The $5,300 Main Event at the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party has come to a close, and it was Daniel Thaller of Austria who emerged victorious over the 1,196 entry field. After a three-way deal with Timothy Chung and Andreas Mavromoustakis, Thaller was the one to take home the trophy and a career-best score of $786,670.
Inside the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, Thaller added the stunning MPP trophy to his mantlepiece after he seemingly cruised through the final table under the radar. Thaller sealed the deal in rapid style, dispatching Chung in roughly thirty minutes of heads-up play.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Thaller | Austria | $786,670* |
| 2 | Timothy Chung | United Kingdom | $637,250* |
| 3 | Andreas Mavromoustakis | Cyprus | $651,080* |
| 4 | Razvan Sabau | Romania | $316,000 |
| 5 | Garik Tamasian | Russia | $229,000 |
| 6 | Dawid Smolka | Poland | $162,000 |
| 7 | Milad Oghabian Langar | Iran | $113,000 |
| 8 | Hassanin Hashim | New Zealand | $80,100 |
| 9 | Italo Modena | Italy | $63,000 |
*denotes three-way deal
Winner's Reaction
Following his victory, Thaller shared his thoughts with PokerNews on what was a “crazy and fun ride” to becoming the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event champion.
“It feels a little surreal. Day 2 was really slow, I never had a stack, never had momentum. But the last two days, everything started working. I just felt in the zone and could play my best.”
Thaller, who has lived in Larnaca for the past seven years, has been coming to Merit Poker events for over a decade. “This place has changed so much in that time, it’s amazing to see how far it’s come.”
As for the final table, Thaller credited winning a big flip early as the turning point. “That hand gave me a lot of confidence. From there, it was just about staying focused.”
A three-way deal was struck once play reached the final three, and Thaller said the intention was to make the payouts slightly less top-heavy while still leaving plenty to play for. “We wanted to smooth out the jumps a little but still leave a good chunk for the winner, and of course the trophy.”
Reflecting on the win and his career-best cash of nearly $800,000, Thaller was still taking it all in. “I’m just thankful. I didn’t expect this. It’s really been a crazy ride.”
Final Table Action
Just nine players returned from the 1,196 entries, all within reach of the $1,000,000 first-place prize from the $5,740,800 prize pool, and the coveted trophy. As expected, with big pay jumps on the line, the final table began cautiously with the short stacks doing their best to stay afloat while hoping others were eliminated around them.
Early on, it looked like Mavromoustakis might be the first to exit when he cold four-bet pocket jacks from the big blind. However, Italo Modena folded pocket queens, allowing Mavromoustakis to climb up to near the top of the counts. Modena’s day worsened a few hours later, as he was eliminated in ninth place when his king-nine failed to improve against Chung’s king-queen.
Chung quickly began to make his presence felt, eliminating Hassanin Hashim, Milad Oghabian Langar, and Dawid Smolka in quick succession. With five players left, Chung held the chip lead. Still, Thaller had slowly crept into second place thanks to correctly using his positional advantage on Chung and Razvan Sabau to win small pots while avoiding high-variance situations.
Mavromoustakis then surged into the chip lead, mainly from picking up strong hands at the right time to eliminate Garik Tamasian and Sabau in the same orbit. When three-handed play began, Mavromoustakis and Chung were nearly neck and neck in chips, with Thaller not far behind in third.
Shortly after Sabau’s exit, a deal was struck that guaranteed everyone at least half a million dollars, with over $200,000 and the trophy still up for grabs. A few hands after the deal, Thaller turned a set of sevens, doubling up through Mavromoustakis, who had flopped top two pair. Not long later, Thaller’s ace-seven suited sent Mavromoustakis to the rail after the Cypriot’s king-jack failed to improve.
When heads-up play began, Thaller held a 2:1 chip lead over Chung. Chung initially started chipping away at Thaller’s stack, seemingly aiming to grind him down. However, the first big pot of the heads-up battle went Thaller’s way when he flopped bottom pair and a flush draw against Chung’s gutshot. This pot shifted the momentum and gave Thaller a commanding chip lead heading into the last break.
After the break, Chung started with around twenty big blinds. In the final hand of the Main Event, Chung limped the button with a suited king, and Thaller shoved from the big blind with ace-queen. Chung called, and Thaller had his first chance to win the tournament. An ace-high board sealed it for Thaller, and with a blank turn, Chung had to settle for second place.
The two shook hands, and Thaller, with a wide smile on his face, took a moment to absorb the fact that he was the last man standing in the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event.
Congratulations to Thaller and all the other final tablists, as that concludes Pokernew's coverage of the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event.
