WPT Prime Cyprus Bubble Boy Gets Revenge By Bagging Championship Chip Lead
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The World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 buy-in, $2 million GTD WPT Cyprus Championship continued on Thursday with the second of three starting flights. Day 1b attracted 173 runners, which, along with Day 1a’s 283, brought the current field up to 456 entries with one more starting flight to go.
Right now, the prize pool stands at $1,413,000, which is short of the $2 million guarantee. However, with Day 1c expected to be the biggest flight yet, expectations are high that it’ll cruise by that mark.
After eight one-hour levels of play, 78 players bagged with Mustafa Simsek – who, back in March, finished as the Day 1a bubble boy in the WPT Prime Cyprus – and his stack of 385,000 led the way. That is slightly ahead of Day 1a chip leader Alexsandr Pak, who bagged 379,000.
Simsek, who hails from Turkey, is well-positioned to avoid becoming a WPT Bubble Boy for a second time, though he’ll have to wait until Saturday’s Day 2 to see how things play out as the field is still far from the money.
Top 10 Day 1b Chip Counts
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Mustafa Simsek | 385,000 |
| Ersin Kadir | 309,500 |
| Kurt Sahin | 308,000 |
| Timothy Thorp | 288,000 |
| Murat Kara | 270,000 |
| Rafal Chmura | 253,000 |
| Anton Herman | 237,000 |
| Nicolae Jalba | 235,000 |
| George Skarpis | 218,000 |
| Lavrentiy Ni | 195,500 |
Others to punch their ticket to Day 2 were Matthew Davenport (168,000), 2019 WSOP Main Event champ Hossein Ensan (140,000), Ray Qartomy (98,000), Dinesh Alt (71,500), Tudor Purice (61,500), and Chadi Saba (49,500).
For Davenport, he scored an elimination in the last level of the night. With the blinds at 600/1,200/1,200, the WPT Live Reporting Team saw Rafael Wadl move all in for 40,000 from the small blind on a board of J♣7♥2♦3♠9♠ and about 50,000 in the middle.
Davenport snap-called with the J♠9♥ for a rivered two pair, which was good as Wadl’s A♠J♥ had been outdrawn to send him to the rail.
Of course, not everyone made it through. Among those to fall on Day 1b were Will Kassouf, WPT Global Ambassador Patrick Tardif, Junxian Du, Guo Liang Wei, Cameron Williamson, Nuri Kural, and Stefan Fabian. The good news is all of those players can try again in Friday’s Day 1c flight if they so choose.
The WPT Cyprus Championship, which runs through August 18, is the keystone event on the schedule for the $5 Million GTD Festival at the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino. Here’s a look at the remaining schedule:
2025 WPT Cyprus Remaining Schedule
| *Date | Time | Event | GTD | Details* | |
| Fri 15 Aug | 12:00 pm | $3,200 + 300 No Limit Hold'em - WPT Championship Day 1C | $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 50k stack, 60 min clock, 10 LVLS late reg | |
| Fri 15 Aug | 4:00 pm | $1,000 + 100 No Limit Hold'em - Bounty ITM | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 20k stack, 20 min clock, 8 LVLS late reg | |
| Fri 15 Aug | 11.59 pm | $750 + 75 No Limit Hold'em - Speed Up | $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 20k stack, 10 min clock, 8 LVLS late reg | |
| Sat 16 Aug | 12:00 pm | $3,200 + 300 WPT Championship Day 2 | $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 60 min clock | |
| Sat 16 - Mon 18 Aug | 5:00 pm | $1,000 + 100 No Limit Hold'em - Mystery Bounty Event | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 20k stack, 20 min clock, 8 LVLS late reg | |
| Sat 16 Aug | 11:00 pm | $1,000 + 100 Satellite to Chamada Super High Roller | 5 seats GTD | 15k stack, 15 min clock, 6 LVLS late reg | |
| Sun 17 Aug | 12:00 pm | WPT Championship Day 3 | $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 60 min clock | |
| Sun 17 - Mon 18 Aug | 3:00 pm | $7,500 + 500 No Limit Hold'em - Chamada Super High Roller | $300,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 100k stack, 30 min clock, 10 LVLS late reg | |
| Sun 17 Aug | 8.00 pm | $2,000 + 200 No Limit Hold'em - Last Chance | $150,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 30k stack, 30 min clock, 8 LVLS late reg | |
| Mon 18 Aug | 12:00 pm | WPT Championship Final Table | $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 60 min clock | |
| Mon 18 Aug | 3.00 pm | $7,500 + 500 Chamada Super High Roller Final Day | $300,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 30 min clock | |
| Mon 18 Aug | 5:00 pm | $1,000 + 100 Mystery Final Table Only | $75,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool | 20k stack, 20 min clock, 8 LVLS late reg |
Day 1c will get underway at Noon local time on Friday. Late registrations will remain open until after the first break (~2:15 p.m. local time) on Saturday’s Day 2. Players will start with 50,000 stack, playing 60-minute levels. PokerNews is on-site to offer content, social media, and interviews, so be sure to check back frequently for all the latest from the WPT Cyprus!
Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour
In this Series
- 1 Kassouf & WPT Global Qualifiers Headline Start of the WPT Cyprus Championship
- 2 2025 WPT Cyprus Coming to Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino August 6-18
- 3 Alexsandr Pak Leads WPT Cyprus Day 1a, Tony Dunst & Romulo Dorea Find a Bag
- 4 Miracle River Gives Brazilian Vlogging Superstar Rare Triple KO at WPT Cyprus
- 5 WPT Prime Cyprus Bubble Boy Gets Revenge By Bagging Championship Chip Lead
- 6 Exclusive Interview w/ Will Kassouf, Self-Proclaimed ‘Donald Trump of Poker’ | PokerNews Podcast #912
- 7 Germany’s Metin Yalciner Bags Biggest Stack on Day 1c of WPT Cyprus Championship
- 8 Will Kassouf Discusses WSOP Controversy: “I Was Only Reacting to How I Was Being Treated”
- 9 Ludovic Geilich Wins WPT Cyprus Mystery Bounty; Ilia Kitsbabahvili Claims Two Side Event Titles
- 10 Bubble Bursts: Big Prize Awaits Winner 11 Years After Last WPT Main Event in Cyprus
- 11 After Six Final Tables Ray Qartomy’s Quest for a "Dream" Title Continues at WPT Cyprus
- 12 WPT Cyprus Final Table Set, Elena Litviniuk Seeks to Become 3rd Women to Win WPT Open Main Event
- 13 It’s a Hattrick! Ilia Kitsbabahvili Wins Two Side Events Plus WPT Cyprus Championship ($401,100)
- 14 Hands of the Week: Crushed Dreams at WPT Cyprus; Kassouf Left Saying “Not Good”
