Elias Gutierrez was the only man in the field who didn’t need the “second” part of the EPT Cyprus $25k Second Chance and yet the Spanish player pulled off a remarkable double – his brace of huge wins more than doubling his lifetime earnings in the space of a week.
PokerStars Team Pro Gutierrez was already bouncing having scooped the $25k Super High Roller Warm Up for $417,570. The online MTT specialist, in Cyprus with a social media team following his every move, was among 50 entries to the “Second Chance”.
The four hours of day one served to whittle off a third of the field, a similar number regging on day two in the chase for a share of the $1,200,500 prizepool.
Hrabec Falls on the Bubble
Sam Grafton, Martin Zamani, Steve O’Dwyer, Aleksejs Ponakovs, and Juan Pardo all fell short of the paid spots, and it was Czech pro Roman Hrabec – with two big cashes already in the series – who bubbled…
Hrabec: 8♣ 6♣
Teun Mulder: 6♦ 6♠
Samuel Mullur: 9♦ 2♥
All-in from the big blind, Hrabec could only watch on as Mulder and Mullur checked it down to the river, when Mullur bet and Mulder, with a set, snapped it off…
Flop: J♠ 4♦ 10♠
Turn: 6♥
River: 7♣
Fast and Furious
With $63,000 now locked up, it was shove and hope time for the short stacks, Andrian first to fall as his black queens failed to hold up against Mulder’s A♣ 10♠
Ognyan Dimov suffered a similar fate, the 2015 EPT Deauville Main Event winner also falling to Mulder, whose pocket 5s held up against the Bulgarian’s A♠ 8♦
Norway’s Kayhan Mokri joined the rail when his last 5 bigs fell to Gutierrez, leaving just four in contention at the dinner break.
Play was less brutal when the got back to it, but eventually Austria’s Mullur had to stake his tournament life on a small, suited ace. Unfortunately, Gutierrez had a bigger kicker.
The Terror of the Tables
Falling in 3rd place was a player many may not have heard of, Senegalese-born, Gambia-resident businessman Hassan Nashar. Variously described over the years as a “crazy gambler” and “terror of the tables”, Nashar got it in good…
Hassan Nashar: A♦ Q♦
Elias Gutierrez: A♠ 4♣
Flop: 8♣ 2♠ 3♠
Turn: 5♥
River: 3♣
Heads-up for the Spadie
Gutierrez’s 5:1 chip lead wasn’t really needed, a few hands in seeing the finale.
Gutierrez: J♦ 6♥
Mulder: 5♠ 2♥
A limp from the button saw a check and the flop…
Flop: 5♦ 3♥ J♥
A ¼-pot check call…
Turn: 4♦
…was followed by an even smaller bet, this time Gutierrez leading…
River: 3♣
Mulder checked the river and then called off his remaining chips when Gutierrez effectively shoved, only to receive the bad news.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Elias Gutierrez | Spain | $390,200 |
| 2 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | $258,100 |
| 3 | Hassan Nashar | Gambia | $174,100 |
| 4 | Samuel Mullur | Austria | $132,100 |
| 5 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | $102,000 |
| 6 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | $81,000 |
| 7 | Simone Andrian | Italy | $63,000 |
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