Martirosian runs the gauntlet to win third WSOP bracelet in $25K Heads-Up

After three grueling days of elite heads-up poker, Artur Martirosian ended up with all the chips, his third WSOP bracelet, and $500,000. 

He had to do it the hard way as well, coming through an incredibly tough bracket to claim gold in the prestigious $25K Heads-Up Championship.

These are the players he had to beat:

• Round of 64: Jeremy Ausmus
• Round of 32: Faraz Jaka
• Round of 16: Kevin Rabichow
• Round of 8: Chance Kornuth
• Semifinal: Patrick Leonard

He was up against Aliaksei Boika in the final. The Belarusian has over $5 million in winnings, but he was chasing his first WSOP bracelet.

And it was Boika who came out of the games fast.

Aliaksei Boika took an early lead in the final against Artur Martirosian.

Katerina Lukina

Boika flops big, takes early lead

In the first big pot, Martirosian raised to 50,000 with and Boika called with .

The flop was a thing of beauty for Boika – — giving him two pair to Martirosian's top pair-good kicker. 

Boika check-called a bet of 65,000 to see the turn and then check-called a bet of 300,000 to the river.

Boika checked again, and Martirosian fired out 625,000. Boika called to build his stack close to 6 million. 

• Aliaksei Boika: 5,840,000
• Artur Martirosian: 3,760,000

Artur Martirosian came from behind again to claim his third gold bracelet.

Omar Sader

Martirosian gets there on the river

Then two premium hands collided, and Martirosian flipped the stacks.

He three-bet preflop to 400,000 with and Boika called with . 

The flop hit Boika hard, but he decided to play it slow. He checked to the turn where both players checked again.

Boika may regret the slow play. Martirosian hit a set on the river, and bet 800,000. Boika called it off. 

• Artur Martirosian: 6,060,000
• Aliaksei Boika: 3,540,000

Aliaksei Boika got unlucky at the end and is still looking for his first WSOP bracelet.

Runner-runner for the bracelet

After three days and six rounds of high-level poker, it all came down to a massive flip.

All the money went in preflop with Martirosian ahead with , but only just. Boika had and needed to hit — and he hit big on the flop.

The brought a sweat, putting a flush draw on the board. ‘TV table,’ Martirosian joked with a smile.

And the TV table delivered the , completing Martirosian’s backdoor flush and clinching the bracelet — his first on US soil.

Speaking after the win, Martirosian reflected, “We had a very interesting match. He played well, but I was a bit more lucky. I had a bit more experience, and I’m happy to win it. 

“I have a lot of titles, but a WSOP bracelet is special.” 

$25K Heads-Up Championship results