The fourth event of the 2024 Super High Roller Series in Northern Cyprus saw Japanese poker professional Masashi Oya claim victory for $535,000. At a final table featuring Adrian Mateos and Matthias Eibinger, Oya’s defeat of perennial PokerGO Tour favorite Jeremy Ausmus earned him half a million dollars.

Bigger Buy-In Brings the Best Out to Play

With the buy-in for Event #4 increasing from $25,000 to $50,000 (minus registration fees), there were slightly fewer entries. Given the buy-in, however, the prizepool was much bigger, with 39 players in Events #1 and #2, and 41 in Event #3 now joined by 30 players each putting down $50,000 in Event #4 at the world-famous Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in Northern Cyprus.

Play took part at seven-handed tables throughout in Event #4, and some of the best players in the poker world took to the felt. With just 30 entries, the final seven players who made the second and final day would still need to lose two more to reach the money places.

The first of those to go would be the previous sixth-place finisher from Event #3, German player Samuel Ju. Just missing out on a min-cash this time around, Ju took 90 minutes of the final table to bust, losing when his ace-ten suited couldn’t catch a miracle against the dominating ace-queen of Adrian Mateos.

Velasevic Vanquished on the Bubble

Six players needed just one of their number to depart for everyone to be in the money, and a tense three-hour stand-off ensued with the $87,500 min-cash on the line. During this period, Masashi Oya made hay, using his chip lead to bully his way to holding over two-thirds of the chips in play.

Eventually, Danilo Velasevic was all-in with jack-six from the big blind and was unable to hold against the seven-four of the chip leader Oya. The Japanese player paired up on the flop and held to the river to send the final player home without profit. With the remaining five players in the money, Ausmus played fearless poker to double-up twice through Oya before Eibinger repeated the trick.

Sorel Mizzi was shortest next but his own attempt to spin it up at the expense of the Japanese player’s stack was doomed to fail. All-in with queen-ten, the Canadian was dominated by Oya’s queen-jack and lost out, cashing for $87,500 in fifth place. Four players were left and Oya was still flying highest.

Missing out on the podium places by a single spot was the Austrian player Matthew Eibinger who won $122,000 in fourth place. All-in with queen-jack, Eibinger was dominated by the again powerful Oya’s king-queen and wasn’t able to overtake his opponent post-flop.

Oh Yes for Oya as Ausmus the Bridesmaid Again

Down to the final three players, Adrian Mateos shoved for just under four big blinds with nine-three. Once again, Oya had the dominating hand, holding ten-three to start and end the hand ahead, sending the Spanish player to the rail for a second score of the series, this time a whopping $166,000.

Oya began the final duel with a massive 5:1 chip lead over Jeremy Ausmus, with the American having just 12 big blinds at the start of play. All-in with ace-deuce against Oya’s queen-nine call, Ausmus did double up and won two more pots without going to showdown to take the lead. That soon disappeared, however, after Ausmus’ hero call with bottom pair was incorrect, Oya’s top pair reestablishing the Japanese player’s lead.

Soon, it was all over when Ausmus’ pocket kings fell to Oya’s flopped two pair. While Ausmus had to settle for $231,000 as runner-up, Oya took home the $535,000 top prize, along with 321 PGT points, and the PGT Gold Cup trophy.

Oya’s victory propelled him to 78^th on the PGT leaderboard, with Ausmus second overall after 17 cashes this season already. Only the top 40 players will qualify for the end of season PGT Leaderboard Million Dollar Freeroll Championship. Adrian Mateos was the most pivotal mover, rising to 13^th on the PGT leaderboard after his second consecutive cash. The win saw Oya lengthen his lead as the most successful Japanese poker player in history by some way, with his $8.53 million in tournament career earnings well ahead of his nearest challenger, Tsugunari Toma on $3.17 million.