How the West Was Won: Mohamed Mokrani Ships the Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event for $342,500

6 months ago

The action has travel to a adjacent successful nan 2024 Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event present astatine nan Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino successful North Cyprus. It took astir 10 60-minute levels for a victor to look from nan 24 players who made it to nan last day. France's Mohamed Mokrani was crowned nan champion, outlasting nan 672-entry section and defeating Nichan Khorchidian successful a little heads-up duel to return location nan title and apical prize of $342,500.

Mokrani started coming arsenic nan fifth-largest stack and went mostly nether nan radar earlier a precocious nighttime surge catapulted him up of perennial spot leaders Felipe Ketzer and Khorchidian during three-handed play. Mokrani only had $15,211 successful recorded life tourney net anterior to this event, and today's triumph is astir forty times greater than his previous-best rate of $8,124.

The Main Event caps disconnected different successful circuit for Merit Poker, a marque whose banal is quickly rising successful nan poker community. The $1,500,000 guarantee was easy eclipsed, pinch nan last prize excavation confirmed astatine $1,854,720.

Western Series $3,300 Main Event Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize

1	Mohamed Mokrani	France	$342,500
2	Nichan Khorchidian	Lebanon	$252,500
3	Felipe Ketzer	Brazil	$155,000
4	Christophe Panetti	Switzerland	$114,400
5	Damir Zhugralin	Kazakhstan	$85,700
6	Mustafa Ercan	Turkey	$69,100
7	Antoine Hasbani	Lebanon	$57,300
8	Samy Barka	France	$45,600
9	Hadi Khordbin	Iran	$34,300

Action of nan Day

Only 24 players made it to nan 4th and last day, and pinch eleven of them starting nan last time pinch 25 large blinds aliases less, nan action was accelerated and furious from nan off.

Among those short stacks were Nariman Yaghmai and Amir Touma, who couldn't find immoderate momentum and would go nan first 2 casualties of nan day. In contrast, Khorchidian wasted nary clip building a stack. He would wake up pinch pouch queens to destruct Azamat Tulepbergenov successful nan opening level to find himself among nan spot leaders and would stay arsenic 1 of nan apical 2 stacks each nan measurement to nan last table.

Other players who were eliminated successful nan first 2 levels of nan time included Wael Sarkis (20th - $15,390), Ara Melkisetian (18th - $17,600), Aleksandr Kirichenko (16th - $17,600) and Andreas Christoforou (15th - $20,400).

Khorchidian would destruct nan second 2 players and by this constituent successful nan tourney was nan biggest stack successful nan room, rivalled only by Ketzer, who had begun to build a monster stack of his ain aft turning a consecutive against Clement Bonnant and getting max value.

Shortly after, Ketzer knocked retired Ihar Soika in a sadistic cooler to propulsion moreover pinch Khorchidian.

Start of time spot leader Ermanno Di Nicola fell to Khorchidian 2 spots awkward of nan last array successful a blind connected unsighted confrontation. Khorchidian past woke up pinch pouch aces to destruct Day 2 spot leader Giuliano Boellis successful tenth spot and had a dominating spot lead heading into nan last table.

Hadi Khordbin came into nan last array pinch nan shortest stack and became nan first last array casualty after getting pipped by Day 1a spot leader Samy Barka, who became nan adjacent subordinate to deed nan obstruction aft paying disconnected Ketzer's flopped straight. That manus near Barka pinch conscionable 8 large blinds and he bust moments later. Barka was followed retired nan doorway by Antoine Hasbani (7th - $57,300), and Mustafa Ercan (6th - $69,100).

Damir Zhugralin started nan last array arsenic 1 of nan shorter stacks but did a bully occupation accumulating chips from there, uncovering himself successful 3rd spot aft nan elimination of Ercan. His momentum came to a crashing halt aft getting nan money successful preflop pinch pouch aces, only for Khorchidian to flop a Broadway consecutive to unafraid nan KO successful nan nastiest hit of nan evening. Khorchidian ousted Christophe Panetti adjacent to group up a lengthy three-handed battle.

Three-handed play would past complete 2 hours. The stack sizes, pinch Ketzer and Khorchidian having monolithic stacks and Mokrani being short, would create a unsocial business wherever Ketzer and Khorchidian had to tread very cautiously successful an effort to outlast nan resilient Mokrani. The second doubled up, became short-stacked and then doubled up again to adjacent nan spread betwixt himself and Ketzer while Khorchidian still maintained a dominating spot lead.

Ketzer yet ran into Mokrani's pouch aces successful a captious turning constituent that saw nan eventual victor return nan spot lead for nan first time. Mokrani finished Ketzer off pinch cowboys and entered heads-up play pinch a humble lead complete Khorchidian.

Much for illustration a classical duel successful nan Old West, heads-up play was complete successful nan blink of an eye. Mokrani picked disconnected a bluff from Khorchidian successful nan 2nd manus of heads-up play to return a 2:1 spot lead and won a flip pinch pouch nines to declare nan last cookware of nan night, nan title and nan apical prize of $342,500.