WSOP Main Event Final Table Profile: Artem Metalidi

July 12, 2018

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Brought to you by the WSOP-C Playground, hosted by Playground Poker Club and partypoker LIVE. The long-awaited return to Canada of the WSOP Circuit takes place from August 23rd to September 3rd and will not only feature an $1,100 Main Event with a huge $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool, but also other favorites such as the Colossus, Monster Stack, and High Roller.

Artem Metalidi WSOP Main Event Final Table Profile

Seat:	1
Chip Count:	15,475,000 (8/9)
Hometown:	Kiev, Ukraine
Age:	29
Twitter:	@Artem205_

Artem Metalidi has become the second player from the Ukraine to reach the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event, following in the footsteps of Anton Makiievskyi, who finished in eighth in 2011 for $1,010,015.

Metalidi started playing poker around 2011 when he found a poker strategy forum where they gave away $50 for players to get started. He used that to spin it up playing cash and tournaments. Now, he already has more than $2.1 million in career earnings, not including the $1 million he has locked up in the Main Event. What is even more remarkable about the deep run of Metalidi, is the fact that he started Day 3 with just 11 big blinds (66,000) and cruised from there all the way to the final table.

"This year I realized how fantastic this tournament really is because there are so many good spots where you can gain chips and don't have to risk too much.”

“It's been a new experience for me, I am not really intimidated and just play this like any other tournament,” he said after making the 2018 WSOP final table. “I don't like to think about the payouts and stuff, and just try my best.”

With plenty of deep runs in other events, Metalidi was well-prepared for the things to come. However, his WSOP final table run in Las Vegas still stands out on his poker resume.

“It is special because it is such a big field and it is so tough to get through, and I actually never made it past Day 2 in the previous years,” he revealed. “This year I realized how fantastic this tournament really is because there are so many good spots where you can gain chips and don't have to risk too much.”

Metalidi, who was a part of Team Ukraine in the 2015 Global Poker Masters, started Day 7 second in chips but it wasn't exactly a smooth run to the final nine as he suffered early setbacks and even dropped to the bottom of the counts when eighteen players remained.

“It was not really difficult,” he said. “It was disappointing to lose a lot of chips early and get stuck with a medium stack on the bubble of the final table, so I had to play kind of passively and tried to get through some pay jumps.”

He continued: “I came in with a really good stack and I had big expectations, but I lost some pots along the way and was kind of getting a bit short, but knowing how this tournament plays, it’s still a really good stack. People have been busting pretty quick so... let the fun begin!”

Before his deep run, Metalidi had $2,131,437 in live tournament earnings, which put him seventh on Ukraine’s all-time money list. With a win, he would surpass Eugene Katchalov atop his country’s all-time money list. With $1 million locked up, Metalidi has nearly tripled his best prior cash of $350,806 for finishing second in the 2012 WSOP Event #23: $3,000 NLHE 6-Handed.

HOW HE GOT HERE

Day	End-of-Day Chip Count	Rank
1b	102,700	298/1,794
2ab	119,700	603/1,131
3	66,000	1,073/1,182
4	1,518,000	100/310
5	6,525,000	10/109
6	30,845,000	2/26
7	15,475,000	8/9

KEY HAND

One hand that helped get Metalidi to the final table, was knocking out Omaha’s Ryan Phan in 11th place.

It happened when Metalidi opened with jacks from the hijack and Phan three-bet all in for his last twelve bigs on the button. Both blinds folded and Metalidi called. The jacks held and Metalidi chipped up to 21.4 million, which was enough to get him in the top nine.

“After that, I was unstoppable. Everything was going my way."

On Day 6, Metalidi chipped up when got kings against ace-king, which put him on the right track.

“After that, I was unstoppable. Everything was going my way," he said. “I played a lot of tournaments to prepare for the Main. I wanted to test some strategies and test some things I was not confident in, so I tried to grind a lot. That was my preparation."

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Metalidi enters the final table as the second shortest stack with 26 big blinds. The good news is that it’s twice as much as the short-stacked Antoine Labat, on whom he has position.

His stack could also do some damage to the two players on his immediate left – John Cynn and Alex Lynskey.

2018 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Artem Metalidi	Ukraine	15,475,000	26
2	John Cynn	United States	37,075,000	62
3	Alex Lynskey	Australia	25,925,000	43
4	Tony Miles	United States	42,750,000	71
5	Nicolas Manion	United States	112,775,000	188
6	Aram Zobian	United States	18,875,000	31
7	Michael Dyer	United States	109,175,000	182
8	Joe Cada	United States	23,675,000	39
9	Antoine Labat	France	8,050,000	13

There is 1:23:57 remaining in Level 36 (300,000/600,000, with a 100,000-ante).

2018 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payout

Position	Prize
1	$8,800,000
2	$5,000,000
3	$3,750,000
4	$2,825,000
5	$2,150,000
6	$1,800,000
7	$1,500,000
8	$1,250,000
9	$1,000,000

2018 WSOP Main Event Final Table Stats

Player	WSOP Cashes	WSOP Bracelets	Career Earnings	Biggst Cash	GPI Ranking
Joe Cada	33	3	$10,779,041	$8,546,435	849th
Alex Lynskey	14	0	$1,769,666	$426,663	525th
Artem Metalidi	25	0	$2,131,437	$350,806	567th
John Cynn	16	0	$944,786	$650,000	3,926th
Antoine Labat	2	0	$194,789	$52,842	13,662nd
Aram Zobian	10	0	$110,444	$47,000	1,946th
Michael Dyer	2	0	$95,020	$65,905	179,657th
Tony Miles	5	0	$54,333	$18,000	16,766th
Nicolas Manion	1	0	$16,739	$9,850	32,585th