$25,000 NL Hold'em V
Day 1 Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
$25,000 NL Hold'em V
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$504,210
Entries
21
Level
18
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
40,000
Entries
21
Players Left
1
Level 18
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Another day, another $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em tournament held at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus. The fifth of such events at Merit Hotel Casino & Spa saw a field of 21 entries gather throughout the registration period, and was full of the best of the best, as usual.
This time it was Aleksejs Ponakovs who came out ahead, winning $216,810 and of course a lovely PokerStars trophy. He defeated Daniel Smiljkovic heads up, who received $136,100 for his efforts. Meanwhile, $50,000 Super High Roller champion Juan Pardo and high-stakes phenom Leon Sturm also picked up cashes to divide the rest of the $504,210 prize pool.
$25,00 NL Hold'em V Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $216,810 |
| 2 | Daniel Smiljkovic | Germany | $136,100 |
| 3 | Leon Sturm | Germany | $90,800 |
| 4 | Juan Pardo | Spain | $60,500 |
Action of the Day
Ponakovs was present from the very first hand dealt, along with the familiar names of Vicente Delgado, Adrian Mateos, Gha Iakobishvili, and Sam Greenwood. Many more high-stakes regulars would soon show up, and at the end of late registration, 15 unique players had made a total of 21 entries. Four spots got paid, but many of poker’s greats would not make the final table, including Delgado, Mateos, and Greenwood, the latter of which finished in ninth place to be the final table bubble.
Other names that were battling throughout the day but failed to make the final eight players were Kayhan Mokri, Mikita Badziakouski, Steve O’Dwyer, and winner of the previous $25,000 tournament at EPT Cyrpus Maher Nouira. Once seated at one table, it was Pablo Silva who fell first, quickly followed by Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, who was the only player to fire three bullets today.
The jovial Iakobishvili then heralded the bubble phase when he lost a preflop all-in to then-chipleader Sturm. The bubble took quite a while, and due to the relatively even stacks, the chip lead changed with every double-up, seeing Sturm, Artur Martirosian, and Smiljkovic obtaining it at one point or another.
The Final Phase
After an hour of bubble play the average stack amounted to fifteen big blinds, and going all in seemed to be the only option for a lot of players. Eventually, this caused a three-way clash when Sturm open-jammed the button with the biggest stack remaining, and both Pardo and Martirosian called. Sturm ace-five made trips against both of the players’ ace-jack and he regained the chip lead while simultaneously bursting the bubble. It was Pardo who had more chips than Martirosian, so he picked up the min-cash of $60,500 while Martirosian was left empty-handed.
Once in the money, the all-ins were quick and numerous. Smiljkovic immediately won a huge preflop flip against Sturm to obtain two-thirds of the chips in play and soon took the last few chips his fellow German was left with as well. Starting the heads up with a large chip deficit, Ponakovs battled back by winning the first preflop all-in of the heads up. Now with roughly even stacks, he took a big chip lead when he made a big value bet with a rivered full house, leaving his opponent with a mere nine big blinds. Those went in not long after, and Ponakov’s ace-three held against the ten-eight of Smiljkovic to seal the victory.
Ponakovs had known a rough EPT Cyprus thus far, firing multiple entries in the high-stakes tournaments, of which three in the $50,000 Super High Roller, and only getting one min-cash in return until today. However, he rebounded in a big way today, taking home the $216,810 and the trophy that came with winning one of the $25,000 no-limit hold’em tournaments at EPT Cyprus.
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of this tournament, but be sure to keep coming back to check out all of the high-stakes, mystery bounty, and Main Event action one can wish for.
Level 18
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Aleksejs Ponakovs jammed all in from the button and Daniel Smiljkovic called from the big blind for his remaining 300,000 or so chips.
Daniel Smiljkovic: 10?8?
Aleksejs Ponakovs: A?3?
"Impossible," sighed Smiljkovic after the Q?6?J? flop. His gut feeling was correct, as the 4?7? runout saw Ponakovs' ace-high hold on. Smiljkovic lost the heads up and took home $136,100 as a consolation prize.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,100,000
350,000
|
350,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 18
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
There was already 500,000 in the middle when Aleksejs Ponakovs made a bet of 370,000 from the big blind on a completed board of 2?9?7?10?9?. Daniel Smiljkovic called fairly quickly and Ponakovs tabled 9?2? for a rivered full house.
Smiljkovic mucked his cards and is now looking at a big chip deficit, only having nine big blinds at his disposal.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,750,000
780,000
|
780,000 |
|
|
350,000
-780,000
|
-780,000 |
Level: 18
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 40,000
Level 17
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
All of the chips went in the middle with Daniel Smiljkovic on the button and Aleksejs Ponakovs in the big blind, with Ponakovs being at risk with 470,000 chips.
Aleksejs Ponakovs: K?Q?
Daniel Smiljkovic: A?9?
Ponakovs was the one to flop a pair on K?7?5?, and the 7? turn helped neither player. The 3? river also blanked, and Ponakovs raked in the double-up, making the heads up an almost even affair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,130,000
-470,000
|
-470,000 |
|
|
970,000
470,000
|
470,000 |
Level 17
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Chipleader Daniel Smiljkovic open-jammed the button and the short-stacked Leon Sturm made the call from the small blind.
Leon Sturm: A?5?
Daniel Smiljkovic: J?4?
"Uh-oh," said Sturm when he saw the flop of 9?10?8?. Smiljkovic hit one of his many outs on the 4? turn, and the J? river upgraded him to two pair. He eliminated Sturm and is now heads up with Aleksejs Ponakovs.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,600,000
170,000
|
170,000 |
|
|
500,000
-15,000
|
-15,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 17
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Leon Sturm, from the button, and Daniel Smiljkovic, in the big blind got their stacks in the middle, with Smiljkovic's 715,000 chips being at risk.
Daniel Smiljkovic: 7?7?
Leon Sturm: A?J?
Sturm had a bad feeling about the sevens of his opponents, and he was right as Smiljkovic flopped a set on 10?3?7?. The Q? turn brought some outs for Sturm, but Smiljkovic faded them on the 2? river. He doubled up and is now a big chipleader three-handed.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,430,000
745,000
|
745,000 |
|
|
515,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
|
155,000
-715,000
|
-715,000 |
Level 17
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
It folded to Leon Sturm on the button, and he covered both Juan Pardo in the small blind and Artur Martirosian in the big blind. He then jammed all in and Pardo made the call for 215,000.
This sent Martirosian deep into the tank.
"I have thirteen timebanks!" he joked, but he only used a few before calling off his last 120,000 as well.
Leon Sturm: A?5?
Artur Martirosian: A?J?
Juan Pardo: A?J?
"Oh good, I min-cash," Pardo noticed.
It was as if he could predict the future because Sturm would win the hand when he made trips on the 9?10?5?Q?5? runout, busting both players in the process. Pardo went to the cashier to pick up his cash, and Martrosian was the last to leave the tournament area without any money as the bubble boy.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
870,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 17
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Artur Martirosian raised to 180,000 from under the gun, and he was called by Aleksejs Ponakovs in the cutoff.
On 8?Q?K?, Martirosian bet 25,000 to force Ponakovs to go all in, and Ponakovs called.
Artur Martirosian: 5x5x
Aleksejs Ponakovs: K?K?
Ponakovs had the good hand at the right time, so he doubled up after the turn 8? and the river A?.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
420,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
|
150,000
-200,000
|
-200,000 |
|
|
||