Aaron Mermelstein Wins WPT Maryland Live Main Event

Aaron Mermelstein has won the main event of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Maryland Live, the first of its kind in poker history. It was an NL Hold’em tournament with a buy-in of $3,500.

The 28-year-old professional poker player beat a field of 337 players to grab the first-place prize of $250,222 and the WPT championship title, his second this year. In January, he won the main event of the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open.

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In addition to the title and the cash, Mermelstein has also bagged 720 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) Points. This year, he has emerged as the finalist of four poker events. He has also won the $1,100 buy-in NL Hold’em prelim held as part of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. His latest poker achievements have given Merlmelstein the 25th place on the POY leader board as he has collected 2,458 points and $1,010,562 in total poker earnings so far.

Mermelstein had to battle against tough opponents such as Jamie Kerstetter, who finished 13th and took home $14,032; Darren Elias, who finished 10th and took home $17,114; and Greg Merson, who finished 4th and took home $78,449.

Mermelstein was one of the six finalists of the event. While Merson held the first biggest stack of chips, the second biggest stack of chips was held by Mermelstein. Although he was not in the chip lead when the final table play began, he soon succeeded in collecting the largest number of chips. As a result, Merson, the former WPT champion, had to fold in the fourth position. When the final table action boiled down to three-handed play, Mermelstein was still in the chip lead.

Two hands later, Andjeldko Andrejevic busted in the third position, leaving Mermelstein and Xin Wang playing for the pot. At that time, Mermelstein has three times more chips than Xing. Just 18 hands later, he had emerged as the winner of the event. Having finished third, Andrejevic won $105,981.

When the final table was being played, Wang raised from the button to 110,000 and Mermelstein placed an all-in three-bet. Wang, who held an Ace of Spades and an Eight of Spades, responded with a call against Mermelstein’s Six of Spades and Six of Diamonds. The cards on the board acted in favour of Mermelstein and helped him win the title. Wang had to finish as the runner-up and collect a prize of $146,765.