Onyx SHRS in Cyprus Wraps Up

The inaugural Onyx Super High Roller Series played out at Merit Casino’s Onyx Club in Cyprus, as the exclusive poker room hosted many of the world’s best poker players and high rollers from Europe, Asia, and America alike.

Two weeks of high-stakes poker action saw millions of dollars change hands, as the likes of Jesse Lonis, Phil Ivey, and Ben Lamb all won titles or made final table appearances, alongside a surprising number of players whose names are relatively unknown in the poker community.

Rob Yong’s high-stakes poker experiment on the border of Europe and Asia seems to have paid off, as the Series proved to be a massive success, with response from the players overwhelmingly positive.

The cash games were buzzing, the first Onyx Live poker streams broke records with some of the biggest games we have seen on television or stream, and the tournaments matches those of the Triton Poker Series in every aspect.

Here is a full rundown of the tournament portion of the Onyx Super High Roller Series from Cyprus.

Things Kick Off with the GGMillion$

The first event of the Series was a relatively “low-stakes” event, the $10,400 GGMillion$. The more affordable buyin saw 510 players enter, creating a prize pool of $4,794,000.

The organizers wanted to make sure this inaugural Onyx event would pay a million to the champion, which meant the final table payouts were quite top-heavy, with more than 20% of the prize pool going to the champion.

The tournament was an incredibly international affair, with players from all parts of the world coming out to Cyprus to see what the new venue is all about.

Some of the familiar faces in attendance included the likes of Ren Lin, Jesse Lonis, and WSOP Main Event champion Michael Mizrachi and his brother Eric.

Yet, none of these would make the final table, which ended up being dominated with Asian players, many of whom were relatively unknown before their appearance in the event.

When all was said and done, the tournament came down to Lebanese Moussa Ahmad and the only player left from the Americas, Canadian Jamil Wakil.

The heads up match was fairly quick. Wakil decided to decline a chop offer from Ahmad just one hand before it all came to an end.

The final hand saw the two players get the chips in with Wakil holding pocket tens, up against a small flush draw for Ahmad. The club on the river gave Ahmad the title and the $1,000,000 first-place prize

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Fahredin Mustafov Takes the Main Event Glory

While it was far from the biggest buyin event of the Onyx Super High Roller Series, the $25,750 Main Event was perhaps the most prestigious tournament to win in Cyprus this August.

The tournament drew in a respectable crowd of 227 players, creating a prize pool of just over $5.5 million, along with a $1.3 million first place prize.

Once again, plenty of well-known players made the money, including Jesse Lonis, former WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan, and high roller Mikita Badziakouski.

The likes of Artur Martirosian and Matthew Wantman even made the final table of the Main Event, but the trophy eventually went to Day 1A chip leader Fahredin Mustafov.

The experienced Bulgarian grinder, who has been having a breakout summer after a career that spans over a decade, beat an anonymous Turkish player who went by the name “Kenar” in the tournament.

His path to victory was an unusually easy one, as he steamrolled the final table and never looked like losing. Mustafov celebrated his victory in the presence of his family, and shared nothing but the greatest compliments for the tournament staff, media, and the viewers.

Onyx SHRS Main Event Final Table Results

Invitational Events Bring Out the Big Guns

A pair of $100k invitational events were organized as part of the Onyx SHRS, with only select high rollers and reputable professional poker players getting the invite to play.

Among the 88 who ponied up the buyin were plenty of highly recognizable names, including Phil Ivey, widely considered as the best poker player of all time, high-stakes crusher Jesse Lonis, PLO specialist Ben Lamb, and Series host Rob Yong.

The first Invitational was played at NLH tables, with Ivey and Lonis both shining and making the final table. Despite the stiff competition, it would eventually be the Gorilla himself who would take home the glory and $1,745,625 in prize money, while Ivey would have to content with third place good for just over a million.

Lonis and his heads up opponent Maher Nouira made a deal when just two were left, which meant both players would receive a fairly even payout.

$100k NLH Invitational Final Table Results

A separate $100k PLO Invitational event saw a similar playing field, and 79 players in total paid the steep entry fee.

Ivey was once again among those making the money, alongside the latest Hall of Fame inductee Nick Schulman, but both fell just short of the final table.

Ben Lamb, one of the best PLO players in the world, came in 8^th, while the three final players decided to make an undisclosed deal chopping more than $3,000,000 among themselves.

$100k PLO Invitational Final Table Results

*An undisclosed deal was made between the players

New Millionaires Made in High Roller Championships

Two further high-stakes events, both with a $51k event, were played down in Cyprus last week, both carrying the title of High Roller Championship events.

The bigger of the two carried a $5 million guarantee, and eventually saw exactly 100 players sign up to play, meeting the guarantee in full.

A well-known tournament grinder from Austria Daniel Rezaei went on to win the one-day marathon, which lasted for 29 full levels of play. Rezaei eventually chopped the prize money with David Nicholson, who ended up winning just slightly more money in the chop.

Jamil Wakil also made his third final table appearance in this event, coming in third place for $585,000, significantly less than the $1 million prizes won by the two players on top of the leaderboard.

$51k SHRS NLH Championship Final Table Results

The $51k SHRS PLO Championship event was a smaller affair, with just 49 players choosing to play this one, which meant the $2 million guarantee was not met in full.

Many well-known faces were in the crowd once again, with Jesse Lonis and Artur Martirosian both making yet another final table appearance and ITM finish.

Yet, in the end it was Dutch player Marcus Dieleman who won the lion’s chunk of the prize pool, taking home $750,000 for his first-place finish.

He beat Russian player Sergei Nesterenko in heads up duel, while Daniel Dvoress, one of the most recognizable players at this final table, came in third.

A fourth-place finish here meant the Player of the Series title would go to Main Event champion Fahredin Mustafov, who won himself a $100k package to play in the upcoming Triton Poker Series Main Event in Jeju.

$51k SHRS PLO Championship Final Table Results