Simeon Spasov and Giorgiy Skhulukhiya were trying to finish off the Merit Poker Carmen Series with a victory in the recent Merit Poker Cup. Following an epic heads-up battle, Bulgaria’s Simeon Spasov emerged victorious, winning the Merit Poker Cup title and $149,600, courtesy heads-up deal. Skhulukhiya from Georgia secured an equally impressive $140,000 as the runner-up.
Spasov is no stranger to success in NLH events. A winner of the 2022 WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, he finished fourth in the Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event last year. To claim his latest win in the Merit Poker Cup, he bested a starting field of 459 entries and took his live winnings close to $2,000,000.
“I put in a lot of work, and I have a lot of friends that help me,” Spasov explained after his exhausting heads-up battle with Skhulukhiya. “I put a lot of volume to be better and better.”
$2,200 Merit Poker Cup Final Day Action
The fourth and final day of the Merit Poker Cup began with only 20 players returning to play at 1 p.m. Matthew Davenport was the victim of a brutal river against Mikhail Zavoloka on the very first hand of the day and lost a majority of his stack. He was eventually busted in the 20th place a few hands later.
Aleksandr Ivanov and his son, Aleksandr Ivanov Jr, were well in the hunt for the trophy but the father fell early in 19th place. Maksim Shornikau followed up in 18th after losing a race with ace-king against Spasov’s nines.
Thereafter, eliminations were quick, with Emad Ghadamian (17th), Krzysztof Spisak (16th), and Milen Bakardjiev (15th) falling quickly. Ivanov Jr then woke up with kings and busted both Edgard Raffoul (14th) and Antonio Aversa (13th) on the same hand.
After a nice double up, Spasov then eliminated Natan Chauskin in 11th before the start-of-day chip leader Toni Kaukua shoved the river into Boris Smuskevicius’ straight. Kaukua was left with just one big blind and was eliminated shortly in 10th place to set the nine-handed final table.
$2,200 Merit Poker Cup Final Table
The eventual champion Spasov began with a stack of 9,200,000 as the chip leader, but Skhulukhiya wasted little time rising to the top. Skhulukhiya shoved the river and Smuskevicius called for his last 1,700,000 with trip kings. Skhulukhiya hit a full house and Smuskevicius was busted in ninth place.
Dukic then shoved his short stack with top pair against Simone Andrian’s jacks. Andrian rivered a flush to eliminate him in eighth. Andrian, then ran his ace-queen into Spasov’s ace-king to fall in seventh.Ivanov Jr then moved all in on a king-high board and was called by Skhulukhiya and Spasov. Skhulukhiya bet the turn to chase away Spasov and turned over a set of jacks. Ivanov showed a pair of kings and was eliminated in sixth place.
Skhulukhiya had a commanding lead over the field, holding nearly half the chips in play five-handed. Zavoloka busted in fifth place when Achour flopped two pair, while Ivan Zabiiakin attempted a big bluff with ten-seven. Spasov picked him off with ace-queen, sending him to the rail in fourth. Up next, Achour fell in third place after he shoved all in for his last 4,000,000 with pocket tens against Skhulukhiya’s ace-five. The turn brought an ace to give Skhulukhiya another bustout.
Skhulukhiya started the heads-up with a massive chip advantage, holding 37,100,000 to Spasov’s 8,800,000 chips. However, Spasov came from behind to double up with ace-nine against ace-ten, spiking a nine on the flop. After Spasov edged into the lead, both players agreed to a heads-up deal and took $140,000 each, leaving aside the extra $9,600 and the trophy to play for.
Spasov doubled up again with king-jack against jack-ten and then took a big lead. Finally, Spasov held two fives and won the race to end the nearly three-hour-long heads-up play.
Merit Poker CupFinal Table Payouts
1-Simeon Spasov $149,600*
2-Giorgiy Skhulukhiya $140,000*
3-Maher Achour $74,100
4-Ivan Zabiiakin $56,600
5-Mikhail Zavoloka $42,500
6-Aleksandr Ivanov Jr $34,000
7-Simone Andrian $28,300
8-Nenad Dukic $22,600
9-Boris Smuskevicius $16,900
Finland’s Tero Laurila Beats Record Field To Win 2024 Irish Open Main Event
The 2024 Irish Open €1,150 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event drew a record field of 3,233 entries, more than tripling the €1 million guarantee, with €3,152,175 ($3,382,914) in prize money paid out among the top 480 finishers. Following four starting flights and three more days of action inside the historic Royal Dublin Society, Finland’s Tero Laurila won the trophy. The 38-year-old former floorball coach earned $316,100 as the champion, by far the largest score on his poker resume.
“I play often – as much as possible. Mostly live games and PLO cash game is my main game,” Laurila told PokerStars reporters after his milestone victory.
2024 Irish Open Main Event Final Day Action
The final day of this event saw 14 contenders with Laurila in the lead. By the time the field combined into the final table, he had slid to seventh among the final nine. Hiep Ninh scored the first knockout of the final table, busting David Tous in ninth place ($41,494). He was followed by Adrian Thorne (8th – $53,957) and Vidmantas Beliauskas (7th – $70,157).
Laurila scored the next knockout, with his pocket queens holding against the pocket jacks of Groom, who earned $91,238 as the sixth-place finisher. Up next, Ninh’s top pair held against the straight draw and overcard of Oliver Boyce (5th – $118,606) to narrow the field to four. Later, Ninh’s top pair of aces with a king kicker bested the open-ended straight draw of Georgios Tsouloftas (4th – $154,181).
The final three players agreed to a deal that set aside $64,800 for the winner, $27,710 for the runner up, $251,300 for the third-place. Laurila took the chip lead, doubling up through Ninh who later won a coin flip with AJ against the pocket nines of Johnson who got eliminated in third place.
Ninh held 58,000,000 to Laurila’s 39,000,000 at the start of the heads-up play. Laurila picked off a big bluff with queen high to turn the tables and then ship the title. On the final hand, Ninh open-shoved with 8s 7h and Laurila called with Qs Jh. The board brought three queens to give Laurila the title.
2024 Irish Open Main Event Final Table Results
1- Tero Laurila $316,100*
2- Hiep Ninh $362,487*
3- Mark Johnson $251,300*
4- Georgios Tsouloftas $154,181
5- Oliver Boyce $118,606
6- Stephen Groom $91,238
7- Vidmantas Beliauskas $70,157
8- Adrian Thorne $53,957
9- David Tous $41,494
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