Seat 4: Bora Kurtulus, 54, Antalya, Turkey (12,325,000)
“I smoke a lot, can we go outside?” was the first thing Bora Kurtulus said when approached for a quick interview ahead of the final table. The 54-year-old from Antalya spends most of the EPT breaks in front of the Hilton Hotel entrance.
“I’m old and tired,” Kurtulus says, listing the disadvantages he has against the EPT field. His reported live cashes, earned mostly in Cyprus, totalled less than $60,000 before he took EPT Prague by storm.
He claims that he typically plays events that quickly turn into an all-in bonanza, but says this stage suits him better, emphasizing that he really likes the EPT structure.
“You can stay calm, play your game, be patient,” he says. “You can even make a big bluff as it’s very deep.”
Kurtulus plays one or two EPT Main Events every year, but this is his first ever cash. It’s been a remarkable run, with Kurtulus now becoming only the seventh Turkish player to reach an EPT Main Event final. None has ever won one. The best result is Muhtar Taysi’s third-place finish at EPT Sochi in 2021.
“It’s stressful,” Kurtulus admits, referencing the payouts. “But it’s also been a lot of fun.”
Kurtulus says that he treats poker only as a hobby. As a civil engineer from Antalya, he is used to traveling to many countries. In recent years, he’s mostly worked on construction projects in Africa, specifically in Nigeria.
Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars
Career statistics
Career earnings: $58,364
EPT cashes: None
Best result: None
Tournament progression
Day 1: 112,000 (42/124, 1A)
Day 2: 217,000 (62/163)
Day 3: 975,000 (12/45)
Day 4: 3,355,000 (2/16)
Day 5: 12,325,000 (1/7)
Event highlights
Kurtulus doubled up on Day 3 when he flopped the nut straight against Ivan Uzunov’s turned set of queens
Kurtulus began his ascent to the top on Day 4 when he picked up two aces to bust Maria Lampropulos in 14th place. He then picked off a big bluff from Paawan Bansal, calling a bet of 1,220,000 on the river with a straight while Bansal could only show king-high.
At the final table, he called Thomas Bazin’s all-in shove for 645,000 with ace-ten and flopped top pair to beat Bazin’s king-jack and send the Frenchman to the rail in ninth place