One week ago, Jovan Kenjic shined under the spotlights of EPT Monte-Carlo, finishing in fourth place of the €5,300 Main Event for €340,500. After this final table, he flew to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel in Northern Cyprus, hoping for more deepruns. But more than another deeprun, he became the new champion of the $10,400 Mediterranean Poker Party High Roller.
Out of a field of 159 entrants, he bagged a big stack at the end of Day 1 and managed to make his way to the final table on Day 2. And after a “tougher final table than in Monte-Carlo,” he lifted the trophy and won $365,000, his new best cash. His last opponent, Aleksandr Kirichenko, goes back home with $250,000 for his second place.
$10,400 Mediterranean Poker Party High Roller
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | $365,000 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Kirichenko | Russian Federation | $250,000 |
| 3 | Marcin Dziubdziela | Poland | $165,000 |
| 4 | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | $122,000 |
| 5 | Nikita Kalinin | Russian Federation | $95,000 |
| 6 | Anvar Muratov | Russian Federation | $75,000 |
| 7 | Dmitry Zakharov | Russian Federation | $58,000 |
| 8 | Stoyan Madanzhiev | Bulgaria | $45,000 |
| 9 | Ehsan Amiri | Australia | $34,400 |
Winner’s Reaction
Surrounded by his friends, Jovan Kenjic couldn’t stop smiling when he posed for the winners photos. “It feels very good to finally close a tournament like this. To win a live tournament in poker is a once in a lifetime thing,” he said a few minutes after he won the tournament.
His once in a lifetime victory almost happened last week in Monte-Carlo when he reached the final table. But the future winner Derk van Luijk was on his way, and Kenjic’s tournament came to end in fourth place for €340,500 after a flip with ace-king against jacks.
Here in Cyprus, he managed to bring all the ingredients together to finally take the first place. “Today I won all-ins and in Monte-Carlo I lost, basically that’s it” he explained, before going into more details: “I just had better cards. I was good at all-ins, good at bluffing and good at bluff catching. That’s what I needed to do to win the tournament.”
After he won more than €700,000 in two tournaments, what could Kenjic hope for more in the future? “I hope I’ll go to Vegas but I have to fix things before. If not I’ll play online and study” he said, before joining his friends to celebrate his victory.
Day 2 Action
33 players out of the 159 entrants came back on Day 2 of the $10,400 MPP High Roller with the $365,000 first-place prize in their minds. However, the first goal of the day was to find a spot in the 23 places in the money. But players like Weiran Pu, Jon Vallinas Santos or Boris Kolev failed to reach these places, as they were quickly eliminated.
After Damir Zhugralin lost a flip to be sent to the rail, 24 players eventually started to the hand for hand play, and especially Ehsan Amiri who doubled up not once but twice on the bubble. At the same time, Aleksandr Zubov folded, hoping for an elimination. But at some point, he was forced to go all-in from the big blind and was eliminated by Timo Kamphues‘ aces to become the bubble-boy of the tournament.
Once in the money, Andrey Pateychuk (23rd) lost with ace-jack against Aleksandr Kirichenko‘s ace-king to win the minimum cash-prize of $17,000. He was followed by Radoslav Stoyanov (22nd, $17,000), Roman Gadzhiev (21st, $18,500), Igor Pihela Jr (20th, $18,500), Nikita Kuznetcov (19th, $18,500), Ermanno Di Nicola (18th, $21,500) and David Miscikowski (17th, $21,500) who were all eliminated… in less than 15 minutes!
Left with just a few blinds after Kamphues doubled up against him, Gleb Tremzin was eliminated shortly after the two-table redraw (16th, $21,500). Samuel Ju (5th, $25,000), then Viktor Ustimov (14th, $25,000), and Mehdi Chaoui (13th, $25,000) didn’t last much longer in the tournament. All of them had short stacks, which wasn’t the case for Anatolii Gusev, who was on his way to win a big pot with queens. However, Michel Molenaar hit a set on the river with nines to send him to the rail.
After a new break, one table became the feature table, and most of the action happened there with the eliminations of Kamphues (11th, $29,000) and Anatoly Nikitin (10th, $29,000), who lost the flip for the final table.
The nine last players sat around the final table after a short dinner break, but it took more than an hour to see the first eliminations. But a single one wasn’t enough, so both Stoyan Madanzhiev (8th, $45,000) and Ehsan Amiri (9th Place, $34,400) were eliminated at the same time by Kirichenko’s two pair. Shortest stack after the double elimination, Dmitry Zakharov couldn’t do much against Molenaar’s queens and he finished in seventh place for $58,000. Anvar Muratov (6th, $75,000) was even more unlucky, as he found a set on the turn when Kirichenko hit a straight.
Nikita Kalinin was next to go to the cashier (5th, $95,000), and he was joined by Michel Molenaar (4th, $122,000), who started the day as the chip leader. He let Marcin Dziubdziela, Jovan Kenjic and Aleksandr Kirichenko play for the win, but Dziubdziela (3rd, $165,000) was out of the race after Kenjic called his stack on the flop and hit two pair on the turn.
Kirichenki and Kenjic remained, and they started the last duel with even stacks. But Kenjic quickly too the lead and even had a first opportunity to win the tournament. Kirichenko doubled up, so the cards went on their backs again a few hands later. And this time, Kenjic was able to send Kirichenko to the rail to win the tournament.