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Early Thursday morning (Wednesday evening U. S. time), Alexander Lakhov defeated a surprisingly strong final table that included Toby Lewis, Nicolas Chouity and eventual runner-up Dmitry Gromov to capture the title of the partypoker World Poker Tour Merit Classic North Cyprus.

The first international event of the Season XIII schedule for the WPT drew in a respectable field of 404 entries (players who took part in Day 1A, Day1B or both had the option of a rebuy on that specific day if eliminated) and the final six men brought some serious chops to the table. Chip leader Chouity, a former European Poker Tour Grand Final champion, held a sizeable lead over Lakhov (4.39 million to 3.13 million) as the cards hit the air and the other men in the tournament – Ori Miller (2.27 million), Lewis (1.085 million), Gromov (815K) and Igor Devkin (435K) – were facing an arduous task in getting back in the tournament.

Chouity was the benefactor of some great cards in the early going. After pushing his short stack once and getting no action, Devkin tried it again with pocket Queens only to have Chouity wake up with pocket Kings to eliminate Devkin in sixth. Chouity continued to pummel his opponents (and have the cards) when, following an all-in move by Miller for around a million chips, Chouity found pocket Aces in the big blind. Chouity called and, after the board only brought one King for Miller’s K-J, Miller was gone in fifth place.

Just when it seemed like Chouity was going to steamroll his way to this WPT championship, the other three men on the felt (Lakhov, Lewis and Gromov) woke up from their slumbers. A short-stacked Lewis took four consecutive hands in trying to build up his stack, but a final move would prove to be his last. In a blind versus blind battle, Gromov made a raise and Lewis (on the big blind) defended with an all-in move. Gromov quickly assessed the situation as the dealer counted out Lewis’ chips and, before that could be completed, made the call and tabled an A-J. Lewis, with a decent four-handed holdings of A-10, couldn’t find anything on the Queen high board and departed the tournament in fourth place.

The knockout of Lewis propelled Gromov to roughly 300K chips behind Chouity, but Lakhov was dangerously close to both players with his 3.1 million stack. Instead of patiently waiting and grinding down Lakhov, however, a clash between Gromov and Chouity would shift the balance of power at the final table. On a K 9 5♠ 3♠ flop and turn, Gromov check-raised all in a Chouity bet and found himself in bad shape after Chouity called. Gromov’s 2♣ 2 had been outflopped by Chouity’s K♠ Q♠ and, with the two spades on the board, was looking at only one out to save him. That miracle arrived on the river in the form of a 2, giving the victory to Gromov in the form of a 9 million chip pot and pushing Chouity out in third place.

Down to heads up action, Gromov held nearly a 3:1 lead over Lakhov, but the drama wasn’t finished yet. On the first hand after Chouity’s departure, Lakhov three-bet all in with an A-J and Gromov immediately called with his pocket Aces. The J-9-7 rainbow flop brought some hope for Lakhov, but a King on the turn diminished them somewhat. Another Jack on the river was the card Lakhov was looking for, giving him trips and pushing him into the lead with a 7.07 million stack over Gromov’s 5.05 million.

Gromov would never see the lead again. Over the next hour, the duo jousted for the title but Lakhov never relinquished his edge. On the final hand, Lakhov opened up the betting and Gromov took his shot with a three bet all-in. Lakhov made the call and found that his pocket Jacks were in good position over Gromov’s A 2. Once the K-10-5-5-10 board rolled out, Lakhov’s Jacks gave him a better two pair and the championship of the partypoker WPT Merit Classic North Cyprus.

1. Alexander Lakhov, $325,400
2. Dmitry Gromov, $215,000
3. Nicolas Chouity, $140,000
4. Toby Lewis, $102,820
5. Ori Miller, $77,000
6. Igor Devkin, $62,000

In addition to the nice six figure payday, Lakhov will also have his name emblazoned on the WPT Champions’ Cup, earn his seat into the Season XIII WPT World Championship tournament and a set of one of the WPT sponsor’s Monster Headphones products.

After a night of celebration on the shores of the Mediterranean, the WPT will be packing the planes and heading back to the States. Sunday marks the start of the WPT Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City, NJ (the first of four stops for the WPT in AC), which has a $3 million guaranteed prize pool for its participants.

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