"Makram Merhom"
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Makram Merhom Wins Finale!
By Max Shapiro
Starting with lots of strong hands and drawing out when he needed to, 45-year-old
pro Makram Merham captured the final event of Big Poker Oktober 2000, no-limit
hold'em. It ended with a three-way chip count split, with Meerham holding $95,100
to George Marlowe's $68,300 and Alex Papachatzakis' $33,400. The event was
spiced up with $500 bounties on all the earlier winners, and $1,000 on the head of
all-around points champ Rusty Bagaygay, and Merham even collected two of those
bounties, beating both An Tran and Darrell Woods with pocket queens.
After knocking out the 10th player with pocket aces, Merham came to the final table
second in chips only to Tony Nguyen. On the third hand, Papachatzakis, a semi-pro,
took Rong Lam's last $1,900. He had pocket sevens with one club, and made a flush
to beat Lam's K-9 of spades. But then Alex quickly lost about half of his $20,000 to
Marlowe when he went all in with K-6 of hearts and Marlowe, calling with A-10,
paired his ace.
Starting with the 15th hand, Nguyen went downhill fast. With blinds of $2,000-
$4,000, TV writer/producer Jay Moriarty moved in for about $7,000 more with two
sixes. Nguyen had him in bad shape, calling with pocket queens. "Six! Six!"
Moriarty kept calling for, and he got his six on the river. On the next hand, when
poker player Chris Grigorian raised $6,200 all in, Nguyen again had the best hand,
A-7 to Q-J, but Chis turned a jack. Perhaps steaming a little, Tony then moved in
for $12,400 with just 8-7 on the next hand. This time he had the worst of it after
Bobby Hoffman, a full-time player, called with Q-10. A queen and a seven flopped,
but Nguyen then caught an eight on the turn to stay alive with two pair.
Moriarty moved in for the last time $14,000 with A-Q. Merhom called with K-J
and proceeded to flop a jack. This time Moriarty got no miracle and finished eighth.
On the next hand, Alex put another bad beat on Tony. He called an all-in bet of
$34,000 with his last $10,000 and beat Nguyen's jacks when his 7-5 of hearts turned
into a flush. Then, with blinds raised to $3,000-$6,000, Hoffman moved in for
$19,000 with Q-10, and Merhom annihilated the poker player with pocket kings
that became a set on the river.
"Player X," a Las Vegas pro who asked not to be identified, next shoved in his last
$20,700 with A-10 offsuit. Marlowe took him on with A-4 of diamonds, and the
ceramic mask artist flopped a four to X out the player. Soon after, Grigorian suffered
a horrid beat. He called with his last $5,900 with pocket tens. Papachatzakis was
stuck in the $6,000 big blind with an anemic 9-3 offsuit. But the board came
A-2-4-5-6 to give Alex an improbable winning straight.
Nguyen, now down to a handful of chips, took his last shot with K-Q off against
Merhom's A-10 of clubs. The Vietnamese pro flopped a king, but it was Merhom's
night, not his, and two running clubs gave Makram a flush. The three finalists now
made their deal, and Big Poker Oktober 2000 was in the books.
Biography - Makram "Mac" Merhom
Egyptian-born Makram "Mac" Merhom, who describes himself as a "man with a
thousand moves," says he has won "tons" of tournaments, so many that he's lost
track. He's racked up other hold'em wins at Elsinore and at the Bicycle and Normandie casinos, and just won one of the new Hustler Casino weekly events. His biggest score
came when he rang up a $89,466 win in Commerce Casino's $150,000 guaranteed
L. A. Poker Classic limit hold'em event this year.
Tonight he said he was never in trouble, played well, and was dealt pocket kings five
times and A-K four or five times. A tournament pro for six years, Merhom had been
playing only an occasional tournament for the past year or so, returning to a heavier
schedule this year.
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