Defending Champ Purice Moves On to Day 2 of WPT Prime Cyprus Championship

Defending Champ Purice Moves on to Day 2 of Wpt Prime Cyprus 48182.htm Pokernews 🕒 4 🗒️ 682

Two poker champions are on a mission to defend their titles this weekend. Preston McEwen is chasing back-to-back victories in the RunGood Tunica Main Event, while Tudor Purice looks to replicate last year’s heroics at the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship.

McEwen has work to do after falling short on Day 1A in Mississippi, but Purice is one step closer to defending his crown. The Romanian grinder successfully navigated Day 1C of the $1 million guaranteed tournament at the Chamada Prestige Hotel and Casino on Friday, bagging 176,000 chips—good for 33rd place among the 45 players who advanced.

Twelve months ago, Purice topped a massive 1,202-entry field to claim the $183,270 top prize. This time around, he’s already secured a payday by making it over the first hurdle. With 359 entries in Day 1C pushing the total to 828, the Day 2 field now stands at 105 contenders.

Tudor Purice Samer Sadaka (1,036,000) was the only player to surpass the seven-figure mark. He built his stack late in the day, spiking a set in a massive pot to build a commanding lead over Roman Nuraev (873,000) and Maroun Dagher (710,000).

Other notable names, such as Timothy Thorp (353,000), Matej Michalak (223,000), and Joshua Marquardt (206,000), also progressed from Day 1C.

The last starting flights are set for Saturday, March 15, at noon (Day 1D) and 8 p.m., with the final flight (Day 1E) being a turbo format with 20-minute levels.

WPT Prime Cyprus Championship Day 1C Top 10 Chip Counts

Place	Player	Chip Count
1	Samer Sadaka	1,036,000
2	Roman Nuraev	873,000
3	Maroun Dagher	710,000
4	Andreas Tomazou	612,000
5	Nabil Matta	535,000
6	Ilan Verdnikov	528,000
7	Andreas Chiristodoulou	512,000
8	Ninib Messo	503,000
9	Alexandros Papadopoulos	482,000
10	Sencer Ozturk	474,000

Super High Roller Victory Awards Midik $93K

Osman Midik While the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship stole much of the spotlight, the $3,800 Super High Roller Turbo also took center stage at Chamada, drawing a competitive field of 104 entries and creating a $327,600 prize pool.

The top 15 players made the money, with the minimum cash set at $6,500 and the winner securing $93,000. Among the notable names chasing the big payday were British cohort Tom Middleton, Phillipe Souki, and Dan Charlton. Still, the trio have enjoyed a strong run in North Cyprus. Middleton netted $21,000 early in the festival, Souki claimed a trophy, and Charlton—who’s triumphed over personal battles with alcohol and drugs—has made three final tables. The latter two have also secured their spots for Day 2 of the Championship.

In the end, it was Osman Midik who emerged victorious, taking down a fast-paced final table that lasted just 45 minutes to crown the champion.

$3,800 Super High Roller Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Osman Midik	$93,000
2	Kemal Aslan	$62,000
3	Koray Korkmaz	$46,000
4	Ali Okhovat	$33,000
5	Milad Ogavian	$24,500
6	Maher Ali Achour	$18,000
7	Kono Reiji	$14,000

WPT Cyprus Scoreboard

Event	Buy-in	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner	Prize	Places Paid
NLH Welcome Event	$660	75	$50,000	Matthew Gray	$13,000	11
NLH Take-Off	$825	253	$183,488	Tanju Karayiğit	$40,000	35
NLH Turbo Bounty K.O.	$440	98	$35,280	Philippe Souki	$5,550	11
NLH Bounty ITM	$550	117	$52,640	Anil Olgun Özdemir	$11,000	15
PLO 5 Card	$800	82	$61,500	Chadi Rizk	$18,000	12
NLH Old School Event	$880	85	$61,190	Simone Pascucci	$19,460	11
NLH Mystery Bounty	$825	502	$200,000	Ittai Zion	$35,900	64
NLH Speed Up	$440	68	$26,384	Sener Senol	$8,084	10
NLH Monster Stack Speed	$550	187	$90,695	Davit Mikhanashvili	$21,195	24
NLH Chamada Super High Roller	$3,800	104	$327,600	Osman Midik	$93,000	15

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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