Poker-loving Belarus businessman Mikalai Vaskaboinikau upset the nosebleed pros today by scooping the EPT Cyprus $50k Super High Roller. Vaskaboinikau pocketed $601,397 after a three-way deal at the final table.
There were 47 entries to the $50,000 buy-in biggie in Cyprus, a prizepool of $2,279,970 to be shared out among the top six, and it would require two full days of play to determine the ‘lucky’ half dozen.
Nikita Kuznetsov, Lewis Spencer, and Teun Mulder were among the euro-heavy names to bust on day one, while day two saw defending champ Juan Pardo Dominguez bow out, as did former EPT Main Event winners from Bulgaria, Ognyan Dimov and Dimitar Danchev.
The bubble was a classic flip to end the day, UTG raiser Martirosian calling off Thomas Eychenne’s button shove, the Frenchman at risk…
Thomas Eychenne: Q♣ Q♥
Artur Martirosian: A♥ K♣
Flop: 6♦ 4♣ 3♣
Turn: 4♥
Things were looking rosy for Eychenne until the dreaded river saw his opponent spike the king…
River: K♦
That meant six players had secured $159,600, Adrian Mateos having fired three bullets to get there so barely in profit when he returned for the final day’s play holding the chip lead.
Neither Wakil nor Zubov could make any headway as short stacks, but a similarly short Vaskaboinikau was hanging on grimly, eventually passing Hrabec in chips by the break. It was that duo who vied for the next bustout…
Hrabec called off Vaskaboinikau’s 4-bet big blind shove and we were off to the races yet again…
Hrabec: A♦ 10♥
Vaskaboinikau: 8♠ 8♥
Flop: 5♠ 3♣ 3♠
Turn: 2♥
River: 5♥
Hrabec, the Czech number two behind Martin Kabrhel had to settle for 4th spot and $262,200, a cash that brought him within touching distance of the $9million tournament career milestone.
Three-handed play was soon halted to discuss a deal, which result in the following split:
Mateos $555,758
Martirosian $495,815
Vaskaboinikau $542,120
That resulted in $59,277 left over for the eventual winner, and the coveted Golden Shard trophy was promised to the Belarus businessman come what may.
Double-ups and chopped pots showed the players were taking things seriously, and eventually Mateos had to accept ‘bronze’ after 4-bet jamming 15 bigs from the small blind…
Mateos: A♠ 3♥
Vaskaboinikau: A♣ K♥
Flop: 10♣ 5♥ J♥
Turn: 5♦
River: 5♠
Heads-up was mostly decided by an incredible runner-runner escape for the Belarus part-timer, cracking his Russian opponent’s aces by flopping a backdoor flush draw and getting there on the river.
With just 8 BBs left, Martirosian neede a miracle of his own, but it failed to materialize…
An amateur defeats the pros. 👏
Congrats to Mikalai Vaskaboinikau on taking down the #EPTCyprus Super High Roller. He collects $601,397 and the beautiful trophy. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/V43197b7BM
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) October 15, 2024
EPT Cyprus $50k SHR Final results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 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 |
* denotes three-way deal
“Normally players play poker for money. I like to get trophies,” Vaskaboinikau told reporters afterwards, explaining why he gave up some equity in the deal for the ‘silverware’.
He added: “This is the second big one. Really amazing. This is the main target for me in poker, competition and to win trophies.”
His first was a huge takedown of the Triton Poker Montenegro Main Event in May of this year. That was worth a whopping $4,737,000 but even that was described as “not life-changing money” by the poker-mad businessman.
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