Artur Martirosian Wins PokerGO Tour Last Chance Event No. 2Russian Pro's 2023 Hot Streak Appears To Be Carrying Over Into The New Year |
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Artur Martirosian was one of the hottest players on the live circuit in 2023, finishing just outside the top ten in the final Card Player Player of the Year standings presented by Global Poker. He recorded 16 final-table finishes, including two big wins, to accumulate more than $8.3 million in POY earnings for the year.
The two-time bracelet winner is already back to those winning ways in 2024. On the third day of the year he emerged victorious in the second event of the PokerGO Tour Last Chance series, besting a field of 88 entries in the $10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em event to earn $211,200.
This latest win saw the Russian poker pro increase his lifetime earnings to nearly $15.5 million.
In addition to the hardware and the money, Maritorisian also earned 480 POY points for 2024 and 211 PGT points ahead of the season-ending PGT Championship $1,000,000 freeroll that will kick off on Jan. 9. He climbed to 46th place on the overall PGT leaderboard as a result, and now leads the PGT Last Chance series points race. He will need to either move inside the PGT top 40 or secure a Dream Seat by ending this festival as one of the top two points scorers to qualify for the PGT Championship.
Martirosian won a big pot early at the final table, calling down a big river shove from recent event no.1 runner-up Daniel Smiljkovic with top pair to take a sizable lead into six-handed play. Smiljkovic has already cashed for $194,150 across his two deep runs at
this series.
Four-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen was the next to fall by Martirosian’s hands, earning $52,800 as the sixth-place finisher. Victoria Livschitz soon followed, taking home $70,400 for her efforts.
Two-time POY award winner Stephen Chidiwck managed to edge into the lead during four-handed play, but a bluff attempt that was called down by Martirosian saw the British poker player fall out of the top spot. He soon got all-in with A-7 trailing Martirosian’s A-Q. Both players flopped a pair of aces, and the kicker played by the end to end Chidwick’s run in fourth place ($88,000). He now has nearly $54.9 million in career cashes to his name.
Martirosian then busted short stack Vitalijs Zavorotnijs ($110,000) to take a healthy lead into heads-up play with Michael Jozoff. The final hand saw Martirosian shove from the button with K3. Jozoff called off his last 12 or so big blinds with 108 and the board ran out KKQA9 and Martirosian’s trips earned him the pot and the title. Jozoff was awarded $145,200 as the runner-up.
Final Table Results
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Artur Martirosyan | $211,200 | 480 | 211 |
2 | Michael Jozoff | $145,200 | 400 | 145 |
3 | Vitalijs Zavorotnijs | $110,000 | 320 | 110 |
4 | Stephen Chidwick | $88,000 | 240 | 88 |
5 | Victoria Livschitz | $70,400 | 200 | 70 |
6 | Kristen Foxen | $52,800 | 160 | 53 |
7 | Daniel Smiljkovic | $44,000 | 120 | 44 |
8 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $35,200 | 80 | 35 |
Photos by PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.