Steven Warburton raised to 4,500 from under the gun and Artur Martirosian called in the cutoff. Anton Arkhipenkov was in the small blind and shoved for 45,000, then Warburton reshoved for around 150,000. Martisosian quickly folded.
Anton Arkhipenkov: A♣Q♣
Steven Warburton: K♠K♣
Arkhipenkov needed to find some help from the dealer and the flop of A♠10♦10♠ was a good start as he paired his ace. Warburton had two outs to regain the lead, but could never find either as the 9♠5♦ runout meant Arkhipenkov's ace stayed in the lead.
Leese took home $314,030 from the $2,662,850 prizepool for his efforts. He finished third in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event this year for $437,918, so he went two better to claim his first EPT trophy.
Coelho's triumph came on on the heels of a near miss at the 2024 WSOP Main Event, where he bowed out in 10th place for $800,000, just shy of the final table. In Cyprus, he redeemed himself by defeating Italy's Michele Guerrini heads-up, following a deal that saw Coelho claim $357,048 along with the Golden Shard.
Coelho was in action, three-betting to 13,000 from the big blind after Simeon Spasov opened to 4,000 from the button. Spasov called and then called Coelho's continuation bet of 7,500 on the J♣8♠6♠ flop. Coelho then check-called for 6,000 on the 2♠ turn before the 6♣ river checked through to showdown.
Coelho tabled K♦2♣ for sixes and deuces, and Spasov couldn't show anything better, and he mucked his hand.
The EPT Cyprus 2024 Main Event is seeing strong participation from across the globe, with 862 unique players making up the 1,284 total entries. Players from 66 countries are competing for a share of the $6,227,400 prize pool, with 191 spots paid and a top prize of $1,030,000 awaiting the winner. The minimum cash sits at $8,400.
While the numbers are impressive, there has been a slight year-on-year decline. Total entries are down by 2.7% (1,284 vs. 1,320), and unique participants have decreased by 3.8% (862 vs. 896). Despite this, the field remains incredibly diverse, with Russia leading the pack at 176 players, making up 20.4% of the field. The United Kingdom follows with 93 players (10.8%), Germany with 82 (9.5%), France with 73 (8.5%), and Turkey with 64 (7.4%).
In comparison to the 2023 event, Russia has increased its representation from 122 players, while other top nations like Turkey, France, Germany, and the UK have also seen notable growth.
Endrit Geci opened the action with a raise to 4,000 in the cutoff. Elias Gutierrez sat in the small blind and thought for a minute or so before committing his stack of 15,500.
Geci snap-called and the cards were tabled.
Elias Gutierrez: Q♦J♣
Endrit Geci: Q♠Q♥
Gutierrez was in bad shape but flopped some hope on 5♣K♦9♦. The 5♠ turn changed nothing, but Gutierrez's straight came in on the 10♦ river to double him up to slightly more than a starting stack.
Geci, meanwhile, was left with just 10,000, which he would lose not long after the completion of the hand.
At least 40,000 was in the middle, with the board reading J♦9♥3♣5♣, in a hand between Jiaming Zhao and Ivan Banic.
Zhao, who had around a pot-sized bet left behind, checked to Banic, who moved all in with the covering stack. Zhao took some time to think, and eventually the clock was called.
With the countdown on, suddenly Zhao made the call.
Jiaming Zhao: 4♠4♣
Ivan Banic: Q♠Q♦
Zhao had made the hero-call with fourth pair fours, but had found himself down to two outs versus Banic's overpair queens.
The J♣ river was not one of those outs, and he departed the tournament area. Banic meanwhile moves towards the 300,000 mark.
The action was caught on a turn of J♣7♦5♠7♥. Adi Rajkovic in middle position checked to Marco Poccia in the cutoff. Poccia bet 15,500 into a pot of 45,000, which Rajkovic raised to 36,000.
Poccia tossed in a call and also called when Rajkovic shoved all in for 70,000 on the 5♣ river. Poccia only had 65,000 chips and was eliminated as Rajkovic had a full house with 8♣7♣.
Raphael Blouet had shoved from under the gun for 17,500 and Timur Kurbanov called from the next seat. The action then folded around to Federico Macori in the big blind, who shoved for around 85,000. Kurbanov was in the tank for a while but ultimately decided to call off his remaining 55,000 that he had behind.
Raphael Blouet: 8♦8♣
Timur Kurbanov: 10♥10♦
Federico Macori: A♦K♥
Macori had a great spot to eliminate two players and picked up a few more outs on the J♥Q♠J♠ flop as another queen would counterfeit his opponent's pocket pairs. However, it was Blouet who shot into the lead on the 8♥ turn as he improved to a full house, which left Macori drawing dead for the main pot.
Kurbanov was still in the lead for the 110,000-chip side pot, and remained there when the 5♠ landed on the river, which meant he made a bit of profit on the hand. Blouet tripled up, and Macori was left very short with under 10,000 remaining in his stack.
Kirill Solovev checked from early position on a turn of K♦2♠5♥6♦. Jakub Michalak was in the next seat over and bet 13,000 into a pot of 35,000. Solovev raised to 43,000, which Michalak called.
The J♦ turn saw Solovev size down to 20,000. A snap-call by Michalak followed, after which Solovev immediately shook his head.
He tabled 3♠3♦ for an underpair, seeing the pot shipped to Michalak with his K♠Q♣ for top pair.
Salvatore Camarda opened from under the gun to 4,000 and Georgios Skarparis called in the next seat. Aleksei Savenkov also called from the hijack.
The three saw a flop of Q♣10♣6♦ where Camarda and Skarparis checked, then Savenkov fired 6,500. Camarda and Skarparis both called.
All three checked the 9♠ turn to the 3♠ river where Camarda checked and Skarparis bet 27,000. Savenkov thought long and hard before he elected to fold, and Camarda's cards were all tossed into the muck.