After a grueling 16-hour Day 2, four players returned to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa for an unscheduled third day of the $2,200 Eureka High Roller at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus. With the biggest prizes of the $2,610,600 prize pool still on the line, it took less than two hours for Portugal’s Diogo Coelho to emerge as the champion, besting a field of 1,374 entries.
Coelho’s victory comes on the heels of a near miss at the 2024 WSOP Main Event, where he bowed out in 10th place for $800,000, just shy of the final table. In Cyprus, he redeemed himself by defeating Italy’s Michele Guerrini heads-up, following a deal that saw Coelho claim $357,048, including $20,000 set aside for heads-up play. Guerrini, meanwhile, pocketed $328,592 as a hefty consolation.
The day’s action saw short-stacked Ibrahim Ghassan eliminated in fourth place, while start-of-day chip leader Mukhtor Nasiradinov had to settle for a third-place finish.
EPT Cyprus $2,200 Eureka High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diogo Coelho | Portugal | $357,048* |
| 2 | Michele Guerrini | Italy | $328,592* |
| 3 | Mukhtor Nasiradinov | Russian Federation | $187,410 |
| 4 | Ibrahim Ghassan | Lebanon | $144,610 |
| 5 | Ali Emre Ozcan | Turkey | $110,900 |
| 6 | Roman Timergazin | Russian Federation | $85,310 |
| 7 | Gediminas Uselis | Lithuania | $65,630 |
| 8 | Leonid Logunov | Russian Federation | $50,490 |
* denotes heads up deal
Winner’s Reaction
This was Coelho’s second EPT trophy after claiming his first-ever live victory in the $10,300 High Roller at the inaugural EPT Paris. “It feels amazing,” Coelho described after his victory. “I never expect to win a trophy like this.”
However, Coelho’s victory was a hard-fought one. Mid-way through Day 2, he was down to less than two big blinds after he value-bet his two pair into trips. “It is a situation where we lost a little bit of hope,” Coelho admitted, “but we still do whatever we can to make sure we come back.”
Not only did Coelho come back, but he rode the momentum to victory, capturing the beautiful trophy to add to his collection.
Day 3 Action
Ghassan was the shortest player of the four who returned for the extra Day 3. A mere ten minutes after their arrival, he got in his chips dominated and could not improve, being the first exit of the day. Coelho then became the shortest stack three-handed, but he doubled through Guerrini to stay in contention.
Nasiradinov, on the other hand, seemed to get shorter by the minute and eventually fell in third place when he lost a flip against Guerrini. By taking the former leader’s chips, Guerrini started the heads up with a sizable lead over Coelho. However, Coelho won a couple of small pots in a row and eventually gained a small chip advantage.
Coelho and Guerrini then paused to discuss the deal. They agreed to chop the prize pool according to their chips but left $20,000 to play for heads-up, along with the trophy and bragging rights. Once they resumed playing, Coelho kept winning pots and eventually had Guerrini down to 15 big blinds.
On the last hand of the tournament, Coelho open-shoved and Guerrini called off his stack. Coelho’s ace-seven was ahead of Guerrini’s king-eight, and he paired his ace to set his victory in stone, leaving Guerrini with the runner-up title.
Coelho proudly received his trophy, took some photos, and then went to collect his massive payout of $357,048. At least $5,300 of that would be reinvested in the hunt for further poker success, as Coelho intended to jump in the Main Event, but not after a well-deserved small break.
