The PokerStars European Poker Tour $1,100 Eureka Main Event saw 2,803 entries try their hand at winning a piece of silverware here at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. All who entered wanted to get their hands on a coveted Shard trophy, but only one could. Seven flights and three days later, It was player Leo Worthington-Leese who took home the trophy, as well as $314,030 from the $2,662,850 prizepool for his efforts. Having finished 3rd in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event this year for $437,918, he went two better to claim his first EPT trophy.
He bested Frederick Anastasiades in second place and Samuel Fournier in third place. The trio agreed an ICM chop before three handed play commenced and recommenced for the remaining $79,957 and the trophy.
Anastasiades took home a career best score of $248,479 and Fournier also claimed a career best score of $237,051.
$1,100 Eureka Cyprus Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leo Worthington-Leese | United Kingdom | $314,030* |
| 2 | Frederick Anastasiades | Cyprus | $248,479* |
| 3 | Samuel Fournier | France | $237,051* |
| 4 | Aleksandr Razinkov | Russia | $132,120 |
| 5 | Yuan Xu | China | $109,390 |
| 6 | Guoliang Wei | China | $78,770 |
| 7 | Recep Aydemir | Turkey | $60,850 |
| 8 | Alexey Badulin | Russia | $46,600 |
*denotes deal
Winner’s Reaction
PokerNews caught up with Worthington-Leese after his victory.
“During the final table today I thought I was the best player”
“It feels pretty fu*king good to win this,” he said. “I finished third in the [/B]”]2023 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event to two top regulars, Leonard Maue and Mike Watson, and I didn’t think it was my tournament to win.
“During the final table today I thought I was the best player and I wanted to push my edge. I learned a lot from Monte Carlo and since then and feel I have gotten a lot better.”
Having spent most of the day yo-yoing up and down the counts, Worthington-Leese said that today was all about momentum.
“The king-queen versus ace-six hand left me short, and I thought if I go out soon it has been a decent run. I had a slow start to the day, didn’t play a lot of hands and I was down to five million chips. The ace-jack versus kings hand was a crucial turning point. Then I doubled in back to back hands and regained the momentum.”
With one eye on the EPT Cyprus Main Event, and the upcoming EPT festival in Prague this December, Worthington-Leese is still looking to celebrate after what he called on Facebook an “unbelievable last couple of years in poker”.
“Tonight’s about chilling and treating my friends to some food and drinks!”
Day 3 Action
Yuan Xu came into the day as the chip leader, with each player was guaranteed to walk away with $46,600. He took the first pot of the day against Samuel Fournier after making jacks up.
Alexey Badulin came into the day as the short stack and was the first elimination. He doubled up through his compatriot Aleksandr Razinkov but was ultimately sent to the rail by the same opponent after running his queen-jack into Raznikov’s ace-king.
Xu would give up the chip lead to Frederick Anastasiades early on after the Cypriot’s ace-king cracked the pocket queens of the overnight chip leader to storm up the counts.
Anastasiades strengthened his hold on the chip lead with the elimmiation of Recep Aydemir in seventh, before Fournier sent Guoliang Wei to the rail.
Having avoided any big collisions, Worthington-Leese’s stack took a hit. However, the Brit found back-to-back double-ups, taking chips back from Raznikov and leaving Xu short.
It was Xu who fell next as he ran nines the pocket aces of Fournier who picked up back-to-back eliminations, before Anastasiades sent Raznikov to the rail in fourth place.
The final three players agreed to an ICM chop and would play on for $79,957 as well as the the trophy. Once play resumed, Fournier was left short by Anastasiades before Worthington-Leese claimed the Frenchman’s remaining chips to bring proceedings to heads-up.
Heads Up Play
The second hand of heads-up play saw a major confrontation as Worthington-Leese snap-called with pocket queens after Anastasiades had shoved with pocket sevens. The Cypriot was left with crumbs and it was all over next hand as Worthington-Leese made a straight to seal the trophy and the top prize.
This tournament maybe over, but there is still plenty more to come from here in Northern Cyprus. Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of the EPT action.