The third and latest PokerGO Tour ended with excitement as Tunisian player Maher Nouira pipped Spanish poker legend Adrian Mateos to the latest trophy in Northern Cyprus. At a final table packed with talent, players such as Daniel Dvoress and Yulian Bogdanovalso fell short as Nouira claimed his first-ever PokerGO Tour title in style.

Biggest Field So Far in Cyprus

The Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in Northern Cyprus once again played host to the action with the stunning backdrop of the sandy beach in the Kyrenia resort behind the players. Amid the glittering light on the coast, the hot lights of a final table saw seven players begin the final day after an increased field of 41 players took on the 6-Max No Limit Hold’em Event #3.

Seven may have begun on Day 2, but only six would cash. Ren Lin, who was hoping to cash for the second time in the first three events but fell just short. The Chinese player was all-in with queen-deuce automatically in the big blind, losing with queen-deuce against the jack-three-suited belonging to Adrian Mateos. A jack on the turn proved decisive, as Lin busted for nothing in seventh place.

Next to go was Samuel Ju, who was the other players of the final seven who had seen their chip stack virtually disappear on the bubble. The German player won $65,000 when he was all-in with eight-five suited, falling to the also suited king-jack belonging to Jamil Wakil, as the field was trimmed to the last five players.

Dvoress Splits as Mateos Turns Matador

Canadian player Daniel Dvoress found himself the shortest stack among the remaining players, letting queen-jack go into battle for his last five big blinds. Unfortunately for the popular poker professional, he ran into the ace-queen belonging to Maher Nouira. Hopes weren’t dead for Dvoress until the river, after he turned a straight draw, but 5^th street bricked and he busted in fifth place instead for $87,500.

Down to four players, the Bulgarian player Yulian Bogdanov was under the gun. Doubling through Nouira once, Bogdanov must have hoped he could fight his way back up the chipcounts, but when he moved in soon after with ace-five, he ran headlong into the Tunisian’s pocket queens, busting for $122,000 despite flopping a gutshot wheel straight draw.

Canadian player Jamil Wakil was unable to make the heads-up when he busted in third place for $166,000. While both Nouira and Mateos managed to hold onto their chips, Wakil needed to hold when he pushed his shorter stack into the middle with king-eight. Losing to Nouira’s jack-four when the Tunisian turned two-pair, the heads-up battle began with Nouira holding a better than 6:1 chip lead.

Nouira Sees Off Late Challenge

The early levels of heads-up play saw the Spanish player Mateos – the youngest player ever to win three WSOP bracelets when he turned 22 – fight back. The Matador, as he has been called, doubled up with ace-king, before following that win with another. Turning trips, he elicited more chips from the Tunisian player, who paid off the Spanish pro to almost level the stacks.

Nouira remained marginally ahead, though, and when an inflated pot led to Mateos shoving the river of a wet board with just ten-high it was a terrific move at the worst time possible. Nouira called the shove with the second nuts, and his straight meant that the Tunisian won his first-ever PGT title for a top prize of $333,000. He also cemented his place at the top of the Tunisian All-Time Money List according to The Hendon Mob.

While Nouira’s victory nudged him up into 219^th place on the PGT leaderboard, Mateos moved into 24^th place with his runner-up finish, a result that may mean he makes the top 40 players who qualify for the season-ending PGT Million Dollar Freeroll Championship. Nouira’s win was still immense for the Tunisian player. Popular in EPT events for many years, the talented player now has over $3.5 million in live tournament earnings and will be keen to add to his PokerGO Tour results in the remainder of this PGT Super High Roller Series.