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WPT Cyprus Misses $2M Mark as $388K Overlay Opens Up

By Samantha Doyle

2 hours ago

Samantha Doyle 2 hours ago

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$2M guarantee was not met, resulting in a $388K overlay covered by WPT.
520 entries produced $1.612M; 65 players cashed, final table set.
Mihai Trofim leads the final six players in the chase for the title.

The WPT Cyprus Championship still needs a champion. Its $2 million guarantee has already done its job.

A final field of 520 entries left the $3,500 Main Event well short of covering the advertised prize pool. Once registration closed, the entries accounted for $1.612 million in prize money, forcing the guarantee to bridge the remaining $388,000.

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A Guarantee That Actually Came Into Play

Overlay stories only happen when the promised prize pool exceeds the money generated by tournament entries, and Cyprus missed that line by a sizeable margin.

The first three starting flights took the field to 398 entries. At that point, WPT reported a generated prize pool of $1,233,800, confirming that $3,100 from each $3,500 entry was allocated to prizes. Registration stayed open into Day 2 and another 122 entries eventually pushed the field to 520.

It still was not enough.

Key Number	Figure
Championship entries	520
Buy-in	$3,500
Prize contribution per entry	$3,100
Entry-generated prize pool	$1,612,000
Guarantee	$2,000,000
Overlay	$388,000

The final prize pool was consequently fixed at the full $2 million. Sixty-five players cashed, with $7,700 going to the first players through the money and six-figure payouts waiting for the top four.

WPT had considerably less trouble with the number in 2025. The same venue, buy-in and $2 million guarantee attracted 775 entries and generated $2,402,500. Twelve months later, attendance dropped by 255 entries and the guarantee went from being comfortably beaten to requiring a $388,000 top-up.

Trofim Starts Final Table in Front

The extra money is now part of the payout structure for the six players still chasing the Championship.

Mihai Trofim leads with 6.225 million chips after sending Bernardo Miguel Baptista Das Neves out in seventh. Chadi Rizk is next with 5.65 million, with Farbod Nazari only slightly behind on 5.275 million.

Player	Chips
Mihai Trofim	6,225,000
Chadi Rizk	5,650,000
Farbod Nazari	5,275,000
Weiran Pu	3,800,000
Sami Ayyoub	3,650,000
Sergiu Cornea	1,325,000

Trofim, Rizk, Nazari, Weiran Pu, Sami Ayyoub and Sergiu Cornea make up the final six. Whoever eventually joins the WPT Champions Club will take the biggest share of the $2 million, but the unusual number attached to this edition is likely to remain $388,000, the gap between what the field produced and what the guarantee promised.