Farbod Nazari is the 2026 WPT Cyprus Championship champion. The Iranian player flopped a six-high straight on the final hand of heads-up play to eliminate Lebanon’s Chadi Rizk and claim the $3,500 Main Event title at the Chamada Prestige Hotel and Casino in Cyprus. Nazari takes home $368,900 and a $10,400 seat to the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December, in what represents by far the biggest result of his career.
The 2026 WPT Cyprus Championship ran August 19-24 at the Chamada Prestige Hotel and Casino in Cyprus, the same venue that hosted the 2025 edition. The $3,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event attracted 520 entries, generating a $1,820,000 prize pool against a $2,000,000 guarantee, an overlay of $388,000 that the Chamada Prestige honored in full. The top 65 finishers were paid. The event was streamed live on YouTube with a 30-minute delay, with hand-by-hand updates available on WorldPokerTour.com.
Nazari was a presence throughout the entire tournament. He bagged the Day 1A chip lead with 342,000 chips (228 big blinds) from 147 entries, and never looked back.
Notable Cashes and Final Table Preview
Among those who ran deep were some recognizable names. Hossein Ensan, the 2019 WSOP Main Event champion, finished 42nd for $10,600. Seven-time WPT Main Event final tablist Ray Qartomy finished 55th for $9,000. WPT champion Thomas Bichon went out 17th for $21,200. Ran Azor, the 2009 WPT Championship runner-up, busted in 14th for $25,000. Niko Koop went out 13th for $25,000. Rayan El Jawhari finished 8th for $44,000 and Nariman Yaghmai collected $36,000 for 9th. Bernardo Neves, who boasts over $4.4 million in career earnings, finished 7th for $56,500, his exit bringing Day 3 to a close and setting the official six-handed final table. Elena Litviniuk, who had finished fourth at the 2025 WPT Cyprus Championship at this same venue, was the first player eliminated inside the money for $7,700.
Moldova’s Mihai Trofim entered the final table as chip leader with 42 big blinds, narrowly ahead of Lebanon’s Chadi Rizk in second with 38. Farbod Nazari sat third with 35 big blinds, less than seven big blinds off the lead and well within striking distance of the top. The player who would go on to win the whole thing was not far behind anyone. Romania’s Sergiu Cornea brought up the rear with just nine big blinds and needed to find something quickly.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mihai Trofim | Moldova | 6,225,000 | 42 |
| 2 |  Chadi Rizk | Lebanon | 5,650,000 | 38 |
| 3 |  Farbod Nazari | Iran | 5,275,000 | 35 |
| 4 |  Weiran Pu | China | 3,800,000 | 25 |
| 5 |  Sami Ayyoub | Jordan | 3,650,000 | 24 |
| 6 |  Sergiu Cornea | Romania | 1,325,000 | 9 |
Final Table Action
Hand-by-hand reporting courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
Jordan’s Sami Ayyoub was the shortest stack at the start and the first to go. Weiran Pu opened with pocket fives and Ayyoub moved all-in for around 7 big blinds with king-queen of spades. Pu called, flopped bottom set, but the board came with two spades and Ayyoub stayed alive with some hope to improve to a flush. The board paired on the turn and left Ayyoub drawing dead and collected $73,000 for being the first player to hit the rail on the official televised final table in sixth place.
Romania’s Sergiu Cornea had been fighting all day with a short stack and could not find a way through. He shoved from the cutoff with pocket sevens, leaving little behind. Chadi Rizk came over the top from the small blind and Cornea called with queens. The queens held on an ace-high board and Cornea was out in fifth for $97,000.
Mihai Trofim had led the counts all the way to the final table and was the last player anyone expected to go next. He was ground down to around a single big blind and was forced all-in from the big blind holding king-three. Weiran Pu moved all-in from the button to isolate with ace-ten and eliminated Moldova’s Trofim, the chip leader when the final day began, in fourth for a career-best $130,000.
China’s Weiran Wu, who has over $4.4 million in career earnings according to The Hendon Mob, was the next to go adding another $175,000 for his third place finish. Nazari completed the small blind with jack-ten suited and Pu checked his option with nine-four. The flop came jack-jack-nine. Nazari led, Pu raised and Nazari called. A three on the turn. Pu moved all-in with two pair and Nazari snap-called with trip jacks. Pu was drawing dead and Nazari and Rizk took a short break before the heads-up action commenced.
Heads-Up: Nazari vs. Rizk
Nazari went into heads-up play with a more than 3:2 chip advantage. He extended it further over the next 20-plus hands, grinding Rizk down with aggressive play and well-timed bluffs, including a turned straight against Rizk’s trip aces that pushed Nazari into a commanding 2:1 chip advantage. The pattern throughout was relentless Nazari pressure with Rizk finding folds even with strong holdings.
Nazari had Rizk on the ropes before some life came back temporarily for his opponent. Rizk jammed for less than nine big blinds with ace-five suits. Nazari snap-called with pocket tens. The king-jack-two flop was no help to Rizk. The ten on the turn further improved Nazari to a set, but a queen on the river delayed the inevitable after improving Rizk Broadway for an unlikely double-up. The title would have to wait.
It did not wait long. On the very next hand, Rizk limped the button with king-five. Nazari raised from the big blind with six-five suited. Rizk called. The flop came four of diamonds, three of clubs, two of spades, a flopped six-high straight for Nazari. He bet 500,000. Rizk moved all-in, drawing to a chop with his king-five. Nazari snap-called. The three of spades on the turn and king of spades on the river were no help to Rizk. Farbod Nazari was the 2026 WPT Cyprus champion.
2026 WPT Cyprus Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farbod Nazari | Iran | $368,900* |
| 2 | Chadi Rizk | Lebanon | $238,000 |
| 3 | Weiran Pu | China | $175,000 |
| 4 | Mihai Trofim | Moldova | $130,000 |
| 5 | Sergiu Cornea | Romania | $97,000 |
| 6 | Sami Ayyoub | Jordan | $73,000 |
*Includes $10,400 WPT World Championship seat at Wynn Las Vegas
Who Is Farbod Nazari?
Before this result, Nazari’s biggest live cash was $22,581 for a 33rd-place finish in the 2025 EPT Prague Main Event. His previous career-high score was more than 14 times smaller than the winner’s check he collected in Cyprus. The $368,900 prize has pushed his lifetime earnings to just under $500,000, according to the Hendon Mob. His name is now engraved on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup alongside every champion from all 24 seasons of the World Poker Tour.
Iran has produced some significant poker players over the years, including 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan, two-time WPT champion Antonio Esfandiari, who was born in Tehran before moving to California as a child, and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Farzad “Freddy” Bonyadi. Nazari joins that company as the first Iranian player based in Iran to win a WPT Championship title. This was his first recorded score in a WPT event. No post-victory interview was available from any outlet at time of publishing.
WPT Returns to Cyprus Again This Year
The WPT is not done with Cyprus in 2026. A second stop is scheduled at the Chamada Prestige for October, with a WPT Prime Cyprus Championship running October 15-19 at a $1,100 buy-in. Players who want another shot at a WPT title at the Chamada Prestige before year end will not have to wait long.
- Article originally produced at poker.pro.
