KEY TAKEAWAYS
Ivelin Kolev won the $1,100 WPT Prime Cyprus Championship on October 19, 2026, taking the top prize of $171,600 after beating Said Tahar heads-up at Chamada Prestige, outside Kyrenia in Cyprus. The World Poker Tour (WPT) reported that his prize includes a $10,400 seat in the season-ending WPT World Championship in Las Vegas, hosted at Wynn, which runs December 13 to 20. Tahar finished second for $100,000.
The tournament ran from October 15 to 19 with a $1 million guarantee and 953 entries. It was a rescheduled event: the WPT postponed it in March 2026 and moved it to the fall. Kolev entered the final table behind Tahar in chips, then took control as the field thinned and entered heads-up play with a lead of more than six to one.
The Final Table Results and Payouts
The final table paid eight places, and the WPT’s official results list each one. Kolev’s $171,600 is not all cash: the WPT says it includes the $10,400 World Championship seat, and its own recap puts the cash at about $161,200. The table below uses the WPT’s published payouts.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivelin Kolev | $171,600 (includes $10,400 WPT World Championship seat) |
| 2 | Said Tahar | $100,000 |
| 3 | Joseph El Khoury | $74,000 |
| 4 | Andreas Christodoulo | $56,000 |
| 5 | Johan Storakers | $42,500 |
| 6 | Bora Kurtulus | $32,000 |
| 7 | Sergiu Cornea | $24,800 |
| 8 | Ismail Yagci | $19,300 |
Adding the eight listed prizes gives $520,200 paid at the final table, by calculation. The same calculation shows second place at about 58% of the winner’s headline figure. The sources reviewed do not publish the total prize pool or the number of places paid beyond the final eight.
How the Final Day Played Out
The WPT’s hand-by-hand updates describe a final day that began with Tahar holding a clear chip lead, according to both the WPT and PokerNews. Kolev was not the leader when play began, but he took the pots that mattered. He knocked out Johan Storakers in fifth place when his all-in from the small blind of 11,750,000 was called by Storakers with 4,050,000, and he then eliminated Andreas Christodoulo in fourth when Christodoulo called off a 4,200,000 stack against a button jam.
Third place went to Joseph El Khoury, who called Kolev’s button shove from the small blind with a 2,200,000 stack. El Khoury was ahead in the hand, but Kolev paired on the runout and the tournament went to heads-up play. The WPT’s official counts before the heads-up match were 32,950,000 for Kolev, about 82 big blinds, and 5,175,000 for Tahar, about 13. That is a chip ratio of roughly 6.4 to one, by calculation.
The heads-up match
The title match was not a formality. Blinds stood at 200,000 and 400,000 with a 400,000 ante. In hand 106, Tahar moved all in for 3,375,000 and Kolev called from the big blind; Tahar paired a jack on the river and doubled to 7,200,000 against Kolev’s 31,000,000. The double-up cut Kolev’s lead to about 4.3 to one, by calculation, but Kolev won the next pots.
The decisive hand was number 111. Kolev limped, Tahar checked, and the two checked through the flop. On a turn board that included the queen of hearts, Kolev bet 700,000 and Tahar called. After the three of spades came on the river, Kolev moved all in and Tahar called for 2,950,000 holding queen-three, which gave him two pair. Kolev showed six-four for a seven-high straight and won the title.
Why the Event Was Played in October
This championship was supposed to be played in March. The WPT announced that it was postponing the $1,100 event, which had been set for March 5 to 9, and said the tour was tracking developments across the eastern Mediterranean. Citing flight cancellations and travel uncertainty, it said its team could not attend and that the event would be “postponed and rescheduled at a later date.” PokerNews linked the postponement to the war in Iran.
The rest of the March festival went ahead, including a replacement $1,100 Main Event that drew 1,114 entries and a $1,080,580 prize pool, with a German player taking $178,580, according to PokerNews. By June 7, the WPT had set new dates: October 15 to 19 for the rescheduled Prime championship, as part of a festival running October 7 to 19, plus a separate $3,500 WPT Cyprus Championship in August.
The August event was won by Farbod Nazari, according to the WPT, and both events were Season 24 stops at the same hotel. The WPT’s own recap draws that line to keep the two Cyprus titles apart. The last time Chamada Prestige hosted a $1,100 WPT Prime event, in March 2025, a field of 1,391 produced a $1,349,270 prize pool, and Omar Lakhdari won $200,830, PokerNews reported.
What the Win Means for Kolev and the Tour
For Kolev, the result opens a door. The $10,400 seat sends him to the WPT World Championship, which the WPT describes as the Season 24 finale and one of the richest tournaments on its calendar. A $1,100 entry has become a World Championship seat, which the WPT’s recap framed as a shot at the tour’s biggest year-end title.
PokerNews also reported that Kolev won an event at European Poker Tour Barcelona in August for $44,570. Adding that figure to the Cyprus first prize gives $216,170 across the two results the outlet cited, by calculation, although the report does not claim that this is his full tally for the year.
For the tour, the event shows that a postponed stop can be recovered. The October championship drew 953 entries, which is about 31.5% fewer than the 1,391 entries of the March 2025 edition and about 14.5% fewer than the 1,114 entries in the March 2026 replacement event, by calculation. The sources reviewed do not explain the difference, and it should not be read as a verdict on demand.
What the Figures Do and Do Not Show
Several points are easy to misread. First, the $171,600 includes the seat, and a reader who treats it as cash will overstate Kolev’s take-home by $10,400. Second, the figure of 953 entries multiplied by the $1,100 buy-in gives $1,048,300, but that is gross entry fees by calculation, and the WPT’s report does not give the prize pool or say whether the guarantee was fully covered.
Third, accounts of the last hand differ in small ways. The WPT’s official update says Tahar held a queen and a three, making two pair, while PokerNews described him as holding top pair. This article follows the WPT’s official record, because the tour kept the hand-by-hand log.
Finally, the chip lead at the start of the day did not decide the title. The WPT’s recap said as much about Tahar, who led going in, doubled up once during heads-up play and still finished second.
How Cyprus Compares With Recent Title Events
The result sits alongside other recent title events, two of which the WSOP reported for its Circuit series. The table lists first prizes and entries as each organizer reported them; the events differ in buy-in, currency basis and organizer, so the figures are context rather than a ranking.
| Event | Buy-in | Entries | First prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| WPT Prime Cyprus Championship (Oct. 15-19) | $1,100 | 953 | $171,600 (includes $10,400 seat) |
| WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Pompano Beach Main Event (Oct. 8-12) | $1,700 | 1,011 | $248,632 |
| WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley Main Event (reported Oct. 6) | $1,700 | 599 | $172,325 |
The WSOP said the Pompano Beach event produced a $1,531,665 prize pool, so Robert Gianquitti’s first prize was about 16.2% of the pool by calculation. At Thunder Valley, the $907,485 pool made Manjunath Mulinti’s $172,325 about 19.0%. A comparable share for Cyprus cannot be calculated because the prize pool was not reported in the sources reviewed.
What Comes Next on the Calendar
Kolev’s next stop is the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas, hosted at Wynn, scheduled for December 13 to 20. The WPT also said WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star is underway, with WPT Seoul and then the Venetian Fall Championship to follow in early November.
On the WSOP side, two 18-ring Circuit series began on October 22 at Caesars Southern Indiana and Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe, and both run through November 2. Both feature $1,700 Main Events, with the first flights on October 30. Every Circuit ring winner this season receives a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package, and the Southern Indiana Main Event carries a $250,000 guarantee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- World Poker Tour — WPT Prime Cyprus Championship, live updates and results (October 19, 2026)
- World Poker Tour — Ivelin Kolev Wins WPT Prime Cyprus Championship (October 20, 2026)
- World Poker Tour — WPT Prime Cyprus Championship (Postponed) notice (March 2026)
- PokerNews — World Poker Tour to Return to Cyprus Twice By the End of the Year (June 7, 2026)
- PokerNews Brasil — Ivelin Kolev dá show na mesa final e é campeão do WPT Prime Chipre (October 21, 2026)
- WSOP.com — Robert Gianquitti Wins Harrah’s Pompano Beach WSOP Circuit Main Event (October 13, 2026)
- WSOP.com — Manjunath Mulinti Claims Thunder Valley WSOP Circuit Main Event Title (October 6, 2026)
- WSOP.com — WSOP Circuit Series Underway in Lake Tahoe and Southern Indiana (October 22, 2026)
