Maxime Chilaud In The Lead For Day 3 Of The $10,500 High Roller
The tournament director announced earlier that the day would end after Level 19 or when the bubble burst. It was a close call, but the first option concluded Day 2 of the 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series $10,500 High Roller at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
Out of the 153 entrants, 22 players bagged their chips and qualified for Day 3. However, two of them will return for nothing, as only 20 players will be in the money. For those securing the minimum cash prize of $16,500, the next goal will be to claim the first-place prize of $350,000.
Currently, Maxime Chilaud is the closest to this prize, as he emerged as the chipleader at the end of Day 2. "I won every hand", he exclaimed as he soared from 290,000 chips to 1,895,000 in just a few hands. "What a day for you" remarked, with a hint of amusement, the second qualified French player, Sonny Franco (345,000).
Following Chilaud, a small group composed of Uri Reichenstein (1,570,000), Aleksandr Chernikov (1,555,000), and Damir Zhugralin (1,520,000) will carry the same stack into Day 3.
End Of Day 2 Chip Count
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BLINDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxime Chilaud | France | 1,895,000 | 95 |
| 2 | Uri Reichenstein | Israel | 1,570,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Aleksandr Chernikov | Russia | 1,555,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Damir Zhugralin | Kazakhstan | 1,520,000 | 76 |
| 5 | Milos Petakovic | Serbia | 1,085,000 | 54 |
| 6 | Denis Kapustin | Russia | 930,000 | 47 |
| 7 | Daniel Kyosev | Bulgaria | 895,000 | 45 |
| 8 | Mustafa Biz | Turkey | 705,000 | 35 |
| 9 | Hassan Barakat | Lebanon | 665,000 | 33 |
| 10 | Amarbayasgalan Sainjargal | Mongolia | 615000 | 31 |
Behind the Top 10, Oleg Ustinovich (375,000), Nikolay Ponomarev (290,000), or Adi Rajkovic (225,000) will have to stay focused to be in the money. But for Tinay Aksoy, the situation seems very difficult because he'll have only 50,000 chips on Day 3. But it is still better than nothing.
The 22 players left will play Day 3 on Saturday, August 12th at 2 p.m. on 40-minute levels, starting with Level 20 (10,000/20,000 BB Ante 20,000). This Day 3 will be the final day of the event, so it will come to an end only when there will be a winner.
PokerNews will once again be on hand to deliver you all of the action until the conclusion.