Seat 6: Nazar Buhaiov, 33, Nikopol, Ukraine (5,025,000)
Nazar Buhaiov may not be a household name on the EPT, but that might change very soon. The 33-year-old from the small town of Nikopol, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, has already secured his first major result on the tour, and is aiming to go all the way.
“I don't have any trophies, and I want one,” he says, adding that the silverware gives him extra motivation to succeed.
Buhaiov admitted that his past four trips to the EPT had been costly, putting a dent of around €50K into his bankroll. But he knows all about the variance of MTTs, and has more than $1.7 million in live earnings to his name, according to the Hendon Mob, and has enough experience to not let the short-term misses get under his skin.
His most impressive results have all come on the grandest stage, including 28th place in last year's WSOP Main Event after finishing 77th the year before. Deep blind structures, just like the one in the EPT Main Event, suit him well.
“I don't have many hobbies, I just go to the gym,” he says, adding that live poker is where he feels most at home. “I play online only on Sundays.”
Buhaiov is 12th on Ukraine's all-time money list and enters the EPT record books as the 13th Ukrainian at a final table. Oleksii Khoroshenin has remained the nation’s only champ, despite some recent heavy knocks on the door from his countrymen Amir Kokhestani and Mykhailo Ostash, who both finished runners-up last year.
Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars
Career statistics
Earnings: $1,671,509
EPT cashes: 1
Best result: 65th, 2022 EPT Prague
Tournament progression
Day 1: 29,500 (246/284, 1B)
Day 2: 185,000 (96/179)
Day 3: 380,000 (39/49)
Day 4: 7,375,000 (1/16)
Day 5: 5,025,000 (3/7)
Key hands
Buhaiov began Day 4 near the bottom of the counts, but ended it as chip leader after a number of big pots throughout the day. He first flopped top set of queens against Sami Bechahed, then improved to a full house on the turn. He shoved the river, and Bechahed managed to get away from a straight.
Buhaiov then four-bet to 575,000 and Julien mariani called. Buhaiov bet another 250,000 on the flop and 800,000 on the turn, and Mariani called down to the river. Buhaiov shoved the river for 1,705,000, and Mariani went deep into the tank before folding as Buhaiov moved up close to 5,000,000.