Nine years ago, Ognyan Dimov burst onto the poker scene when he won the European Poker Tour Deauville Main Event.
He had the big trophy that came with that spectacular accomplishment, but for nearly a decade and countless tournaments, another spadie had always eluded the Bulgarian. That changed today when Dimov emerged as the champion of the $20,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at EPT Cyprus.
“But I didn’t have the spadie, so now I’m pretty happy,” Dimov said after he and Kayhan Mokri agreed to an ICM chop at the start of heads-up play, Dimov taking $253,876 and Mokri $260,800.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | $253,876 |
| 2 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | $260,800 |
| 3 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $139,900 |
| 4 | Juan Pardo | Spain | $103,800 |
| 5 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | $81,200 |
| 6 | Ren Lin | China | $63,200 |
Dimov had become a regular on the high roller circuit, taking down a $25,000 High Roller at the PCA in February 2023 and winning a $30,000 Triton Series event in Monaco last October for more than $1,000,000. He also has a WSOP bracelet on his resume. His win today pushes his live earnings up to $6.2 million as he sits fourth on his country’s all-time leaderboard.
“I enjoy the feeling of competing with the best and just grinding, Playing whatever is next on the schedule,” he said.
EPT Cyprus's first high buy-in event drew 47 of the biggest names in poker, creating a prize pool of $902,776. Santhosh Suvarna fired four bullets but couldn’t find the money, while past EPT champions Adrian Mateos, Dimitar Danchev, and Artur Martirosian were also among those who fell short.
The wild and unpredictable Hassan Nashar seized the chip lead when he busted Roman Hrabec and Jamil Wakil in a three-way all in with five-three, hitting two pair on the river to crack Wakil’s queens. But as quick as Nashar’s ascent up the leaderboard was, his downfall was just as rapid. First, Dimov won a flip with two nines to double up. Nashar then ran ace-ten into Ren Lin’s ace-queen to hit the rail short of the money.
Mehdi Chaoui finished on the final table bubble as Konstantin Voronin woke up with jacks in a three-way all in to knock out Chaoui in 10th while earning a double up off Mokri. Markkos Ladev led at the start of the nine-handed final table with 740,000, with Lin in second with 690,000 and Dimov following behind in third with 670,000.
Juan Pardo, who was in for five bullets in this event, jumped atop the leaderboard when he moved all in with two sevens and Jelle Moene called for 412,000 with ace-queen. Pardo flopped a set, then improved to a full house on the turn to eliminate Moene in ninth.
Aleksejs Ponakovs picked up aces twice, first doubling up off Pardo’s jacks for 244,000 then against Pardo again with sevens for 608,000 as Ponakovs went from short stack to chip leader in two hands. Voronin, meanwhile, was eliminated in eighth when he moved all in for 370,000 from the small blind with two tens, but Mokri woke up with kings in the big blind as the field reached the money bubble
Teun Mulder survived on the river once on the money bubble, but he couldn’t make it a second time as Mokri turned a flush to crack his jacks and eliminate Mulder in seventh as the bubble boy. Dimov doubled up for 340,000 when he was all in from the small blind with two kings against Mokri’s ace-eight. Mokri had another chance to eliminate an opponent when Lin moved all in for 210,000 on the flop with two pair, but Mokri snapped him off with trips to bust Lin in sixth place.
Ladev was soon all in for 330,000 with two queens as Ponakovs had ace-eight. An ace on the flop spelt the end for the former chip leader as he finished in fifth. Ponakovs then ran into aces, shoving from under the gun as Dimov called for 1,025,000 on the button. Dimov doubled up yet again to cross 2,000,000 and take the chip lead.
Pardo couldn’t connect with ace-eight against Mokri’s sevens to finish in fourth, while Ponakovs was soon all in for 670,000 with ten-seven against Dimov’s king-eight. Ponakovs missed the board, and Dimov took the pot with king-high to eliminate Ponakovs in third place.
Mokri led 2,500,000 to 2,200,000 at the start of heads-up, and they agreed to chop the prize pool and flip for the trophy. Mokri had just eight-high, while Dimov won the pot with ace-high to finally secure the trophy that had eluded him after so many years.
His EPT Deauville Main Event trophy finally has some company as Dimov, after nearly a decade of trying, is finally back in the EPT’s winner circle.
