Pan Leads Final 12 in the $2,200 Warm Up; Guilbert and Martirosian in Contention
Out of a field of 745 entries in the 2021 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS North Cyprus $2,200 Warm Up, only 12 players remain in contention for the biggest slice of the $1,370,800 prize pool.
The final dozen hopefuls have $18,370 locked up for their efforts thus far at the five-star Merit Crystal Cove Hotel Casino & Spa in Girne, North Cyprus. However, all eyes are set on the trophy and top prize of $240,265 that comes along with it.
Dutch player Jim Sue Pan leads as the only player above 50 big blinds and claimed 12,750,000 ahead of the final day. Five players are then within five big blinds including Georges Hanna, Ionel Anton, Mantas Nanartavicius, Fahredin Mustafov, and Kush Vinod Kataria.
Within ten levels of 60 minutes each, the money bubble burst and the goal of reaching the nine-handed final table was narrowly missed. Among the final dozen contenders are also the French online poker streamer Johan "YoH ViraL" Guilbert and rising star Artur Martirosian.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day in the $2,200 Warm Up
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 2,600,000 | 13 |
| 2 | 3 | Mantas Nanartavicius | Lithuania | 8,650,000 | 43 |
| 2 | 4 | Ionel Anton | Romania | 9,000,000 | 45 |
| 2 | 5 | Matthieu Chan | Mauritius | 2,325,000 | 12 |
| 2 | 7 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | 8,000,000 | 40 |
| 2 | 8 | Silma Macalou | France | 4,100,000 | 21 |
| 3 | 1 | Johan Guilbert | France | 5,400,000 | 27 |
| 3 | 3 | Jim Sue Pan | Netherlands | 12,750,000 | 64 |
| 3 | 4 | Gregoire Auzoux | France | 1,975,000 | 10 |
| 3 | 5 | Georges Hanna | Lebanon | 9,075,000 | 45 |
| 3 | 7 | Karolis Ciudaras | Lithuania | 2,625,000 | 13 |
| 3 | 8 | Kush Vinod Kataria | United Arab Emirates | 7,950,000 | 40 |
The final day is scheduled to get underway at 1pm local time on Monday, September 20 and the final table will also be streamed with cards-up coverage and commentary on the partypoker Twitch and YouTube channels. Recommencing blinds will be 100,000-200,000 with a big blind ante of 200,000 on two six-handed tables.
The Action of the Day
With 94 returning players and 89 spots paid, it didn't take long for the money bubble to be reached. Lebanese player Elie Hage Youssef eventually became the last player to leave empty-handed when he ran with queens into the aces of Nicolas Chouity. From there on, the eliminations came at a rapid pace and the early casualties in the money included Dmitry Gromov, Wael Sarkis, Eimantas Adomavicius, and Chouity, among others.
Piotr Sowinski fell victim to the run-good of Artur Martirosian when the Russian rivered a full house with pocket nines. However, the stack of Martirosian went on a roller coaster ride throughout the entire day as others made a run for the top spot on the leaderboard. On the final four tables it was Frenchman Gregoire Auzoux on top after he knocked out several opponents in quick succession.
Only 29 players remained on the dinner break after six levels were completed and recent WSOP Online bracelet winner Kacper Pyzara was the first to depart when the action resumed. Zorlu Er claimed the top spot for a short period after knocking out Job Greben and Bassel Alanaz but paid off a full house of Kush Vinod Kataria to become a short stack. During this stage, Jim Sue Pan assumed control with plenty of aggression and never really dropped out of the top three in chips anymore.
Lachezar Petkov, Kasparas Klezys and Walid Bou Habib fell before the final two tables were set and Viktor Ustimov saw his stack reduced in the very last hand before the redraw when he four-bet jammed sixes into the queens of Johan Guilbert. Ustimov never recovered from that and was among several quick-fire eliminations. Zorlu Er and Stefan Fabian saw their hopes vanish when an inferior suited ace got there before the dust settled with one dozen contenders still in the mix.
They will be back after a good night's sleep and play down to the winner on September 20. The PokerNews team will be back then to provide conclusive live updates until a champion has been crowned.
