$2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final Day 1cd | 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party

05-07-2025 17:19 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

Frank Visser

Level 11 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Vitkind	1,470,000 940,000	940,000
Sergei Kim	1,250,000 1,250,000	1,250,000
Andrey Pateychuk	980,000 280,000	280,000

Mustafa Biz	900,000 900,000	900,000
Elena Iakovleva	900,000 185,000	185,000
Kevin Houghton	900,000 900,000	900,000
Leonid Bozhkov	900,000 465,000	465,000
Boris Smuskevicius	880,000 880,000	880,000
Chady Ojeil	875,000 675,000	675,000
Alex Goulder	810,000 10,000	10,000
Juan Corral	770,000 453,000	453,000
Romans Lihacovs	735,000 735,000	735,000
Valeriu Rosca	660,000 30,000	30,000
Marian Virlanuta	650,000 363,500	363,500
Vladislav Dubanov	622,000 103,000	103,000
Jalal Jafari	550,000 550,000	550,000

Level: 11

Blinds: 6,000/12,000

Ante: 12,000

05-07-2025 17:02 UTC+2

Denise Pratt Confronts Poker Debtor Maurice Hawkins at Payout Desk | PokerNews Podcast #889

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

In the 889th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Kyna England talk about the recent drama involving, you guessed it, Maurice Hawkins and Denise Pratt. The latter claims to be owed $11,200 after backing the former, and things boiled over when she confronted him at the payout desk at the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Tunica stop.

What's more, the crew reacts to an interview Hawkins gave on his own podcast, him agreeing to come on the PokerNews Podcast before not responding, and then goes one-on-one with Denise Pratt to hear her side of the story.

Mike then shares his experience as the last guest on the final episode of the Only Friends Podcast (they were kind enough to gift a piece of their set to the PokerNews Podcast set), Kyna joins Team Hotdog at the LIPS Spring Festival, and Chad headed up to the NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Oh, and Connor was busy at PokerGO Studio interviewing Jennifer Tilly, Mike Matusow, and comedian Ray Romano during the One Step Closer Foundation's "All in for CP" charity event.

Other stories include Pennsylvania online poker joining the MSIGA merged player pool, Mori Eskandani interviewing PA Governor Josh Shapiro, and Robbie Strazynski & others voicing concern over YouTube's algorithm crackdown on poker content. Check out all those stories and more on the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast!

A new PokerNews Podcast will drop weekly every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

05-07-2025 16:57 UTC+2

Final Break Before Late Registration Closes

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

The field has been sent on a 20-minute break. When they come back, the late registration will have been closed.

05-07-2025 16:55 UTC+2

Farah Doubles Through Chen

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Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Yuhang Chen and Elie Farah just got all of their chips into the middle preflop with Farah being the one at risk.

Elie Farah: J♥J♦ All in
Yuhang Chen: 10♥10♦

Chen only had a few more chips than Farah, so he would be left with just a few big blinds if he couldn't find a ten on the runout. The dealer put out a board of2♠A♥3♠K♠5♦ to keep Farah's pocket jacks ahead the entire way, and he doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Elie Farah	500,000 500,000	500,000
Yuhang Chen	40,000 190,000	190,000

Tags: Elie Farah Yuhang Chen

05-07-2025 16:55 UTC+2

Groofi Calls Korochenskiy's Huge Shove

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Asaf Groofi had raised preflop before he called Anatoly Korochenskiy's three-bet to 81,000.

Groofi then checked the 10♠10♦2♥ flop to Korochenskiy, who promptly shoved in his stack of 301,000. Groofi spent some time in the tank before he tossed in a call with the covering stack.

Anatoly Korochenskiy: A♦Q♦ All in
Asaf Groofi: 4♠4♥

Groofi had made the right call with his pocket pair, as Korochenskiy was on ace-high. Neither the 8♥ turn nor the 6♥ river improved Korochenskiy's hand, sending him to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Asaf Groofi	822,000 72,000	72,000
Anatoly Korochenskiy	Busted

Tags: Anatoly Korochenskiy Asaf Groofi

05-07-2025 16:45 UTC+2

Skripkin Loses a Huge Flip to Bust

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Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Maksim Skripkin was all-in for his stack of 250,000 with the cutoff player calling to try and bust him.

Maksim Skripkin: Q♦Q♣ All in
Cutoff Player: A♦K♠

It was a huge flip for over 500,000 chips. The flop fell K♥K♦6♥ to give Skripkin's opponent a commanding lead with trip kings. The 3♠ on the turn meant only a queen on the river could save Skripkin. However, the J♦ landed on the river and Skripkin was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Skripkin	Busted

Tags: Maksim Skripkin

05-07-2025 16:40 UTC+2

Alfaia Scores a Knockout

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Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

A player under the gun moved all in for roughly 25,000 and Alfaia called from the hijack to put him at risk.

Under-The-Gun Player: J♥8♦
Antonio Alfaia: A♠10♥

The under-the-gun player needed a favorable runout from the dealer or he would be headed to the rail. The flop came down 9♥9♣5♣, which didn't change anything., The rest of the board ran out 5♥4♣ and Alfaia won the pot, sending his opponent home.

Player	Chips	Progress
Antonio Alfaia	300,000

Tags: Antonio Alfaia

Level: 10

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 10,000

05-07-2025 16:28 UTC+2

Stanciu on Double Starting Stack

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Frank Visser

Level 9 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

With the pot amounting to 90,000, Traian Stanciu sat in the big blind and check-called the cutoff's bet of 70,000 on a 8♥J♠Q♣4♠ turn.

The river fell the 2♦, on which Stanciu checked again. His opponent tossed in one time bank before following suit. Stanciu tabled Q♦2♣ for two pair, winning the pot when the cutoff sent his cards into the muck.

Player	Chips	Progress
Traian Stanciu	400,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Traian Stanciu