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In the world of poker, where superstition is rife and the saying “bad things come in threes” often holds true, Oliver Weis stands out as an exception.

The German player, known as “sk2ll_m0dR” and a big winner in online poker circles, began an impressive 2024 with a victory in the €10,300 High Roller at EPT Paris, followed by an online bracelet win in the $5,000 Short Deck Championship. Now, Weis has added a third major title to his growing list of accomplishments, capturing the winner’s spoils in the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus Main Event after delivering a stellar performance throughout the week.

A big stack through much of EPT Cyprus’ flagship tournament, Weis entered the final day as the overwhelming chip leader. But it wasn’t plain sailing for the eventual champion, who had to battle back from a 5:1 chip deficit in heads-up play to overcome Limmosal local Georgios Tsouloftas. In the end, Weis secured the Golden Shard trophy and a winner’s prize of $1,030,000, boosting his yearly live tournament earnings to an impressive $2.6 million.

Tsouloftas, who finished as the runner-up, banked $642,300 but missed out on his second win at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino and Spa. Despite the setback, Tsouloftas jumped to third place on the Cyprus All-Time Money List. Mikhail Shalamov (3rd - $459,000) rounded out the podium finishes ahead of the departures of Andriy Lyubovetskiy (4th - $353,100), Bobby James (5th - $271,400) and Anton Wigg (6th - $208,720) on the final day of EPT Cyprus.

“I was kind of sure it wouldn’t be that easy today,” Weis told PokerStars after the eruption of the confetti cannons. “If one person doubles up, everything can go the wrong way. So you need to stay patient and just play your hands and your spots.”

“Main Events, the big ones, are always exhausting,” Weis said. “It’s just like five days, six days straight. Ten to 12 hours every day. This is a tough grind. I’m very happy but exhausted.”

EPT Cyprus Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

Final Day Action

Weis started the final table just as expected—picking up pots and staying comfortably in the lead. But then Tsouloftas came alive, ascending from the bottom of the leaderboard. He scored a crucial double-up in a blind-on-blind clash with Wigg, who was left with just two big blinds. Right after that, Tsouloftas looked down at pocket aces and decided to throw ICM caution to the wind, calling Weis’ queen-high river bluff on an extremely wet board to almost catch him at the top of the counts. Meanwhile, Wigg managed to hang on, chopping an all-in and doubling through James and Tsouloftas just before the first break, where all six players were still in the hunt.

Wigg’s spin-up hopes were dashed in a classic flip when play resumed. His pocket tens fell to the Big Slick held by Shalamov, ending the Swede’s quest of becoming the fourth two-time EPT Main Event champion. Tsouloftas continued to frustrate Weis, taking the chip lead from the German player, first with aces, then with a rivered two pair. A big bluff from Tsouloftas on a four-to-flush board added to Weis’ descent down the counts, who also had kings cracked by Shamalov. Lyubovetskiy doubled his short stack when his aces narrowly held out against Shalamov’s Cowboys to round out the second level of play.

The tournament faced a lengthy delay due to technical issues, lasting over an hour. Upon the restart, Tsouloftas quickly extended his lead, eliminating James on the first hand back. Tsouloftas’ ace-jack held against James’ king-queen, sending James to the rail with a career-best cash of $271,400. This deep run capped off a strong EPT Cyprus for Englishman, who notched top twenty finishes in both the Eureka Main Event and High Roller, along with a win in the 8-game side event. In total, his series’ earnings reached $320,740, a significant boost from his pre-festival Hendon Mob record of less than $100,000.

Lyubovetskiy scored two double-ups through Tsouloftas, using ace-seven and queen-nine to beat jack-eight and jack-six, respectively. However, a few orbits later, he picked the wrong moment to make a hero call for his tournament life with a rivered pair of deuces, only to be shown two pair by Weis, setting up three-handed play.

Shalamov, the short stack, made two disciplined folds on the river with aces and king-queen against Tsouloftas, who had rivered trips and a full house. His patience was rewarded with a double-up through Weis, but Tsouloftas ultimately sealed Shalamov’s fate with a dominating ace, eliminating the Russian in third place.

Tsouloftas started heads-up play with a 3:1 chip lead, which grew even larger until he doubled up Weis with an ace-high river call. Despite the setback, Tsouloftas maintained control and kept applying pressure, sticking to the aggressive strategy that had served him well throughout the week. He tried to seal the win with ace-three on an 8-4-3 flop, but Weis’ jack-four held after a clean turn and river, allowing him to stay afloat.

Weis briefly took the lead, but Tsouloftas surged once more. However, on the next all-in and call, Tsouloftas could only show air as Weis’ flush flipped the script. Weis failed to gain any momentum, though, as Tsouloftas fought back. Weis hopped back in front once more and headed into the final break of the night with a slight advantage.

Weis finally began stringing pots together, leaving Tsouloftas with a sub-ten big blind stack. On the final hand of the night, Weis limp-called Tsouloftas’ jam with a suited queen-seven but needed to hit against the at-risk player’s king-deuce. A seven on the flop was enough for Weis to claim victory and etch his name in the EPT’s history books.

As another EPT stop dealt its final hand, it’s clear that poker transcends boundaries. For the last 50 years, Cyprus has faced periods of deep division, but over the last two weeks, the island has served as a hub of unity and sportsmanship, bringing players worldwide together through their shared love of poker.

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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