Mateos Rises From the Bottom to the Top on Day 2 of $50,000 Super High Roller

Some days, you're the predator; other days, you're the prey. On Day 2 of the $50,000 Super High Roller at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus, Adrian Mateos was firmly at the top of the food chain, rebounding after a shaky Day 1, where his chips were hoovered up several times over, forcing him to fire three bullets to stay in the game.

Starting the second stage with one of the shortest stacks, Mateos expertly navigated the shark-infested Mediterranean waters, feasting his way to the chip lead ahead of the finale, where six players from the original 47 entries remain.

Joining Mateos on tomorrow's live-streamed final table is a shiver of poker’s elite. Roman Hrabec, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Artur Martirosian, Alexander Zubov, and Jamil Wakil are all still in the hunt for the trophy and the $786,570 top prize, where the finalists have secured at least $159,600 after the bubble burst on the last hand of the night.

2024 EPT Cyprus $50,000 Super High Roller Seat Draw

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Alexander Zubov	Russia	625,000	13
2	Adrian Mateos	Spain	5,175,000	104
3	Roman Hrabec	Czechia	2,630,000	53
4	Artur Martirosian	Russia	2,235,000	45
5	Mikilai Vaskaboinikau	Belarus	660,000	13
6	Jamil Wakil	Canada	425,000	9

Quads and Set-Over-Set Cooler Make for a Memorable Session

Eleven Day 2 entries joined the 16 players who made it over the first hurdle to create the $2,279,970 prize pool, and play began at a blistering pace. The field was cut in half after four one-hour levels, where the likes of EPT Main Event winners Dimitar Danchev and Ognyan Dimov departed alongside defending champion Juan Pardo.

Spain's Vicente Delgado, who ended Day 1 as the chip leader, maintained control during the early stages of Day 2 but was eventually dethroned by Hrabec after a massive confrontation with Nikita Kuznetsov.

The action began with Zubov starting the fray, prompting Kuznetsov to three-bet from the small blind. Hrabec, on Kuznetsov's immediate left, cold four-bet. Zubov decided to fold, leaving Kuznetsov to push all-in with ace-king. Hrabec, slightly covered, called for his tournament life with pocket tens. With over 140 big blinds in the pot, it seemed Kuznetsov would emerge as the victor when an ace hit the flop. However, a ten on both the turn and river gave Hrabec quads, catapulting him into pole position. Kuznetsov continued to run bad, having his aces cracked by nine-seven suited a few orbits later.

While Hrabec relished his newfound chips, Mateos began his ascent, first doubling through Delgado with a set of tens and then eliminating Manuel Fritz with a straight. After picking up aces to dispatch Biao Ding, Mateos surpassed Delgado and levelled with Hrabec. The stage was then set for the biggest pot of the day between the two Spaniards.

Delgado woke up with fives and started proceedings before Mateos looked down at pocket kings and reraised. Delgado called, and when the flop came down 9-7-5, Delagado took the lead. However, the action checked through, and Mateos found his two-outer when the turn brought in a king. Stacks went in on the river, resulting in Mateos holding a third of the chips in play going into the final table.

Final Table Action

The first notable pot of the final table transpired between Vaskaboinikau and Daniel Rezaei. Vaskaboinikau, a Triton Poker Main Event winner, went with pocket nines, and Rezaei tried to bust him with Big Slick. Unbeknownst to Rezaei at the time, Hrabec also had the same hand as him, but he decided to let his ace-king go. Vaskaboinikau held out to scoop in the pot, leaving Rezaei with a third of a big blind.

The hand after, Rezaei found kings and put in his last two chips. Zubov, with jack-ten, raised big from the button before Mehdi Chaoui put in his last ten big blinds from the small blind after peeling ace-king. It appeared the two at-risk players would survive but Zubov drilled a king-high straight on the river to bring around the stone bubble.

Thomas Eychenne turned four big blinds into twenty on the bubble, more than quadrupling up with queens.

Bubble play extended into the final level of the night, and Eychenne was involved again. He picked up the hand that had given him a new lease on life, but this time, the ladies would mark his demise as Martirosian rivered a better pair with ace-king to wrap up Day 2.

Plan for Day 3; Super High Roller Payouts

The six players will reconvene for the livestreamed final table at 12:30 p.m. local time. There is 41:19 remaining on the clock in Level 18, with blinds at 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante. The PokerNews live updates will be delayed to keep in sync with the stream, which begins at 1:30 p.m.

The tournament will continue until a champion is crowned, with each participant already guaranteed a six-figure payday.