$50,000 EPT Super High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
$50,000 EPT Super High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
Buy-in
$50,000
Prize Pool
$2,231,460
Entries
46
Level
20
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
80,000
Entries
25
Players Left
1
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
The $50,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa was scheduled to be a three-day affair. However, after an elongated Day 2, which saw 12 60-minute levels of play and ran deep into the night, it was Spain’s Juan Pardo who took home the trophy and the accompanying $688,560 a day early after a heads-up deal. Pardo beat fellow Spaniard Vicente Delgado after a relatively short heads up battle. Delgado had to console himself with the $583,400 he received for finishing in second place.
It was Pardo’s first EPT Super High Roller title, with his runner-up finish in the ￡50,000 Super High Roller at EPT London in 2022 being his previous best result. In order to accomplish this feat, he had to overcome a final table full of familiar faces, with Teun Mulder receiving the bronze medal, and high roller regulars like PokerStars’ Sam Grafton, Leon Sturm, and Quan Zhou also receiving a share of the $2,231,460 prize pool.
EPT Cyprus $50,000 Super High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Pardo | Spain | $688,560* |
| 2 | Vicente Delgado | Spain | $583,400* |
| 3 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | $345,900 |
| 4 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | $256,600 |
| 5 | Leon Sturm | Germany | $200,800 |
| 6 | Quan Zhou | China | $156,200 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
The day started with 25 players still in contention, and seven of them were new entries, of which two fresh faces, Gregoire Auzoux and Biao Ding. Grafton and Mulder managed to make the final table while having started the day with a fresh stack of 250,000 but the likes of Sam Greenwood, Kayhan Mokri, and Pablo Silva would not be as lucky as they all fizzled out before the final nine. Ding did not manage to do much damage either, while Auzoux busted in ninth place, in a pot that saw Delgado claim the chip lead, to set up the official final table of eight.
Before that happened, poker superstars like Alex Kulev, Joao Vieira, Artur Martirosian, and Steve O’Dywer had long been eliminated in the first few levels of the day. Names such as Ognyan Dimov, Mikita Badziakouski, and Adrian Mateos made it a bit further into the tournament, but they all exited at the final two tables. The final table was then reached when Maher Nouira was eliminated in tenth place when he lost a flip to Mulder.
Final Table Play
After the aforementioned elimination of Auzoux, it took a while before the next player would be busted, with the players being mindful of the relatively large mincash that would be awarded for finishing in sixth place. However, after the start-of-day chipleader Paulius Plausinaitis, who spent much of the day short-stacked, could not survive his blind-on-blind encounter with then chipleader Delgado, it was Mikalai Vaskaboinikau who ultimately received the dubious honor of bubble boy. Vaskaboinikay was at one point set to burst the bubble himself when Pardo was at risk with ace-three versus his pocket kings. However, an ace on the flop spoiled Vaskaboinikay’s aspirations and he found himself eliminated mere moments later when his final twelve blinds went in preflop against Zhou and he failed to improve with the lesser hand.
The players then decided to keep on playing, but it would take a long time before the first player could go to the payout desk. After a couple of double-ups, it was Pardo once again who was at risk of being eliminated, but miraculously enough he managed to crack pocket kings twice in a row, this time with his sevens against Zhou. Zhou would get it in with the best hand once again sometime later, but his ace-queen would lose against Mulder’s ace-jack when the latter paired a jack on the flop, sending the Chinese player to the rail with a min-cash.
Next to go was Sturm, who maintained his short stack for a good while throughout the final table. However, he kept the theme of big hands being cracked running when his pocket aces lost against the king-eight of Pardo when the latter turned two pair. Grafton also fell victim to Pardo, despite doubling up twice beforehand. In a blind-on-blind encounter, Grafton’s king-four was up against the ace-queen of Pardo, and when neither player made a pair, Grafton took his leave from the tournament.
Pardo Finishes the Job
The prior two eliminations left Pardo with a huge chip lead, having nearly ten million of the 11,500,000 chips in play in his possession. However, both of his short-stacked opponents doubled up several times to prolong the three-handed battle for the Super High Roller title late into the night.
Finally, it was Mulder who bowed out before the heads up as Pardo dealt out yet another bad beat when his ace-nine beat Mulder’s ace-ten when the Spaniard rivered a flush. Pardo started the heads-up with his fellow countryman Delgado, spectated by ten or so other attendees from Spain, with twice as many chips, and he soon increased that lead by a fair margin. However, Delgado doubled during the first preflop all-in and earned himself a chance for a comeback. Ultimately though, it would not come to fruition, as not much later the players went all in preflop for a second time. This time, Pardo’s ace-queen held against the ace-ten of Delgado, awarding him his first-ever EPT Super High Roller title, the beautiful trophy, and the not-so-shabby sum of $688,560.
This unexpected ending of the $50,000 EPT Cyprus Super High Roller concludes the PokerNews coverage of the tournament, but be sure to check out the live reporting of all other events at EPT Cyprus, including the prestigious Main Event, over at the hub page.
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Juan Pardo raised to 180,000 from the button and Vicente Delgado moved all in from the big blind. Pardo snap-called to put Delgado at risk.
Vicente Delgado: A?10?
Juan Pardo: A?Q?
Pardo was well ahead with a bigger ace on the J?9?6? flop. The 8? turn gave Delgado a few more outs in the form of a gutshot straight draw but the 8? river was a brick and Pardo won the final pot of the tournament while Delgado had to settle for second place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
11,500,000
3,500,000
|
3,500,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Juan Pardo limped his button before Vicente Delgado jammed all in from the big blind. After a count, the amount totaled 1,710,000. Parod thought it over for a few more seconds before putting in a calling chip.
Vicente Delgado: K?5?
Juan Pardo: Q?J?
Both players flopped a pair on K?7?J?, but the 5? turn saw Delgado extend his lead by upgrading to two pair. No jack appeared on the 9? river and Delgado doubled up to keep the heads-up battle for the Super High Roller title going.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,000,000
-1,970,000
|
-1,970,000 |
|
|
3,500,000
1,970,000
|
1,970,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Juan Pardo limped in from the button and Vicente Delgado checked in the big blind.
The flop came 9?2?6? and Delgado check-called an 80,000 bet from Pardo.
Both players checked the J? turn leading to the Q? river. Delgado bet 135,000 only for Pardo to raise to 600,000. Delgado made the call.
Pardo showed down A?Q? for a rivered top pair and Delgado's hand hit the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
9,970,000
1,170,000
|
1,170,000 |
|
|
1,530,000
-1,170,000
|
-1,170,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Vicente Delgado limped his button and Juan Pardo checked the big blind. On the 7?K?9? flop, Pardo checked and Delgado bet the minimum of 80,000. Pardo called and the 8? turn fell.
Pardo checked again and Delgado now opted for a big bet of 300,000 chips. It did not deter Pardo from calling, however, as he did just so.
Pardo checked a final time on the 4? river, and Delgado piled in a pile of chips worth 800,000. Pardo made a swift call and Delgado could show nothing but J?2? for a failed bluff with jack-high. Meanwhile, Pardo was sitting on top pair with K?3? and raked in the first significant pot of the heads-up battle.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,800,000
1,160,000
|
1,160,000 |
|
|
2,700,000
-1,160,000
|
-1,160,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Teun Mulder limped in from the small blind and Juan Pardo raised to 240,000 from the big blind. Mulder moved all in for approximately 1,600,000 and Pardo called with a covering stack.
Teun Mulder: A?10?
Juan Pardo: A?9?
Both players connected with the 10?8?9? flop. Mulder was ahead with top pair but Pardo was live with a flush draw. The 8? turn was a brick but the flush came in on the J? river to secure the pot for Pardo, who reclaimed some of the chips he had last earlier this level while Mulder's deep run came to an end in third place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,640,000
1,470,000
|
1,470,000 |
|
|
3,860,000
260,000
|
260,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Vicente Delgado raised to 160,000 and Juan Pardo made the call from the big blind once Teun Mulder folded the small blind. The flop of 7?K?5? saw Pardo check before Delgado put in 130,000 chips for a bet. Pardo called and the two Spanish players checked through the subsequent 5? turn.
The 6? river then fell and Pardo checked once more. Delgado picked up the aggression again and put out a bet of 400,000. Pardo mulled it over for a bit but eventually made the call. Delgado showed Q?Q? for two pair, queens and fives, and Pardo added his cards to the muck pile.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,170,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
|
3,600,000
795,000
|
795,000 |
|
|
1,730,000
-850,000
|
-850,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Vicente Delgado raised to 160,000 from the button before Teun Mulder shipped in his 1,210,000 stack from the small blind. Juan Pardo folded the big blind and Delgado put in the extra chips required for a call.
Teun Mulder: A?K?
Vicente Delgado: A?7?
It was a sweaty flop for Mulder when 8?9?10? was put in the middle of the table. However, the Q? river removed some outs for Delgado and the 3? river was a pure brick, securing the double-up for Mulder, who about evened his stack with that of Delgado.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,115,000
-185,000
|
-185,000 |
|
|
2,805,000
-945,000
|
-945,000 |
|
|
2,580,000
1,130,000
|
1,130,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Vicente Delgado opened to 160,000 from the button and Juan Pardo three-bet to 480,000 from the big blind. Delgado made the call.
Pardo bet 175,000 on the K?10?8? flop and Delgado moved all in for 1,360,000. Prado called to put Delgado at risk.
Vicente Delgado: K?Q?
Juan Pardo: K?2?
Delgado was ahead with a bigger king and remained so on the 4?J? runout to score another full double up at Pardo's expense.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,300,000
-3,000,000
|
-3,000,000 |
|
|
3,750,000
2,150,000
|
2,150,000 |
|
|
1,450,000 |