Diogo Coelho has bagged his second EPT title, three months after missing out on a WSOP Main Event final table spot by one place.
This victory comes 20 months after he secured the win at the first edition of EPT Paris for a $857,037 paycheck.
Yesterday’s win saw the Portuguese player defeat the last of the 1,374 entries on an unscheduled Day 3 at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa.
Coelho was forced to grind it out for a painful 16 long hours on Day 2 and then come back for more to seize the victory and take the lion’s share of the $2,610,600 prize pool, a cool $357,048.
This should go a long way to softening the blow on being the bubble boy in the WSOP Main Event this year.
Michele Guerrini was the last man standing in Coelho’s way in the heads-up battle. The pair ended up deciding that a chop was the best way forward, leaving the Italian with $328,592 as a consolation prize.
After claiming his trophy, Coelho said:
“It feels amazing. I never expect to win a trophy like this.”
Action Recap
After a gruelling 16-hour session for Day 2, there were only four players returning for the unscheduled Day 3.
Ibrahim Ghassan, from Lebanon, was the short stack when play resumed, and the gods weren’t in favour of extending his stay.
Michele Guerrini opened from UTG and Ghassan jammed all-in for slightly less than ten big blinds with A♠ 7♠
Guerrini, surprisingly, actually thought about the call for a while before obliging and flipping over A♣ J♠
The board ran out A♥ 8♦ 10♦ 3♥ 8♥ and Ghassan packed up his gear and headed to the rail.
Mukhtor Nasiradinov now had barely more than four big blinds and chanced his luck with a jam from UTG holding K♥ 8♥
Guerrini made the call with 4♥ 4♦ and although Coelho pondered for a minute, he eventually decided to pass.
Nasiradinov completely missed the J♥ 7♣ 6♣ 2♦ A♥ runout and was out in third with a podium finish and $187,410 prize to his name.
Guerrini now had a significant lead over Coelho, but the heads-up stage started with the chaser winning a couple of pots in a row to even the score.
At this point, the players decided to just chop it up and leave only $20,000 to fight over alongside the trophy and title.
Guerrini was probably glad about this deal because Coelho simply won everything when they resumed play.
It all came to a head when Coelho jammed with ace-seven and got a call from Guerrini’s king-eight which failed to swerve the better hand.
EPT Cyprus $2,200 Eureka High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Diogo Coelho | Portugal | $357,048* |
| 2 | Michele Guerrini | Italy | $328,592* |
| 3 | Mukhtor Nasiradinov | Russian Federation | $187,410 |
| 4 | Ibrahim Ghassan | Lebanon | $144,610 |
| 5 | Ali Emre Ozcan | Turkey | $110,900 |
| 6 | Roman Timergazin | Russian Federation | $85,310 |
| 7 | Gediminas Uselis | Lithuania | $65,630 |
| 8 | Leonid Logunov | Russian Federation | $50,490 |
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