Tony G Wins Mediterranean Poker Party High Roller for $257,000

The latest winner in the Mediterranean Poker Party festival was the biggest personality of them all – Tony G. After a decade mainly spent away from the poker tables, the infamous Lithuanian spent Monday night handing out lessons in how to play down to a winner at a high roller poker table.

Burns Cashes for Big Win

It was Danny Tang who entered the final day in charge of the six remaining players. With over six million in chips and two players on just over one million, Tang was favorite to make the latter stages after a stunning ascent up the leaderboard on Day 3 of this event. Tang’s rise to prominence in high rollers is well documented, with the Hong Kong born, British-based player having run into a very famous footballer last month at EPT Barcelona.

The first person to bust on finals day was the Australian high roller Kahle Burns. His own rocket-like rise through the ranks in tournaments with eye-watering buy-ins is legendary. Despite this, Burns has not been sleeping soundly of late, after confessing to insomnia on Twitter just last week.

Going into more detail, Burns posted an update following this post on August 30^th, saying: “In case it wasn’t obvious I didn’t not sleep on purpose. The chronic insomnia was present before I played any poker. This isn’t a brag it’s a fail. Yes, I spoke to some experts. Just gonna put my health first till I figure it out. It’s been quite hard to figure out so far.”

Burns has since posted an update today that he is on meds and sleeping better. “Not so long ago I had a lot of sleep deprivation, a lot of [zero-hour] nights,” he said. “I took some medicine [and] got some sleep. Feel a lot better. Playing good.” Busting in sixth place for $65,000 his latest cash might not be an outright victory, but clearly in a better place health-wise must register as another big win in the life of a poker player the public have taken to their collective hearts.

Tang Departs, Drama Starts

With five men remaining, the balance of power had shifted away from Danny Tang and the chip leader heading into the final six was the next player to bust. After 96 players had rebought 55 times, the field of 149 entries had been whittled down to just five and every decision had a huge bearing on the momentum of power at the table. Danny Tang was the next player to be eliminated as he cashed for $80,000 in fifth place, missing out on the top four.

In a week when Hannes Jeschka won the MPP Main Event for $542,000, the field was narrowing for the latest victor to be crowned champion. Out in fourth place was British superstar and live result leader from his country, Stephen Chidwick. He cashed for $100,000 but missed out on the podium places despite yet another deep run in a high roller – a format that he has, to a large extent, made his own in the last couple of years.

Italian player Andrea Ricci busted in third place, earning $140,800 for coming in third, the fourth-biggest result of his poker career to date. It was an unfortunate place to bust out in, as with two players left and over half a million still to be won, Tony G and American Alex Peffly came to a deal in order to smooth out the remaining prizes considerably.

Tony G Takes the Title

It didn’t take long for the final hand to arrive, mainly since the deal that both players agreed to was an equal chop, with each man winning $247,500, leaving just $10,000 to go with the win. Quickly and without drama, it was Tony G who took down the final pot and celebrated, jumping out of his chair and shouting “I’m the champion!” before posing for pictures.

After his victory Tony G headed to social media to celebrate, saying:

“Nice victory this time. Champagne for the casino. Cyprus is a lucky place. Managed to knock out five Russians along the path to victory. In the final table knocked out the great Australian K Burns. Chidwick and Danny Tang were tough opponents. Ultimately it’s a confidence builder that I can still compete after so many years away from the circuit.”

Guoga did much more than simply compete, ruling the last stages of a high roller he can celebrate long into the night as he showed being pictured back at the felt (top picture: Tony G on Twitter). After his first win in just over a year, Guoga has now won over $10.8 million in live tournaments and is delighted to be back among the elite set in poker – and, most importantly, winning.