Ueberton Cristian De Aquino opened to 4,300,000 wfrom under the gun and Christopher Puetz three-bet to 12,500,000 from the big blind after using a time extension. Aquino put Puetz all in and Puetz, who had about 28,000,000 behind, snap-called to put himself at risk.
Christopher Puetz: A♥K♥
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino: A♦J♥
Puetz had Aquino dominated and remained ahead on the K♠4♦2♣6♦J♦ runout to take a colossal pot and the chip lead.
Iurii Brechalov opened to 3,000,000 from under the gun with A♠K♦ and Dmitrii Levin three-bet to 18,500,000, leaving just 2,500,000 behind from the hijack. Andrey Pateychuk called from the small blind and Brechalov got out of the way.
The flop came 10♦9♣3♥. Pateychuk put Levin all in and Levin made the call.
Dmitrii Levin: A♣J♠
Andrey Pateychuk: Q♥Q♣
Levin picked up a straight draw on the 8♠ turn but the 4♣ river was of no help and he made his exit from the tournament area while Pateychuk climbed up the counts to third place.
Level 33
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Iurii Brechalov
Iurii Brechalov opened to 4,000,000 from the cutoff and Christopher Puetz three-bet to 12,000,000 from the small blind. Brechalov four-bet shoved for 33,200,000 and Puetz called with a covering stack to put Brechalov at risk.
Iurii Brechalov: A♦K♠
Christopher Puetz: 5♥5♣
Brechalov found no help on the 7♠6♦9♥10♦10♠ runout and busted in sixth place while Puetz extended his lead over the rest of the field.
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino opened to 6,500,000 from the cutoff and Almas Umarov three-bet shoved for 8,700,000 from the big blind. Aquino made the call to put Umarov at risk.
Almas Umarov: 5♦5♣
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino: Q♠Q♣
Aquino's queens held up on the 8♠A♥3♠4♦K♣ runout to take the pot while Umarov, who had started the day with the chip lead, made his exit in fifth place.
Boris Kolev opened to 5,000,000 from the cutoff and Christopher Puetz three-bet to 17,000,000 from the small blind. Kolev four-bet shoved for 49,900,000 and Puetz snap-called with a covering stack to put Kolev at risk with.
Boris Kolev: A♥2♥
Christopher Puetz: 4♠4♥
Puetz had caught Kolev speeding and was in a great position to score another knockout. That all changed when Kolev picked up the nut-flush draw on the 7♥3♥2♦ flop making it virtually a flip. The 9♠ turn was a brick but the flush came in on the 6♥ river. Puetz could only shake his head in frustration, tumbling down the chip counts from first to third place while Kolev dragged in a monster pot.
Level 35
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Andrey Pateychuk
Andrey Pateychuk opened to 6,000,000 from under the gun and Ueberton Cristian De Aquino three-bet to 15,000,000 from the big blind. Pateychuk made the call.
On the K♣8♦4♠ flop Aquino moved all in, covering Pateychuk who had 26,500,000 behind. Pateychuk made the call and was at risk.
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino: J♣6♥
Andrey Pateychuk: K♠K♥
Pateychuk had caught Aquino making a move and was a 98% favorite to take the pot, needing to fade only running cards. The 5♥ turn gave Aquino a gutshot straight draw which came right in on the 7♣ turn. Pateychuk was brutally sent to the rail while Aquino extended his lead over the rest of the field.
Level 35
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Boris Kolev
Boris Kolev opened to 6,000,000 from the button with 10♥10♣ and Ueberton Cristian De Aquino with Q♥8♦ defended from the big blind.
The flop came 10♦9♠6♠. Aquino led for 7,000,000 and Kolev clicked it back to 16,000,000. Aquino made the call.
Aquino pulled ahead of Kolev's set after making a straight on the 7♥ turn and bet 20,000,000. Kolev made the call.
Kolev took the lead back with a full house on the 7♦ river. Aquino checked, Kolev bet 30,000,000, leaving just under 3,000,000 behind. Aquino, clearly frustrated, made the call only to see the bad news as Kolev took the pot and chip lead.
Level 36
: Blinds 2,000,000/4,000,000, 4,000,000 ante
Christopher Puetz
Boris Kolev opened to 8,000,000 from the button and Christopher Puetz three-bet shoved for 69,000,000 from the small blind. Ueberton Cristian De Aquino reshoved for 102,000,000 and Kolev got out of the way.
Christopher Puetz: 6♥5♥
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino: A♣Q♥
Puetz took the lead with second pair on the J♥5♣4♣ flop. He remained ahead on the J♠ turn but Aquino spiked the Q♣ river, making a better two pair to take the biggest pot of the tournament so far while Puetz was eliminated in third place.
Level 36
: Blinds 2,000,000/4,000,000, 4,000,000 ante
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino
The next hand after being left short-stacked, Ueberton Cristian De Aquino got his last 25,000,000 in the middle from the big blind against Boris Kolev on the button.
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino: 7♣5♣
Boris Kolev: K♦3♦
"Let's go home" Aquino joked as the dealer fanned a flop of Q♦4♠3♣. Kolev was still in the lead but Aquino had two live overcards to his opponent's pair of threes as well as a gutshot straight draw. The 2♠ turn brought Aquino to 21 outs but the 8♦ river was a brick.
Aquino made his exit as the runner-up while Kolev took down the final pot of the night.
Level 36
: Blinds 2,000,000/4,000,000, 4,000,000 ante
Boris Kolev
The $2,200 Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT) Grand Final has come to a close here at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa. It took just under thirteen hours for a winner to emerge from 16 hopefuls who made it to the final day.
Boris Kolev may have entered the final table as the shortest stack with just six big blinds, but after the final hand had been dealt he had every chip in the tournament, last defeating Brazilian business owner Ueberton Cristian De Aquino in heads-up play to take home the top prize of $437,000 after a heads-up deal that slightly reduced the pay difference between first and second.
Kolev's incredible momentum in poker tournaments over the past year continued with his victory in the Grand Final. Before that, The two-time WSOP bracelet winner recently picked up his second bracelet in the Bahamas this past December and took home $424,550 for his efforts in that event. Today's win in the Grand Final is his second-largest career tournament cash after his first bracelet win in 2021 and brings the Bulgarian pro's career tournament winnings to just over $3,700,000.
Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Boris Kolev
Bulgaria
$437,000*
2
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino
Brazil
$358,000*
3
Christopher Puetz
Germany
$210,000
4
Andrey Pateychuk
Russian Federation
$155,800
5
Almas Umarov
Kazakhstan
$117,000
6
Iurii Brechalov
Russian Federation
$93,500
7
Dmitrii Levin
Russian Federation
$78,000
8
Artsiom Lasouski
Belarus
$63,000
9
Adrian Strobel
Germany
$45,000
*Denotes a heads-up deal
Final Day Highlights
Andrey Pateychuk
The EAPT Grand Final attracted 1,565 entrants, surpassing the $2,000,000 guarantee to create a massive $3,004,800 prize pool. Andrey Pateychuk started the day with the third-largest stack but was reduced to just five big blinds in the first level after first doubling upDmitrii Levin and then running jacks into kings to double Adrian Strobel. This major early setback would be just the beginning of a roller coaster day for the seasoned Russian pro and WPT champion. Never losing his composure, Pateychuk stole the blinds and doubled up on several occasions to ultimately enter the final table with the fourth-largest stack.
On the other side of the spectrum, Kolev lost a huge flip to Recep Aydemir a few spots before the final table and was reduced to under five big blinds. Although Kolev would outlast Aydemir, who was eliminated on the final table bubble, Kolev still hadn't truly recovered at that point and entered the final table with all but one of his opponents having over four times as many chips.
The Final Table
Final Table
Aquino entered the final table with the chip lead. Kolev and start of day chip leader Almas Umarov were at the bottom of the counts and all other players were close together in the middle of the pack. Both Umarov and Kolev were able to double up their stacks early on and it would take nearly 90 minutes for the first player to fall from the final nine. Several times players found themselves at risk only to double up until Adrian Strobel finally became the first final table casualty. Strobel was followed out the door not long after by Artsiom Lasouski and Levin. The latter two players were both taken out by Pateychuk who by that point held a top three stack with six remaining after initially having his stack decimated in the first level of play.
Christopher Puetz
Christopher Puetz overtook Aquino at the top of the counts after making a gutsy call with a small pocket pair to eliminate Iurii Brechalov who had four-bet shoved with ace-king and bowed out in sixth place after failing to connect with the board. Aquino was right behind Puetz at the top of the counts after eliminating Umarov in fifth. Clearly playing for the win, Puetz called another four-bet shove with a small pocket pair shortly after, this time against Kolev. Puetz' instincts were correct as he had caught Kolev making a move with ace-deuce but Kolev was bailed out on the river and pulled close to even with Aquino for the chip lead while Puetz was sent tumbling down the chip counts. Kolev would then pick off a huge bluff from Pateychuk to take the chip lead for the first time since the day had begun while Pateychuk once again found himself short-stacked. Unlike the first time he was left short-stacked today, Pateychuk couldn't recover and hit the rail in fourth place after a sickening runout that saw Aquino hit running cards to crack Pateychuk's pocket kings and reclaim the chip lead.
Ueberton Cristian De Aquino
Kolev seized the chip lead back from Aquino very quickly after three-handed play begun in a dramatic runout where Kolev flopped a set, Aquino turned a straight and Kolev rivered a full house. Aquino took the chip lead right back after eliminating Puetz in third place but Kolev was not far behind him going into heads-up play.
The heads-up duel between Aquino and Kolev only lasted a few hands. Aquino flopped two pair but Kolev turned a bigger two pair and got max value to claim 90% of the chips in play in one of the first hands after heads-up play had begun. Kolev finished the job in the very next hand, finally vanquishing Aquino to claim the final pot of the night, the trophy and the top prize of $437,000.
Boris Kolev and his Rail
That concludes our coverage for this event but be sure to follow our continuing coverage of the 2024 Mediterranean Poker Party $5,300 Main Event beginning at noon local time tomorrow, May 09.
