day, avoiding anything too major but just keeping the stack moving nicely upward.

He was first to arrive to Table 16 today, where he’ll have the highly-ranked Chinese player Biao Ding and German pro Timo Kamphues for company, among others. The table will be the third to break, so he’ll likely be moved off elsewhere before too long.

He is one of only two Gold Pass winners still alive, with Ivan Zhechev also still with chips. Here’s hoping for another successful day for both of them.

FOURNIER BUBBLES EPT MAIN EVENT

The bubble in the EPT Cyprus Main Event burst at almost precisely 9pm on Day 2 of this six-day tournament, giving the 191 players who avoided it an $8,400 payday, but sending French pro Sam Fournier home with nothing.

Fournier has been on the other side of this calculation many times before, most notably in the Eureka Main Event here in Cyprus, where he finished third earlier this trip for a $237K score. But this time, his was the exit that was cheered the most by the remainder of the field, particularly those who had inched close to the payouts line with a tiny stack, and then just about nosed over it.

This particular bubble had the added distraction of a dinner break, which at first seemed like it might land directly during hand-for-hand play, but eventually occurred at what tournament officials will consider just the right time.

There were 194 players remaining when Level 14 ticked to its conclusion, still three from the money, and that gave tournament staff the chance to send everyone away for sustenance while they double, triple, quadruple-checked that their numbers were correct.

They were, of course, so well-nourished players were able to return and play these fraught moments at least with enough food in their bellies for the fight.

Blinds in Level 15 were 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante. The short stack was 15,000 and sat in front of Wenguo Lin. It was not quite four big blinds. Mounim Kaddouri (24,000) and Petre Ionescu (25,000) didn’t have too much more, while Gold Pass winner Guillermo Gordo (30,000) had one blind more than them. They were, however, still in with a shot at making the money.

Ran Ilani was the first player to hit the rail after dinner. He had A♥ K♦ but got rivered by Alexandre Vuilleumier’s A♠ Q♠ . That took them down to the last 193, at which point Nils Pudel’s A♥ Q♥ failed to beat Tayfun Rodoplu’s 7♣ 7♦ .

Those two quick eliminations put them on the stone bubble and ramped up the tension a little more.

The usual phalanx of reporters and camera operators and sound people and spectators and staff and other players swarmed around the tables, eventually flocking to Table 4. That’s where that tiny stack of Wenguo Lin sat, but a quick glance around the table ascertained that he did not have any cards and was, therefore, not at risk.

In fact, it was Lin’s neighbour Fournier who was all in, with the next player around, Mihai Niste having made the call. Niste was filming on a GoPro, while Fournier was doing his best to look relaxed about this most uncomfortable state of affairs.

Niste had a small figurine of Asterix the Gaul on top of his cards. It was a strong look. Fournier knew that he had pocket queens in the hole so was surely feeling pretty happy about things. There are only two hands better than that. Did Asterix have one of them beneath him?

After Toby Stone came over to announce the action, the hands were turned over. Fournier had those Q♦ Q♥ , while Niste’s A♥ K♥ set up the classic race.

Given the all clear, the dealer dropped the 8♣ 9♥ 8♦ on to the table. That wasn’t too bad for Fournier. The 3♥ turn gave some more peril. Then the 5♥ landed on the river, which was the killer blow for Fournier.

“Congratulations players, you are now in the money,” Stone said. Fournier stood up and made his way out of the tournament area.

By the often tortuous standards of EPT events, this one was relatively sedate. It was quick and for most it was painless. For Fournier, it was anything but. But he will come again.

They will now play until the end of Level 15 before bagging for the night.

SCHNEIDERS STARS IN NEW TV DOCUMENTARY FILMED AT EPT CYPRUS

No PokerStars Ambassador spends as much time in front of a camera as Felix Schneiders. Whether he’s streaming his online play or giving his GRND community a behind-the-scenes look at live events, few rival “xflixx” when it comes to connecting with audiences through a screen.

That makes him the perfect subject for a new television documentary, which Schneiders and other members of the German poker community have been busy shooting at the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Cyprus. It’s part of a series that sees its hosts tackle a new topic every week – something they know nothing about – to discover what makes it so fascinating.

The poker episode came about thanks to a former PokerStars Ambassador. “One of my dear colleagues Jan Heitmann was approached by the channel,” says Schneiders. “He’s now a well-known speaker in Germany who gives speeches about how poker relates to business, and they asked if he was interested in making a documentary.”

Heitmann referred them to Schneiders and the producers quickly realised they’d stumbled on the perfect subject. As one of Germany’s most public and recognisable poker players, Schneiders not only has a knack for explaining the game but through his streams and GRND community, he’s contributed immensely to the careers of many of his peers.

As well as Schneiders, the documentary also follows Samuel Müller, a successful German pro living in Austria who took down a World Series of Poker (WSOP) High Roller bracelet for a whopping $2.7 million in 2023. “He started in our community winning the Hot $0.55 and posting about it in our Discord,” says a proud Schneiders.

While his GRND crew are already familiar with poker’s strategies and lingo, Schneiders says it’s been very different breaking down the game for those who are being introduced to it for the first time. “I’ve explained that this has been my passion for over 18 years,” he says. “I love the game — it has taught me so much, not just in the game itself but in my life, in business, in everything I do.”

He continues: “There is so much to learn from this game and it needs to be presented in the light that it deserves, which is that it’s a strategy game with an element of luck — the same as life. We all live this life, we make our decisions, but we can’t influence what’s presented to us. So we just make the best decisions we can make.”

Schneiders says the documentary will cover all the angles, including the responsible gaming aspect and player protection. But one thing he couldn’t guarantee is that he’d provide a deep tournament run for them to cover here at EPT Cyprus. Luckily, his luck seems to have turned.

“I’ve been running really bad and had no runs at all,” he says. “But in the big one, it’s working out right now. It’s nice that I get to go on the feature table and they get to document all the different aspects of an EPT.”

He’s on the feature table as we write, with three different camera crews following his progress: the PokerStars TV team, the gang behind his GRND streams, and the documentary makers.

“I hope it helps grow the game and presents poker in the right light,” says Schneiders. The documentary is being filmed for one of the main public TV channels in Germany, ZDF, and should air at the end of the year. 

$1m FOR WINNER OF ANOTHER HUGE CYPRUS MAIN EVENT

The European Poker Tour’s second visit to Cyprus has amassed another enormous Main Event field. After 474 entries on Day 1A and 755 on Day 1B, there were a further 55 entries before play got under way on Day 2.

That means a total of 1,284 and a prize pool of $6,227,400.

Safe to say that Cyprus and Paris, both of which featured for the first time on the EPT in 2023, have rapidly become established favourites. Gilles Simon beat a field of 1,320 entries here last year to land his $1m+ first prize and this week’s champion is going to need to do something very similar to earn $1,030,000.

The bubble will burst today, with the top 191 finishers earning at least $8,400.

This field comprises 862 unique entries from 66 countries. The most well represented countries are Russia (176 players), the UK (93 players) and Germany (82 players), notable perhaps for being three countries that no longer actually host EPT events of their own.

Here’s the nationalities piechart showing the complete breakdown. The payout schedule is below.

EPT Cyprus payout schedule

1 – $1,030,000
2 – $642,300
3 – $459,000
4 – $353,100
5 – $271,400
6 – $208,720
7 – $160,500
8 – $123,400

9 – $94,940
10-11 – $73,100
12-13 – $60,900
14-15 – $50,760
16-17 – $42,280
18-20 – $36,740
21-23 – $31,940
24-27 – $27,780
28-31 – $24,160
32-39 – $20,980
40-55 – $18,240
56-71 – $15,880
72-95 – $13,820
96-119 – $12,020
120-143 – $10,460
144-183 – $9,100
184-191 – $8,400

JUST CALL HIM ‘GOLD PASS GORDO’

One of the best things about the PokerStars Power Path is the versatility it offers its winners. You can win a Gold, Silver or Bronze Pass and then decide not only how you want to break down the $10,300, $2,500 or $109 value, but also when and where you want to spend it.

Want to play a regional tour, a WCOOP tournament and an EPT side event? Can do. Want to stick purely to the online tables? That’s fine. Want to put it all in play in a high buy-in Main Event? Go for it. It’s your money. Spread it about as you want.

For Guillermo Gordo, who won a Gold Pass playing online in January, he knew where he was going to redeem it. “This resort is great for poker players,” Gordo said, casting his eyes around the EPT Cyprus tournament room. “You have these three hotels, spa, restaurants. It’s the best.”

Gordo is a regular on the European Poker Tour and is a regular online qualifier. It means he is accustomed to the qualifier experience, which means a buy-in plus hotel accommodation and expenses. But this is the first time he’s been on the EPT via the Power Path. It means he’s done everything for an even smaller initial outlay.

Originally from Salamanca in Spain, but now based in Poland, Gordo has been playing on the EPT for around eight years. His only Main Event cash came in Monte Carlo this year, where his 65th place earned him €15,200, but he is putting together a handy string of results over the past 12 months.

In Paris in February, a third-place finish in the FPS High Roller came with a career-best payday of €238,700. He was also at the final table of the €2,000 Eureka High Roller here in Cyprus last time out, where sixth place was worth more than $90K.

He is now a pro player, settled in Poland after originally moving to play poker but then meeting his girlfriend there. His girlfriend is also enjoying the chance to accompany a Gold Pass winner to places as beautiful as Cyprus, with the pair heading out on jet-skis on their first day. That’s one of the many activities laid on for free for players and their guests.

Gordo is today seated at the feature table, alongside the EPT Barcelona champion Stephen Song, among others. Song has a huge stack, but Gordo has position. With the bubble approaching today, it’ll be a good chance to turn that Gold Pass into a tidy profit.

And if not, there’s always the beach, the spa, the restaurants. In short, Gold Pass winners have it good, whatever happens at the tables.

REDEMPTION AND TURTLE RESCUE AT EPT CYPRUS

Adam McKola, usually a very upbeat man, was feeling a little forlorn after busting the EPT Cyprus Main Event early on Day 1B. He had pocket queens against pocket aces and turned a set, but then watched his opponent hit a two-outer on the river. Don’t ask him about it. He’s still trying to get over it now.

But this being EPT Cyprus, there was an immediate tonic at hand. Two sea turtles were due to be released into the Mediterranean Sea having been nursed back to health at the Merit Resort’s unique rehabilitation centre. If he wanted, McKola could be one of the two people required to carry the turtles down to the water and bid them an emotional farewell.

This was the kind of goodbye that could rehabilitate even the most savagely broken heart.

So it was that McKola and fellow PokerStars Ambassador Felix Schneiders were the official two assistants as turtles named Bal and Aydeper ended their month-long stays in the turtle hospital. Bal, aged between 8 and 10 months, and Aydeper, who was slightly younger, were one of nearly 150 turtles who have been released back into the water after being brought to shore suffering injuries that might otherwise have killed them.

According to the reptile professor and veterinarians of the rehab centre, this pair had likely ingested plastic that had affected their buoyancy. They spent a few weeks in the tanks of the rehab centre, down the hill from the Crystal Cove hotel, before their big release date today.

“It’s nice, man,” McKola said, still smarting from his poker heartbreak, but enjoying this unique opportunity to, literally, give something back. “I like turtles. I swam with them once in Barbados.”

The two shelled beasts arrived to the beach in green plastic tanks, beneath a covering of water. As a slightly larger turtle gambolled in the background and entertained the kids (suspiciously man-size, blue, and wearing a red, backwards-facing baseball cap), Schneiders and McKola helped the professionals haul the tanks onto a roped off portion of beach.

They were then encouraged to lift the turtles out and place them on the sand, only a couple of metres from the freedom of the ocean. McKola stroked his turtle’s back, but Schneiders didn’t have the chance. At the first glimpse of the open seas, his beast allowed the waves to wash over his back and then to propel him off the sand and away.

McKola’s had formed a firmer bond and stuck around a while longer. “He knew I was upset,” McKola said. “He wanted to stay with me.”

However, after some gentle encouragement, it too departed back into the deep. The two ambassadors led the surrounding throngs in waving their two creatures away.

As we have written before, the Merit’s Turtle Rehabilitation Centre is surely unique in the world of poker. No other venue offers the chance to check out injured sealife at such close quarters, which means no other venue offers to chance to experience such life-affirming back-from-the-brink tales of rescue.

In a world where knockouts and eliminations happen every day, and in great number, it makes a very refreshing change.

VASKABOINIKAU ENDS POKERSTARS DECADE WITH SUPER HIGH ROLLER TRIUMPH

The Belarusian businessman Mikalai Vaskaboinikau is one of those people who blurs the boundary between what’s considered a recreational poker player and what’s a pro. Vaskaboinikau has been coming to the European Poker Tour for a long time and has plenty of big results to show for it. Add in some notable performances on other tours and he has amassed more than $8.5 million in documented winnings.

He must do especially well in his business dealings if poker is only a hobby.

Tonight in Cyprus, Vaskaboinikau cast further confusion on what is the most accurate way to describe his money-making. Vaskaboinikau finished first in the $50k buy-in Super High Roller event at EPT Cyprus, banking $555,092 after defeating a final table led at the start of the day by Adrian Mateos and Artur Martirosian, two established poker crushers.

Vaskaboinikau struck a three-handed deal with those two before laying waste to both of them. Admittedly, he needed a huge stroke of fortune to secure a massive double up heads-up against Martirosian, when he cracked pocket aces with A♦ 4♦ , rivering a flush. But he had once again shown his chops to get himself in that position, to outlast a 47-entry field, and to put a PokerStars trophy on on his mantlepiece.

“It’s a very special event for me because I never won,” Vaskaboinikau told Joe Stapleton in the trophy presentation. “I’ve played a lot of high rollers and super high rollers on PokerStars series but never won none of them. So for me it’s a special moment, especially so I can get the trophy. This was the main target.”

He added that he’s been playing for almost exactly a decade on PokerStars events, so this crowns the 10 years in the best possible way.

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The tournament played out over three days, the first of which was all about registration (47 made it in), with the second about getting through the bubble and setting a final six.

France’s Thomas Eychenne bust in seventh place to become the last player to leave with nothing. The six who remained looked up at Adrian Mateos, but were all guaranteed at least $159,600.

Final table line-up:

Adrian Mateos, Spain, 5,175,000
Roman Hrabec, Czechia, 2,630,000
Artur Martirosian, Russia, 2,235,000
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus, 660,000
Alexander Zubov, Russia, 625,000
Jamil Wakil, Canada, 425,000

Jamil Wakil’s short stack was worth nine big blinds. It obviously wasn’t much, but it was still potentially enough to mount some kind of comeback if things had gone in his favour. Unfortunately for the Canadian, he wasn’t able to find enough ammunition to draw back into contention, and lost all but one 5,000 denomination chip after losing with Q♣ J♦ against Mateos’ A♦ J♠ . In that hand, Wakil raised for two thirds of his stack pre-flop, called off 95 percent of the rest of it on an eight-high board, but wasn’t asked to commit the rest.

Even after he quadrupled up on the next hand, he was still all in from the small blind on the deal after that, and in this instance his pocket deuces weren’t enough to beat Alexander Zubov’s flush. Zubov technically scored the knockout, but the damage was done earlier against Mateos and Wakil left one of his first Super High Roller events with the $159,600 min-cash. That’s the beauty of Super High Rollers, of course. The “min-cash” is in comfortable six figures.

Any thoughts Zubov now had of progressing to the very final stages were quickly snuffed out in a hasty succession of hands in which he came out on the losing side. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau had taken over short-stack duties following the elimination of Wakil, but he quickly doubled with A♥ Q♥ against Zubov’s A♦ J♥ .

That left Zubov on fumes and he survived only a few more hands until he was forced all in from the big blind. Zubov had one over-card with his J♥ 4♣ versus Mateos’ pocket fives. Mateos turned another five to complete the job on Zubov, leaving the Russian on the sidelines with $205,200 in his pocket.

It was Zubov’s second score of more than $200K this week having finished second to Elias Gutierrez in the Super High Roller Warm-Up event. That warm-up had properly put Zubov in the mood, and these two scores are his biggest ever at PokerStars sponsored events.

With the two overnight short stacks now consigned to the rail, the script might have called for Vaskaboinikau, the third smallest at the start of the day, to follow them. On the contrary. Vaskaboinikau’s double through Zubov ignited a surge up the counts, which received a further fillip in a pot that eliminated Roman Hrabec.

It’s easy to forget that Hrabec is still a relative newcomer to the Super High Roller scene, but with a game honed under the online moniker “gogac_sniper”, and some brilliant results in mid-stakes live tournaments, Hrabec now feels perfectly at home in these surroundings. The problem was that he was card dead on the final day, and then couldn’t win the crucial flip that might have got him back into it.

Hrabec had A♦ 10♥ and raised for a big portion of his stack. Vaskaboinikau had pocket eights and raised enough to make Hrabec play for the rest of it. The last chunk of his 940K went in and the dealer decided the flip in Vaskaboinikau’s favour.

It meant $262,200 went to Hrabec, but Vaskaboinikau stuck around with a stack to now do some damage.

Artur Martirosian had played his characteristically flawless game to this point, keeping his stack comfortably ahead of the average even as the field got smaller. He kept his opponents in order too, picking off bluffs from both Mateos and Vaskaboinikau. However, things came unstuck for Martirosian in a major pot against Vaskaboinikau, with the latter’s K♦ 7♦ flopping top pair to beat Martirosian’s pocket queens.

Both players checked the K♣ 7♦ 7♣ flop, but Vaskaboinikau got a big bet called after the 3♥ turn and then jammed the rest on the 4♠ river. Martirosian called, lost, gave his opponent the full double, and slipped to third from three in the counts.

Vaskaboinikau led narrowly as the last three agreed a deal. Mateos took the biggest payout even though he was second in chips. He secured $555,758, Vaskaboinikau agreed to take $542,120 with Martirosian guaranteeing $495,815. They left $59,277 on the table still to play for, and made it certain that whomever won would take the most.

Martirosian was the first to make huge gains three-handed. He secured a full double through Mateos when his A♣ K♦ stayed best against A♥ 10♥ after they got it all in pre-flop.

This now became representative of the remainder of Mateos’ tournament. He was all in several more times but chopped one, doubled in another, but then bust in another. He took home the $555,758 he had negotiated earlier.

The two remaining players were fairly equal in chips and traded blows until the tournament defining hand.

Martirosian looked down at black pocket aces and made a standard raise. Vaskaboinikau saw the strong A♦ 4♦ and moved in for 32 big blinds. Martirosian made an immediate call with the covering stack and it seemed fairly certain to be the end of it. The J♣ 7♠ 3♦ flop gave only a glimmer of hope to Vaskaboinikau, but the 7♦ turn, plus a whispered “one time” to the dealer boosted his chances.

Vaskaboinikau clenched his fists and shouted in celebration when the 8♦ river fell, giving him a flush and an overwhelming chip lead.

It was over in a flash after that. Vaskaboinikau pummelled Martirosian until the latter shipped with A♠ 2♦ and Vaskaboinikau called with pocket fours. There was no outdraw this time, and the game was up.

A delighted Vaskaboinikau told Joe Stapleton that his wife is expecting a third child, and that he is now targeting three trophies to give one to each of them.

“I can say that I dedicate this win to my wife and my two kids,” he said. “And one is coming, so it’s for three kids. At the moment I have two big trophies. This is the second one. So in the near future I need to get a third one so none of them gets upset.”

It was a wholesome way to end another fine day of competition on the EPT — and another fine performance from this — shall we say? — recreational pro.

RESULTS

Event #$50,000 EPT Super High Roller
Dates: October 13-15, 2024
Entries: 47 (inc. 11 re-entries)
Prize pool: $2,279,970

1 – Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Belarus – $601,397*
2 – Artur Martirosian, Russia – $495,815*
3 – Adrian Mateos, Spain – $555,758*
4 – Roman Hrabec, Czech Republic – $262,200
5 – Alexander Zubov, Russia – $205,200
6 – Jamil Wakil, Canada – $159,600

HORSE POWER: AMBASSADORS DOMINATE MIXED GAME SIDE EVENT

Main Events used to be your best shot at playing against PokerStars Team Pros on the European Poker Tour (EPT). Not because smaller fields increased the likelihood of getting sat next to one, but because the Main Events were – and still are – unmissable, often the only tournament the Red Spades were guaranteed to play at every stop.

These days, however, it’s not just a different tournament that presents the best opportunity to battle our Ambassadors, but a different game (or rather, games) entirely. 

A $550 HORSE event took place at EPT Cyprus on Monday and three of the seven players who cashed and reached the final table were Team Pros: Sebastian “peace&loove” Huber, Georgina “GJReggie” James, and Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot. The tournament had 35 unique entries and 19 re-entries, meaning there were only ever a handful of tables at its busiest stages – a great chance to sit amongst the streamers, then.

HORSE is one of the most famous mixed game formats, rotating through five different games: Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Seven-Card Stud Eight or Better (Hi-Lo). All variants are played with fixed betting limits and in Hi-Lo games, the pots are shared between players who have the best high hand and the best low hand. If a player has both, they scoop the entire pot.

While some players choose to specialise in one specific poker variant – most commonly NLHE or pot limit omaha (PLO) – mixed games test a player’s versatility and understanding of poker’s fundamentals across all games, as different strategies are required for each variant. Not only are these games fun to play, but with significantly smaller fields compared with no limit hold’em events, they also offer a great shot at winning titles. This goes for online mixed game events too.

If you weren’t following our coverage from the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) throughout September and early October, you might not realise just how popular these games have become, not to mention how competent PokerStars Team Pros have become in them.

HUBER’S A HORSE CHAMP

Take Sebastian Huber, for example. The Austrian pro has been a no limit hold’em specialist for his entire career up to this point, only occasionally dabbling in games with more than two hole cards. But learning all the games is essential these days if you hope to win WCOOP and SCOOP titles, not to mention collect Leader Board points. 

For Huber – a captain in the inaugural WCOOP League – those points were pivotal for his team’s success. His draft picks were selected for their all-around mixed-game prowess, with top pick “FAL1st” grabbing an incredible five titles in the series. But mixed games led to some personal success too, as Huber took down an $11 buy-in HORSE event and beat 1,386 entries to win $2,098 and his second WCOOP title. Huber’s team already had a huge lead in team points but it was bolstered further with this victory and there was no catching them from then on.

Despite getting off to a fantastic start in Monday’s EPT Cyprus HORSE event (by the second break he had double the chips of his nearest opponent), Huber’s tournament came to an end in seventh, just after the bubble had burst for a $1,350 min-cash.

TALBOT: ONE OF THE BEST ALL-ROUNDERS

Parker Talbot managed to secure a podium finish, placing third for $3,720 after an unprecedented WCOOP series. Talbot has always been considered a top no limit hold’em player (just have a look through his most recent live cashes) but his incredible five-title performance in WCOOP cemented the Canadian as one of the best all-around players in the game today.

Five titles, five different variants, and two World Championships. Here’s a look at his 2024 title haul:

• World Championship of HORSE: $1,050 – $21,904
• WCOOP 32-H: $1,050 NLHE [Progressive KO, Saturday KO] – $72,803
• WCOOP 61-H: $10,300 8-Game [High Roller] – $101,966
• WCOOP 85-M: $215 FL 2-7 Triple Draw – $6,392
• World Championship of Badugi: $1,050 – $18,804

Don’t be surprised to see Talbot begin collecting World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets at a similar rate next summer.

JAMES FINISHES RUNNER-UP

Going one spot better than Talbot in the Cyprus HORSE event was Georgina James. GJReggie primarily plays mixed games on her Twitch streams so she’s got plenty of experience in the rotations – both online and live. In November she took down a 9-Game title at the Brazil Series of Poker (BSOP) for almost $12K, and earlier this year she won a mixed limit title in Bratislava for just shy of $7K.

This time James had to settle for second, banking $6,500 following a heads-up deal with Italy’s Sergio Benso, who collected $8,340 and the coveted spadie for a day’s work.

$550 HORSE
Dates: October 14, 2024
Entries: 54 (including 19 re-entries)
Prize pool: $25,650

1. Sergio Benso (Italy) – $8,340*
2. Georgina James (UK) – $6,500* (PokerStars Ambassador)
3. Parker Talbot (Canada) – $3,720 (PokerStars Ambassador)
4. Gerard Carbo (Spain) – $2,820
5. Antoine Hasbani (Lebanon) – $2,180
6. Reza Mohammadi Jouzdani (Iran) – $1,730
7. Sebastian Huber (Austria) – $1,350 (PokerStars Ambassador)

CEBRAT SETTLES IN NICELY AT FIRST EPT

When we meet Gold Pass winners on the European Poker Tour, the vast majority of them are dipping their toes in EPT Main Event waters for the very first time. That’s because Power Path is designed to help as many recreational players as possible experience the world’s best poker tour.

But when you don’t have much live poker experience, it can take a few levels at the tables before they feel comfortable and settled into live play. “It’s challenging, to be honest, because it’s so different,” says Przemyslaw Cebrat, one of the three Gold Pass winners to enter Day 1A of EPT Cyprus.

This is Cebrat’s maiden EPT, and he won entry after buying into an $11 Power Path Step 3 satellite, then finishing in the top spots in a $109 Step 4. “I was very lucky,” he admits. “It only took me a few attempts, less than ten.”

But don’t let his modesty fool you. Cebrat might not have much experience in brick-and-mortar cardrooms, but the Polish player says he’s been playing online poker “forever” behind the screen name “escapemissio”. He’s now an online tournament pro with dozens of big scores, most notably a $680,231 windfall in a $530 Blowout Series event back in January 2021.

“I mostly play mid-stakes, anything up to $530 for direct buy-ins,” he says on a Main Event break. “I’m trying to move up [in stakes] but at the moment I’ve reduced my hours, so I play three days a week and study a lot.”

His time away from the computer is spent with his family, who he brought to Cyprus. They were off soaking up some sun while Cebrat grinded. “They’re really enjoying it,” he says. “I love it here, it’s amazing. The organisation is very good and it’s really nice to play live poker for a change.”

A good day at the office (Cebrat is through to Day 2 with a stack of 55,000) means he can spend today with his family beside the pool, while hundreds of Day 1B hopefuls battle to make it through. You can follow the action with live updates on PokerNews.

WORTHINGTON-LEESE BREAKS THROUGH WITH EUREKA VICTORY

The last time we spoke to Leo Worthington-Leese, the British poker pro was living a nomadic lifestyle, travelling the poker circuit with his girlfriend in a converted van he was doing up himself. The following day, he finished third in the 2023 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for €397,450 – a career-best score. Needless to say, some of that prize was invested in sprucing up the van.

Recently, however, Worthington-Leese found himself living in Dublin. His girlfriend took a job in Ireland’s capital and their former home sat idle in a driveway. 

Perhaps not for much longer, though. “I might need to upgrade the van,” he tells us, having just taken down the enormous $1,100 Eureka Main Event for $314,030 and his first major title in a PokerStars event.

“Monte Carlo is my biggest result, but we all want to win,” he says. “It turns out that third place isn’t quite as overwhelming as first place is. It feels like a breakout result, for sure.”

Over four days of play, Worthington-Leese navigated his way through a colossal 2,803-entry field to claim the trophy. He made a three-handed ICM chop with Frederick Anastasiades and Samuel Fournier, before defeating Anastasiades heads-up.

It’s the latest in a string of great results for the 32-year-old, originally from Brighton, who has been grinding hard after taking a few months to muck around following his Monaco success. “After Monte Carlo, I was full of confidence,” he says. “I won a GUKPT high roller in January, then finished 17th in Paris, and had a few other deep runs this summer. But to get this win and the trophy is a dream come true.”

Worthington-Leese has built up a strong following on his Instagram account and isn’t shy about sharing the ups and downs of life as a poker pro. It’s something he thinks is important in the often unrealistic world of social media. 

“It’s what I bond with people the most over,” he says. “They appreciate seeing not just wins, but when it’s hard, when I’m losing, how much I’m losing – all that stuff. It’s nice to be transparent as there’s no straightforward path, especially in something like poker. You will be tested. I like to share that. A lot of aspiring pros follow me and I try to show people how I’m doing it.”

One recent story showed Worthington-Leese unhappy with his play in a particular hand. Instead of cursing his opponent or moaning about a bad beat, he simply said he had to work to do and would study the spot when he got to a computer. 

“You have to be very honest with yourself if you’re going to pursue poker seriously,” he continues. “I like to lay it out there.”

You can expect a positive-only feed from Worthington-Leese after today’s result. He’s off to play the EPT Main Event, and then when he returns from Cyprus, a cross-Europe road trip might be in order.

First thing first: find a spot for the trophy in the van.

$1,100 Eureka Cyprus Main Event
Dates: October 9-14, 2024
Entries: 2,803
Prize pool: $2,662,850

1. Leo Worthington-Leese (United Kingdom) – $314,030*
2. Frederick Anastasiades (Cyprus) – $248,479*
3. Samuel Fournier (France) – $237,051*
4. Aleksandr Razinkov (Russia) – $132,120
5. Yuan Xu (China) – $101,390
6. Guoliang Wei (China) – $78,770
7. Recep Aydemir (Turkey) – $60,850
8. Alexey Badulin (Russia) – $46,600

*denotes ICM deal

PULL OFF A PIGGY BANK JOB FOR SILVER PASS

The EPT Cyprus Player Party takes place tonight at the Versace Garden, at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel. It’s going to be sensational, as always, with the headline DJ Juicy M ready to pack the dance floor.

There will, of course, be plenty to eat and drink as well, but there’s an added bonus at this party: the chance to win a PokerStars Silver Pass, worth $2,500.

It really couldn’t be simpler either. All players are invited to play test a new slots game on offer at PokerStars Casino: the Piggy Bank Job — Gold Blitz, to be precise, provided by Games Global.

This is totally free to play, but players will automatically join a leader board based on the credits they manage to accumulate during their free spins. The top three eligible players will then be invited on to stage to play the game some more, with the winner being awarded the Silver Pass.

There’s nothing to hide here: this is a promotion for the new slots game, which features now at PokerStars Casino. But that Silver Pass is totally real, and $2,500 of credit for PokerStars events can go a very long way.

The buy-in for a regional tour, such as the Eureka Poker Tour Main Event here in Cyprus, is $1,100 (or a euro equivalent). Many of PokerStars flagship online tournaments have buy-ins that are also comfortably covered here. There’s already a glittering list of players who have ridden their Power Path passes to major paydays.

So if you’re in Cyprus tonight and heading to the party, take a shot at the Piggy Bank Job. It could be the best FREE investment you ever make.

KEN AND GLENN: A QUALIFIER’S STORY

Ken knows nothing about poker. Ken has never played a hand in his life. But as I type, Ken is sitting by a glistening pool with a cocktail in hand at a luxurious five-star all-inclusive resort, all thanks to PokerStars, a poker site he’s probably never heard of.

“He’s drinking for the two of us at the moment,” says Glenn Miller, the reason Ken is enjoying this lavish holiday.

Miller, a semi-retired aircraft engineer from Malahide, Dublin, brought his former colleague Ken along for the ride after winning a $10K package to the European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus stop on PokerStars, where he plays as “kidmiller2”. The prize included his entry into the $5,300 Main Event, plus hotel for eight nights and travel expenses. 

All of that came from a single €27 investment. That’s how much Miller paid to enter a satellite into a €530 qualifier, which he won. He then finished in the top spots to win the package, all on his very first attempt. 

But Miller is used to travelling the world and playing cards thanks to satellites. This is his fourth live package win of the year (his first on PokerStars) and five years ago, the Irishman enjoyed a trip to remember.

In 2019 Miller turned a humble 55 cents into a package to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which meant he could take his wife and two daughters to the Bahamas. “We stayed at the Atlantis and had a fabulous holiday,” he says. The icing on the cake came when he cashed the $10K Main Event for $33K, his largest poker win to date. “We had a ball,” he adds. “What a time.”

Fortunately for Ken, Miller’s wife couldn’t make it to Cyprus and the mesmerising five-star all-inclusive Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. “It’s unreal,” says Miller. “The hotel, the facilities, the people working here, it’s amazing. The food is fabulous. I’ve stayed at all-inclusives with the family, but this is ultra-all-inclusive. There’s no comparison to your normal all-inclusive. This is seven-star all-inclusive.”

Not that Miller has had a chance to indulge. He’s leaving that to Ken, as he’s got an EPT Main Event to play. “I’m not going to touch a drink until I finish the EPT, hopefully with a trophy, then I’ll celebrate.”

HOW TO PLAN YOUR DAY AT EPT CYPRUS

The field is gradually amassing for Day 1A of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event, where players will be preparing for 10 one-hour levels of play.

That is the established pattern for Day 1s on the EPT, which maps on to the real-time clock to mean a conclusion at around 00:15 — or, to put it another way, 15 minutes past midnight. That means it’s a 12-hour day, although players get several breathers. There’s a 20-minute break after every other level, plus a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6.

At the sumptuous Merit resort, you’re never more than about 10 metres from a lavish buffet, so it’s pretty easy to make sure you have the energy to get through the day. But it will hopefully be useful for players to see the tournament structure beside the actual, real-world clock, especially if they want to meet friends and family during the breaks.

Here’s what Day 1 looks like (with blinds and antes for that particular level):

DAY 1 SCHEDULE

12:00-13:00 — LEVEL 1 (100-100 100 ante)
13:00-14:00 — LEVEL 2 (100-200 200 ante)

14:00-14:20 — BREAK

14:20-15:20 — LEVEL 3 (100-300 300 ante)
15:20-16:20 — LEVEL 4 (200-400 400 ante)

16:20-16:40 — BREAK

16:40-17:40 — LEVEL 5 (200-500 500 ante)
17:40-18:40 — LEVEL 6 (300-600 600 ante)

18:40-19:55 — DINNER BREAK

19:55-20:55 — LEVEL 7 (400-800 800 ante)
20:55-21:55 — LEVEL 8 (500-1,000 1,000 ante)

21:55-22:15 — BREAK

22:15-23:15 — LEVEL 9 (600-1,200 1,200 ante)
23:15-00:15 — LEVEL 10 (600-1,200 1,200 ante)

MERIT PROPERTY BUFFET TIMES

Here’s a reminder as well of the buffet times at this Merit property. These refer to the formal buffets in the dining rooms in all hotels (Crystal Cove, Royal Diamond, Royal Premium and Park), though there’s always also a buffet available for players on Level B2 of the tournament area. This is stocked throughout the day.

You’ll notice that the dinner break begins 20 minutes before the dinner buffet opens, so it may be worth remembering this option if you really want to maximise your break time.

BREAKFAST: 07:00-11:30 (Mon-Fri) | 07:00-12:00 (Sat-Sun)

LATE BREAKFAST: 11:30-13:00 (Mon-Fri) | 12:00-13:00 (Sat-Sun)

LUNCH: 13:00 – 15:00

DINNER: 19:00-22:00

Cash game players will be aware that there’s also a buffet beside the cash game area over in the Crystal Cove.

DAY 2 SCHEDULE

Registration (either entry or re-entry) is still open to players right up until the start of Day 2, which starts at noon on Wednesday. The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the blinds for Levels 9 and 10 (i.e., the final two levels of Day 1) are repeated, which is a deliberate design to ensure players entering on Day 2 still get a decent number of big blinds.

The starting stack is 30,000 in chips, and blinds for Level 11 are 1,000-1,500 (1,500 ante). That means you’ll have 20 big blinds and a dream sitting down with a fresh stack on Day 2.

Levels are now 90 minutes long, and there’s a tournament break at the end of every level (with the exception of the break after Level 14, which is 30 minutes). Typically, Day 2 lasts for five levels, as below, although the bubble can sometimes complicate things.

12:00-13:30 — LEVEL 11 (1,000-1,500 1,500 ante)
13:30-13:50 — BREAK
13:50-15:10 — LEVEL 12 (1,000-2,000 2,000 ante)
15:10-15:30 — BREAK
15:30-17:00 — LEVEL 13 (1,000-2,500 2,500 ante)
17:00-17:20 — BREAK
17:20-18:50 — LEVEL 14 (1,500-3,000 3,000 ante)
18:50-19:20 — BREAK
19:20-20:50 — LEVEL 15 (2,000-4,000 4,000 ante)

Ordinarily, the bubble will burst somewhere close to Levels 15 or 16 and the PokerStars Live stream is very keen to be able to cover it when the most viewers are tuning in. For that reason, Day 2 is sometimes truncated to four levels, with Level 15 beginning Day 3. However, that’s the exception rather than the rule.

A protracted bubble may often mean that the level in which it occurs takes significantly longer than the intended 90 minutes. That’s just down to the vagaries of tournament poker.

You’ll notice that play is due to conclude at the very civilised hour of 20:50. Buffet are open until 10pm, so it should be possible to bag and then eat. Dinners always taste better when you’ve found a bag.

SCHEDULE FOR DAY 3 AND BEYOND

The aim for Days 3 and 4 on the EPT is to play five 90-minute levels, with a 20-minute break after every level. This usually happens quite smoothly, although Day 3 will sometimes begin mid-level depending on how that bubble played out the day before.

Similarly, Day 4 may not quite make it all the way through the allocated levels. It could be that the field is reduced to 16 players (or even fewer) and tournament officials decide to end the day to allow for a full day’s play on Day 5.

The aim on Day 5 is simple: we want to get down to the last six players. That means playing up to five levels, but if, for instance, seven players are still involved at that stage, organisers will usually say that’s enough and bring seven back for the last day.

The final day in Monte Carlo began in Level 30. In Paris, it was Level 32. Here in Cyprus last year, it was Level 31. We can therefore expect to play something like 30 levels before hitting our final six players. With 10 levels on Day 1, there are four days to play the other 20 levels, which is five each. It all makes very good sense.

THREE DAYS IN, EPT CYPRUS SHAPING UP TO BE A CLASSIC

The European Poker Tour’s second visit to Cyprus seems set to be even better than the first, at least if the first three days are anything to go by.

Players have been flooding to the tables for the early action, while the off-the-felt activities are flourishing once more.

Let’s take a look at what’s been happening in the early stages.

AT THE TABLES

Event 1 on the EPT Cyprus schedule is the €1,100 Eureka Main Event, a tournament that last year attracted 2,659 entries. Sounds difficult to beat, right? Well, there were more than 2,500 entries into this year’s event BEFORE the final flight even began.

That makes it all but certain to go way bigger, which will mean more than last year’s $2,552,640 prize pool and more than last year’s $362,365 first prize. Last year, it was India’s Ankit Ahuja who took it down, and Ahuja is still alive as he attempts to go back-to-bak. Ahuja made it through his opening day, which sets him well for a run into the money.

As ever, Poker News has live updates as the tournament plays all the way through the weekend.

Although the main focus so far has been on that enormous ongoing Eureka event, six tournaments are already in the books. There’s been a third place finish for Team PokerStars Ambassador Sebastian Huber, who picked up $5,200 in the first $550 Hyper Turbo of the series (won by Lebanon’s Bakhos Joumaa).

Meanwhile, the biggest winner of the week so far has been Armenia’s Aren Bezhanyan, who took down the $12,300 NLH Cuatro Knockout for an exceptional $247,840, including bounties.

On the subject of bounties, Marcelo Bonanata won the $10K Mystery Bounty event, landing $156,800. High-rolling Yulian Bogdanov finished sixth in the event, but picked up $75K in bounties, which gave him third most overall. Runner up Aleks Ponakovs, another high roller, banked $141,500 total, including $77,500 in bounties.

Alisa Sibgatova won the $1,100 NLHE Freezeout for $35,830, beating her countrywoman Ekaterina Fediaeva heads up. It’s pretty unusual for two women to finish heads-up in an open event, so congratulations to both of them.

OFF THE FELT

There’s an exceptional number of off-the-felt activities planned for all players and guests during EPT Cyprus, with the first night of entertainment courtesy of a karaoke night.

In a bid to preserve the singers’ dignity, we won’t be sharing video. But suffice to say, with the all-inclusive hospitality stretching to the Player Lounge, vocal cords were well lubricated ahead of a raucous singalong.

Meanwhile, the All In Shootouts have started and Silver Passes are raining from on high to the winners. Harald Sammer and Adi Rajkovic are just two of the players to strike it lucky so far.

Remember, all it takes is for you to link your PokerStars Live account with your PokerStars account and then sign up and you can join one of the All In Shootouts, which run daily. The prizes are superb.

PokerStars Blog arrives to Cyprus on Sunday, at which point our coverage will ramp up. In the meantime, Poker News has blow-by-blow action from the tournament floor.

RESULTS SO FAR

There are 67 tournaments on the EPT Cyprus schedule and many of them are already complete.

Take a look through all the latest winners and full results so far right here.

ABOUT EPT CYPRUS 2024

After an incredible debut last year, the European Poker Tour (EPT) returns to Cyprus for a second visit in October 2024. It’s only one year in and this stop is already one of the most popular on the tour among players due to the beautiful location, huge poker room and all-inclusive resort. Don’t miss this year’s edition.

We’re returning to the five-star all-inclusive Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa from October 9-20 and PokerStars invites you to experience the thrill of live poker on the shores of the Mediterranean.

KEY FESTIVAL DATES

Eureka:

Main Event: October 9-14 – $1,100
Cup: October 12-13 – $550
High Roller: October 13-14 – $2,200

EPT:

Super High Roller: October 13-15 – $50,000
Main Event: October 14-20 – $5,300
Mystery Bounty: October 16-18 – $3,000
High Roller:  October 18-20 – $10,300

LIVE STREAMING SCHEDULE

Watch the active live on PokerStars Twitch and YouTube.

Tuesday October 15

13:00 EEST
EPT CYPRUS: $50K SUPER HIGH ROLLER – FINAL TABLE

Wednesday October 16

12:30 EEST
EPT CYPRUS: $5K MAIN EVENT – DAY 2

Thursday October 17

12:30 EEST
EPT CYPRUS: $5K MAIN EVENT – DAY 3

Friday October 18

12:30 EEST
EPT CYPRUS: $5K MAIN EVENT – DAY 4

Saturday October 19

12:30 EEST
EPT CYPRUS: $5K MAIN EVENT – DAY 5

Sunday October 20

13:00 EEST
EPT CYPRUS: $5K MAIN EVENT – FINAL TABLE

English-language coverage on the central/global channels will be hosted by James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton, Griffin Benger, Nick Walsh and Maria Ho.

There will also be streams on our French, Spanish and Brazilian channels.

ALL-IN SHOOTOUTS: DAILY SILVER PASSES TO BE WON

All-in shootouts are always exciting

Silver Power Path bundles and hundreds of Bronze bundles will be awarded to players via exclusive All-In Shootouts, taking place during the Eureka Main Event in Cyprus.

Look out for the All-In Shootouts after the second break of each opening flight during the Eureka Main Event. They are free to enter – players simply need to link their PS Live Card to their online PokerStars account either in the PokerStars Live App or at the Sign Up desk. The winner of each All-In Shootout will receive an envelope containing a mystery Power Path prize, with two Silver Passes guaranteed during each flight.

• $2,500 Silver Pass
• $109 Bronze Pass

George Rotariu won a Silver Pass worth $2,500 at EPT Monte Carlo

All players in Cyprus who have linked their PS Live Card to their online PokerStars account will also be invited to participate in exclusive All-In Shootouts taking place online after the event, where a further four Silver Power Passes will be awarded.

EPT Cyprus: Navigating the Merit Kyrenia resort

The European Poker Tour (EPT) makes a welcome return to Cyprus this month, specifically the sprawling and beautiful Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. Having become the EPT’s 26th destination this time last year, Cyprus was an immediate and clear favourite. That’s why the tour is heading back.

The location is an incredible 5-star resort on the northern coast of Cyprus, near to the town of Kyrenia.

The resort is essentially its own small village, with many visitors probably never even leaving the complex for the duration of their stay. That’s mainly because the resort is all inclusive, meaning food, drink and many activities are included in the price of your hotel room.

For all that, it can be a bit bewildering when you first arrive, until you get acquainted to the place.

Here’s a guide to help you navigate the resort and make the most of your stay.

EXCITING PLAYER ACTIVITIES

The European Poker Tour (EPT) returns to Northern Cyprus this month for a second iteration of the hugely popular EPT Cyprus festival. As before, we’ll be in the tremendous all-inclusive Merit Resort, Kyrenia, where there will be a full slate of tournaments and cash games to sate even the most ardent poker fan.

But, as always, that’s not all. Here’s a look at some of the off-the-felt EPT Cyprus activities you can join. It’s going to be a very busy week and a bit.

EPT Cyprus activities: Stay entertained away from the tables

WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR?

At first, he could only Dare to Stream. But at EPT Cyprus 2023, Gilles Simon — a streamer and poker pro known to his online fans as “Ghilley” — fulfilled one of his wildest dreams. The 24-year-old from Valkenburg, in the Netherlands, became a Main Event champion on the European Poker Tour (EPT).

Simon banked $1,042,000, the biggest slice of a $6,402,000 prize pool. It was a popular and brilliant victory, requiring him to regroup after surrendering a chip lead, then to grind down six spirited opponents on the last day.

We also saw Juan Pardo take down the $50,000 Super High Roller for $688,560 and Ankit Ahuja — a former PokerStars employee — win the 2,659-entry Eureka Main for $362,365, the largest score of his career so far.

Plus we wrote stories about wine and cheese, jeep safaris and turtles.

Find out everything that happened at EPT Cyprus 2023 in our coverage hub.

EVERYTHING ELSE

POKERNEWS LIVE UPDATES
Our live reporting partner offer hand-by-hand updates from a number of tournaments across the series. 

EPT CYPRUS OFFICIAL SITE
The PokerStars Live official page, with everything you need to know about the tournament series in Cyprus.

FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The full EPT Cyprus schedule is available here.

DOWNLOAD THE POKERSTARS LIVE APP
All the info you need on your mobile device from the Apple iStore or Google Play for Android.

POKERSTARS BLOG ON TWITTER
Follow us on Twitter.

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