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3-Bet: Chris Nguyen, Brad Gafford & Calogero Morreale Win Major Live Titles!

3-Bet: Chris Nguyen, Brad Gafford & Calogero Morreale Win Major Live Titles!
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  • Atmadeep Ghosh May 9, 2025

  • 6 Minutes Read

From the glimmering bay of Monte Carlo to the Californian hills of San Diego and the poker-rich pastures of Luton, this 3-Bet report brings you a round-up of three impressive performances that recently lit up the live tournament scene.

First up, at the peak of poker’s high-stakes mountain, Chris Nguyen (cover image – left) carved his name into European poker history. This 25-year-old German, who, believe it or not, was primarily an online cash game grinder until just six months ago, took a spectacular plunge into the live high-roller scene. He took down the €100,000 Super High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo, navigating a record-setting 74-entry field of elite players. For this incredible feat, Nguyen pocketed a massive €2,022,000 (around $2.3 Million) – the biggest cash of his burgeoning career – battling Enrico Camosci heads-up for the title.

Meanwhile, in the US, Brad Gafford (cover image – right top) had his own hometown hero moment, coming out on top in the MSPT Season 16 Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK Series Main Event at Sycuan Casino Resort, San Diego. The San Diego local worked through a 417-entry field in the $1,110 buy-in event to claim the $87,693 top prize and his first major title on home soil, pushing his career earnings past the $1 Million point.

And hopping over to the UK, Calogero Morreale (cover image – right bottom) added a second Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Main Event trophy to his mantelpiece at GUKPT Luton. He outplayed a 284-entry field in the £1,250 buy-in showdown, his victory netting him £56,720 and placing him in a select group of players to achieve this feat.

 

From Grinding Online to Beating the Best – Chris Nguyen Wins €2.02 Million in EPT Monte Carlo €100K Super High Roller

The high-stakes poker circuit just witnessed one of those arrivals that truly turns heads, and his name is now echoing through the gilded halls of Monte Carlo—Chris Nguyen. This 25-year-old German was primarily grinding online cash games until six months ago. But he recently made what can only be described as a cannonball-sized dive into the tournament world, going on to champion the EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller. It was a win as stunning as the €2,022,000 (that’s about $2.30 Million) now sitting in his bank account.

To get his hands on that first major live trophy, Nguyen had to navigate a shark tank – a record 74-entry field of some of poker’s most fearsome names. And just like that, his name is now part of EPT lore.

His Monte Carlo escapade even had an encore, proving this wasn’t some fluke. He was right back at it only days later, weaving his way through another stacked field in the €50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance. He snagged third place in that one, adding another €352,000 (~$398,772) to his expanding treasure chest.

This career-best Super High Roller win (and subsequent success) means Nguyen’s total live tournament earnings have exploded to over $5.12 Million, pushing him to 411st on the all-time money list and 21st among German players. For a player who was all about the online grind just months ago, this leap to live tournament dominance isn’t just impressive; it’s downright extraordinary.

The 13th running of this EPT €100,000 Super High Roller, the most expensive event on the schedule, was a three-day spectacle. The record field created a prize pool of over $8.10 Million, with the top 11 finishers guaranteed a payday.

The opening day had all the hallmarks of a classic high-roller: big names, big pots. Nguyen played it smart, staying steady and bagging a healthy stack for Day 2.

The field had significantly shrunk before the official six-handed final table was even photographed. Poker legend Jason Koon, who boasts an incredible ten Triton titles, couldn’t add an EPT SHR to his vast collection, exiting in ninth for €224,400. Austrian Klemens Roiter followed in eighth (€280,400), and then Russian pro Artur Martirosian, the king of GGPoker`s $GGMillion, cashed out in seventh for €350,700.

Nguyen, however, showed patience was a virtue, really picking up steam late in the day. He finished Day 2 third in chips, with only Leon Sturm and Enrico Camosci holding more firepower as they headed into the final, decisive day.

Final Day Chip Counts

  1. Leon Sturm – 5,680,000
  2. Enrico Camosci – 4,570,000
  3. Chris Nguyen – 3,360,000
  4. Orpen Kisacikoglu – 2,340,000
  5. Mikita Badziakouski – 1,620,000
  6. Seth Davies – 1,000,000

 

Final Table Recap

The final day was everything you’d expect from a Super High Roller: intense, unpredictable, and some extraordinary gameplay!

Mikita Badziakouski, the Belarusian wizard with nearly $65 Million in lifetime earnings, was the first to go from the final six. His suited six-seven couldn’t catch a miracle against Leon Sturm’s pocket aces.

But Sturm’s momentum was short-lived. After taking that pot, he lost a crucial flip with ace-jack against Seth Davies’ pocket sixes. Suddenly, the Day 2 chip leader was on the rail in fifth.

Orpen Kisacikoglu, who has a WSOP Europe €50K bracelet and over $21 Million in career earnings, was the next to fall. The Turkish pro got his chips in with but found himself up against Nguyen’s . No help came on the board, and Kisacikoglu was out in fourth!

With three players left, deal talk surfaced. But Nguyen wasn’t interested in chopping. “I want to play,” he stated, his confidence unshakeable. His opponents, Camosci in particular, also agreed to play on. It was a decision that would pay off handsomely for Nguyen.

Seth Davies, a man with two Super High Roller Bowl titles, was the next to be eliminated. He found himself on the wrong end of a nasty cooler, his trip sevens no good against Enrico Camosci’s turned full house. Davies headed off to collect his third-place prize of €931,900 (or $1,053,047) – his fifth career score of a million dollars or more.

And then there were two: Nguyen versus Camosci for all the marbles. The Italian, Camosci, started heads-up with more chips – 10.30 Million to Nguyen’s 8.40 Million. But Nguyen was relentless. He clawed his way back, eventually snatching the lead. Camosci’s stack even nosedived to just 4 Million at one point before he mounted a comeback to get nearly even. Nguyen, unflustered, kept the pressure on, eventually leaving the Italian running on fumes after making a flush and then a key turned pair.

Down to his last eight big blinds, Camosci shoved with king-four and was in trouble against Nguyen’s king-five. But poker is rarely straightforward – a four on the river delivered a dramatic, and for Camosci, a vital double-up.

With about twenty big blinds, Camosci might have sensed a shift. But the final act was yet to play out. Camosci moved all-in with . Chris Nguyen made the call with . The dealer spread the flop: . And then, the river brought the , like a thunderbolt, completing a straight for Nguyen. Just like that, the new kid on the live block had conquered Monte Carlo.

As applause filled the room, Jason Koon, ever the class act, offered his congratulations. “Smile, you just won a €100k!” he said to Nguyen, before adding with a grin, “The only problem is you gotta take a photo with that shitty hand!” Nguyen, cool as ever but with an undeniable glow, just took it all in.

“It’s just fun for me, I think. I enjoy it. It’s definitely the most fun to play against strong players,” Nguyen later told PokerStars reporters. Speaking about turning down that three-handed deal, he explained, “I kind of felt that even though it was three-handed, there was so much heads up afterwards, I just wanted to play.” A decision that, on hindsight, paid off!

Enrico Camosci, reportedly facing a tax dispute with Italian authorities concerning his international poker winnings, still walked away with a massive €1,304,500 (around $1,474,085) for his hard-fought second-place finish.

Chris Nguyen
Chris Nguyen

Final Table Results (EURO)

  1. Chris Nguyen – €2,022,000
  2. Enrico Camosci – €1,304,500
  3. Seth Davies – €931,900
  4. Orpen Kisacikoglu – €716,900
  5. Leon Sturm – €551,380
  6. Mikita Badziakouski – €438,300
  7. Artur Martirosian – €350,700
  8. Klemens Roiter – €280,400
  9. Jason Koon – €224,400

 

Brad Gafford Turns Hometown Heat Into MSPT Sycuan Main Event Title ($87,693)

The Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego was recently the scene of an extraordinary hometown story, as local player Brad Gafford artfully worked his way through the tables to grab his first Mid-States Poker Tour Main Event win. On May 4, Gafford was the last player standing in the MSPT Season 16 Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK Series Main Event, a victory that delivered a handsome $87,693 payday and shot his career earnings over $1 Million.

This MSPT stop at the Sycuan Casino Resort was the tour’s second visit this season, part of the broader 19-trophy 100 GRAND STACK Series. The $1,110 buy-in Main Event pulled in a crowd, clocking in 417 entries across its three starting flights. That keen interest from the players (82 entries on Day 1A, 154 on Day 1B, and a big 181 on Day 1C) cooked up a prize pool of $402,990, comfortably blowing past the $300,000 guarantee.

“Being from here, it’s cool to win this one because it’s kind of like the hometown kid taking it home,” Gafford said right after his win. He also touched on his growing list of poker achievements, adding with a smile, “I got the bracelet out of the way early, and now I’m just going down the checklist.”

The checklist has indeed been getting shorter quickly. That WSOP bracelet, a career highlight, came his way in Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold’em at the 2023 WSOP. At just 25, with three Sycuan Main Event final tables in three years (finishing 9th, then 7th, and now a fantastic 1st), Gafford has undeniably had incredible success on this tour. “It has been a really good year for me so far,” he shared. “It’s definitely another notch on the poker resume for sure.”

Sunday saw 47 players return for Day 2, all in the money and guaranteed at least $2,192. Eliminations started almost immediately, with Kevin Meyers being the first to depart (47th), quickly followed by MSPT regular D.J. Buckley (46th) and Stephen Taylor (45th).

A line of other well-known players also saw their runs end before the final table, including Rip Fritzer (34th for $2,392), Jonathan “Cosmo” McGowan (33rd for $2,392), Robert Fortuno (31st for $2,392), and Josh Royal (29th for $2,392).

The 2021 regional champion, Armando Mesina, exited in 21st place ($3,747), while Peter Cross, who was the runner-up in last year’s Sycuan Main Event, couldn’t quite repeat that deep run, finishing 16th ($4,385). Kelly Mahana (15th for $5,182), January’s regional champ Mo Pourmandi (11th for $6,378), and Loyal Sprague (10th for $6,378) all came very close but missed making the final nine!

 

Final Table Recap

As the final table kicked off, Brad Gafford sat comfortably second in chips. He initially played it cool, letting others get involved in the early skirmiches.

Starting with the shortest stack, Andrew Merrick was the first to fall in ninth when his ace-jack suited couldn’t find a way past Paul Ewen’s pocket aces. Astivan Batoo followed in eighth after his queen-jack failed to connect against Jon Larkin’s pocket tens.

Savo Mandrapa, a former MSPT Sycuan champion (having won this event last January), looked like a serious contender to make a run for a repeat win. He got his chips in good, holding a pair of jacks, but his hopes were unfortunately dashed in seventh place when Paul Ewen flopped a set of eights.

Rich Spirra, after making a few pay jumps, made a bold shove in a battle of the blinds with Ewen but came up short, finishing in sixth place. Kellan Kemp was next on the chopping block, busting in fifth after missing two big draws against Matt Salsberg.

One of the day’s more attention-grabbing departures involved Hollywood producer and WPT champion Matt Salsberg. Known for his work as an executive producer on “Weeds” and for recently winning the 2024 WSOPC Commerce Main Event, Salsberg has over $3.70 Million in career earnings. Making his third Sycuan final table appearance since 2023 (which brought his all-time MSPT earnings to $123,941), his run ended in fourth place when his pocket nines couldn’t hold up against Jon Larkin’s suited king-seven.

Jon Larkin, after sending Salsberg to the rail, found himself as the short stack and was the next to go. He fell to Gafford in a blind versus blind confrontation, finishing in third place.

With Larkin gone, it was down to Brad Gafford and Paul Ewen for the title. It was almost a dead heat with both evenly matched: Gafford began slightly ahead, holding 22 Million to Ewen’s 19.70 Million.

The chips moved back and forth across the table in a tense exchange, with both players scoring crucial double-ups. The decisive moment arrived with all the chips going in the middle on a board. Ewen was at risk holding , while Gafford had him covered and was well ahead with for trip nines and a heart flush draw. The river delivered the , and just like that, Gafford had clinched the win and his first MSPT trophy. Paul Ewen’s impressive run earned him $54,208 for his runner-up finish.

For Gafford, it was a hometown victory to savour, along with the top prize and that coveted MSPT trophy. The MSPT tour, meanwhile, rolls on, with its next stop at the FireKeepers Casino in Michigan from May 15 to 18.

Brad Gafford
Brad Gafford

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Brad Gafford – $87,693
  2. Paul Ewen – $54,208
  3. Jon Larkin – $39,462
  4. Matt Salsberg – $29,098
  5. Kellan Kemp – $21,923
  6. Rich Spirra – $16,741
  7. Savo Mandrapa – $13,154
  8. Astivan Batoo – $10,364
  9. Andrew Merrick – $7,574

 

Calogero Morreale Does it Again! Claims Second GUKPT Main Event Title in Luton (£56,720)

Calogero Morreale just added another impressive piece of poker hardware to his collection, taking down the 2025 GUKPT Luton Main Event to clinch his second Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Main Event title. The £1,250 buy-in tournament attracted a lively field of 284 entrants, all looking for a share of the hefty £296,770 prize pool. The Italian, already a GUKPT regular and an acknowledged all-round crusher, saw his bank account getting a £56,720 infusion after a hard-fought, close heads-up contest against Zhicheng Miao. This latest victory lines up very nicely with Morreale’s previous GUKPT Main Event win in Manchester in February 2023, adding to his growing reputation as a consistently strong player on the UK poker circuit.

The 2025 Luton stop certainly carried a vibrant atmosphere, echoing the excitement of last year when Seb Crane had a breakout performance in the £1,250 GUKPT Luton Main Event at this very venue. Crane’s win then was his first GUKPT title and a career-best £66,000, setting the expectations high for this year’s hopefuls.

More recently, followers of the UK scene might recall Stephen Barnes crafting a real poker fairytale in August 2024 at the £1,100 888poker LIVE Manchester Main Event, also hosted at the Grosvenor Casino. Barnes walked away with a career-best £58,000 following a heads-up deal. Zhicheng Miao, who was the runner-up in Manchester and collected £44,000, clearly carried that excellent form forward with another exceptionally deep run here in Luton.

This GUKPT Luton festival was the third leg of the 2025 tour, seeing the long-running series return to Luton, a town well-regarded for its poker action. The £1,250 Main Event began with three starting flights—Day 1A on May 1, Day 1B on May 2, and a turbo Day 1C later that evening—drawing 284 entries in total.

Survivors reconvened for Day 2 on May 3, with the final table playing out on May 4. Over several days of intense play, the field was gradually narrowed down, leading to one of the most eagerly awaited final tables of the series. As the festival drew to a close and the equipment was being packed away, it was Morreale who was left standing tall, having captured the series’ biggest prize.

The event naturally drew a competitive group, with several well-known names making impressive pushes. Among the 38 players who finished in the money were Jack Allen (10th for £5,160), Vikrum Mehta (12th for £3,860) (who also won the £220 + £30 Mini Main Event earlier in the series for £20,285), the always entertaining Yucel “Mad Turk” Eminoglu (19th for £2,940), Joe Hindry (21st for £2,940), Matthew Davenport (23rd for £2,760), and Johnny Kelly (31st for £2,610), with Jack Allen (10th for £5,160) unfortunately bubbling the final table.

Morreale’s journey to the title was far from straightforward, but his composure and considerable experience appeared to be key factors in a field packed with UK circuit regulars.

 

Final Table Action

The final table got underway with Keith Littlewood’s latest deep GUKPT run ending in ninth place. Littlewood put his last chips in on the flop, holding a flush draw, but it didn’t complete, and he lost out to Vadims Veksins’ top pair.

Tommy Bingham was the next to head to the rail, finishing in eighth place. Bingham got his stack in with pocket kings on a six-high flop against Zhicheng Miao, who held a multitude of draws. Miao managed to turn a flush, leaving Bingham’s kings cracked and his tournament hopes dashed prematurely.

Seventh place, and a career-best score of £10,240, went to Vadims Veksins. He had earlier been on the winning side of an elimination but saw most of his stack slide over to Seb Jung when Jung’s ace-jack got the better of his pocket queens. Veksins couldn’t spin his short stack back up despite his best efforts.

The final six became five with the departure of Mitch Johnson. After the action folded around to Johnson in the small blind, he moved his stack of 8.5 big blinds in with queen-seven. Seb Jung, in the big blind, made the call with queen-eight and promptly flopped an eight to send Johnson out in sixth place.

Johnson’s close friend, Andrew “stato_1” Hulme, was the next player to be relieved of his chips. The popular Hulme saw his last 14 big blinds go into the middle with king-jack, finding himself in a classic race against Miao’s pocket sixes. Miao flopped a set, which spelt the end for Hulme in fifth place.

Fourth place was decided when Hussni Alkhuzai found himself all-in for his last 10 big blinds holding jack-nine against Calogero Morreale’s ace-ten. Alkhuzai must have felt a surge of hope when he connected with a jack on the flop, looking set for a very timely double-up. But poker can be a rollercoaster of emotions; Morreale hit a straight on the river to send Alkhuzai to the cashier’s desk to collect £23,590 – the largest prize of his career so far.

Heads-up play was set when Seb Jung pushed his last 12 big blinds across the betting line while holding ace-four. Miao made the call and, to Jung’s dismay, turned over the dominating ace-jack. Jung couldn’t find the four he needed to survive and bowed out in third place, still adding yet another five-figure GUKPT score to his record.

The heads-up battle between Zhicheng Miao and Calogero Morreale began on an incredibly even footing – only a single 5,000 denomination chip separated their stacks. What followed was a tense, near two-hour, one-on-one contest for the title. The turning point arrived when Miao got his 18-big blind stack in holding pocket sevens, only to run smack into Morreale’s ace-eight. An eight on the flop immediately swung the advantage to Morreale, who held on to win the pot, the tournament, and his second GUKPT Main Event title.

For Miao, it was another case of so-close-yet-so-far, as this was his second GUKPT Main Event runner-up finish, having previously finished second in Blackpool in November 2024. He took home £42,060 for his excellent performance this time.

Calogero Morreale’s victory in Luton is the latest in a long string of impressive results on the GUKPT circuit. Having previously won the £1,250 GUKPT Manchester Main Event in February 2023, he now proudly possesses two Main Event titles. Watching his consistent success, one gets the feeling it’s a matter of when, not if, he will complete a GUKPT Main Event hat-trick.

Calogero Morreale
Calogero Morreale

Final Table Results (GBP)

  1. Calogero Morreale – £56,720
  2. Zhicheng Miao – £42,060
  3. Seb Jung – £31,430
  4. Hussni Alkhuzai – £23,590
  5. Andrew Hulme – £17,780
  6. Mitch Johnson – £13,440
  7. Vadims Veksins – £10,240
  8. Tommy Bingham – £7,930
  9. Keith Littlewood – £6,290

 

Content and Images Courtesy: MSPT, GUKPT, PokerNews and CardPlayer

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