Anonymous defeated a field of 1,320 entries in the first-ever PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event to earn $1,042,000.
In addition to the title and the money, they also secured 1,920 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event.
This event ran from Oct. 16-22 inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Cyprus. It featured two starting flights and then took four more days to narrow the field of 1,320 down to seven contenders. The top 199 finishers earned a piece of the $6,402,000 prize pool, with $162,925 locked up by the time the final day began with the eventual winner in the lead.
Bjorn Kozenkai (7th – $162,925) was the first to fall, running K-10 into the A-10 of Jose Gonzalez Sanchez. Nikita Kuznetsov (6th – $211,850) soon followed, with his pocket fours unable to come from behind against the pocket kings of Anonymous.
A classic preflop race resulted in the next knockout. Yannick Schumacher got all-in with A
Q
facing the J
J
of Halil Tasyurek, which improved to jacks full by the turn. Schumacher earned $275,425 as the fifth-place finisher.
Despite scoring that elimination, Tasyurek was ultimately the next player to his the rail. He got all-in in a battle of the blinds with A-Q leading the K-J of Andrea Dato, but a king-high runout saw him finish fourth for $358,075.
Jose Gonzalez Sanchez was also busted by Dato, who once again was holding K-J. It was an open-shove from the small blind with Q-6 for Sanchez and a call from the big blind for Dato. Both players flopped a pair, but Dato made kings and hacks by the end to lock up the pot. Sanchez earned $465,425 as the third-place finisher.
Heads-up play began with Dato holding more than a 2:1 chip advantage over Anonymous. The roles were soon reversed, with Anonymous first closing the gap and then overtaking the lead when his kings and nines with a ten kicker bested the same hand with a lower kicker for Dato.
Anonymous remained well out in front by the time the final hand was dealt. Dato min-raised raised to 1,600,000 from the big blind with AJ after Anonymous had limped on the button with K8. Anonymous called and the flop came out 872. Dato bet 500,000. Anonymous raised to 1,500,000. Dato moved all-in for 5,350,000 and Simon quickly called. The 3 turn and 6 river were no help to Dato and the Italian was eliminated in second place, earning $652,200 for his efforts.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Anonymous | $1,042,000 | 1920 |
| 2 | Andrea Dato | $652,200 | 1600 |
| 3 | Jose Gonzalez Sanchez | $465,425 | 1280 |
| 4 | Halil Tasyurek | $358,075 | 960 |
| 5 | Yannick Schumacher | $275,425 | 800 |
| 6 | Nikita Kuznetcov | $211,850 | 640 |
| 7 | Bjorn Kozenkai | $162,925 | 480 |
| 8 | Victor Yugay | $125,350 | 320 |
| 9 | Priit Parmasto | $96,425 | 160 |
Photo credits: Danny Maxwell / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
