The 2024 Super High Roller Series at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in Northern Cyprus continues to heat up, both literally and figuratively, as the stakes rise with each event. The $102,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event attracted 35 elite poker players, all competing for a massive prize pool and the prestigious title.
In the end, it was Poland’s Maksim Vaskresenski who claimed victory in a heads-up match against French poker pro Thomas Santerne, securing his first-ever live tournament win in what has been a relatively short live career. Vaskresenski’s win earned him an impressive $1,250,000, while Santerne walked away with a consolation prize of $870,000 for his runner-up finish.
This is Vaskresenski’s biggest career achievement so far, surpassing his previous best result from Triton’s event in Jeju earlier this year as he finished sixth in a $26,500 buy-in tournament for $337,000. With this win, Vaskresenski now holds almost $2 million in live tournament earnings.
2024 Super High Roller Series Event #5 Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize Money |
| 1 |  Maksim Vaskresenski | Poland | $1,250,000 |
| 2 |  Thomas Santerne | France | $870,000 |
| 3 |  Brian Kim | United States | $610,000 |
| 4 |  Adrian Mateos | Spain | $420,000 |
| 5 |  Artsiom Lasouski | Belarus | $280,000 |
2024 Super High Roller Series Event #5 Final Table Recap
Nine players began the final day of the $102,000 Main Event, but only five would finish in the money. Finnish poker legend and 2024 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Patrik Antonius was the unfortunate player to exit in sixth place, just missing out on a payout.
From there, the action picked up pace, and in less than 90 minutes, a winner was crowned. Adrian Mateos took out start-of-the-day chip leader Artsiom Lasouski in fifth place when his pocket nines held up against Lasouski’s pocket sixes. Shortly after, Mateos found himself on the rail in fourth when he went all-in with ace-three, only to be met by Thomas Santerne’s pocket queens.
Brian Kim showed more resilience but ultimately had to say goodbye in third place. He called with his remaining chips holding ace-eight suited, only to see Santerne win the hand with ten-nine, hitting a ten on the flop to seal Kim’s fate. Kim still walked away with $610,000.
The heads-up battle between Santerne and Vaskresenski began with a slight chip advantage for the Frenchman, but Vaskresenski quickly flipped the script. In one key hand, Vaskresenski bluffed with A♦9♥ on a J♥8♣5♦J♦3♥ board, actually holding the best hand as Santerne attempted a bluff of his own with 10♣7♥.
That hand left Santerne struggling to regain control. Eventually, Santerne called all-in with queen-six, while Vaskresenski tabled king-seven. When a king appeared on both the flop and the turn, it was all over. Maksim Vaskresenski was crowned the new PGT champion, walking away with a massive $1.25 million prize.
* Images and hands courtesy of PokerGO.
