On the button, Damir Zhugralin opened to 600,000. Then in the big blind, Uri Reichenstein moved all in for 5,785,000. Zhugralin snap-called.
Uri Reichenstein: K♣J♠
Damir Zhugralin: Q♣Q♦
A queen came on the flop 2♣Q♦K♦ to give Zhugralin a set, but Reichenstein still had a straight draw. The turn K♦ didn't change anything. Finally, the 4♥ completed the board, and ended the tournament.
After an amazing comeback in heads up, Damir Zhugralin is crowned the winner of the 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series $10,500 High Roller and wins $350,000. Finishing second, Uri Reichenstein goes back home with $246,300.
Stay tuned on PokerNews for the full recap of the event !
Damir Zhugralin had less than 20% of the chips when he reached the final duel. But after a few double ups, he managed to take the lead and win the 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series $10,500 High Roller at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
Thanks to his first place out of 153 entrants, Zhugralin wins $350,000. Chipleader of the final table from start to (almost) the end, Uri Reichenstein finishes second for $246,300. Like them, 20 players were in the money, sharing a total prizepool of $1,407,600.
2023 Merit Poker Retro Series $10,500 High Roller Results
PLACE
PLAYER
COUNTRY
PRIZE
1
Damir Zhugralin
Kazakhstan
$350,000
2
Uri Reichenstein
Israel
$246,300
3
Mustafa Biz
Turkey
$158,600
4
Milos Petakovic
Serbia
$117,600
5
Denis Kapustin
Russia
$88,500
6
Maxime Chilaud
France
$70,900
7
Sonny Franco
France
$59,100
8
Hassan Barakat
Lebanon
$47,500
9
Daniel Kyosev
Bulgaria
$35,700
Day 4 Highlights
Twenty-two players came back on Day 3 with one main goal: behing in one of the 20 places in the money. Tinay Aksoy wasn't the favorite to do so, as he had only two blinds at the beginning of the day. Thus, it wasn't surprising to see his name as the first player eliminated.
After the bubble burst, the field quickly narrowed down to two tables, with short stacks like Jovan Kenjic(17th, $18,700) getting eliminated. It didn't take much longer to reach the final table, as only three and a half hours passed between the "shuffle up and deal" and the elimination of Aleksandr Chernikov. The Russian player finished 10th ($26,300), despite being the chipleader after the bubble. Once again, it was Zhugralin who sent him to the rail.
The final table started with Uri Reichenstein as the chipleader. He utilized his big stack to apply pressure on his opponents. Day 1 chipleader Daniel Kyosev was the first to fall against him (9th, $35,700), followed by Hassan Barakat(8th, $47,500) and Sonny Franco(7th, $59,100). After these eliminations, the remaining six players took a dinner break.
With these eliminations, Reichenstein began the heads up with 12,500,000 chips, while Zhugralin had only 3,000,000 chips. However, Zhugralin managed to double up on the very first hand, and then twice more in a row. The beginning of an impressive comeback. Thanks to his last double up, he even took the lead, which he maintained until the end.