A Speedy Triumph in a Scheduled Three-Day Battle
The $50,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa was expected to be a grueling three-day showdown.
Juan Pardo Takes the Trophy on an Eventful Day 2
On Day 2, extending into the late hours, Spain’s Juan Pardo achieved a swift victory, sealing a heads-up deal. In a relatively brief heads-up battle, Pardo outshone his compatriot Vicente Delgado, securing the prestigious trophy along with a substantial $688,560 prize. Delgado had to settle for the second-place prize of $583,400.
Pardo’s Breakthrough in the EPT Super High Roller Series
This win marked Juan Pardo’s inaugural EPT Super High Roller title, surpassing his previous best, a runner-up finish in the £50,000 Super High Roller at EPT London in 2022. To claim this achievement, he had to overcome a formidable final table filled with familiar faces, including Teun Mulder, Sam Grafton, Leon Sturm, and Quan Zhou, who all took home a share of the $2,231,460 prize pool.
EPT Cyprus $50,000 Super High Roller Results
- 1st Place: Juan Pardo (Spain) – $688,560*
- 2nd Place: Vicente Delgado (Spain) – $583,400*
- 3rd Place: Teun Mulder (Netherlands) – $345,900
- 4th Place: Sam Grafton (United Kingdom) – $256,600
- 5th Place: Leon Sturm (Germany) – $200,800
- 6th Place: Quan Zhou (China) – $156,200
The Journey to the Final Table
The day began with 25 players in contention, including seven new entries, among them Gregoire Auzoux and Biao Ding. Grafton and Mulder, despite starting with a fresh stack of 250,000, managed to secure spots at the final table. However, prominent players like Sam Greenwood, Kayhan Mokri, and Pablo Brito Silva were not as fortunate, exiting the tournament before the final nine. While Ding didn’t make a significant impact, Auzoux was eliminated in ninth place, allowing Delgado to claim the chip lead and set up the official final table of eight.
Before that point, poker luminaries like Alex Kulev, Joao Vieira, Artur Martirosian, and Steve O’Dywer had already been eliminated during the early stages of the day. Ognyan Dimov, Mikita Badziakouski, and Adrian Mateos also reached the final two tables but couldn’t advance further. The final table was set when Maher Nouira lost a crucial flip to Mulder and finished in tenth place.
Intense Final Table Action
After Auzoux’s exit, it took some time before the next player was eliminated, as the competitors aimed to secure the sizeable min-cash for the sixth-place finish. Ultimately, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau became the bubble boy after Paulius Plausinaitis, who had been short-stacked for most of the day, couldn’t survive a blind-on-blind encounter with Delgado.
Vaskaboinikay came close to bursting his own bubble when Pardo was at risk with ace-three against his pocket kings. However, Pardo managed to hit an ace on the flop, crushing Vaskaboinikay’s hopes. Vaskaboinikay was then eliminated shortly after, losing his final twelve blinds to Zhou.
The Final Showdown
The remaining players continued to battle it out, with Pardo narrowly avoiding elimination multiple times. He pulled off consecutive victories against pocket kings with his sevens against Zhou and ace-jack against Mulder’s ace-queen. Leon Sturm’s pocket aces fell to Pardo’s two pair, and even Grafton couldn’t outlast him, succumbing to Pardo’s ace-queen when both players failed to make a pair.
Pardo’s Dominance in Heads-Up Play
After eliminating the previous two players, Pardo held a substantial chip lead, with nearly ten million out of the 11,500,000 chips in play. Despite their short stacks, both opponents doubled up repeatedly, extending the three-handed battle late into the night. Eventually, Mulder exited the game before the heads-up match, as Pardo landed another ace-nine to defeat Mulder’s ace-ten.
The Grand Finale
Pardo entered the heads-up match with Delgado, with a sizeable chip advantage and a supportive Spanish audience. Delgado briefly doubled up, raising hopes of a comeback. However, it was not meant to be, as Pardo’s ace-queen triumphed over Delgado’s ace-ten, granting him his first-ever EPT Super High Roller title, the coveted trophy, and an impressive $688,560 in winnings.