The $10,200 No-Limit Hold'em was one of the final opportunities to win a trophy at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus, and nobody wanted it more than Mikalai Vaskaboinikau.
Vaskaboinikau has been on a heater this year, taking down a Triton event for $4,737,000 in May worth more than half of his total live tournament winnings. Here at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, the hot run continued. Vaskaboinikau claimed his first ever PokerStars Shard earlier in the series, winning the $50,000 Super High Roller for $601,397.
One week later, Vaskaboinikau was sitting on a final table once again and up against some of the top talent from around the world, looking for yet another trophy to add to his collection.
As soon as Ren Lin was eliminated in third place, Vaskaboinikau made a heads-up deal with Krasimir Neychev and, despite having a dominant chip lead, was happy to propose a 50-50 split of the prize money on one condition; he would be declared the winner and would walk away with the PokerStars Spade to add to his collection.
His opponent immediately obliged. Vaskaboinikau and Neychev both walked away with $195,500 for first and second place, while Vaskaboinikau was crowned the champion.
"I really wanted the trophy; this is my first Spade," said Vaskaboinikau. "These trophies are where you get proud of yourself, right?! I said [earlier in the series], we have two kids, and the third is coming, so I need the third trophy - and I've got it already here!"
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Belarus | $195,500* |
| 2 | Krasimir Neychev | Bulgaria | $195,500* |
| 3 | Ren Lin | China | $109,500 |
| 4 | Farid Jattin | Columbia | $84,300 |
| 5 | Julien Sitbon | France | $64,800 |
| 6 | Viktor Ustimov | Russia | $51,500 |
| 7 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | $41,200 |
| 8 | Hassan Nashar | Gambia | $33,000 |
| 9 | Kully Sidhu | UK | $26,400 |
| 10 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | $21,100 |
| 11 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $21,100 |
*represents a heads-up deal
Including a handful of max-late registrations, the event attracted 87 entries to make a prize pool of $843,900. Of those, 57 were sat down at the start of Day 2 to battle it out for the top 11 paid spots.
Being a turbo tournament, intense action was expected from the onset. At least ten players hit the rail during the first level of play, with dozens more to follow before the first break.
During this time, Ren Lin had accumulated a decent stack when he put Roman Hrabec under pressure and continued to show aggression all the way to the final table.
Vaskaboinikau was also building a mountain of chips, although it was Day 1 chip leader Farid Jattin who had maintained his lead after the first break. Vaskaboinikau then solidified his chip lead when his ace-king held to eliminate Aren Bezhanyan.
Action slowed down as the bubble approached and Adrian Mateos proved why he's one of the best in the world when he made a huge hero-call with fourth pair to send Gregoire Auzoux packing.
When all was said and done, it was a classic race that burst the bubble as Krasimir Neychev's ace-king cracked Tomas Jozonis' queens.
The bust-outs continued to come fast, and Mateos was first to be eliminated in the money when Vaskaboinikau got the better of him to keep his chip stack healthy heading into the final table.
Lin, Neychev and Vaskaboinikau continued to journey to the top of the pack as they scored respective eliminations on the final table while Jattin lost most of his chips after shoving all in and getting called by Lin, who won the pot to double his stack. Lin eliminated Jattin moments later, and the tournament went three-handed.
Vaskaboinikau then won a big pot with a flush against Lin before winning a flip moments later to send Lin out in third place for $109,500.
Immediately after Lin was eliminated, Vaskaboinikau suggested a deal. At this point, he had more than twice the chip count of his opponent Neychev but was happy to take a 50-50 split. All he asked was for the trophy to be his. The competition, success, and winning trophies, after all, are most of his motivations for playing.
Neychev happily obliged and both players walked away with $195,500. Vaskaboinikau was declared the champion and proudly picked up his Spade, his second trophy of the series and third, including Triton, to match his third child, who is on the way.
"It feels amazing! For ten years, no trophies, and now two in a row. The poker gods were really nice to me, and sometimes all the luck comes together!" said Vaskaboinikau.
Congratulations to Mikalai Vaskaboinikau on winning two events at EPT Cyprus, a rare accomplishment that the online businessman will be proud of. His trophies will now be on display for loved ones and guests to see at his home.