It's time for the final table of the bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic! We started with 262 players, we're now down to the final six led by Alexey Rybin who has led this tournament each and every day he has played in it. Can he make the last mile and finish the job? He's one of three Russians on the final table, the others being Andrei Nikonov and Sergey Rybachenko. There are two Lebanese players involved, Albert Daher and the short stack Pierre Sayegh while there is also a sole Turkish player in Kayhan Tugrul. Remember there's $258,000 for first place at stake here, including a seat to the WPT Championships next year for whoever manages to succeed Marvin Rettenmaier as the WPT Cyprus champion.
The final table will be shown on a live stream with a 30 minute delay, which our coverage will be following so as not to spoil the feed should you wish to watch it. The final table starts at 1pm local time meaning the stream will be on from 1.30pm and that is when our reporting will officially begin.
Sergey Rybachenko opened the action with a bet of 52,000, Albert Daher called from the small blind and Pierre Sayegh moved all in from the big blind for his last 267,000. Rybachenko folded but Daher made the call to put Sayegh at risk.
Sayegh had and was racing against Daher’s The board ran out and we were down to out last five players.
Sergey Rybachenko opened to 50,000 from the button. Albert Daher made it 140,000 in the small blind and Rybachenko quickly responded by moving all in for 834,000 Daher made the call.
Rybachenko:
Daher:
The board came and Rybachenko doubled up, Daher has been crippled as a result.
Alexey Rybin raised raised to 65,000 with before Sergey Rybachenko made it 170,000 in the small blind. Jesse May and Jeffrey Hakim remarked in commentary that this was the perfect spot for a four bet all in from Albert Daher. This happened mainly because Daher held . Rybin got out of the way and Rybachenko instantly called.
The board came and Daher caught a lucky ace on the river to survive and double up, Rybachenko was crippled as a result.
Sergey Rybachenko moved all in for his last 120,000 holding and was called by Albert Daher with . Alexey Rybin saw some value and joined the party with . The flop was . A 170,000 bet from Daher got Rybin out of the way. The last two cards were and Rybachenko was gone.
Andrei Nikonov opens for 80,000 with and Kayhan Tugrul moved all in for 350,000 with . Alexey Rybin saw the value and just called with . Nikonov called as well. They saw a flop of . They both checked and saw a turn of . That was Rybin’s gin card and a big bet from him saw Nikonov fold. The last card was . Tugrul was out.
Albert Daher raised to 100,000 on the button with and Andrei Nikonov called in the big blind with to see a flop. Both players checked and Daher hit gin with the on the turn. Nikonov led for 145,000 and made a call when Daher raised to 410,000.
The river was the and Nikonov checked, Daher bet 900,000 into a pot with just over a million in. Nikonov didn't waste too much time in calling but could only sigh and roll his eyes when Daher turned over the set. With that, Daher is now the clear chip leader.
Alexey Rybin raised to 125,000 preflop with , Andrei Nikonov three-bet to 350,000 holding and Rybin moved all in. Nikonov quickly called.
The flop came which helped neither player, the turn didn't offer anything else and the river meant that Nikonov was out in third place.
Rybin's rehabilitation is complete, his stack dropped like a stone earlier today but the momentum in the last twenty minutes has all been his and he's now heads up for the title in the position he knows the best, the chip leader.
Albert Daher opened for 120,000 on the button with , Alexey Rybin moved all in from the big blind with and Daher made the call. The flop came and Daher’s hopes were ended. We had a new WPT Cyprus champion in Alexey Rybin.
Perhaps Daher’s call with the was a reflection of the frustration at how the last half hour had played out. He had made a hero call with top pair against Rybin’s turn shove earlier and that was the key pot heads up. The main story will rightly be about Rybin leading the tournament all the way, but huge credit must go to Daher for the way he has played throughout the tournament and some of the amazing decisions he made in marginal spots.
The 2013 bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic lasted six days at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Alexey Rybin led the way after each one of them. The Russian businessman, who missed a big meeting in Monte Carlo to play the final table in Cyprus, endured the toughest day of his tournament on Wednesday but still managed to claim victory and the top prize of $258,000.
Rybin started off the final table unusually passive and almost out of sorts compared to how aggressively he'd played the earlier days. However, a late rally three-handed saw him cooler compatriot Andrei Nikonov with ace-queen against ace-jack to take back the chip lead going into a heads up battle against Albert Daher, who finished runner-up for $160,200.
Lebanese player Pierre Sayegh was the first player to be eliminated on Wednesday. The oldest player in the tournament was also both the shortest stack and considered the tightest player left. Sergey Rybachenko had opened preflop with Daher calling before Sayegh squeezed all in. The Russian folded but Daher called with and won the flip against Sayegh's on a board.
Sergey Rybachenko, the most experienced of the three Russians on the final table, managed an early double up through Daher and for a moment the young Lebanese player could no longer afford to be the most aggressive player at the table. Rybachenko meanwhile couldn't hold onto his newly won chips and ended up five-bet folding into Andrei Nikonov's aces.
Eventually, Daher got his chips back from Rybachenko in a huge pot but he was very lucky to do so. Rybachenko was crippled by this and barely a couple of hands later he was all in with against Daher's and couldn't spike on the board.
After losing with to Rybin's , Turkish player Kayhan Tugrul was left nursing a microstack. Tugrul was all in with against Nikonov's and Rybin's and the latter made a boat on the board to leave us with two Russians and a Lebanese player left.
Three-handed play lasted a while, as Daher and Nikonov exchanged the chip lead a couple of times while Rybin saw his stack drop down to only 12 big blinds at one stage. But after Rybin won successive big pots, including a double up, the stacks became much more even.
Rybin's ascent and eventual victory came down to two big pots, firstly he coolered Nikonov in a pot that also gave him back the chip lead for the heads-up battle against Daher.
The second saw a three-bet pot where Daher flopped top pair with on a board but Rybin had a monster in . When Rybin instantly moved all in on the turn, Daher found himself levelled into calling and was drawing dead. Left with just six big blinds, Daher managed to double up twice and there looked like a genuine chance that he could pull off some sort of amazing comeback. But the third time was the charm for Rybin, his ace-five besting Daher's king-nine for the $258,000 first prize, the seat at the WPT Championship next year, and most importantly the WPT title.
2013 WPT Cyprus Merit Classic Final Table Payouts
Place
Name
Prize
Country
1
Alexey Rybin
$258,000*
Russia
2
Albert Daher
$160,200
Lebanon
3
Andrei Nikonov
$103,700
Russia
4
Kayhan Tugrul
$75,600
Turkey
5
Sergey Rybachenko
$56,600
Russia
6
Pierre Sayegh
$46,000
Lebanon
*Includes $25,000 seat at the WPT Championship
We'll leave you with an interview with the man himself, WPT Champion Alexey Rybin talking to PokerNews' Laura Cornelius.