Artur Martirosyan Continues Hot Streak, Wins Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em

Four hands into the final table, Artur Martirosyan picked off Event #1 runner-up Daniel Smiljkovic to take a commanding chip lead and never looked back en route to the title and $211,200 in PGT Last Chance Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em.

Facing a shove of 745,000 into a pot of nearly three million chips and the board reading , Martirosyan went deep into the tank and used three time extensions before he called for over 75% of his stack with for top pair. 

When Smilijkovic could only table for ace high, he was out the door in seventh place for $44,000, and Martirosyan held nearly 40% of the chips in play. 

Short Stack Kristen Foxen was the next to fall at the hands of Martirosyan in sixth place for $52,800 when his ace-jack bested her king-queen as he closed in on 50% of the chips in play. 

On hand latter, Martirosyan could only watch as Vitalijs Zavorotnijs' pocket sevens turned a set to eliminate Victoria Livschitz in fifth place for $70,400. Still, the fireworks were coming once again for Martirosyan. 

With Michael Jozoff and Zavorotnijs both sitting on sub 20 big blind stacks, Martirosyan raised the small blind to 350,000, and before he could blink, Stephen Chidwick was all in for 2.5 million, which prompted a snap call from the Russian. 

Both players held an ace, but it was Martirosyan who had the better kicker with a queen, which proved the difference when both players flopped a pair of aces as Chidwick was headed to the payout desk in fourth place for $88,000 and Martirosyan held a staggering 74% of the chips in play. 

Three-handed play started with Jozoff scoring a double through the chip leader; however, a few hands later, Zavorotnijs doubled through Jozoff to bring both players near even as Martirosyan was content to let the short stacks battle while picking up the blinds and ante when the opportunity arose. 

The patience paid off as Jozoff ended up all in with queen-jack against Zavorotnijs' ace-seven. A jack on the turn left Zavorotnijs just above starting stack, and Martirosyan sent the Latvian out the door in third place for $110,000 moments later when his king-seven outkicked Zavorotnijs' king-duece. 

Heads-up play was over and done within 15 minutes as Martirosyan made quick work of Jozoff as the young American could get nothing going, walking away with $145,200 for the second-place finish, just shy of his career-best score of $161,500. 

The win vaults Martirosyan from 60th on the 2023 PGT season leaderboard to 46th, and, with a strong showing in the final four events, has positioned himself with a chance to move into the top 40 and gain a seat in the $1,000,000 freeroll. 

PGT Last Chance Event #2: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Payouts

Place	Name	Country	PGT Points	Payouts
1st	Artur Martirosyan	Russia	211	$211,200
2nd	Michael Jozoff	United States	145	$145,200
3rd	Vitalijs Zavorotnijs	Latvia	110	$110,000
4th	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	88	$88,000
5th	Victoria Livschitz	United States	70	$70,400
6th	Kristen Foxen	Canada	53	$52,800
7th	Daniel Smiljkovic	Germany	44	$44,000
8th	Andrew Lichtenberger	United States	35	$35,200
9th	Chino Rheem	United States	35	$35,200
10th	Ren Lin	China	26	$26,400
11th	Dan Shak	United States	26	$26,400
12th	Rodger Johnson	United States	18	$17,600
13th	Dylan DeStefano	United States	18	$17,600

Martirosyan and Jozoff Take Control for Final Two Dream Seats

While Martirosyan may be on the outside looking in at the top 40 with the win, he now sits in one of the final two PGT dream seat spots with four events to play in the PGT Last Chance Series. 

Joining him in the driver's seat is runner-up Jozoff, who sits 35 points ahead of third-place finisher Zavorotnijs for the second seat. Both players, however, will be hoping Martirosyan continues his hot streak, as a move into the top 40 would free up another potential spot. 

Ninth-place finisher Chino Rheem moved up three spots on the overall leaderboard, and with the cash knocked out Arthur Morris from the top 40, gaining a seat into the $1,000,000 free roll in the process but still sits squarely on the bubble in 40th place. 

Andrew Lichtenberger also sits on the bubble, having moved up three spots on the leaderboard after his eighth-place finish, but is currently on the outside looking in, sitting at 42nd place, and will need to continue to produce to gain entry into the year-end event. 

PGT Last Chance Series Top 10

Rank	Player	Points	Wins	Cashes	Winnings
1st	Daniel Negreanu*	218	1	1	$218,400
2nd	Artur Martirosyan	211	1	1	$211,200
3rd	Daniel Smiljkovic*	194	0	2	$194,150
4th	Michael Jozoff	145	0	1	$145,200
5th	Masashi Oya*	114	0	1	$113,750
6th	Vitalijs Zavorotnijs	110	0	1	$110,000
7th	Justin Bonomo	91	0	1	$91,000
8th	Stephen Chidwick*	88	0	1	$88,000
9th	Jonathan Cohen (CA)	73	0	1	$72,800
10th	Kristen Foxen	71	0	2	$71,000

* indicates a player is already in the top 40 of the overall leaderboard.

4 Events Remaining in PGT Season

Event Number	Starting Date	Event
129	January 4, 2024	PGT Last Chance #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em
130	January 5, 2024	PGT Last Chance #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em
131	January 6, 2024	PGT Last Chance #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em
132	January 7, 2024	PGT Last Chance #6: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em
	January 9-10, 2024	PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll

For complete PGT schedule information, check out pgt.com/schedule.

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