Gia Skhulukhia lost heads-up to a Chinese amateur in the NOIR Poker Series high roller

At the Merit Poker Series festival taking place in Northern Cyprus, the $7500 High Roller has wrapped up. The event drew 209 entries, and among the participants were many players from the post-Soviet region. The one who advanced furthest was Gia Skhulukhia, who came up just one step short of the title. The Russian regular lost heads-up to Chinese amateur Chengyu Liao.

On the final day, 16 players returned to the tables, and in just two levels the field shrank to 9 contenders for the trophy. The final-table bubble boy was EPT main event champion Arseny Karmatsky, who earned $23,700.

Skhulukhia started heads-up against Liao with a chip lead and managed to extend it slightly. But then the Chinese player took a very large pot thanks to a flopped set of sixes and moved into the lead. In the decisive hand, Skhulukhia went all-in with ♣️♣️, and Liao called with ♦️♠️. On the ♠️♥️♠️ flop the Chinese player caught a pair and then held on through the ♠️ turn and ♥️ river. Liao, whose career winnings amounted to just $16,000, took the title and $300,000 in prize money. Skhulukhia received $203,000 for second place.

"I don't make a living from poker. I work in Istanbul, so I just organized this weekend trip to play some poker. I was very nervous. I felt I was the weakest player at the final table. I just got lucky," Liao said after the win.

$7500 High Roller final table results:
1️⃣ Chengyu Liao 🇨🇳 — $300,000
2️⃣ Gia Skhulukhia 🇷🇺 — $203,000
3️⃣ Gor Musinyan 🇦🇲 — $142,000
4️⃣ Zorlu Er 🇹🇷 — $100,000
5️⃣ Daniil Kiselyov 🇷🇺 — $80,000
6️⃣ Yesset Aimukhanov 🇰🇿 — $64,000
7️⃣ Leonid Orman 🇷🇺 — $51,000
8️⃣ Julian Pineda Lozano 🇨🇴 — $40,000
9️⃣ Geoffrey Mooney 🇦🇺 — $30,060

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