Gavrila Wins EPC Mini Main Event for

Romanian pro Viorel Gavrila topped a 4,389-entry field in the €250 EPC Mini Main Event at King's Resort Rozvadov, earning €125,500 and the Royal Scepter trophy.
The opening tournament of the King's Million European Poker Championship festival wrapped up at King's Resort in Rozvadov, and the Mini Main Event produced a field far larger than many expected for a €250 buy-in.
Romanian online professional Viorel Gavrila came out on top, collecting the title, the Royal Scepter trophy, and €125,500 — the largest live score of his career.
A Field of 4,389 Entries
The €250 EPC Mini Main Event drew 4,389 entries from players across Europe, pushing the prize pool close to the €1,000,000 guarantee. The final day began with 34 players still in contention, each already assured of at least €2,330, while a six-figure payday awaited the winner.
Gavrila started the final day with the fourth-largest stack and played with visible confidence from the outset. His control of the table became most pronounced at the final table, where he personally eliminated all four of the remaining opponents standing between him and the title.
Heads-Up Ends in Three Hands
By the time heads-up play began, Gavrila held a chip lead of more than 3:1 over the player known as Mystery Kid. The duel lasted only three hands.
The decisive pot came when Mystery Kid called Gavrila's all-in holding A d K h. Gavrila showed 9 h 5 s, and the board ran out A h 9 c 4 c 4 h 9 s, giving him a full house and the biggest live victory of his career.
Final Table Results
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- Viorel Gavrila, Romania — €125,500
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- Mystery Kid, Israel — €76,500
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- Maximilian Kuntz, Germany — €54,000
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- Silver1964, Poland — €39,500
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- Fishburger, Turkey — €29,500
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- Michal Ligocki, Poland — €21,900
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- Hauke9, Germany — €16,300
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- Binh Nguyen, Vietnam — €12,100
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- Dragos Iosub, Ireland — €9,000
What the Result Shows
The Mini Main Event is a useful reminder of how much value a modest buy-in can carry when a guarantee is attached and the field balloons. With 4,389 entries at €250, the average player investment is small relative to the top payout, which is exactly the structure that attracts large recreational fields alongside professionals hunting overlays and soft spots.
For Gavrila, whose background is primarily online, the win is a notable transition into live results. Online specialists often arrive at live festivals with strong theoretical foundations — familiarity with GTO-based ranges, ICM considerations near pay jumps, and disciplined bet-sizing — but must adapt to slower structures, live tells, and the psychological weight of a deep run. Gavrila's final-table performance, eliminating every remaining opponent himself, suggests he handled those adjustments well.
The heads-up hand itself is a typical example of how quickly a short-handed duel can end. With a 3:1 lead, the chip leader can apply maximum pressure, and the shorter stack is often forced to take a stand with a hand like A-K. In this case the all-in call was standard, but the runout favored the leader, who had entered with a live but dominated-looking holding and connected with the board. Such outcomes are common in short-handed play and illustrate why chip leads matter so much at the end of a tournament.
The full final day is available on the official King's Resort YouTube channel.
Festival Context
The King's Million European Poker Championship is a recurring festival at King's Resort, a venue long associated with large-field European events. The Mini Main Event serves as an accessible entry point to the series, while higher buy-in events anchor the schedule. Results from the opening tournament set the tone for the rest of the festival, and a field of this size indicates continued appetite for mid-stakes tournament poker in the region.
FAQ
- Viorel Gavrila of Romania won the €250 EPC Mini Main Event, earning €125,500 and the Royal Scepter trophy.