Poker pro Aaron Mermelstein won on Tuesday the first-ever WPT Maryland Live! $3,500 Main Event to capture a first-place prize of $250,222, which includes a seat into the $15,400 WPT World Championship.
It is interesting to note that this was Mermelstein’s second WPT title this year. In January, the player topped the field of the WPT Borgata Winter Open $3,500 Main Event for $712,305, his best live cash so far.
The five-day Maryland Live! Main Event attracted a field of 337 entrants who created a prize pool of $1,063,000. The top 36 finishers received a share of the money, with the payouts starting from $7,228.
Mermelstein’s way to his second WPT victory this year was not particularly easy. He had to face a cluster of poker stars, including former WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson, two-time WPT winner Darren Elias, and many more.
The televised final table started on Day 4 of the Main Event and was completed on Day 5 with Mermelstein emerging victorious over his opponents.
Ohio-based player Michael Krasienko finished 9th to capture the amount of $23,492. Nicholas Palma from New Rochelle, New York took 8th place to add $31,359 to his poker bankroll. Maryland resident Joe Cashen received $39,118 for his 7th place in the Main Event.
Ken Holmes from Ellensburg, Washington finished 6th for $47,091. Cate Hall from Tucson, Arizona took 5th place for a payout of $58,589. Greg Merson from Laurel, Maryland, who indisputably headlined the final table given his WSOP Main Event title, finished 4th in the event to collect $78,449. Florida resident Andjelko Andrejevic captured the amount of $105,981 for his third-place finish.
Eventually, Mermelstein had to face Xin Wang heads-up. Play began with the champion holding the majority of chips and it took him only 18 hands to defeat his opponent and claim the title.
On what turned out to be the last hand in play, Wang raised to 110,000 pre-flop and Mermelstein moved all in. Wang called and tabled [As][8s] against his opponent’s [6s][6d]. The board showed [Kd][9d][7s][Qh][5d] and this was of no help to Wang. The player from Derwood, Maryland had to content himself with the 2nd place in the Main Event and the consolation prize of $164,765.
As already mentioned, Mermelstein collected $250,222. Now, his total live tournament winnings amount to $1,291,025.
