Mohamed Ali Houssam Wins WPT Marrakech

The final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Marrakech stop concluded Sunday as Mohamed Ali Houssam triumphed over fellow Moroccan Toufik Ourini at the Casino De Marrakech. It was both Houssam’s first WPT cash and victory, though he had already found success at this very casino, winning the Marrakech Poker Open for $53,518 back in May. This quintupled that, however, as Houssam is now $267,011 richer.

Houssam and Ourini entered heads-up play with almost identical chip stacks, but they might not have gotten to that point if it weren’t for what was possibly the nuttiest hand of the entire tournament. As it so happened, it was the last hand before heads-up began.

Three-handed, Maksim Martinov raised to 150,000 chips from the button and both his opponents defended their blinds. After the 6s-5c-3s flop, Ourini came out firing, betting 300,000. Houssam got out of the way, leaving Martinov to mull his options. The option he chose, to the delight of the crowd, was to move all-in. Ourini requested a count and was informed that the bet is 950,000. At that, Ourini made the call.

Now, making the call to put Martinov’s tournament life at risk was a big deal in and of itself, but this is poker, so that was not anything unusual. What was mind blowing, however, was when Ourini revealed his cards to show that all he had was Jh-9c! Hearkening back to the 2004 World Series of Poker $5,000 Limit Hold’em final table, Ellix Powers would have said, “You called me with Jack high? He called me with Jack high!”*

Martinov had to be floored by the call, yet happy, as he had 6c-3c for two pair. The dealer laid down the 5s on the turn, pairing the 5 already on the board and counterfeiting Martinov’s lower pair. Ourini now had a chance, as a Jack or 9 would give him a better two pair. Of course, he did spike the 9h on the river and the onlookers went bananas. What was one of the most spewy calls in recent memory turned into an almost $60,000 profit, the difference between second and third place.

During heads-up, Ourini widened his tiny initial chip lead quickly, but then the fellow Moroccans slowed things down considerably, content on trading blinds for the most part. But Ourini eventually, and maybe predictably, called off a bunch of chips to Houssam, allowing Houssam to take a more than 2-to-1 chip lead. Just before dinner break, heads-up play ended about as suddenly as it started. Houssam limped in from the small blind and Ourini just checked his big blind to bring on a flop of Kc-8d-3s. Check, check. When the Qd was dealt, though, Ourini tossed out a 370,000 chip bet, only to see Houssam take it up to 800,000. Ourini shoved all-in over the top and Houssam called. Houssam, looking confident, flipped over 8c-8s for a set. Ourini had just Ks-Jh and was dead in the water. The river was a meaningless 6h and Mohamed Ali Houssam had both his first ever World Poker Tour title and first ever World Poker Tour cash.

World Poker Tour Marrakech – Final Table Results

1.   Mohamed Ali Houssam – $267,011
2.   Toufik Ourini – $166,374
3.   Maksim Martinov – $107,340
4.   Arnaud Mattern – $69,778
5.   Hassan Fares – $50,991
6.   Rodney Assous – $41,322

* Jim McManus actually called Ellix Powers with Queen high, but the “Jack high” comment made for better comedy.

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Poker lingo:

TAP - In no-limit games, to wager all of one's money in one bet.
PAY STATION - A player who rarely folds, thus who frequently calls better hands and loses. Almost as much fun as a LIVE ONE.
BIG SLICK - In Texas Hold'em, hole cards of A-K, suited or not.
BRODERICK CRAWFORD - In Hold'em, hole cards of 10-4. From the 1950s TV series "Highway Patrol", starring Broderick Crawford.
ONE-EYED - The jack of hearts, jack of spades or king of diamonds. So named because the characters are drawn in profile, thus showing only one eye.
LIVE [CARD] - In Stud, a card probably not held by other players.

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