POTD #98 Two Pair in the GGMillions$ vs the King of the GGMillion$

Artur Martirosian turns up the heat on the turn

I was saving up POTD #100 for a special hand, and I decided I would write about one of the most-watched hands I’d ever played. The hand’s popularity has nothing to do with me and a lot to do with my opponent, someone you may have heard of, Phil Ivey. Phil Ivey is the consensus GOAT, and for good reason: He was considered the best in the world when he finished 10th in the 2003 WSOP ME, he won a ton of money playing nosebleed NL and PLO on Full Tilt, and he has won 5 Triton Titles, beating me heads-up once. So in the buildup to POTD #100, I will write about a hand played by someone who Phil Ivey told me was his “favourite poker player” in Triton Jeju earlier this year. That player is Artur Martirosian.

Since Artur started playing poker, he has been one of my most frequent opponents; however, I am not one of his most frequent opponents, because he plays everything. If there is a poker tournament, he is playing it. When there was a 50k Short Deck in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, I expected him to play it. He was recently on the GTO Lab Podcast and discussed a big hand we played at Triton Jeju. That episode is titled “WSOP Is Vacation.” Artur has a funny definition of vacation, because two weeks after that podcast dropped¹ he won a $3k at the Wynn for just over a million dollars. In today’s hand, we look at a hand I played in the GGMillion$, a weekly tournament where Artur has probably fired the most bullets and definitely cashed for the most money. I play a tricky hand vs. Artur in a tournament they might as well rename after him, and he gets the best of me. Read below to learn more.

HH: GG Poker

August 29th 2021 GG Super Million$ High Rollers $10,300
7-Handed 3500/7000/850 (SB/BB/Ante)

UTG folds and Pusha T (700k) makes it 15,775 in the LJ, it folds to Artur Martirosian (295,697) who calls on the button, I call (287,368) 5♥️3♣️ in the BB

Flop (56,775) 7♠️5♦️3♠️: I lead 14,194, Pusha T folds, Artur calls

Turn (85,163) 4♦️: I lead 28,104, Artur makes it 78,257, I fold.