Artur Martirosian Banks His largest-Ever Live Score

Russia's Artur Martirosian banked the largest live poker tournament prize of his career to date when he got his hands on $1.4 million.

| August 30, 2021

Russian poker pro Artur Martirosian can boast of a live seven-figure haul. Martirosian helped himself to a $1,400,000 top prize in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Europe festival.

Thirty-five players exchanged $100,000 for the chance to become the tournament’s champion. Despite the final table being home to seven elite stars, only the top five finishers received a slice of the $3,500,000 prize pool.

Martirosian went into the final day with a substantial chip lead, partly thanks to eliminating Cary Katz at the end of Day 1. The Russian champion-elect sat down at the final table with 100 big blinds. Chris Brewer was Martirosian’s closest rival with 48 big blinds.

British star Michael Chi Zhang busted in seventh place as Day 2 began. Martirosian opened with Tc-Ts and called when Zhang shoved for 770,000 chips, or 25 big blinds, with Ad-Qh. Zhang headed for the exits after the board ran Ks-7c-6d-9d-3c.

Martirosian could do no wrong and continued accumulating chips, including Brewer’s, who burst the bubble. Brewer min-raised to 60,000 on the button with Ah-Kd, and Martirosian three-bet all-in with the lowly 9d-3d. Brewer called off his 940,000 stack and looked set for a double-up. That was until the five community cards fell Ac-9c-4c-2d-3h.

Brewer went home empty-handed, and everyone else locked up at least $245,000.

Martirosian Dominates the Short-Handed Final Table

The writing was on the wall for the four players not called Martirosian! He was dominant at the final table and used his big stack to bully his opponents.

Viacheslav Buldygin was down to slightly more than four big blinds when he open-shoved with Qd-5d. Martirosian called with Ks-Jd and won the hand courtesy of the Kd-8c-7h-5s-4h board.

Turkey’s Selahaddin Bedir was the next casualty at the final table. Blinds were now 20,000/40,000/40,000a, and David Peters moved all-in for 520,000. Johan Guilbert folded, but Bedir called. Peters showed Kc-Jc, which faced off against Bedir’s Ac-6c. Peters paired his king on the turn of the Qd-Th-3s-Kd-2c board to bust Bedir.

Bedir’s seat had not had the chance to go cold when Guilbert crashed out in third. Martirosian min-raised to 80,000 with Jh-Js before calling the 330,000 all-in bet from Guilbert, which the Frenchman made with Ad-Qd. The board read Kh-Ks-4d-7c-2h by the river, and Guilbert was gone.

An Epic Heads-Up Battle

Peters went into heads-up trailing 820,000 to 6,200,000, yet he never gave up. Martirosian, try as he may, could not shake off his stoic opponent. Peter not only clawed his way back into contention but took the lead during the 25,000/50,000/50,000a level and looked set to cause a significant upset.

Some 90-minutes after the one-on-one battle began, the tournament had its champion.

Martirosian ripped it in holding Ac-4d, and Peters called off his 18 big blind stack with 7c-7h. The Ah-6c-3d flop left Peters needing to hit one of the two remaining sevens. The 9d turn was not one of them. Neither was the 8d river, which eliminated Peters in second-place and left the Russian to secure a career-best live score.

The champion’s attention now turns to the SHRB Europe Main Event that shuffles up and deals on August 30. The buy-in for the Main Event weighs in at an eye-watering $250,000, but that will not stop scores of poker superstars from trying their luck.

Super High Roller Bowl regulars, including Chris Brewer, Mikita Badziakouski, Jake Schindler, and Sergio Aido, are sure to play. As are such luminaries as David Peters, Timofey Kuznetsov, Phil Ivey, and Tony G.

Day 1 lasts for six hour-long levels before the curtain comes down on proceedings. The remaining players return to the action on August 31 and continue grinding until the tournament crowns a champion.

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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