Nanartavicius is the MILLIONS North Cyprus Warm-Up Champion

Mantas Nanartavicius is the 2021 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North Cyprus Warm-Up champion. Nanartavicius, who calls Lithuania home, outlasted 744 players in the $2,200 buy-in event, and walked away with the winner’s trophy and an impressive $210,912 payout.

2021 partypoker LIVE MILLONS North Cyprus Warm-Up Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Mantas Nanartavicius	Lithuania	$210,912*
2	Fahredin Mustafov	Bulgaria	$156,293*
3	Ionel Anton	Romania	$158,318*
4	Silma Macalou	France	$81,435
5	Georges Hanna	Lebanon	$62,095
6	Johan Guilbert	France	$50,170
7	Kush Kataria	India	$41,535
8	Jim Sue Pan	Netherlands	$33,035
9	Matthieu Chan	Mauritius	$24,810

*reflects a three-handed deal leaving $24,000 more for the champion

The final day’s action began with 12 players in the hunt for the title, and with Jim Sue Pan leading them back into battle at the five-star Merit Crystal Cove Hotel Casino & Spa.

Those 12 were reduced to 11 with the elimination of Karolis Ciudaras during the 100,000/200,000/200,000a level. Ciudaras open-shoved for 1,625,000 from the button with , and Kush Kataria called from the small blind with . Kataria’s eight-kicker played on the Kc] board, sending Ciudaras to the rail.

Artur Martirosian sat down as one of the shorter stacks and he could not get out of second gear. Martirosian got his chips in with against the of Silma Macalou and the of Nanartavicius. The five community cards fell , busting Martirosian and propelling Nanartavicius towards the top of the chip counts.

The final table was set when Gregoire Auzoux bowed out in tenth. He lost a coinflip against fellow Frenchman Johan Guilbert, his failing to hold against Guilbert’s .

It took more than an hour for the first finalist to head to the cashier’s desk, Matthieu Chan being that player. Chan committed his last six big blinds with and lost to the of Pan, which improved to a Broadway straight on the river.

Eight-handed play lasted for a couple of hours and ended with Pan heading to the showers. Blinds were now 250,000/500,000/500,000a, and Pan moved all-in for 4,150,000 with . Romanian star Ionel Anton called with the dominating and won the pot courtesy of the board.

Another two hours passed before Kataria ran out of steam. Nanartavicius min-raised to 1,200,000 with and called when Kataria three-bet all-in for 4,200,000. Nanartavicius’ kings remained true, and the final table lost another player.

Guilbert was the most active player on the final day but he could only muster a sixth-place finish. Fahredin Mustafov shipped in his last ten big blind with what turned out to be , and Guilbert snap-called off his 2,900,000 stack with . An ace on the turn ended Guilbert’s dreams of becoming this tournament’s champion.

A huge pot occurred during the 400,000/800,000/800,000a level that turned the tournament on its head. Georges Hanna moved all-in for 12,500,000 and Mustafov condisdered at least calling with but ultimately folded. Anton called on the button, Macalous folded in the small blind, before Nanartavicius called all-in for 10,000,000.

It was for Hanna, for Anton, but for Nanartavicius! The aces held to send Hanna to the rail in fifth, and Nanartavicius up to more than 31,000,000 chips.

The final four became three when Macalou crashed out at the hands of Nanartavicius. Macalou looked down at and open-shoved for 9.4 big blinds from the small blind. Nanartavicius called with and the door card was an ace. There was a little drama because the flop was all club and Macalou held a club, but the turn and river were both red and not eights, melting Macalou’s snowmen.

The three remaining players fought for approximately 30-minutes before pausing the clock and successfully negotiating a deal. That deal left $24,000 more for the eventual champion.

Anton busted in third soon after when he opened to 2,500,000 with and Mustafov defended his big blind with . Mustafov check-called the 10,700,000 shove from Anton on the flop and was a huge favourite to win the hand. The turn and river halted Anton in his tracks.

The stacks were neck-and-neck going into heads-up, but the first meaningful pot went Nanartavicius’ way. He had Mustafov on the ropes, but the Bulgarian won a coinflip with against his opponent’s .

After three hours of one-on-one action, the final hand took place. Mustafov jammed all-in for 12.5 big blinds with and Nanartavicius called with . The flop did not change anything, although the turn gave Mustafov more outs to a straight. The river was a total brick, which busted Mustafov in second place and handed the title to Nanartavicius.