Main Event
Day 4 Completed
bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic
Main Event
Day: 4
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic
Buy-in
$4,000
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Entries
262
Level
28
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
10,000
WPT Cyprus Day 4 Recap; Alexey Rybin Goes for Wire-to-Wire Title
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Day 4 of the 2013 bwin World Poker Tour Merit Cyprus Classic began with 14 players, and after eight hours of play only six remain.
For the fourth consecutive day Alexey Rybin is the man atop the chip counts. The fearless and aggressive Russian grabbed chip lead at the end of Day 1a and he's never relinquished it. Rybin boasts 2,698,000 in chips heading into Wednesday's final table, more than a million above his nearest rival Albert Daher (1,595,000). Pierre Sayegh, who seemed to be card dead for most of the day, will return as the short stack with 349,000.
The first player to fall on Day 4 was Baris Topkaya, and it was none other than Rybin who handled the dirty work. Oleg Suntsov was the next to hit the rail. Bernard Samaha felt priced in to call Suntsov’s three-bet shove with 
and came from behind to beat Suntsov’s 
when the board ran out 
.
Despite picking up those chips, Samaha exited in 12th place. Holding the 
, Samaha made trips on a board of 
but ran into the full house of Andrei Nikonov holding the 
. The 
on the river changed nothing, and Samaha made his way out of the tournament. Moments later, Natalya Nikitina’s lost a race against Albert Daher’s 
and she exited in 11th.
The remaining 10 players moved to the unofficial final table and the eliminations slowed dramatically. A few short stacks doubled up, while Andrei Nikonov couldn’t win a race.
It was more than two hours before the next player was eliminated. Jeff Firatli exited in 10th when he shoved with 
over Albert Daher’s . Alexandr Lahkov fell soon after that when his couldn't outrun Kayan Tugrul's 
.
Kfir Yamin had declared throughout the tournament that it was “my time.” Finally, on Day 4, he ran out of time. Yamin had a few double ups during the day but finally ran his 
into Sergey Rybachenko’s 
.
The last to go before the official six-handed final table was Canadian online qualifier Maximilian Droege. He had been a bundle of energy and endless chatter from the time the first card was dealt until his exit. After losing a flip to cripple his stack, Droege moved the rest of his stack in preflop with 
but was in bad shape when aggressive Russian Sergey Rybachenko called with . The cards fell 
, and Droege stood up to a generous round of applause.
The remaining players congratulated each other before departing to prepare for the chance to win the top prize of $258,000, which includes a seat at the $25,000 WPT Championship next year.
The final table starts at 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday. PokerNews will be following along with the live stream, which has a 30 minute delay, so we will bringing you all the action and elimination hands beginning at 1:30 p.m.
2013 WPT Cyprus Merit Classic Final Table
| Seat | Name | Chips | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat 1 | Pierre Sayegh | 349,000 | Lebanon |
| Seat 2 | Alexey Rybin | 2,698,000 | Russia |
| Seat 3 | Andrei Nikonov | 1,280,000 | Russia |
| Seat 4 | Sergey Rybachenko | 921,000 | Russia |
| Seat 5 | Albert Daher | 1,595,000 | Lebanon |
| Seat 6 | Kayhan Tugrul | 1,025,000 | Turkey |
Recap to Follow...
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
A full recap of the day will follow shortly.
Final Chip Counts (full)
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,698,000 | 164,000 |
|
1,595,000 | -236,000 |
|
1,280,000 | 473,000 |
|
1,025,000 | 25,000 |
|
921,000 | |
|
349,000 | -59,000 |
Droege Eliminated in 7th Place ($38,100)
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Maximilian Droege, the likeable online qualifier from Canada, has finally fallen and so he becomes the final table bubble boy. He had flown over just to play in this tournament and what a ride it’s been. Unfortunately it has come to an end, and it was at the hands of Sergey Rybachenko.
Rybachenko opened for 50,000, Albert Daher folded his small blind and Droege put the rest of what remained of his stack over the line. Rybachenko quickly called and tabled . Droege groaned and showed his . The cards ran out . He was given a warm round of applause as he left, and although he will be desperately unhappy to exit so close to the final day we’re sure that when he has time to reflect on the tournament it will be an experience he will never forget.
Photo courtesy of WPT
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
921,000 | 160,000 |
|
Busted |
Can't Push Rybachenko Around
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Sergey Rybachenko raised to 50,000 preflop from the cutoff, Albert Daher made it 120,000 on the button. If it was a test, Rybachenko passed it with flying colours, he moved all in for almost 600,000 and Daher quickly folded.
Big Double For Tugrul
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
It was passed to Maximilian Droege in the small blind and he raised to 75,000 preflop. Kayhan Tugrul in the big blind reraised all in.
The ever-talkative Droege exclaimed, "Holy s**t, I need an exact count please."
The reply from the dealer was "479,000."
"I call," said Droege.
Droege:
Tugrul:
The board ran out 
and Tugrul held on to double up. Droege has been crippled.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,000,000 | 520,000 |
|
|
220,000 | -471,000 |
Rybachenko Ripping it
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Sergey Rybachenko is ramping up the pressure now, opening for 52,000 and stealing a few blinds and antes along the way. The first man to step up and try to put an end to this was Kayan Tugrul. When Rybachenko made his bet Tugrul defended his big blind. They saw a flop of 
. Tugrul check called Rybachenko’s bet of 52,000. The turn was the and again a check call, this time Rybachenko bet 135,000. The river was the . Tugrul checked for the last time and when Rybachenko get 200,000 it seemed that he had no other option than to believe he had a hand and let his cards go.
A Bit of Verbal from Tugrul
Level 24
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
There was a bit of friction before the break when Max Droege was talking to the Tournament Director when it was his turn to act, and Kayan Tugrul to his left told him in no uncertain terms to get a move on. Droege said it was only ten seconds and anyway other players took a lot longer thinking when it was their turn to act. Turgul asked Droege if this was his first time playing for big money but the Canadian declined to respond to the taunts of the Turkish player, instead requesting that he not tell him what to do.
They have been in some interesting blind on blind situations between the two. Could this bit of friction play into the dynamic now we are on the final table bubble?
Level: 24
Blinds: 12,000/24,000
Ante: 4,000