On Sunday, the European Poker Tour will crown a $1 million champion in the EPT Cyprus Main Event, carrying on a streak of seven consecutive EPT Main Event winners who will hit that seven-figure mark.
Oliver Weis of Germany will enter six-handed play in the EPT Cyprus Main Event with the inside track to the $1,030,000 top prize, holding nearly 50 percent of the total chips in play. He’s also the only player remaining with a seven-figure live tournament cash, which came in a high roller earlier this year at EPT Paris, but by no means will Weis’ path to victory be an easy one if he pulls it off.
Standing in his way are several major hurdles, including two-time WSOP bracelet winner and fellow high roller Andriy Lyubovetskiy, as well as 2010 EPT Copenhagen champion Anton Wigg. Russian-born Mikhail Shalamov and England’s Bobby James are the closest to Weis in the chip counts, though each needs to make a healthy climb to reach Weis, and local Cypriot pro Georgios Tsouloftas rounds out the remaining field.
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Play is set to resume at 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday at the Merit Royal Hotel & Casino in Cyprus, with the action set to stream with hole cards up on PokerStars’ live streaming channels on a delay.
Before the Day 6 finale begins, here’s what you need to know about the six remaining players.
Stats and biographical information courtesy of The Hendon Mob and PokerStars Blog.
Oliver Weis – 18,505,000 (185 BB)
Age: 32
Currently Resides: Grenzach-Whylen, Germany
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $2,124,254
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $1,050,978, 1st, 2024 EPT Paris €10,300 High Roller
Other Notable Results: $274,313, 1st, 2024 Poker Dream 12 Jeju Korea $15K No Limit Holdem
It’s been a tremendous year on the European Poker Tour for Oliver Weis, who could add EPT Main Event champion to his growing resume if things go his way on Sunday afternoon in Cyprus. The year began with a breakout performance in Paris, with Weis claiming the first $1 million cash of his career and his first PokerStars spade trophy in a €10,300 High Roller at EPT Paris.
Weis also took down a tournament in Jeju, South Korea in recent weeks, and made a serious run at a World Series of Poker bracelet over the summer, finishing fourth in a $7,300 Super Turbo Bounty event.
With 48 percent of the chips in play to start six-handed play and more than three times as many chips as Mikhail Shalamov, who sits in second, Weis holds a distinct advantage in the race for the EPT Cyprus title and another seven-figure score.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 112,500 (118/404)
Day 2: 715,000 (3/142)
Day 3: 720,000 (26/45)
Day 4: 4,540,000 (2/16)
Mikhail Shalamov – 6,050,000 (61 BB)
Age: 37
Currently Resides: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $229,652
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $48,847, 210th, 2010 WSOP Main Event
Other Notable Results: $37,282, 18th, 2015 APPT Asia Championship of Poker Macau
Mikhail Shalamov made his bones in online poker, starting more than 15 years ago. As a streamer, Shalamov once set a world record by playing 40,000 hands of online poker in a 24-hour period and previously represented Team PokerStars Online.
Shalamov, who was born in Russia and traversed Europe before settling in Slovenia, has only a handful of live results. Most notably, Shalamov made a run in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, finishing in 210th place. His prize in the EPT Cyprus Main Event will, at minimum, double his total career live earnings and stand as his best result regardless of finish.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 181,000 (34/404)
Day 2: 269,000 (61/142)
Day 3: 1,040,000 (15/45)
Day 4: 2,600,000 (5/16)
Bobby James – 5,215,000 (52 BB)
Age: 34
Currently Resides: Watford, United Kingdom
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $121,415
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $24,880, 12th, 2024 EPT Cyprus $2,200 Eureka High Roller
Other Notable Results: $21,962, 2nd, 2024 EPT Barcelona €1,100 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
Of the remaining six players, Bobby James stands as an outlier in terms of live poker experience and accomplishments. Since making his first trip to an EPT event earlier this year, his triumphs have largely come in mixed games, capturing a spade trophy in a $1,000 8-Game side event earlier in this EPT Cyprus festival and finishing second in a PLO8 side event in Barcelona.
James already set a new high water mark for his career earlier in this EPT Cyprus festival with a deep run in the $2,200 Eureka High Roller. While he’s peaking in the early days of his new commitment to live poker, James has been close to online poker glory on several occasions, twice reaching the final table of the PokerStars Sunday Million.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 120,000 (106/404)
Day 2: 360,000 (36/142)
Day 3: 2,605,000 (1/45)
Day 4: 1,215,000 (13/16)
Andriy Lyubovetskiy – 3,295,000 (33 BB)
Age: 33
Currently Resides: Kyiv, Ukraine
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $2,481,072
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $586,552, 1st, 2021 WSOP Europe €25,000 Platinum High Roller
Other Notable Results: $439,016, 2nd, 2022 EPT Prague €10,300 High Roller; $239,500, 2nd, 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Cyprus $30,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Ukraine has produced a string of tremendously successful live tournament poker players, and Lyubovetskiy is yet another in a long line. Lyubovetskiy has won two WSOP gold bracelets, both at WSOP Europe, in 2021 and 2022. His career-best result to date came at WSOPE 2021, when he took down the €25,000 Platinum High Roller in Rozvadov for $586,552.
Lyubovetskiy has racked up a considerable number of high roller results all over the world, across WSOP, Triton, EPT and WPT-branded events. Lyubovetskiy has also enjoyed considerable success in the online poker streets, winning three SCOOP titles and a WCOOP on PokerStars.
With a win, Lyubovetskiy could crack the top five on Ukraine’s all-time money list leaderboard, according to The Hendon Mob.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 119,500 (107/404)
Day 2: 287,000 (55/142)
Day 3: 765,000 (24/45)
Day 4: 3,970,000 (3/16)
Anton Wigg – 3,190,000 (32 BB)
Age: 37
Currently Resides: Vienna, Austria
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $4,797,335
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $672,818, 1st, 2010 EPT Copenhagen Main Event
Other Notable Results: $650,180, 2nd, 2022 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open; $314,925, 3rd, 2021 WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open $25,500 High Roller
Of the six players still contending for the EPT Cyprus title, Anton Wigg has accumulated the most live tournament earnings by more than double his closest contender. He’s looking to join a very short list of players with two EPT titles, with only three players – Victoria Coren, Mikalai Pobal and Mike Watson – currently on it.
Wigg narrowly missed on a WPT title in 2022, settling for second and a substantial payday at WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open back in 2022.
The Swedish-born pro, who now resides in Austria, also boasts millions in lifetime online poker earnings.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 235,000 (13/404)
Day 2: 350,000 (38/142)
Day 3: 1,195,000 (10/45)
Day 4: 1,550,000 (10/16)
Georgios Tsouloftas – 2,255,000 (23 BB)
Age: 34
Currently Resides: Limassol, Cyprus
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,228,105
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $264,065, 1st, 2022 Merit Mediterranean Poker Cup Kyrenia $3,300 Main Event
Other Notable Results: $154,785, 4th, 2024 Irish Poker Open Main Event; $131,831, 1st, 2023 WSOP International Circuit San Remo Main Event
For Georgios Tsouloftas, the hometown representative at this final table, his journey to the EPT Cyprus final table has been nothing short of a true rollercoaster. Tsouloftas snuck into Day 2 as one of the shortest stacks in the field, jumped into the top 10 heading into Day 3, floated near the middle of the pack and then ended Day 4 as the overall chip leader.
It’s not often you can survive a day of tournament poker with 28 percent of the chips you started a day with, but Tsouloftas persevered and gave himself another shot at another climb.
Tsoulaftas is no stranger to success on home turf, either. Two years ago in Kyrenia, Cyprus, Tsouloftas enjoyed the biggest victory of his career in the Merit Mediterranean Poker Cup, banking $264,065. If he can ladder up one additional spot, Tsouloftas will set a new career-best cash at EPT Cyprus.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 43,500 (323/404)
Day 2: 620,000 (7/142)
Day 3: 755,000 (25/45)
Day 4: 7,970,000 (1/16)