Maxim Lykov Takes Down EPT Kyiv Main Event

Maxim Lykov Takes Down EPT Kyiv Main Event

Monday, 24 August 2009

Maxim Lykov of Russia has won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Kyiv event at the Kyiv Sporting Palace, putting in one of the most impressive and dominating tournament performances seen on the circuit.

Claiming the chip lead on Day 3 before the cash bubble burst, Lykov never relinquished it in a show of tournament dominance comparable to Jamie Gold’s running over of the 2006 WSOP Main Event. All in all, 296 players entered the tournament to create a prize pool of over €1m.


The first casualty of the final table was big stack Vadim Markushevski after approximately one level of play; running his KK into AA and losing a monster pot to finish 8th for €30,000.


Soon after Lykov continued his rampage by eliminating short stack Torsten Tent; then following up by winning an all-in coinflip against Ad Schaap. He then seemed to get bored of knocking out players and kept his head down until play reached 3-handed.


Soon after the break Lykov doubled up with AJ vs Vitaly Tolokonnikov’s 77, snatching the chip lead with a turned A as heads-up play began.


Lykov’s relentless aggression eventually paid off, in the end getting it in with trip fours against top pair on the turn of a 4J74 board and holding up to win all 9,000,000 chips in play.



Tags: Poker News, Maxim, Lykov, Takes, Down, EPT, Kyiv, Main, Event