Oliver Weis Wins EPT Cyprus Main Event for $1,030,000

The German player Oliver Weis took down the EPT Cyprus Main Event for a top prize of just over a million dollars last night as he won a rollercoaster heads-up clash against local player Georgios Tsouloftas in Northern Cyprus. The final table was packed with drama as eight different poker nations were represented and only one of them could claim a champion among their number.

A Dato with Destiny

With a massive 1,284 entries, the 2024 EPT Cyprus Main Event cost $5,300 to play and built a prizepool of a massive $6,227,400. With 191 players paid, plenty of stars of the felt just missed out on the final table, with Bulgaria’s Fahredin Mustafov, who led after Day 2 of the event, busting in 32^nd place for $20,980.

German player Timo Kamphues busted in ninth place for $94,940 when his lost out to his countryman Oliver Weis’ as a board of played out to reduce the field to eight. Play continued for some time until the next elimination, as Weis consistently grew his stack to take a big lead into the closing stages.

With eight still left, Weis was again the aggressor, squeezing the Italian player Andrea Dato into a shove pre-flop. Dato’s pocket jacks were strong but not as strong as Weis’ pocket queens and he easily soared to another big win, taking out Dato after a queen fell on the flop and no miracle arrived for the Italian, who busted for a score of $123,400.

James Just Falls Short

With seven left, the Bulgarian player Anton Kraous made his bow, winning $160,500 in the process. All-in with , Kraous was dominated by the effervescent Bobby James with , who prevailed after a ten-high board flirted with giving the Bulgarian a miraculous straight, but ultimately rewarded the player who was ahead before the flop.

Weis had a massive lead as players retired to bed for one more night’s sleep, with the German on 18.5 million chips and his nearest challenger – Bobby James – on just 5.2 million. With 185 big blinds, Weis could do what he liked when play returned, but he wasn’t involved in the first elimination of the final day. Anton Wigg called off his stack pre-flop with pocket tens and was racing against the of Russian player Mikhail Shalamov. An ace on the flop spelled doom for the Swedish player and he found no two-outer ten to save him, cashing for $208,720 in sixth place.

Soon, five were down to four when Bobby James departed for a score of $271,400. All-in with , he lost out to Tsouloftas with Jc] as a nine-high board did nothing to help the at-risk British player. That left four players, as Germany, Russia, Ukraine and the host country Cyprus were all represented going into the final furlong.

Weis Wraps Up Lengthy Victory

With four left, the Ukrainian player Andriy Lyubovetskiy bowed out for a score of $353,100. All-in on the river of a board showing , he lost out with having decided a hero-call was good value after Weis had shoved on 5^th street. The German had it, however, turning over for tens and sevens to take out another player and add to his stack.

In the time it took six players to be reduced to three, Weis had fallen behind as the local hero, Georgios Tsouloftas, rose up the leaderboard. That remained the case as the Cypriot took out Russia’s Mikhail Shalamov in third place for $459,000. Shalamov shoved with and fell to Tsouloftas’s as a ten-high flop – although followed by a seven on the turn – was ultimately enough to send the Russian home and give Tsouloftas a 3:1 chip lead going into the heads-up.

That lead grew to 5:1 at one point, but the German ground it out in heroic fashion, eventually moving into the lead after one barrel too many from the Cyprus player. Picking off a big bluff, Weis moved into a commanding lead of his own and with 80% of the chips, could call off Tsouloftas’ late shove with . Weis was behind with but not for long as the German’s rail pleaded for a seven and were rewarded when a flop of put their man in front. A on the turn did open up some straight out for the home country’s hero but another on the river ended the event in Weis’ favor after a brutal slog in the final duel was over at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino and Spa in Northern Cyprus.

Headline photo by Manuel Kovscar for PokerStars.