Georgios Skarparis had shipped his stack of around 50,000 into the middle from the small blind and was put at risk by Joseph Houayek.
Georgios Skarparis: A♠9♥
Joseph Houayek: A♦Q♦
Skarparis had started Day 1b well and more than doubled his stack, but couldn't get anything going and was eliminated when the 2♣5♠K♦J♣J♥ runout hit the felt.
Stanislav Tishkevich opened hijack to 3,500 and Xiaosheng Zheng three-bet from the small blind to 14,000. Tishkevich then made a four-bet to 30,000, and Zheng moved all in. Tishkevich quickly called for his full stack of around 100,000.
Stanislav Tishkevich: K♦K♥
Xiaosheng Zheng: K♠Q♣
Zheng was in a a less-than-ideal situation, but did flop some hope when he paired his queen on Q♥5♦4♠. However, neither the 9♦ turn nor 4♣ river could earn him the pot, and Tishkevich doubled up.
It's not been a good few minutes for Xiaosheng Zheng, who has sent over the majority of his stack to Stanislav Tishkevich.
On a board of 6♣Q♦3♦9♥K♠, there were around 40,000 chips in the pot when Tishkevich checked the river and Zheng bet 27,000, leaving himself around 20,000 behind. Tishkevich then shoved, and after a long time in the tank, Zheng elected to fold.
Azamat Tulepbergenov had high hopes for a double-up when he five-bet shoved from the small blind for around 80,000, and got a call from Razvan Sabau on the button.
Azamat Tulepbergenov: A♥A♠
Razvan Sabau : K♠K♣
Unfortunately for Tulepbergenov, the flop of K♥K♦5♥ all but sealed his fate as Sabau flopped quads! No running aces appeared on the 10♠J♥ runout, and Tulepbergenov was sent to the rail.
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Last January at the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series, France's Mohamed Mokrani was crowned champion of the $3,300 Main Event, outlasting the 672-entry field and defeating Nichan Khorchidian in a brief heads-up duel to take home the title and top prize of $342,500. The $1,500,000 guarantee was easily eclipsed, with the final prize pool confirmed at $1,854,720.
Mokrani started the final day as the fifth-largest stack and went mostly under the radar before a late-night surge catapulted him ahead of perennial chip leaders Felipe Ketzer and Khorchidian during three-handed play. Mokrani only had $15,211 in recorded lifetime tournament earnings prior to this event, and the win was nearly forty times greater than his previous-best cash of $8,124.
2024 Western Series $3,300 Main Event Final Table Results
