The breakthrough tournament of a future star of the game or the latest shock success on the live high roller poker circuit? Alex Kulev’s triumph in Monte Carlo saw him beat some of the best in the business as he captured the $1.1 million top prize. Outlasting a final table that featured players such as Ben Heath, Artur Martirosian and Adrian Mateos.

Bumper Field Leads to Bubble Drama

With 37 players, the 2023 EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller had a whopping €100,000 entry, so it can be safely assumed that not many of the field were in for the full amount. That’s no slight on the players’ abilities, more a question of making good sense, and some of the smartest in the game were in the tournament. That it marked Alex Kulev’s first major title is an incredible achievement by the young Bulgarian and one that will live long in the memory.

The event got underway two days before its conclusion, with the prizepool of €3,589,740 seeing plenty of top professionals crash out long before the money bubble burst on the final day. Stars such as Sam Greenwood, Seth Davies, Juan Pardo, Nick Petrangelo and Isaac Haxton at least busted outside the final two dozen players, as did Steve O’Dwyer, Daniel Dvoress and Mike Watson.

The agony of going close to the money was reserved for some of poker’s best. Justin Bonomo slid out in 12^th place, while Stephen Chidwick crashed out in 10^th. Christoph Vogelsang took his leave in 9^th and Timothy Adams lost his tournament life one place further up the leaderboard in 8^th to remain six figures down.

That left the money bubble still to burst, and the final day began with the reigning champion in the event, Adrian Mateos, the short stack. The Spanish pro didn’t exit, however, as Indian professional Santhosh Suvarna was eclipsed by Mateos, who then did the deed himself. Suvarna’s was unable to hold against Mateos’ as the board ran out to send the remaining half-dozen into the money places.

Mateos Loses His Crown

While Mateos managed to take out Suvarna, he still needed to chip up to put himself in contention to retain his title and take home a seven-figure prize. At the stage where the money places were left, it was the Belarussian Mikita Badziakouski who held the lead with 3.46 million chips, some way clear of Alex Kulev (2.6m) and miles clear of Orpen Kisacikoglu (1.18m), Mateos (950,000), Ben Heath (710,000) and Artur Martirosian (350,000). The big blind was 80,000 at that point in proceedings.

Despite that disparity in chips, the lead and short stack player changed on a number of occasions before the event lost one of its most colorful characters. Turkish high roller Kiscikoglu lives in London but shares none of the reserve typified by its local occupants, bring flair to the felt whenever he sits down. He was all-in with and needed a miracle when Badziakouski shoved with , however, and after calling it off, the Turkish pro couldn’t get any help on a board that gave Badziakouski the nut flush in spades. Kisacikoglu cashed for $275,575 in sixth place.

Down to five, Mateos doubled through Kulev, but rather than a resurrection, it was merely a stay of execution. In that instance, he’d triumphed with the weaker hand, but he couldn’t repeat the trick when calling off his tournament life with . Ben Heath had shoved with and held through the board of , leaving Mateos to collect $354,300 in winnings and pass on the torch for a  new champion to pick up.

Deal Done, Kulev is King

With four remaining, the Russian professional Artur Martirosian made his bow. Having been short on a number of occasions, he survived no further, crashing out in fourth place for $452,670 when Heath shoved from the small blind with and the Russian called it off from the big blind with . The flop of saw Heath leap into the lead and after the turn and river, Martirosian was on his feet, vanquished just before the podium places.

Heath was on a roll, but still sat short of his opponents and in the next few hands, he dropped to having a fraction of their chips. Deciding to push all-in with , Heath was up against Kulev’s which held through the board of to send play heads-up and eliminate Heath for a score of around $610,150.

Heads-up, Badziakouski and Kulev were happy to do a deal, with a fairly small comparative amount on the line. Despite that, heads-up swung both ways, and it took a bad beat to end the event. Kulev raised with then called off his stack when Badziakouski shoved with . The flop of was safe enough for the Belarussian, but the turn of a was followed by the on the river, giving the Bulgarian top two pair and the €1,036,287 ($1,136,400) top prize. Mikita Badziakouski claimed $1,107,400 in second, but it was Kulev’s day and one the emerging star will look back on with great fondness for years to come.