Level 32
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Dawid Smolka
Timothy Chung made it 6,000,000 to go from the cutoff and Dawid Smolka jammed from the big blind for 24,300,000. Chung called to put Smolka at risk.
Dawid Smolka: A♣2♥
Timothy Chung: A♥9♣
Smolka was dominated by Chung's better ace, and needed some help from the dealer to stay alive. The 9♥5♦6♠ flop gave Chung top pair, and meant Smolka needed running cards. The 2♦ turn was one of the cards, but the 6♣ on the river meant Smolka was out in sixth.
Level 32
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Garik Tamasian
When it folded to Garik Tamasian on the button, he shoved for 18,800,000 with only the big blind to get through. Andreas Mavromoustakis looked at his cards in the big blind and quickly called.
Garik Tamasian: K♥7♠
Andreas Mavromoustakis: 9♦9♣
Tamasian needed to find a king to keep his spot at the final table.
The dealer put out a flop of 8♠J♠10♦ to give Tamasian a few extra outs. The 8♦ turn took away those outs, and the 3♠ river meant Tamasian was out, and only four remained.
Level 32
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Razvan Sabau
From the button, Razvan Sabau jammed all of his 16,400,000 into the middle, and Andreas Mavromoustakis made the call with the covering stack from the big blind.
Razvan Sabau: A♠9♣
Andreas Mavromoustakis: Q♦J♣
Sabau came into this final table as the chip leader and was now at risk of being the Main Event's fourth-place finisher.
Sabau was slightly ahead preflop and moved even further ahead on the 9♦9♠K♣ flop, as he improved to trips. The 7♦ turn meant only a ten on the river would eliminate Sabau. In brutal fashion, the river was the 10♥ to give Mavromoustakis a straight, and Sabau was out.
Level 32
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Daniel Thaller
Daniel Thaller made it 5,000,000 on the button, with Andreas Mavromoustakis calling from the small blind, and Timothy Chung defending his big blind.
The flop fell 5♠Q♦10♥ and all three players checked to see the 7♦ hit the turn. Mavromoustakis led out for 8,500,000, which Chung called. Thaller raised to 24,500,000, and then Mavromoustakis shoved with a stack that covered by opponents. Chung folded, but Thaller called for his last 68,000,000.
Daniel Thaller: 7♥7♣
Andreas Mavromoustakis: Q♠10♣.
It was a horrible cooler as Mavromoustakis' top two pair was behind Thaller's set of sevens. Only a queen on the river could send this tournament into heads-up. The river was the 6♦, and Thaller became the overwhelming chip leader, while Mavromoustakis was left with crumbs.
Level 33
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Andreas Mavromoustakis
Andreas Mavromoustakis jammed from the button for 34,600,000 and Daniel Thaller called out of the big blind.
Andreas Mavromoustakis: K♦J♠
Daniel Thaller: A♥7♥
Mavromoustakis was on the verge of elimination and needed some paint on the board to survive. However, the runout of 8♦2♠3♠7♦Q♥ didn't provide the paint Mavromoustakis wanted, and he was out in third place. The 2025 MPP Main Event, was now heads-up.
Level 33
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Timothy Chung
Daniel Thaller limped from the button with 8♥4♦, and Timothy Chung checked 8♣5♣ in the big blind.
Both players checked the 8♠7♦10♣ flop to see the 5♦ roll off on the turn. Chung led out for 12,00,000, which Thaller called.
The river was the 9♠ and Chung bet again, this time for 16,000,000. Thaller pondered his options for quite some time before ultimately folding, forfeiting the pot to Chung.
Level 34
: Blinds 2,000,000/4,000,000, 4,000,000 ante
Timothy Chung
Timothy Chung called from the button before Daniel Thaller shoved from the big blind. Chung called for his last 84,000,000, meaning Thaller had the chance to win the tournament.
Timothy Chung: K♥7♥
Daniel Thaller: A♥Q♣
Thaller was ahead with ace-queen against the suited king of Chung. If Thaller could get a safe runout, he would become the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event Champion.
The flop came down A♠3♠3♣ to give Thaller top pair and leave Chung needing running cards to win.
The dealer burned a card, then put out the 5♣ turn, which sealed the deal for Thaller, as the inconsequential 4♥ landed on the river.
Chung was the runner-up, and Thaller was the champion of the Main Event.
Level 34
: Blinds 2,000,000/4,000,000, 4,000,000 ante
Daniel Thaller
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.”
Daniel Thaller
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.
Hassanin Hashim
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.
Andreas Mavromoustakis
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.
Timothy Chung
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.
Heads-Up
Congratulations to Thaller and all the other final tablists, as that concludes Pokernew's coverage of the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event.
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