After 11.5 hours of action-packed day two, here we are today 2022 Luxon Pay Mediterranean Poker Party incredibly Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Casinothere may be only one winner. $500 PokerNews Cup: Arnaud Enselme.

After a grueling 30 and a half levels of play, Enselme has won. Dmitry Kolesnev In heads-up play, it was the wildest finish to a tournament in recent memory. The two players were practically in the same stack, he stopped play for 15 minutes to agree on a deal, but was forced to complete a hand that had already been dealt before reaching an agreement. However, the two eventually reversed, with Enselme winning.

winner reaction

Enselme was the last man out of a total of 332 entries to receive $50,000 in prize money and the glorious PokerNews Cup trophy. To make life even more fun, the win saw the Unibet-sponsored pro surpass her $1 million lifetime live poker tournament earnings on HendonMob.

“Yeah, I knew it (he crossed the $1 million mark). That’s great, it’s very special. I’ve been playing more live poker since then.It’s my first win of the year.I’ve been waiting for it since January and it feels great.I’m so proud of it.Tough opponents. I’m so proud of what I’ve done, even in those tough moments, and I’m so happy I got the win.”

Of course, instead of playing for thousands of dollars less, Enselme had to talk about a dramatic finish that took home the entire $50,000 first prize.

“We agreed to a deal, but then the floor came and explained that we had to play the hand in progress. My hand was too strong to fold even though we were talking about deals and he showed up with a real hand, he looked like he really wanted a deal and that’s exactly what it was. It was the street.”

$500 PokerNews Cup Final Table Results

today’s action

Play began with 49 players already in the money after qualifying in three different flights over the past two days, and Enselme entered with 222,000 chips (44 big blinds). However, he was far behind his leader in chips overall. Sachys Adrianopoulos, entered with exactly 500,000 chips (100 big blinds). However, Adrianopoulos wasn’t so lucky and finished 22nd for $2,000. In particular, he hit a jack set on the river at level 18 and Veselin Petrov hit a nut flush. He busted about 40 minutes after entering with top pair. Vittorio Mosinibeat him on the flop.

Day 1a and Day 1b chip leader, Russian Vladislav Fedoseev When Elena Yashchenyawould do much better, as they finished 9th and 10th respectively.

One of the funniest players in the field, furkan beg, made players laugh all day with table talk. He also let his cards do the talking, taking his original stack of 86,000 chips (17 big blinds) and finishing it at $7,500 in his very respectable 7th place.

After Beg busted out, the final six players put up a long battle. At one point all six players shared Big He blinds of just 62. At one point there was even talk of a deal to share the remaining $135,250 between the players in some way, but Enselme backed off the deal, stating he was confident in his play. That confidence paid off when he eliminated three of his five opponents to win.

heads-up play

After Korezhnev was eliminated George Butuk, Enselme entered heads-up play with a 3:1 chip advantage. The two players all-in each other on his fourth hand, and Koleznev defeated Enselme with his Ace King suited against the Ace Nine. After one push/fold, Koleznev and his Enselme were close, with Enselme only 100,000 chips and he covered Koleznev.

The sixth and final hand is dealt and the action stops for about 15 minutes. The two players would agree to a personal trade, but the floor decided that he would have to play a large difference between 2nd place and he 1st place to facilitate the deal. it was canceled. A few minutes later, a second final agreement was reached, but the floor also ruled that the players must first finish the hand before the paperwork could be signed.

However, the deal fell through as Enselme opened at 500,000 (2.5 big blinds). Koleznov pushed, Enselme called, and the two flipped for the remaining $20,000 and the trophy.

Koleznev was particularly distraught and disappointed with the result as he was left with $30,000, far less than if the hand had not been played at all.

As for Enselme, he’s booked $50,000 wins and earned over $1,000,000 in career live earnings in what he described as one of his favorite poker rooms in the world.

Be sure to keep it together with the poker news Incredible Benefits Team for coverage of the final day of the 2022 Luxon Pay Mediterranean Poker Party at the Royal Diamond Hotel & Casino.

Blaise Bourgeois is a full-time digital nomad who lives and plays poker in Latin America. He’s part of his PokerNews Live report of his 2022 World Series of Poker.