We leave Rozvadov for Kyrenia, in northern Cyprus, where the final table of a very important event for four-card enthusiasts is being played today: the $25,000 PLO Main Event of the Onyx High Roller Series. And, among the magnificent nine, there is also our Youness Barakat.
Onyx High Roller Series: Youness Barakat always on the ball, he is a finalist in the PLO Main Event
The Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in Kyrenia, on the northern coast of Cyprus, has been hosting the Onyx High Roller Series festival for a few days, which culminated in this rich $25,000 buy-in PLO Main Event. Practically all the cream of continental Pot Limit Omaha has gathered on the small Mediterranean island, and among them, Youness Barakat cannot be missing. The Italian residing in Great Britain is now a respected regular even at these very high levels, as confirmed by yesterday’s day 2, which Youness entered with the second largest stack out of the 29 still in play. All qualifiers were already guaranteed a prize, out of a total field of 199 paying players.
Despite the presence of top regulars in the discipline such as the Finns Jouhkimainen and Joentausta, the Spaniard Guerra, and the Russian Martirosian, Barakat remained at the center of the action, almost never leaving the leading positions.
Alanaz “puts” himself in a drawing dead situation and Barakat flies
Crucial, in the end, was a hand against the Lebanese Bassel Alanaz. We are at 8 players left during level 22, 70,000/140,000/140,000, and Barakat “pots” to 490,000, with Alanaz defending his big blind. On the 9 j 9 flop, the Lebanese checks and then completes the check-raise to 1,000,000 on the continuation bet of 325,000 from the Italian. Youness calls to see the turn, which is an a . Alanaz shoves the rest, slightly covering our player who calls instantly, showing a k j 9 for an unbeatable full house against Alanaz’s k 10 9 7 , who is left with crumbs and will be eliminated shortly after in eighth place.
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The final table chipcount
Instead, Youness Barakat rebuilds, getting back over 7 million and finally closing day 2 in third place out of the seven remaining. Leading are two specialists like the German Steinbrenner and the Dutchman Pansier, but in PLO, one hand is all it takes to change everything, and the rest of the field is not exactly soft. Seeing is believing the final table chipcount:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK | STACK IN BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Steinbrenner | Germany | 14,985,000 | 107 |
| 2 | Nino Pansier | Netherlands | 14,725,000 | 105 |
| 3 | Youness Barakat | Italy | 7,270,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Espen Sandvik | Norway | 4,535,000 | 32 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | 4,420,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Lautaro Guerra | Spain | 3,690,000 | 26 |
| 7 | Tomasz Krzesinski | Poland | 620,000 | 5 |
What is being played for
The seven qualifiers for the final table have already secured a rather juicy minimum cash of $143,000, but the goal for everyone is naturally the trophy, in this case accompanied by a six-figure check…
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| FINAL POSITION | PRIZE |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,125,000 |
| 2 | $710,000 |
| 3 | $483,000 |
| 4 | $340,000 |
| 5 | $250,000 |
| 6 | $190,000 |
| 7 | $143,000 |
Cover image: Youness Barakat (PokerNews & Onyx Club)
