Lakhdari Shuts Down Saracoglu’s Cinderella Story at WPT Prime Cyprus
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Omar Lakhdari made sure to remind everyone why experience matters, cruising to victory in the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship at the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino.
The Algerian grinder, who’s now racked up 37 tournament wins and nearly $3.5 million in earnings, held his ground through the final table and shut down poker newbie Atilla Saracoglu’s dream run to claim the top spot. With the $190,430 payout, a WPT trophy, and a seat at the $10,400 WPT World Championship in hand, Lakhdari added another milestone to his impressive poker career.
This year’s $1,100 Championship saw 1,391 entries and a prize pool of $1,349,270. Saracoglu hot-streak was a highlight, but in the end, Lakhdari emerged as the clear winner.
WPT Prime Cyprus Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omar Lakhdari | Algeria | $200,830* |
| 2 | Atilla Saracoglu | Turkey | $125,000 |
| 3 | Joseph Haddad | Lebanon | $93,000 |
| 4 | Fabian Rolli | Switzerland | $70,000 |
| 5 | Edgars Hauks | Latvia | $53,000 |
| 6 | Andras Balogh | Hungary | $40,000 |
| 7 | Sencer Ozturk | Turkey | $31,000 |
| 8 | Baris Topuz | Turkey | $24,000 |
| 9 | Ilan Verdnikov | Israel | $18,800 |
*includes a $10,400 ticket to the WPT World Championship
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Saracoglu Untouchable in Early Goings
The first few hours came without much drama, other than short stack Andras Balogh surviving two all-ins. But then Saracoglu quickly set off several of the Hunger Games-styled elimination cannon sounds with some less-than-spectacular holdings.
Despite starting the day third in chips, Ilan Verdnikov was the first casualty, seeing his aces cracked by ten-eight. The chips went in on a ten-high flop, but a second ten on the river left Verdnikov staring at the ceiling, hands on his head.
Saracoglu triggered a second big boom when he opened six-three offsuit and decided to call when Baris Topuz jammed five big blinds with ace-queen. Like the hand before, Saracoglu went on to make a boat. Topuz was less than impressed, flashing the camera an inverted peace sign on his way out.
Overlooking the poker room, LED screens built into the Mezzanine displayed all nine finalists. But as each player fell, their image dimmed to grey with “ELIMINATED” stamped in bold red letters like a scene straight out of The Condemned or Death Race. Sencer Ozturk was the next to see his portrait fade out, courtesy of Saracoglu once again. This time, ten-seven was good enough for the sun-runner as he paired up to send Ozturk’s king-nine into the muck.
Saracoglu’s canter towards heads-up continued after he took out Balogh. The Hungarian grinder jammed for five bigs with deuces, but Saracoglu knew momentum was on his side and flicked in the call with seven-four. You can probably guess what happened next: another full house for Saracoglu.
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Lakhdari Takes Over
Joseph Haddad briefly interrupted Saracoglu’s WPT123, delivering a cooler to Edgar Hauks in an aces-versus-Big-Slick clash that trimmed the field to four.
Lakhdari, Algeria’s All-Time Money List leader, then seized the momentum, snatching the chip lead from Saracoglu. The 2020 WPTDeepStacks Brussels champion had the wind at his back, rivering Fabian Rolli before eliminating Haddad in third place to take a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play.
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Heads-Up
The stage was set for a classic David vs. Goliath showdown. On one side, you had the veteran Lakhdari, and on the other, Saracoglu, a 2024 poker newcomer with an all-time best cash of $5,780 before today.
As the heads-up battle unfolded, Lakhdari’s experience quickly took control. Saracoglu’s stack dwindled, and Lakhdari seized every opportunity, sealing the win when his ace-king trumped Saracoglu’s king-queen, securing him the title and the $200,830 top prize.
WPT Prime Cyprus Results
| 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 |
| PLO Bounty | $660 | 96 | $57,600 | Leonard Dirlewanger | $8,575 | 13 |
| NLH WPT Prime Championship | $1,100 | 1,391 | $1,349,270 | Omar Lakhdari | $200,830 | 173 |
Images courtesy of World Poker Tour
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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