Is there a better way to start the year than with a win and to end the tournament with aces? That is what happened for Miklos Zsuffa, crowned as the winner of the €560 EAPT Bratislava Main Event at Banco Casino.
After he defeated a field of 389 entrants and Christoforos Chrysochoidis (€27,450) in heads-up play, Zsuffa won the trophy, the first-place prize of €32,630, and a €5,000 package for the $2,200 EAPT Grand Final, which will be part of the Mediterranean Poker Party in Cyprus from the 2nd to the 14th of May 2024. Chrysochoidis, Vili Paivarinta and Mario Alina, as they finished second, third and fourth here in Bratislava, also won a package.
2024 €560 EAPT Bratislava Main Event Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miklos Zsuffa | Hungary | €32,630 + €5,000 Package |
| 2 | Christoforos Chrysochoidis | Greece | €22,450 + €5,000 Package |
| 3 | Vili Paivarinta | Finland | €15,600 + €5,000 Package |
| 4 | Mario Alina | Slovakia | €10,420 + €5,000 Package |
| 5 | Rostyslav Sabishchenko | Ukraine | €8,525 |
| 6 | Avraham Sisso | Israel | €6,200 |
| 7 | Ioannis Giannakopoulos | Greece | €4,925 |
| 8 | Pelacho | Spain | €3,950 |
Winner's Reaction
“I feel exhausted. It was a long day!” Miklos Zsuffa said moments after he lifted the trophy. For this professional player who’s been traveling around the world for 18 years to play poker, this victory sounds like a relief. “Last year was not very successful for me, so I felt quite unhappy for a long time. But I know live poker can be high variance,” he explained.
So, to start 2024 in the best way possible, he came to Bratislava, not far from his native Hungary. And it quickly turned out to be a good choice, as he ended up being the overall chip leader after the five Day 1s, “despite three bullets”. Day 2 wasn’t bad either, as he came back on Day 3 second in chips. “But when we moved to play the final table at nine players left, I lost a few hands and I didn’t have many good hands, so it was kind of a rollercoaster. But once we came back to the feature table, I was very lucky. I won with ace-jack against ace-king with a jack on the flop, then with queen-jack. It took a nice turn for me, that’s for sure!”
After Bratislava, Zsuffa will try to win trophies in Rozvadov next week and in Cyprus in May as he won a €5,000 package for the $2,200 EAPT Grand Final. “I had no idea that there was a package,” he laughed. “But I’ll discover. I never went to North Cyprus.” And maybe he’ll be as successful there as he was in Bratislava?
Final Day's Action
Sixteen players out of a field of 389 entrants were still in the race for victory at the beginning of Day 3. But hopes of success quickly disappeared for three players eliminated in the first hour: Lukasz Fraczek (16th, €1,800), who saw the ace he didn’t want to see land on the river, Zsolt Szabo (15th, €2,050), who was caught bluffing, and Laszlo Vaczy (14th, €2,050).
Lukas Stopka (13th, €2,350) and Christoph Hillinger (12th, €2,350) didn’t reach the first break either after they were eliminated from the feature table. And if Day 1b chip leader Adrian Filip came back from this break, it was only for a short time as he immediately lost a flip to end his race in 11th place (€2,750).
Short-stacked after he lost a big pot during the first minutes of the day, Ivo Zeravica doubled up twice but eventually ran into Rostyslav Sabishchenko’s queens to finish in 10th place (€2,750), becoming the bubble-boy of the unofficial final table.
“Unofficial finale table” because even though the nine remaining players were around one table, one more elimination was still needed to move to the feature table. It took two hours to decide who’ll be left behind, but it turned out to be Antal Mezei (9th, €3,950) with eight against Christoforos Chrysochoidis’ jacks.
Once on the “official” final table, Pelacho (8th, €3,950) was the first one to be eliminated, beaten by Mario Alina’s trips. He was followed at the cashier by Ioannis Giannakopoulos (7th, €4,925) and by Avraham Sisso, who ran into queens to be stopped in 6th place for €6,200. He lost against Rostyslav Sabishchenko… who was eliminated on the next hand! With ace-king, he could do much against aces and gave all his chips to the future winner, Miklos Zsuffa.
One and a half hours later, the chip leader at the beginning of the day Mario Alina only had seven blinds left when he faced Vili Paivarinta in an all-in and call situation. But Paivarinta flopped two pair and Alina won €15,410 for his fourth place. A prize that includes a €5,000 package.
The three remaining players had approximately even stacks, and they all took the lead at some point, one after the other. Maybe Zsuffa attracted chips a little more, as he started the heads-up play as the chip leader after Paivarinta (3rd, €20,600) with ace-jack was eliminated by Chrysochoidis’ jacks.
From this point, the battle for the win was only one way. Even if Chrysochoidis double up, Zsuffa eventually won the EAPT Bratislava Main Event on the next hand with aces.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage of the 2024 EAPT Bratislava Main Event. Stay tuned for more updates from tournaments around the world.
