Maher Nouira Wins $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em For $180,120
Maher Nouira is the latest winner at PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus after the Tunisian took down $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $180,120. Nouira agreed to an even chop with heads-up opponent Jules Dickerson as the two played for the trophy, bringing Nouira his second PokerStars Spade after taking down a €5,000 6-Handed event and EPT Prague in December 2022.
The single-day high-stakes event drew 24 runners for a prize pool of $576,240 and five places being paid. German wizard Dominik Nitsche bowed out on the money bubble ahead of the eliminations of Russia's Artur Martirosian (5th - $54,700), Canada's Sam Greenwood (4th - $67,700) and Australia's Kyle Cheong (3rd- $93,600), who picked up his first Hendon Mob-recorded cash since 2013.
$25,000 NL Hold'em IV Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maher Nouira | Tunisia | $180,120* | |
| 2 | Jules Dickerson | United Kingdom | $180,120* | |
| 3 | Kyle Cheong | Australia | $93,600 | |
| 4 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $67,700 | |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $54,700 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Nouira, who adds to his $1 million in live earnings and further cements his position at the top of Tunisia's all-time money list, has been on quite the tear this fall. A few weeks ago at EPT Barcelona, Nouira locked up three separate six-figure scores, including a career-best score of $ 260,164 from a fifth-place finish in €10,000 EPT High Roller.
Dickerson, meanwhile, would have to settle for another runner-up finish after finishing second to Chris Brewer in the €50,000 EPT Paris 2023 Super High Roller earlier this year for €623,800.
Small Field, Fast-Paced Day
Action picked up slowly after a delayed start in the $25,000 NL Hold'em IV as a dozen players battled it out at two tables, including Adrian Mateos, Daniel Rezaei, Pedro Marques and Gha Iakobishvili.
The field grew to 24 players as registration closed after the dinner break, with Aleksejs Ponakovs, Leon Sturm, Stefan Lehner and Daniel Smiljkovic all among the players to join. Ponakovs fell on the final table bubble as he ran ace-jack into the aces of Greenwood.
In a similar hand, Pablo Brito Silva jammed ace-jack into Nouira's queens to go out in eighth place before Mikita Badziakouski fell in seventh when his sevens were beaten out by Vicente Delgado's jacks. It was then Nitsche who went out on the money bubble after being left short in a confrontation with Nouira and getting his final four blinds in against the same opponent.
Martirosian bowed out in fifth when his ace-seven was dominated by Greenwood's ace-nine, but it would be the Canadian who would fall next after losing most of his stack in a nines-versus-jacks collision with Nouira. Greenwood then couldn't win a flip with fives against the ace-ten of Cheong to miss out on another EPT high roller title.
Cheong and Dickerson both doubled during a lengthy three-handed battle before the two collided with Cheong being the shorter stack as his king-nine was pipped by the king-ten of Dickerson. At this point, Dickerson and Nouira agreed to chop the remaining prize pool and play for the trophy as they were nearly even in chips.
The two traded a few small pots before getting to the river on a paired board as Dickerson moved all in with an oversized river bet. Nouira had trips and quickly called as Dickerson revealed a bluff to mark his elimination in second place as Nouira locked up the trophy.
That wraps up PokerNews' coverage of $25,000 NL Hold'em IV at EPT Cyprus. Be sure to check out the EPT Cyprus live reporting portal for coverage of other events here on the Mediterranean coast.