In the scorching heat of Cyprus, PokerStars Ambassador Elias Gutierrez stayed cool to claim his second high roller title of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus.
Earlier in the week, at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, Gutierrez banked $417,570 for winning the $25,000 Super High Roller Warm Up. A few days later, he emerged victorious in the $25,000 Super High Roller Second Chance, pocketing $390,200 and another Spadie trophy.
The six-figure windfall takes the online specialist's series earnings to over $800,000 and boosted his lifetime earnings over the $1 million milestone, reaching the top 25 on Spain's all-time money list.
The Spaniard navigated through a field of 50 entries to take home the lion's share of the $1,200,500 prize pool and overcame Teun Mulder in a very short heads-up duel that spanned just one level.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elias Gutierrez | Spain | $390,200 |
| 2 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | $258,100 |
| 3 | Hassan Nashar | Gambia | $174,100 |
| 4 | Samuel Mullur | Austria | $132,100 |
| 5 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | $102,000 |
| 6 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | $81,000 |
| 7 | Simone Andrian | Italy | $63,000 |
Gutierrez told PokerNewsthat the last heads-up was a lot more difficult, mainly because he wanted to win so much and was close to the title.
"My first win was more difficult. The heads-up was very up and down. I started with a huge chip lead heads-up, but my opponent turned it around, and I suffered mentally because I really wanted to win."
The Spanish professional spoke about how he prepared for this heads-up compared to the last one, having been in almost the same situation regarding stack sizes.
"Today, I entered [heads-up] better. I tried to relax and think clearly about what I was doing and what was going on. I went back to the game a lot more mentally prepared."
After playing through eight levels on Day 1, the twenty-five survivors were joined by twelve more late registrants. Those who fell short of making the money included PokerStars Ambassador Sam Grafton, whom Kayhan Mokri eliminated in the second level of the day.
Boris Angelov, Martin Zamani, and Steve O'Dwyer were eliminated before the money, as well as Day 1 chip leader Albert Daher, who cold four-bet ace-queen right into the cowboys of Gutierrez, resulting in Daher busting one place away from the final table.
With only seven places paid, Roman Hrabec earned the unfortunate title as bubble boy after being forced all-in from the big blind with eight-six suited. He couldn’t find a miracle and lost to Mulder’s set, making him the last player to leave without a payout.
Immediately after the bubble burst, Simone Andrian's pocket queens got cracked by Mulder's ace-ten, knocking him out in seventh place. Not long after, the two short stacks, Ognyan Dimov and Mokri, busted in sixth and fifth, respectively.
Samuel Mullur came into the final table with a commanding chip lead, which he held onto until the money bubble burst. But some unfortunate runouts resulted in him jamming his short-stack into the middle with ace-three and running into Gutierrez’s ace-jack. There was no help for Mullur, and his tournament ended in fourth place, just shy of a podium finish.
With the blinds rising and the average stack shrinking, it didn’t take long for the next elimination. Hassan Nashar, who had been the most chatty and active player throughout the tournament, found himself in a great spot to retake the chip lead after getting his stack in the middle way ahead against Gutierrez. However, a brutal turn gave Gutierrez a wheel, sending Nashar out in third place.
When heads-up play began, Gutierrez held a huge five-to-one chip lead over Mulder, similar to his heads-up battle days ago. That one turned into an emotional rollercoaster for him, but this time, he wrapped it up almost instantaneously. On the final hand, Gutierrez shoved the river with top pair and got paid off by Mulder’s second pair, thus crowning Gutierrez the $25K Super High Roller Second Chance champion.
