The poker world descended this week upon the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa along the idyllic Mediterranean coast, hoping to be the next European Poker Tour champion, but at the end of Day 3 of the EPT Cyprus Main Event, only 45 players still have a chance of that dream becoming a reality.
Leading the way is Bobby James, who was on the right side of two massive coolers that put him atop the leaderboard with 2,605,000. James rivered the nut flush to beat Akin Tuna’s flopped straight and king-high flush to double up to 1,600,000, then picked up aces against Maksim Rogov’s kings to cross 2,000,000.
Damir Zhugralin nearly tracked him down at the end of the night. Zhugralin was faced with a big decision for his tournament life against Fahredin Mustafov and called with a set of sevens to beat Mustafov’s bluff. Zhugralin ended up with 2,410,000 and in second place. Philip Joyce is the third member of the 2,000,000-chip triumvirate; Joyce first crossed 1,000,000 when he snap-called Natan Chauskin’s shove on the river with a full house. He then hit 2,000,000 when he picked off a bluff from Taago Tamm on one of the last hands of the night and bagged up 2,175,000 heading into Day 4.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby James | United Kingdom | 2,605,000 | 174 |
| 2 | Damir Zhugralin | Kazakhstan | 2,410,000 | 161 |
| 3 | Philip Joyce | United Kingdom | 2,175,000 | 145 |
| 4 | Daniel Jackson | United Kingdom | 1,560,000 | 104 |
| 5 | Lander Lijo | Spain | 1,490,000 | 99 |
| 6 | Roeland Peeks | Netherlands | 1,350,000 | 90 |
| 7 | Adrien Quetelart | France | 1,275,000 | 85 |
| 8 | Artsiom Lasouski | Belarus | 1,240,000 | 83 |
| 9 | Christopher Nguyen | Austria | 1,200,000 | 80 |
| 10 | Anton Wigg | Sweden | 1,195,000 | 80 |
The top ten also features Daniel Jackson (1,560,000), Lander Lijo (1,490,000), and Artsiom Lasouski (1,240,000). Other top stacks include Chakib Mhiri (1,140,000), Samuel Dray (870,000), Mustafov (840,000), Oliver Weis (720,000), Timo Kamphues (680,000), and Guillermo Gordo (590,000), while Georgios Skarparis (400,000), Victoria Livschitz (325,000), Santhosh Suvarna (245,000), and Eureka High Roller champion Diogo Coelho (195,000) are on short stacks going to Day 4.
Tasyurek, Dato Still Alive to Go Back-to-Back; Wigg Last Champ Standing
Two players find themselves back in the same situation they were in a year ago. Andrea Dato was runner-up in the inaugural EPT Cyprus Main Event last year, while Halil Tasyurek finished fourth. Tasyurek (965,000) and Dato (780,000) are still alive and looking to replicate Peter Jorgne’s feat of making it to consecutive final tables of the same EPT event.
Anton Wigg is the lone remaining EPT champion with a chance to join the exclusive club of two-time winners. The 2010 EPT Copenhagen champion heads into Day 4 in tenth place with 1,195,000.
Mateos and Spragg Among Day 3 Bustouts
Day 3 began with 144 players remaining out of 1,284 entries. Adrian Mateos was eliminated in 124th place by Jackson in a straight-over-straight cooler, while Team PokerStars Pro Benjamin Spragg seemed poised for a double up with top pair against Mhiri until the river gave Mhiri two pair and sent Spragg to the rail in 115th. Uri Reichenstein (143rd), Niklas Astedt (104th), Felix Schneiders (103rd), Artur Martirosian (99th), Adrian State (93rd), Alexandre Vuilleumier (75th), EPT Barcelona finalist Boris Kuzmanovic (68th), and Mihai Niste (57th) also fell over the course of the day.
Three EPT champions were eliminated toward the end of the night. Sebastian Malec finished in 50th, while Lucien Cohen busted in 49th when Zhewen Hu spiked a set of kings on the river to crack two pair. Nicolas Chouity soon joined them at the payout desk in 48th place.
The surviving 45 players are guaranteed $18,240 out of the $6,227,400 prize pool. A spot at the final table is worth at least $123,400, with the eventual champion earning $1,030,000 and the EPT trophy. The action picks up tomorrow at noon local time on Level 21 with blinds of 10,000/15,000 and a 15,000 big blind ante. The average stack is still worth nearly 60 big blinds, so it will be a long and arduous journey to the final table even after making it this far.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,030,000 | 12-13 | $60,900 |
| 2 | $642,300 | 14-15 | $50,760 |
| 3 | $459,000 | 16-17 | $42,280 |
| 4 | $353,100 | 18-20 | $36,740 |
| 5 | $271,400 | 21-23 | $31,940 |
| 6 | $208,720 | 24-27 | $27,780 |
| 7 | $160,500 | 28-31 | $24,160 |
| 8 | $123,400 | 32-39 | $20,980 |
| 9 | $94,940 | 40-45 | $18,240 |
| 10-11 | $73,100 |
PokerNews will be back tomorrow to follow all the action and provide live updates as the field continues to narrow toward the final table.
