Aliaksandr Hirs Triumphs In Event #13: $5,300 High Roller ($204,700)
Event #13: $5,300 High Roller at the Merit Poker Carmen Series has drawn to a close after three days of play. Once the dust settled at the conclusion of the third and final day, it was none other than Belarusian Aliaksandr Hirs who emerged as the last one standing from an initial field of 187 to capture the lion's share of the $860,200 prizepool, defeating Fahredin Mustafov in a one sided heads-up affair.
This marks Hirs' first live tournament victory with the $204,700 first place prize adding a significant chunk to his career earnings of $396,757. It should be noted, however, that is is not his largest ever cash with that coming back in August 2022 at EPT Barcelona when he finished third in the $2,200 ESPT High Roller for $284,668.
2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aliaksandr Hirs | $204,700 |
| 2 | Fahredin Mustafov | $143,800 |
| 3 | Ryan Mandara | $92,700 |
| 4 | Simeon Spasov | $68,900 |
| 5 | Eduard Barsegian | $51,900 |
| 6 | Anton Ionel | $41,750 |
| 7 | Carlos Aoun | $34,800 |
| 8 | Egor Romaniuk | $28,050 |
| 9 | Lev Kydatov | $21,250 |
Winner's Reaction
Although Hirs is relatively new to the live poker scene, he has been racking up a steady slate of impressive results online, a fact he reflected on after his victory.
"It's a similar game [online] but it's also a different atmosphere".
That different atmosphere is something Hirs points to as a reason why he is now playing more live events.
"It's interesting to play with different players because you can see these players. Online you can only see the icon. Now you can see the players, you can see their emotion. It's really good".
Bubble Play
A total of 28 players returned for the final day, which meant that none had yet made it into the money with 23 spots getting paid. With several short stacks in the field, bubble play did not last long. Ultimately, Alexandru Papazian, Romania's all time money leader, was the individual unfortunate enough to burst the bubble after he got his last few chips in with a dominated hand against Carlos Aoun and failed to improve. Everyone left was guaranteed a minimum of $8,100 but with such big money up top, nobody was going to be happy heading home just yet.
Final Table Action
The tournament average stack rarely strayed above the 35 big blind mark and was often significantly below that point. As a result, the final table was set not too long into the day after Sakis Adrianopoulos jammed his ace-four right into Anton Ionel's ace-jack.
With that, the remaining nine took their seats to grind out what would be a relatively long final table. Lev Kydatov was the short stack entering the final table and so it was little surprise that he was first out the door when his big slick failed to hold against the ace-jack of Simeon Spasov.
Next to head to the exits was the congenial Egor Romaniuk, flopping top-top only to see a rampant Hirs turn over ladies for the overpair. Not long after, Aoun hit the showers in 7th place, felled in a blind on blind encounter with Ionel.
It took some time for the next player to go but eventually Ionel, whose stack had been dwindling away for some time, lost a flip against Mustafov to send him to the rail in 6th place. Just a few hands later, Eduard Barsegian fell to the wayside, unable to overcome Hirs' tens.
Spasov displayed great skill throughout the day and was near or at the top of the leaderboard for a good portion of the final table. Unfortunately for him, after taking a few bad beats, he got his remaining chips in with jack-nine against the eigh-seven of Hirs, who paired up to scoop the pot. Start of day chipleader Ryan Mandara coasted for much of the day but could not do so all the way to the end, instead succumbing to a seemingly unstoppable Hirs after check-jamming his flush draw on the flop and failing to hit.
That elimination setup a heads-up showdown between Hirs and Mustafov. Hirs entered with a sizable chip advantage, one that he never relinquished. Though Mustafov put up a good fight, it was simply Hirs' day. After flopping top pair, Hirs bet-called a shove from Mustafov who had an open ended straight draw. The draw failed to come in and that was all she wrote.
That concludes coverage of Event #13: $5,300 High Roller at the Merit Poker Carmen Series, hosted by the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Be sure to stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team provides coverage through to the end of the series.