Yuri Dzivielevski Stages Huge Comeback to Win €25,000 Single-Day High Roller After Heads-Up Deal (€448,515)

After 16 hours of poker action, the second high stakes contest of the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® has come to a conclusion. Brazilian superstar Yuri Dzivielevski cut a heads-up deal with Daniel Dvoress as both players divided the lion’s share of the €1,776,740 prize pool. It was yet another very successful High Roller attendance as field of 74 entries emerged the first €25,000 Single-Day High Roller of the EPT stop at the Monte-Carlo Sporting complex.

The final stages of the tournament lasted until the early morning hours and once Byron Kaverman was eliminated in third place, Dzivielevski and Dvoress agreed to an ICM deal and flipped for the trophy. The fortune was on the side of Dzivielevski, like it had been many times prior to that, and he claimed the PokerStars spadie along with a top prize of €448,515. For Dvoress, the runner-up finish came with a consolation prize of €387,435 and both discussed immediately after their potential plans for Day 1 of the upcoming €100,000 Super High Roller.

En route to success, Dzivielevski staged a huge comeback as he was the shortest stack on just three big blinds during the final table. The top 11 spots were paid with notables such as Andriy Lyubovetskiy, Andras Nemeth, PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton and Sam Greenwood all earning cash prizes. Sergi Reixach, who earned the most money in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty Event and finished second to Jean-Noel Thorel just one day ago, was eliminated on the bubble this time.

Final Result €25,000 Single-Day High Roller

*reflects ICM deal of the final two players

It was yet another strong turnout for a High Roller contest after the Mystery Bounty event attracted a field of 83 entries, followed by a record field of 1,918 entries in the France Poker Series €1,100 Main Event to showcase the early success of the stop after a hiatus of three years.

Many stellar names of the poker circuit were involved in the action but perhaps the most well-known star in the field was Brazilian football striker Neymar Jr, who is known for his passion for the game of poker. He was among the returning players after the dinner break and eventually bowed out in a flip against Juan Pardo when his ace-king came up second-best to the pocket sixes of the Spanish High Roller regular.

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Among the accomplished poker pros who fell entered and left without anything to show for money-wise were the likes of Mikita Badziakouski, Nick Petrangelo, Timothy Adams, 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir, Stephen Chidwick, Jake Schindler, and Ali Imsirovic, who all ran out of chips prior to the final three tables.

Mystery Bounty Event winner Thorel was also among the casualties before the money bubble. EPT 11 Deauville Main Event Champion Ognyan Dimov became another high-profile casualty when he made a move at the wrong time with ace-trey suited and ran into the pocket aces of Dvoress.

The Spanish-speaking poker community saw a trio of pros all come close but eventually bust before the money as Pardo, Reixach and Adrian Mateos received no cash prizes. As a matter of fact, it was Reixach who became the bubble boy when he failed to get there with ace-ten against the pocket kings of Dvoress.

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It didn’t take long after that to set up the nine-handed final table. Kaverman had doubled on the money bubble and then scored a double knockout by dispatching Rok Gostisa and Jose Quintas. Kaverman also claimed the chips of Greenwood as well when he rivered a flush to beat the flopped set of the Canadian. Yet, it was all about Dvoress who held a commanding lead that grew even further after the elimination of Reza Tabatabai in eighth place.

PokerStars ambassador Grafton was ousted in a memorable three-way all-in in which Sirzat Hissou pulled off a miracle escape. However, what followed was a nerve-wrecking affair in which the short stacks pulled several rabbits out of the hats to survive.

Dzivielevski was the far shortest stack for an extended period and dropped all the way down to just three big blinds. Several double-ups later, the Brazilian was suddenly second in chips and the double-up carnage continued without missing any beats. Hissou and Nemeth became the next casualties followed by Andriy Lyubovetskiy before the final three players traded numerous double-ups as the lead changed countless times.

In the early morning hours after nearly 16 hours of poker action, it was ultimately Kaverman who became the last casualty of the night when Dzivielevski’s run-good continued. The Brazilian agreed to an ICM deal with Dvoress right after that and also won the blind flip for the PokerStars spadie trophy.