It's been a long and intense week of poker, but the crown jewel of the 2024 European Poker Tour Cyprus is now within grasp as just six of the original 1,284 entrants remain in the $5,300 Main Event.
Tomorrow, they will return to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa and battle on the felt for the trophy, $1,030,000 first-place prize, and title of EPT Main Event Champion.
It took just over three levels the reach a final table of six, during which time Oliver Weis pulled out to an overwhelming chip lead after bagging up 18,505,000 — more than three times his next-closest competitor Mikhail Shalamov, who ended with 6,050,000.
Weis' deep run continues what has been a breakout year for the German poker player, who won a Jeju event in South Korea for $274,313 and the €10,300 High Roller in EPT Paris for a career-best $1,050,978 score.
Justifiably so, Weis explained he was "confident" heading to the final day with his substantial chip lead.
"I'm feeling pretty good. It would be amazing to cap the year off with another win. Last year was not so good, so hopefully, I can reach the ultimate goal of winning an EPT Main Event."
EPT Cyrpus Final Table
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Mikhail Shalamov | Russian | 6,050,000 | 61 |
| 2 | Bobby James | United Kingdom | 5,215,000 | 52 |
| 3 | Oliver Weis | Germany | 18,505,000 | 185 |
| 4 | Georgios Tsouloftas | Cyprus | 2,255,000 | 23 |
| 5 | Anton Wigg | Sweden | 3,190,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Andriy Lyubovetskiy | Ukraine | 3,295,000 | 33 |
Day 5 Action
Sixteen players returned for Day 5, and most were not shy about getting their chips into the middle. Boris Tabiyev sat down by far the short stack and took a stand with king-seven on just the second hand of play. Taibyev found himself in good shape to double against Philip Joyce's jack-seven, but the latter spiked a flush on the river to claim the first elimination of the day.
Not long after, Marta Miquel Munoz followed Tabiyev out the door after she ran ace-queen into Bobby James' cowboys, continuing the decade-long drought of a woman winning an EPT Main Event.
Following the first break of the day, the chips really started to fly as Eleftherios Sinnos and Halil Tasyurek were eliminated within a half hour of each other in 14th and 13th place, respectively.
Meanwhile, Joyce and Anton Kraous took turns doubling up through each other, with Kraous getting the last laugh, cracking pocket aces with ace-queen suited. Joyce was left with crumbs following the clash, which were hoovered up by Shalamov.
Weis then began his meteoric ascent, which kicked off when his massive bluff got through the then chip leader, Georgios Tsouloftas. From there, Weis received another boost after Damir Zhugralin bluffed with pocket tens into his flush to be eliminated in tenth place and set up the final table.
Andrea Dato entered the final table, tied for second in chips, and became the ninth player to make back-to-back final tables in the same EPT event. However, Dato's good fortune began to erode as he had his aces cracked by Shamalov's pocket sevens to take a notable hit to his stack.
A short-stacked Timo Kamphues became the first casualty of the final table after his ace-eight was felled against Weis' jack-nine. Weis hit two pair to claim his third elimination of the day and further separate himself from the pack.
Weiss was not finished, however, and ended Dato's run after waking up with pockets queens against Dato's pocket jacks. It was a cooler for Dato, who had to settle for a disappointing eighth place after placing runner-up to Gilles Simon last year.
All eyes were on Anton Kraous at that point, who had been nursing a short stack of less than ten big blinds for much of the session. Kraous was forced to make a move and doubled up through Tsouloftas after waking up with kings but still bowed out in seventh place after four-bet jamming with king-jack into James' ace-jack.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | $1,030,000 | ||
| 2 | $642,300 | ||
| 3 | $459,000 | ||
| 4 | $353,100 | ||
| 5 | $271,400 | ||
| 6 | $208,720 | ||
| 7 | Anton Kraous | Bulgaria | $160,00 |
| 8 | Andrea Dato | Italy | $123,400 |
| 9 | Timo Kamphues | Germany | $94,940 |
The final table of six will resume Sunday, October 20, at 12:30 p.m. local time with 69:54 minutes left to play in Level 29, which features 50,000/100,000 blinds with a 100,000 big-blind ante.
Just five eliminations separate each of the remaining players from claiming one of the most coveted prizes in poker. The stakes have never been higher, and PokerNews will continue providing coverage until the final hand is dealt and the next EPT Main Event Champion is crowned.
