Grigoropoulos Wins First Greek Poker Cup
On Sunday, Pokerstars hosted the inaugural Greek Poker Cup which was played out by seven Greeks and one Swede at the final table for the first time on Greek soil.
Sweden's Daniel Carlsson was the chip leader from the very beginning. From the start of the final table he was raising every single pot and sending a clear message to all of his opponents. The majority of the time he was given a walk, as his opponents preferred to stay out of trouble. Many railbirds gave the Swede the new nickname “Isildur” due to his aggressive play.
However, his march towards claiming the title hit an obstacle when Giorgos Tzimas three-bet shoved from the big blind with Ah-8d. The Swede had initially min-raised with pocket kings and snap called, however, there was an ace on the flop, and all of a sudden, Giorgos had taken the narrow overall chip lead at that point.
Deciding that he finally has to make a stand, Giorgos doubled up through Carlsson again, this time with pocket sixes. Carlsson made the call with A-T but didn't make a pair.
At that point of the final table battle, Giorgos Tzimas began to show more aggression, raising every pot it seemed and re-stealing every attempted blind steal. Giorgos Grigoropoulos moved all in with pocket eights, and Tzimas decided to risk for his tournament life with A-K. The flop gave Tzimas an ace, but a third 8 to Grigoropoulos left Tzimas with less than 3 big blinds remaining in his stack. Tzimas was eliminated in 4th place just a few hands later.
About 30 minutes later, Kolonias shoved from the small blind with K-9, and Grigoropoulos called with A-K from the big blind, having his opponent dominated.The board was kind to the favorite and the heads-up play at the final table was reached.
Carlsson had the small chip advantage over Grigoropoulos, but Grigoropoulos closed the gap when he won the most important hand of the heads-up match. Calsson from the button moved all-in with Ad-6d but Grigoropoulos woke up with As-Qh and snap called. The favorite hand held up again and the Swede's stack was reduced down to only 3 big blinds, which he inevitably threw into the middle the very next hand with 6-2 and lost it all! Here were the final standings of the final table of the Greek Poker Cup:
1st place – Grigoropoulos Georgios – 69.100 €
2nd place – Daniel Carlsson – 43.900 €
3rd place – Kolonias Alexandros – 24.000 €
4th place – Tzimas Georgios (Pokerstars Qualifier) – 19.000 €
5th place – Poulikarakos Panayotis – 15.850 €
6th place – Tsantes Nikos (Pokerstars Qualifier)- 13.000 €
7th place – Kalfas Stavros (Greek Pokerstars Challenger) – 10.300 €
8th place – Kossivas Vasilis (Pokerstars Qualifier)- 8.140 €