European Poker Tour -- Maxim Lykov Wins Kiev Main EventLykov Dominates the Final Three Days of the Tournament to Win €330,000 |
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Maxim Lykov came into the final day of the €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour stop in Kiev, Ukraine, with the chip lead. He held onto that lead and defeated a field of 296 players to win his first major tournament title on Sunday, Aug. 23. The young player also became the first Russian to win an EPT event.
“I am very proud to win this. Ukraine and Russia are very close, so I feel I have won for both countries,” said Lykov in an official press release from PokerStars. “It was a hard contest but I did believe I could do it.”
The final table began slowly in the cavernous surroundings of the Kiev Sports Palace; it took an hour and a half for Vadim Markushevski to bust out of the tournament in eighth place (€30,000). A half hour later, Torsten Tent was eliminated in seventh place (€45,000) by Lykov, and then the eventual champion scored his second knockout at the final table when his pocket tens busted Adrian Schaap in sixth place (€60,000).
Another wall slowed down the action five-handed, and it took three hours for the next player to fall. Vitaly Tolokonnikov (pocket queens) and Lucasz Plitcha (pocket eights) got it all in preflop, and both a queen and an 8 came on the flop to give Tolokonnikov a set-over-set victory in the hand. Plitcha was eliminated in fifth place, and he took home €80,000 in prize money.
Fourth place was decided just a few minutes later, and for the second time that day, pocket tens sent a player to the rail. Alex Dovzhenko held the tens, and they were more than enough against the Q-8 of Arthur Simonyan, who was eliminated in fourth place (€100,000). The final three players then went to dinner break with the chip stacks pretty close to even at 3 million a piece.
On the first hand back from the dinner break, Lykov scored his third knockout for the day in the biggest hand of the tournament. Tolokonnikov raised to 220,000 preflop, and Lykov reraised to 550,000. Tolokonnikov then moved all in, and Lykov made the call. Tolokonnikov flipped over pocket sevens, and Lykov held A-J. The board ran out Q-5-3-A-8, and Tolokonnikov was eliminated in third place (€140,000). Lykov won the hand to take his chip stack up to 5,895,000 at the beginning of heads-up play.
Dovzhenko held 3,020,000 at the start of heads-up play, but in less than an hour, his stack had vanished. On the final hand, Lykov raised to 220,000 preflop, and Dovzhenko made the call. The flop came J-7-4 with two spades, and both players checked. The turn paired the board with a 4, and Lykov checked. Dovzhenko bet 400,000, and Lykov check-raised to 1 million. Dovzhenko moved all in, and Lykov called. Lykov revealed 9-4, and Dovzhenko turned over J-10. The river brought an ace and ended the tournament. Dovzhenko was eliminated on the hand in second place, and he took home €220,000. Lykov emerged as the champion, and he was awarded €330,000 for the victory.
Here is a look at the final results:
1: Maxim Lykov (Russia) — €330,000
2: Alex Dovzhenko (Ukraine) — €220,000
3: Vitaly Tolokonnikov (Russia) — €140,000
4: Arthur Simonyan (Russia) — €100,000
5: Lucasz Plichta (Poland) — €80,000
6: Adrian Schaap (Holland) — €60,000
7: Torsten Tent (Germany) — €45,000
8: Vadim Markushevski (Belarus) — €30,000
The next stop for season six on the EPT will take place in Barcelona, Spain. The €8,000 no-limit hold’em main event will run from Sept. 4-9.
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