One year ago, Artur Martirosian played all the way into the semifinals of the World Series of Poker $25,000 heads-up championship. He lost that matchup against Darius Samual, the eventual champion, and settled for a $180,000 consolation prize.
If there was any doubt as to Martirosian’s heads-up credentials, they’re over. Martirosian battled through that elite 64-entry-field again at the 2025 WSOP, and on Sunday evening, after defeating Aliaksei Boika in the finals, Martirosian finished the job.
With his victory, Martirosian won $500,000, his third WSOP bracelet and 504 Card Player Player of the Year points. Two of those WSOP victories are now heads-up titles. In 2023, Martirosian won the $10,000 no-limit hold’em WSOP online championship. His other bracelet win came in the WSOP Paradise $800 Flip & Go event.
Martirosian told reporters that his online poker background helped was key to his victory.
“I started my career from Spin and Go tournaments heads-up,” Martirosian told WSOP reporters. “So yeah, I have a lot of experience. I feel amazing.”
Martirosian’s Bracelet Route
That’s not to say Martirosian’s path to victory in this event was in any way easy. In Round 1, Martirosian faced down one of the best all-around poker players in the world today, Jeremy Ausmus. After his first win, Martirosian battled 2024 heads-up runner-up Faraz Jaka and managed a quick victory to seal a spot in the quarterfinals.
Day 2 of the tournament saw Martirosian paired up against Kevin Rabichow, who had previously reached the semifinals of this tournament in 2022. Martirosian crippled Rabichow’s stack by calling down to the river of an A♥ 9♣ 4♣ 2♠ J♣ board, and then betting Rabichow out on the river.
After knocking out Rabichow to advance to the quarterfinals, Martirosian faced some of his most harrowing moments of the tournament. He drew Chance Kornuth, the four-time WSOP bracelet winner and another incredibly tough out. At one point, Martirosian fell as far behind Kornuth as eight-and-a-half-to one, with his tournament life hanging on by a thread.
But Martirosian battled back. After pulling nearly even, Martirosian took a commanding lead of his own when a flopped flush draw turned into a runner-runner straight. Big bets on the turn and river put Martirosian nearly 3-to-1 ahead. Shortly thereafter, a turned nut spade flush against Kornuth’s turned aces-up two-pair gave Martirosian a come-from-behind victory.
A Tough Final Day
That set up the final day and a semifinal match against Patrick Leonard. The English poker standout who boasts a WSOP bracelet along with numerous major online titles presented a different kind of challenge.
Martirosian opened a lead with a flopped set of kings, with Leonard making an unfortunately timed overbet bluff on the river with missed straight and flush draws.
After hitting a straight flush and a turned straight, Martirosian seemed to have a spot in the finals locked up. But Leonard battled back multiple times, and put serious pressure on Martirosian.
Finally, the cards did the work. Martirosian’s A♥ Q♠ was superior to Leonard’s A♦ J♦, and held to seal the match.
Martirosian Vs. Boika
That set Martirosian up for a final against Boika, of Belarus. Boika won his first major title in October 2016, taking down the EPT Malta main event for $386,962. In addition to WSOP final tables in 2018 and 2024, Boika reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 WSOP Online heads-up championship. He’s also enjoyed recent successes in Triton Poker Series events.
Boika quickly opened up a 2-to-1 lead, but Martirosian clawed his way back. A flopped full house with A♣ 10♣ gave Martirosian his first lead of the match. It was a slim one, but Martirosian wouldn’t relinquish it. A rivered set of eights extended the gap, and that led to a final hand with a dramatic runout.
Martirosian put Boika all-in with A♦ 6♣ and Boika called with K♥ Q♥. The K♦ Q♦ 7♣ flop put Boika well ahead with a chance to even the chip counts. But the narrow opening for Martirosian grew when the 4♦ gave him a flush draw. The 9♦ completed the flush, and Martiroisian snatched victory in emphatic fashion.
With this win, Martirosian eclipses $28 million in lifetime tournament prizes. He also secured 300 PokerGO Tour points as the champion. This was his first score in a PGT-qualified event this year. This was the 11th such cash for Leonard, who now sits in seventh place on the high-stakes-centric tour’s leaderboard after adding 108 with his semifinal showing in this event.
Final Results
| Place | Player | Prize Money | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Artur Martirosian | $500,000 | 504 | 300 |
| 2 | Aliaksei Boika | $300,000 | 420 | 180 |
| 3 | Patrick Leonard | $180,000 | 336 | 108 |
| 3 | David Chen | $180,000 | 336 | 108 |
| 5 | Chance Kornuth | $86,000 | 52 | |
| 5 | Thomas Eychenne | $86,000 | 52 | |
| 5 | Harvey Castro | $86,000 | 52 | |
| 5 | Mike Shi | $86,000 | 52 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.
