Mustafa Ercan Banks $377,115 and High Roller Title

Mustafa Ercan won one of the largest live poker tournament prizes since the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions by taking down the $10,500 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North Cyprus High Roller event. Ercan got his hands on a career-best $377,115 after a thrilling final table in North Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus, or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is recognized only by Turkey, making it a controversial location. However, Ercan put the politics to one side and navigated his way to an impressive victory and his first six-figure haul.

Ercan sat down at the nine-handed final table with 1,275,000 chips or 26 big blinds. The Turkish national probably did not expect to win because this stack placed him seventh from nine.

Those nine became eight with the elimination of Boris Kolev. Halil Kezer called Kolev’s shove with Qs-Qh, and found his ladies flipping against Ad-Ks. Ace-king proved no good as the board ran 7d-7s-5d-Td-9s.

Askar Bekbayev was the next finalist who fell by the wayside. Bekbayev was down to a shade more than two big blinds when he committed the last of his chips with Jc-Tc. Both Tobias Duthweiler and Kezer checked down the Kc-2d-Kh-9h-8c, and Duthweiler won with his 5s-5h.

Kezer was the next casualty in what was a relative cooler hand. All the chips went into the middle on the river of the 3d-6h-5c-7h-Qs board. Kezer flipped over Qh-7s for two pair, but Duthweiler turned a straight with his 9c-8d.

Ercan Two Eliminations Away From a Six-Figure Score

The prize money continued growing and only two of the remaining six players would not win a six-figure payout. Iakov Onuchin of Russia was one of those players. He called all-in with Qd-9d on a Qc-Th-Jc flop only to discover Duthweiler held Ac-Kc for a Broadway straight. Duthweiler improved to a flush on the turn, leaving Onuchin drawing dead.

Ercan locked in his first-ever six-figure prize when James Romero bowed out in fifth. Romero busted with a bad beat story to go with his $93,020 haul. He was all-in with As-Ks and against the dominated Ac-Qc of Fahredin Mustafov. A queen on the flop of the Th-Ts-Qd-6c-9h board ended Romero’s tournament.

Fourth place and $124,075 went to Romero’s executioner, Mustafov. He found himself all-in with Qc-7c against the Qh-Th of Duthweiler. There was no three-outer for Mustfov this time as the five community cards ran Tc-5s-8d-Jd-4s.

The tournament progressed to heads-up when Ercan sent Christophe Pantelli to the showers. Pantelli started the day as the chip leader but came unstuck when his Kh-7c ran into the Ad-Qs of Ercan. The dealer spread the As-9d-8d-Tc-9s board, and Pantelli exited.

Ercan got his hands on the title and $377,115 top prize thanks to pocket nines. A raising war ended with Duthweiler all-in and at risk holding 8c-8h. Ercan held the superior 9c-9d. The Ts-Td-5h flop was safe for Ercan. As was the 7d turn and the Kh river. Duthweiler collected $265,995 for his runner-up finish, while Ercan secured the $377,115 top prize.

partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North Cyprus High Roller Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Mustafa Ercan	Turkey	$377,115
2	Tobias Duthweiler	Germany	$265,995
3	Christophe Pantelli	Switzerland	$173,120
4	Fahredin Mustafov	Bulgaria	$124,075
5	James Romero	United States	$93,020
6	Iakov Onuchin	Russia	$74,385
7	Halil Kezer	Turkey	$61,820
8	Askar Bekbayev	Kazakhstan	$49,545
9	Boris Kolev	Bulgaria	$37,120

A phenomenal result for Ercan who only has seven live cashes on his Hendon Mob profile. All seven cashes are from North Cyprus events, but this latest addition is by far the largest.

He walked away with a $9,520 score in June 2019 when he cashed in a $3,300 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament. That was his largest score by almost $2,000. Ercan now has a six-figure prize to brag about in addition to a cool trophy and the title of High Roller champion.

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

View Articles