In a limped pot to the turn, Fahredin Mustafov bet the pot for 4 million with the . Mantas Nanartavicius called with the and knuckled the river. Mustafov bet 16 million and that sent his opponent into the tank. No call followed and Nanartavicius fell behind by a few big blinds.
Nanartavicius then flopped a pair and turned a straight to pull some chips back.
Fahredin Mustafov raised to 5 million with the and folded when Mantas Nanartavicius jammed the . Both then made a pair of fives on the flop and checked. Mustafov bet the turn for 2.5 million with , Nanartavicius called with . They checked the river and the kicker played for Nanartavicius.
Mantas Nanartavicius limped the and Fahredin Mustafov checked his option with . On the flop, Mustafov check-called for the minimum and check-folded the turn when Nanartavicius bet 8 million.
Fahredin Mustafov was at risk with the for 21.5 million and Mantas Nanartavicius had plenty of outs with the [9d| after the flop. Some outs were blocked on the turn and the river propelled Mustafov into the lead one more.
The first highlight event of the 2021 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North Cyprus festival has crowned a champion at the five-star Merit Crystal Cove Hotel Casino & Spa in Girne, North Cyprus. It was a marathon day of more than 13 hours that whittled down the final 12 hopefuls out of a field of 745 entries to a winner in the $2,200 Warm Up as the biggest slice of the $1,370,800 prize pool was awarded.
In the early morning hours, Lithuania's Mantas Nanartavicius celebrated the victory after defeating Bulgaria's Fahredin Mustafov in heads-up. Both had been part of an ICM deal that also included eventual third-place finisher Ionel Anton and the trio left the trophy and $24,000 to play for. After a topsy-turvy heads-up duel, satellite winner Nanartavicius came out on top and earned the top prize of $210,912.
Runner-up Mustafov recorded his seventh final table in a Merit Poker Event with a buy-in above $1,000 since 2019 and had to settle for a consolation prize of $156,293 while Anton earned $158,318 for his efforts. The final day also featured French online poker streamer Johan "YoH ViraL" Guilbert and Artur Martirosian, the latter of which fell in 11th place.
Final Result 2021 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North Cyprus $2,200 Warm Up
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in USD)
1
Mantas Nanartavicius
Lithuania
$210,912*
2
Fahredin Mustafov
Bulgaria
$156,293*
3
Ionel Anton
Romania
$158,318*
4
Silma Macalou
France
$81,435
5
Georges Hanna
Lebanon
$62,095
6
Johan Guilbert
France
$50,170
7
Kush Kataria
India
$41,535
8
Jim Sue Pan
Netherlands
$33,035
9
Matthieu Chan
Mauritius
$24,810
*includes ICM deal of the final three players with $24,000 awarded to the winner
Guilbert Dominates the Early Stages
The final day saw 12 contenders return to their seats and two six-handed tables brought plenty of action from the start. Karolis Ciudaras became the first casualty and Johan Guilbert was on the verge of being the next player out. However, the Frenchman doubled through Jim Sue Pan and then soared into the lead after doubling through Georges Hanna with aces versus kings.
Matthieu Chan didn't find any spot to run up his short stack and fell in 9th place when Jim Sue Pan held the superior kicker with ace-ten versus ace-seven and made broadway. From there on, things didn't go smoothly for Pan who doubled Macalou and Hanna to become the shortest stack and subsequently bust next. While Guilbert was the first player to reach 20 million in chips, the Frenchman couldn't keep up the momentum and dropped back into the middle of the pack.
Nanartavicius Finds Premium Pairs
Premium pairs then played a pivotal role for the outcome of the tournament and Nanartavicius had the best of it in the grand scheme of things. First he picked up back-to-back kings to bust Kush Kataria. Guilbert then found kings but Mustafov's ace-king turned the superior pair. Soon after, the most remarkable hand unfolded in which all remaining five players held pocket pairs. Nanartavicius had an easy call with aces in the big blind when facing the shove by Hanna with fours and the call by Ionel Anton with kings.
That triple up vaulted the Lithuanian into the comfortable lead but he wasn't necessarily able to capitalise on it. Macalou failed to hold with a pair against the suited ace rag of Nanartavicius and three-handed play eventually resulted in a three-way deal. Anton became short and busted soon after but the heads-up duel carried on for more than one and a half hours with numerous double ups until the champion was finally crowned.
The next highlight of the ongoing festival is the $10,500 High Roller, which has attracted a field of 101 players and 40 re-entries so far. One level of late registration remains and the high-stakes contest will play down to a winner on Wednesday, September 22. The very same day will also feature the start of the 2021 MILLIONS North Cyprus $5,300 Main Event, for which the PokerNews team will provide exclusive updates.