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Kyriakos Kesidis Follows His Instinct to First Tournament Victory in €600 Monsterstack
After busting the €600 Monsterstack at the 2026 King's Million European Poker Championship for a fourth time during the opening flights, Kyriakos Kesidis decided not to follow a friend's advice and take one more shot.
That last bullet led Kesidis into Day 2, where he dominated the field to hold the chip lead entering the final day of action at King's Resort. After reaching a four-way ICM deal, Kesidis finished the job to earn his first major series trophy.
"Honestly, two days ago I said to my friend, look, I played like four times," Kesidis told PokerNews moments after capturing the title. "I busted, and he told me ok, don't register more. It's too much for this tournament. I said, bro, no, this tournament it's for me. I will win this tournament, and I registered a fifth time."
"I passed the day two, and I say I must pass Day 2 and I must win this tournament."
The field of 2,903 entries created a massive prize pool of €1,480,530, and Kesidis followed that instinct all the way to the final hand. Immediately after doubling up, he hit the river against BUNJO to lock up the adjusted first-place prize of €146,800.
€600 Monsterstack Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyriakos Kesidis | Greece | €146,800* |
| 2 | BUNJO | Croatia | €128,200* |
| 3 | Dan Sfarlea | Romania | €104,600* |
| 4 | Lowkey | Germany | €108,900* |
| 5 | Jan Bendik | Slovakia | €51,200 |
| 6 | Gal Naim | Israel | €38,700 |
| 7 | Dalibor Dula | Czechia | €29,200 |
| 8 | Jan Tichacek | Czechia | €22,300 |
| 9 | Jaime Lebre | Portugal | €16,900 |
*Denotes four-way ICM deal
Poker Hobby Pays Off
Originally from Greece, Kesidis works as a physiotherapist in Cyprus and plays tournament poker only a few times every year.
"It’s not like a job for life, it's like hobby for me. So two or three times a year, I'm traveling, playing poker, I'm doing what I love actually. I love poker."
Kesidis began the final day leading the remaining 24 contenders, carrying a big chip lead into the final day. Almost a third of the field was gone in the opening level, and action remained fast until the final table of nine was determined.
Kesidis sat in the middle of the pack, but secured two knockouts and earned a pair of key doubles on his way to reclaiming the chip lead as the last four players took a break.
Four-Way Deal
After returning to the table, the final four players reached a deal to adjust the remaining payouts. Kesidis revealed afterwards that it was his idea to look at the numbers.
"I request them to make this deal, so to share for four persons. I didn't say something like to give me €200,000 or something." The players agreed to an ICM chop to lock up six-figure scores while leaving additional money for the top two spots.
"After the deal, I start to give up, to be honest. Because I was calm, so I say ok, so I was guaranteed €112,000 something. But after my friend comes to me and he says, Look, there are still amounts [to play for]. You've never had this amount in your bank, so push on it."
"So I say yeah, you're right, I will do this. And yes, luckily I pushed. I was lucky also, I was very lucky in the river."
Kesidis came from behind several times to remain in contention, outlasting Dan Sfarlea who settled for third place after being down to just four big blinds after losing the first hand of the day.
The champion promptly doubled up to reclaim the lead against BUNJO, before hitting the river on the very next hand to close out the tournament.
"I was like, no way, no chance," Kesidis recalled his thoughts as the final card hit. "I didn't know how to react, to be honest, because I'm alone with my friend. We don't have a company to celebrate, but I'm sure that the people in Cyprus are celebrating with me, so yeah, I'm happy with that."
That concludes our coverage of the €600 Monsterstack, but the action continues at King's Resort. Stay tuned as our live reporting team brings you more action from the 2026 King's Million European Poker Championship.