button in SafariAlex Kulev Spins Bubble Three-Outer Into €2.7 Million Monte Carlo €250K Super High Roller Victory
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For a brief moment on the stone bubble of the €250,000 EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller, Alex Kulev looked destined to leave empty-handed.
Instead, he left with the trophy.
Kulev survived a dramatic all-in against Biao Ding on the bubble, then spun that lifeline into momentum, and eventually conquered the toughest field of the week to win the inaugural €250K Super High Roller for €2,786,332 after a heads-up deal with Bryn Kenney.
The tournament was the highest buy-in event ever held on the PokerStars-sponsored European Poker Tour, which attracted 38 entries and generated a€9.31 million prize pool, with only six players reaching the money.
For Kulev, the win carried extra weight. Three years after taking down the €100K Super High Roller at the same stop, the Bulgarian returned to Monte Carlo and somehow climbed an even bigger mountain.
€250K Super High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Kulev | €2,786,332* |
| 2 | Bryn Kenney | €2,520,268* |
| 3 | Chris Nguyen | €1,443,100 |
| 4 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | €1,070,700 |
| 5 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | €837,900 |
| 6 | Artur Martirosian | €651,700 |
*Denotes heads-up deal.
Kulev Rides Bubble Momentum to Title
The final day began with 14 players still in contention and plenty of work left before the money.
A few quick eliminations trimmed the field, but once the tournament reached the unofficial final table, the pace slowed dramatically. With the blinds climbing and stacks getting shorter, nobody wanted to become the only player walking away without a payout.
Chris Nguyen finally scored the first knockout of the final table when his pocket jacks held against Stephen Chidwick’s king-queen to eliminate Chidwick in ninth place.
Shortly after, Enrico Camosci was eliminated in eighth place to put the players on the stone bubble.
Then, the hand that changed the entire dynamic of the tournament took place.
Kulev and Biao Ding got the chips in with nearly identical stacks, creating a pot that would almost certainly determine the bubble boy. Ding tabled ace-king and had Kulev’s ace-eight in rough shape.
Then the flop came down with an eight.
Suddenly Kulev was ahead, and Ding was left with just 20,000 in chips. Ding then exited in seventh place, to lock the remaining six players a min-cash, while Kulev had a second life and a stack to work with.
Big Swings After the Bubble
Although Bryn Kenney had been nursing a short stack for much of the bubble phase, he managed to keep finding doubles and laddering upward. At one point, the all-time money leader was down to roughly nine big blinds before rebuilding.
Artur Martirosian entered the money as chip leader, but his run ended in sixth place when his ace-queen couldn’t hold against Nguyen’s ace-five.
Orpen Kisacikoglu was next to go after shoving ace-four into Kulev’s pocket fives, and the Bulgarian held again to bring the field down to four.
Not long after that, Aleksejs Ponakovs committed his stack on a jack-high flop holding an open-ended straight draw, but Kulev called with top pair and faded the draw to score another knockout.
Now three handed, Nguyen attempted to apply pressure with a re-shove holding ten-seven suited over a Kenney button raise, but Kenney woke up with ace-jack and stayed ahead to leave the German short. Nguyen managed a brief comeback, but eventually bowed out in third place.
Kulev Closes It Out
With heads-up play set, Kulev and Kenney paused to strike a deal, each locking up more than €2.5 million before continuing for the trophy and title.
The match itself didn’t last long.
On the final hand, Kulev moved all in after turning two pair with ten-four. Kenney called with a pair of nines and the nut flush draw, still with plenty of outs heading to the river.
“You might be ahead now, but it’s time to run it,” Kenney said before the dealer put out the final card.
The river bricked for Kenney, who extended a handshake while Kulev soaked in the moment, completing a run that had nearly ended on the bubble just hours earlier.
