Kyle Cheong open raised from the button and Maher Nouira moved all in from the big blind for around 155,000. Cheong made the call with the bigger stack and players flipped their cards.
Maher Nouira: K♠Q♦
Kyle Cheong: A♣5♠
The board ran out A♠8♠A♦K♦J♠. Cheong made trip aces on the flop to leave Nouira drawing dead by the turn. Nouira was eliminated from the tournament in eighth place.
Action folded around to Artur Martirosian, who pushed 475,000 into the middle, an effective all-in against the blinds' stacks. Aleksejs Ponakovs made the call in the small blind and the big blind folded. Players flipped their cards.
Aleksejs Ponakovs: 5♥5♣
Artur Martirosian: Q♥9♦
The board ran out 6♥8♠3♣2♣9♣. Ponakovs remained ahead with his pocket fives until the river brought Martirosian a pair of nines to give him the pot.
Ponakovs was eliminated in seventh place. With that, the money bubble began.
Leon Sturm open raised from middle position and Kyle Cheong moved all in from the button with a short stack. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau then moved all in over the top from the big blind and Sturm folded. Players flipped their cards, with Cheong at risk.
Kyle Cheong: A♦Q♥
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau: K♦K♠
The board ran out 6♦7♠2♠8♣8♥. Vaskaboinikau had pocket kings and made two pair with the eights on board. Cheong was eliminated from the tournament one before the money.
"My friend, you've been unlucky against me today," said Vaskaboinikau.
"Yes, but it's been fun," said Cheong as he left the table.
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau got his chips all in from the small blind against Artur Martirosian in a clash between the two biggest stacks at the table. Vaskaboinikau was at risk as players flipped their cards.
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau: A♦Q♥
Artur Martirosian: A♠K♣
The board ran out 5♥3♦3♣9♥10♣. Neither player improved and so Martirosian held with his ace high and king kicker to further extend his chip lead.
Vaskaboinikau was eliminated from the tournament in fifth place for $66,100.
Paulius Plausinaitis raised from the small blind and Alex Kulev moved all in from the big blind. Plausinaitis made the call and had Kulev slightly covered as players flipped their cards.
Alex Kulev: A♦J♣
Paulius Plausinaitis: 9♥9♠
The board ran out A♠8♦9♣6♥2♦. Kulev paired his ace on the flop, but Plausinaitis made trip nines to get ahead and win the pot.
Kulev was eliminated from the tournament in fourth place for $81,800.
Artur Martirosian shoved all in from the small blind and Leon Sturm called from the big blind with a short stack. Players flipped their cards.
Leon Sturm: 5♥5♣
Artur Martirosian: 10♣7♣
The board ran out K♣6♣J♦7♦A♦. Martirosian paired his seven on the turn to win the pot. Sturm was eliminated from the tournament in third place for $113,100.
Paulius Plausinaitis shoved all in from the button and Artur Martirosian called in the big blind. Players flipped their cards, with Martirosian at risk.
Artur Martirosian: K♣J♥
Paulius Plausinaitis: A♣6♦
The board ran out 3♥8♠4♦A♥2♠. Plausinaitis paired his ace on the turn to win the pot and the tournament.
Martirosian finished in second place for $170,600.
Today's $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, running at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa as part of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus, has now reached its conclusion and a winner has been crowned.
A total of 29 entries were made to the event, which generated a prize pool of $696,290. Of those entries, five players made the money.
Artur Martirosian and Paulius Plausinaitis were the last two players left standing. Martirosian came into the heads-up battle with a significant chip lead, but Plausinaitis soon doubled up to bring it even. He then managed to make a flush to claim most of Martirosian's chips and leave him short, moments later winning the match.
Martirosian took second place for $170,600 and Plausinaitis was crowned champion to walk away with the trophy and $264,690.
EPT Cyprus $25,000 N0-Limit Hold-em Results
Rank
Player
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Paulius Plausinaitis
Lithuania
$264,690
2
Artur Martirosian
Russia
$170,600
3
Leon Sturm
Germany
$113,100
4
Alex Kulev
Bulgaria
$81,800
5
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau
Belarus
$66,100
Final Table Recap
There wasn't too much difference in stack sizes as nine players reached the final table, although Alex Kulev was out in front and Martirosian sat in second place.
Ren Lin was short stacked and became the first to exit. He got his ace queen in against Maher Nouira with king queen. Nouira found his pair of kings and Lin was sent to the rail.
Nouira couldn't build on that momentum, losing a chunk of chips before getting the rest in against Kyle Cheong and losing out to Cheong's trip aces to bust in eighth.
Short stacked Aleksejs Ponakovs found a double up but then moments later lost a flip against Martirosian to bust out in seventh. By this point, Martirosian had built a stack of nearly one million and had took the lead.
It was time for the bubble and Cheong, who had a decent stack at the start of the final table, ran into Mikalai Vaskaboinikau's pocket kings to bust out just shy of the money.
A little over ten minutes later, Vaskaboinikau's run came to an end. He ran his ace queen into Martirosian's ace king to bust in fifth place. Martirosian further extended his lead.
By this point, Kulev found himself short and made a reshove against Plausinaitis. Kulev lost the flip and was eliminated in fourth place.
Leon Sturm had laddered up to third but was then firmly in the danger zone and well behind the other two players. He did manage to find a double up before busting in third to Martirosian, which brought Martirosian up to two million chips as play went heads-up.
Martirosian had a significant chip lead against Plausinaitis as heads-up ensued, but Plausinaitis got paid for his rivered flush to double up and bring the stacks back to even. After a bit of back and forth, Plausinaitis got his pocket nines in against Martirosian's pocket threes and held to leave Martirosian short.
The tables had turned and all that was left was for Plausinaitis to seal the deal. He did so with a simple shove holding ace six and was called by Martirosian holding king jack. Plausinaitis found an ace and it was all over.
Plausinaitis won the tournament, the trophy, and the top prize of $264,690.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage of the second $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. Stay tuned for much more to come at the EPT Cyprus, including the EPT Main Event.