Gilles Simon Wins EPT Cyprus Main Event

Gilles Simon, a Dutch online pro and Twitch streamer, has won the inaugural European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus Main Event, which took place at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa.

Simon defeated Andrea Dato heads-up after overcoming a heavy chip deficit to collect the $1,042,000 winner's prize and the coveted trophy.

$6,402,000 Prize Pool

This first-ever EPT Cyprus Main Event featured two starting flights and took four days to complete. 1,320 entries were recorded, building a prize pool of $6,402,000.

When the final table assembled, Simon arrived as the chip leader and was never far from the top of the count for the remainder of the tournament. With $162,925 already sewn up, the seven players only had eyes on the seven-figure winners prize.

Inevitably, they started to head to the rail, and by the time play was three-handed, Simon had a comfortable lead. But it didn’t last long.

Dato had a 2-1 lead once Jose Gonzalez Sanchez was knocked out, starting the heads-up battle with some confidence.

But that didn’t last long, either. The very first hand of heads-up play saw Simon flop two pair and get paid to even the chip count.

A 45-minute dinner break saw Simon come back pumped and determined to finish the job which he did in only a few more hands.

"It was very close and I think it was just very much for everyone involved. The battle of who can just hold on, who can keep playing steady and not make too many big mistakes because the pressure is on, has been on for multiple days already.

“And it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and everyone just has that feeling of 'I want it to be over with. I want to be done with it. But you also want to keep playing long game. So yeah, What did it take? I don't know. Good cards.

"And I like to think also mostly good decisions as a couple of spots where I was like, I don't know if I played that optimally, but yeah, I like to think that I made some good decisions in the end to maneuver my way to heads up and eventually to win."

Simon made the move from amateur streamer to poker pro in 2019 after winning PokerStars' inaugural Dare2Stream competition and a Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC). He has racked up multiple online scores in major events during 2023 worth over $375,000, including a WCOOP title earlier this month.

Simon's victory is by far the biggest of his career and takes his live poker earnings from over $200,000 to over $1.2 million. He is an example of how the poker dream still remains possible, as he banked $1,042,000 for the win.

Simon's victory caps a meteoric rise to the top for the 24-year-old, who was playing online tournaments with an average buy-in of $10 just a few years ago.

EPT Cyprus Main Event Final Table Results