The first event of the 2024 European Poker Tour’s Cyprus stop is in the books and the relatively unknown Uruguayan Marcelo Bonanata won the title in the $10,200-entry Mystery Bounty event for a total score of $156,800. Beating the popular and talented WSOP bracelet winner, the Latvian Aleks Ponakovs heads-up, Bonanata’s victory landed him the ‘Spadie’ trophy on the Cyprus coast at the stunning Star Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa Resort.
Ren Lin Goes from Hero to Zero
A total of 75 entries were welcomed at the five-star hotel on the fringes of the Mediterranean Sea as this year’s EPT Cyprus festival kicked off in style with the $10,200 buy-in Mystery Bounty event. With over $350,000 in the prizepool for cash prizes and $375,000 in the bounty prizepool, any given knockout was almost as important as climbing a place on the leaderboard as just 11 players made the money places.
Day 1 was a busy one, with Ren Lin leading the field into Day 2 but the Chinese player didn’t have the best of times after late registration and ended up bubbling the event in 12th place. All-in with 
, Lin lost to Bonanata’s 
. Lin asked for a lady on the flop and he got one, but he forgot to banish kings and one came as it landed 
. A nine on the turn and a king on the river ended Lin’s hopes just outside the money and the field was down to 11 players.
After Portugues player Diogo Coelho just missed the final table of nine by busting in 11th place and Joao Tomas left one place later in 10th, both players could enjoy a score of $9,600 but were not at the last table of the tournament. The first to bust once the lights were on the final nine was the Russian player Valeriy Fokin who cashed for $11,000 in prize money without winning a bounty.
Bogdanov Busts to Miss Final Five
Down to the final table, the chip leader, Vladimir Korzinin, had a massive 89 big blinds, with no-one else having more than the 48 held by Tom Vogelsang. Another Russian departed in eight place, as Alexander Zubov fell for total winnings of $31,300. All-in with 
on a 
flop, he was behind Bonanata’s 
and never caught up as aces landed on turn and river to confirm the Russians exit in eighth place.
Next to go was the Austrian Manuel Fritz for the lower prize of $24,700 after winning fewer bounties than Zubov. Calling pre-flop with he was way ahead of Vogelsang’s 
but it didn’t remain that way as a board of 
gave the Dutch player a straight and sent Fritz home.
Soon, the field was down to five, as Bulgarian Yulian Bogdanov went home after an extraordinary run earned him $21,500 by virtue of finishing high in the event but another $75,000 thanks to the sheer volume of opponents he busted. Bogdanov’s final hand saw him exit after his pocket queens lost to Bonanata’s pocket sevens when the Uruguayan four-flushed his opponent from the field.
Indian poker professional Santosh Survarna left in fifth place for total winnings of $34,600 when he shoved for just four bigs with 
only to lose to Vogelsang’s 
. A cruel board of 
filled in the unlikeliest of straights for Vogelsang as he took a vital pot with four players left.
Ponakovs Comes Close
With four left, all of the remaining players had bullied and battled their way to plenty of bounties as they reached the final four. Vogelsang was the first to bust as he lost out to the Latvian WSOP bracelet winner Aleks Ponakovs, who once toppled Phil Ivey heads-up to claim gold. All-in with 
, Vogelsang lost to Ponakovs’ as a jack arrived on the turn to down Vogelsang for total winnings of $77,700.
Winning marginally more in third place was the final table’s chip leader Vladimir Korzinin, who won $78,300 when he busted to Ponakovs. All-in with 
for a total bluff on a board showing 
, and was swiftly called by the Latvian with for unassailable trip tens.
Heads-up, Bonanata had a very marginal lead with 3.8 million against Ponakovs’ 3.7 million. Ponakovs took an initial lead but the Uruguayan outsider battled back and top pair lost to two pair to move the eventual winner into a 2:1 lead. Ponakovs found the final $50,000 bounty on the board but lost the crucial flip for the title when 
lost to Bonanata’s pocket deuces with all the chips in the middle pre-flop.
For Marcelo Bonanata it was the result of a lifetime with this victory winning three times his entire career poker earnings at the tournament felt in one event as he took home $156,800 in winnings, marginally more than the $129,000 claimed by the runner-up Ponakovs.
| European Poker Tour Cyprus 2024 $10,200 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results: | |||||
| Position | Player | Country | Prize | Bounties | Winnings |
| 1st | Marcelo Bonanata | Uruguay | $99,300 | $57,500 | $156,800 |
| 2nd | Aleks Ponakovs | Latvia | $64,000 | $65,000 | $129,000 |
| 3rd | Vladimir Korzinin | Estonia | $45,800 | $32,500 | $78,300 |
| 4th | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | $35,200 | $52,500 | $77,700 |
| 5th | Santhosh Suvarna | India | $27,100 | $7,500 | $34,600 |
| 6th | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | $21,500 | $75,000 | $96,500 |
| 7th | Manuel Fritz | Austria | $17,200 | $7,500 | $24,700 |
| 8th | Alexander Zubov | Russia | $13,800 | $17,500 | $31,300 |
| 9th | Valeriy Fokin | Russia | $11,000 | $0 | $11,000 |
Image courtesy of Danny Maxwell for PokerNews.
