The first-ever European Poker Tour Main Event to take place in Cyprus was won in stirring fashion by the Dutch professional Gilles Simon, as he took by far the biggest title and prize of his career to date. At a final table featuring Yannick Schumacher and heads-up opponent Andrea Dato, Simon proved too strong for his opponents, sealing the biggest win of his career.

Bumper Debut for Newest European Poker Tour Stop

Gilles Simon’s debut victory on the European Poker came at a first time stop that proved that new places to visit can be the busiest. With an amazing 1,320 entries, 199 players made the money, with stars of the game such as Alexandre Vuilleumier, Anton Smirnov and Conor Beresford cashing at the lowest end of the payouts chart.

The official final table of seven would not begin until two players reached the final nine then lost their chips. Nine different nationalities were represented, and it was the Estonian player Priit Parmasto who left first, cashing for $96,425 in ninth place. He was followed by Usbekistan’s Victor Yugay, who won the first six-figure score of the Main Event, banking $125,350 for coming eighth.

As the final table began, Simon held the lead, with 8,075,000 (40 big blinds) to his name. It was a pretty even spread across a shallow field, with Turkish player Halil Tasyurek only a single big blind behind the leader. The short stacks were the aforementioned Dato with 14 bigs and Hungarian Bjorn Kozenkai with just 13 big blinds.

Dato Rises, Kuznetsov Won’t be King

As seven returned to action on the final day, it didn’t take long for a player to depart. Kozenkai was the unfortunate victim, all-in with only to run into Jose Gonzalez Sanchez with . The board of sent the Hungarian home with a score of $162,925 and boosted the chances for the Spanish player as just half a dozen players remained in with a shout of taking the first-ever EPT Cyprus Main Event title.

Before the final table action kicked off, each player was asked about their hopes when the action got underway. Asked if he had any hobbies, Russian player Nikita Kuznetsov confessed he had none.

“No poker, no life,” he replied. But for Kuznetsov, he was about to lose his tournament life as his poker journey in Cyprus came to an end. He endured a period of flux where both Dato and Simon doubled back into contention, slipping back himself until he was at risk of elimination with . Gilles Simon called him with and secured the scalp of the Russian player, the ten-high board no help to Kuznetsov as he busted for $211,850 in sixth place.

The player most at risk for the next period of player was the Italian Andrea Dato, but several times he managed to dodge a bullet destined for him. In the end, he recovered his stack, and it was the German player Yannick Schumacher who left in fifth place instead, cashing for $275,425. All-in with , he couldn’t hit against Halil Tasyurek’s , as the board of saw the German player drawing dead to the river.

Glory for ‘Ghilley’

Four men remained in the hunt for their first EPT titles, but while he won that most recent elimination pot, Turkish player Tasyurek couldn’t maintain his momentum when it mattered. Just as he was all-in for the biggest pot of the tournament with , he needed to hold against Andrea Dato’s . That he couldn’t do as once again the Italian player got lucky, the flop of putting Dato into the lead and after a turn and river, Tasyurek was on the rail with $358,075.

Dato controlled much of the next period of play, and eventually scored a knockout when Sanchez exited in third place for $465,425. The Spanish player was short and shoved for just over 5 million chips with but couldn’t overturn Dato’s calling hand of . The window produced a queen, but a king was on board and that was it. Play was heads-up, with Dato holding a better than 2:1 chip lead.

The final battle went against the odds, however, and in the grandest of EPT traditions, it was an exciting conclusion to the drama. A big hand saw Simon out-kick his opponent when both men flopped a pair of kings, and having taken a dinner break, the two players returned and quickly wrapped it up. On a flop of , Dato was the aggressor, betting with in his hand. Simon raised then made the call having flopped two pair with when Dato shoved. The turn and river changed nothing, and Simon had won by far the biggest event of his poker career so far. Asked before the action what victory on the EPT would mean to him, Simon called it ‘an insane win’. He certainly celebrated like that as the rail behind him went wild.