Alexey Rybin wins the WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

The first event on Season XII of the World Poker Tour (WPT) is now in the books, with the bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Main Event crowning the latest WPT Champion in the form of Russian Alexey Rybin.

The Merit Cyprus Classic tournament has kicked-off the last two WPT seasons, and both times a very rare feat was accomplished. Marvin Rettenmaier, the winner of this event on Season XI, became the first back-to-back WPT winner, as he won the final event of Season X (the $25k Championship) followed by a win in Cyprus; becoming the first player to win two consecutive WPT tournaments.

So what was Rybin’s feat? On his way to victory Rybin led at the end of every day, giving him the incredibly rare wire-to-wire win; an achievement that has become almost unheard of in the modern tournament poker world, where tournaments can stretch five or more days. According to the WPT website, this feat hasn’t been accomplished on the World Poker Tour since Kevin Saul at the Bellagio Cup back in 2008.

The WPT Merit Cyprus Classic victory is only the seventh on Rybin’s resume according to his Hendon Mob page, but the young Russian seems to make the most of those cashes, considering he is averaging over $100,000 per cash! His WPT win is actually the second largest of his career, with a 5^th place showing at the 2010 EPT San Remo Main Event trumping it by over $100,000. From the looks of his tournament results it’s a pretty safe bet to assume that Rybin takes the Gus Hansen approach to poker tournaments, rarely playing in non-main events.

Here is a look at how the final table began in Cyprus from the WPT website:

• Seat 1: Pierre Sayegh –349,000
• Seat 2: Alexey Rybin – 2,698,000
• Seat 3: Andrei Nikonov – 1,280,000
• Seat 4: Sergey Rybachenko – 921,000
• Seat 5: Albert Daher – 1,595,000
• Seat 6: Kayhan Tugrul – 1,025,000

Here is a look at how the final table participants finished from the WPT website:

1. Alexey Rybin – $258,000
2. Albert Daher – $160,200
3. Andrei Nikonov – $103,700
4. Kayhan Tugrul – $75,600
5. Sergey Rybachenko – $56,600
6. Pierre Sayegh – $46,000

Before the bright lights of the WPT’s main stage move on to Los Angeles for the remainder of the Legends of Poker tournament series, the tour will make a quick layover in Florida, where the inaugural WPT Alpha8 Super-High-Roller tournament is set to get underway at the Hollywood Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The Alpha8 tournament will feature a $100,000 buy-in and will take place on August 26^th and 27^th.

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