Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
The tournament staff have announced that five more hands will be played before the end of the night.
2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$2,200 Merit Poker Cup
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$844,560
Entries
459
Level
36
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Entries
192
Players Left
84
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Play has concluded for Day 1a of the Merit Poker Cup.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the night's action as well as chip counts.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
744,000 | |
|
||
|
728,000 | |
|
660,000
660,000
|
660,000 |
|
541,500 | |
|
521,000 | |
|
||
|
464,000
464,000
|
464,000 |
|
|
426,000
426,000
|
426,000 |
|
403,000
403,000
|
403,000 |
|
||
|
402,000 | |
|
395,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
362,500
34,500
|
34,500 |
|
357,000 | |
|
|
352,000
352,000
|
352,000 |
|
344,000
-51,000
|
-51,000 |
|
338,000
152,000
|
152,000 |
|
321,500
321,500
|
321,500 |
|
316,000 | |
|
311,500
311,500
|
311,500 |
|
311,000
311,000
|
311,000 |
|
309,500
152,500
|
152,500 |
|
305,000
305,000
|
305,000 |
|
292,000
292,000
|
292,000 |
|
|
290,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
281,500
281,500
|
281,500 |
|
|
280,500
280,500
|
280,500 |
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
The first of three starting flights has come to a close for the $2,200 Merit Poker Cup here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Day 1a attracted 192 entrants and 84 players survived until the end of the night to advance to Day 2.
Huseyin Akgul bagged the largest stack at the end of the night, finishing with 744,000, worth just under 298 big blinds. Akgul is most closely followed by Mukhtar Nasiradinov (728,000), Emad Ghadamian (660,000), Joseph Mouwad (541,000) and previous WPT champion Andrea Dato (521,000). Akgul made an excellent river call with a small pair midway through the day to put himself at the top of the counts and rode that momentum all the way to bagging a top stack at the end of the night.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huseyin Akgul | Turkey | 744,000 | 298 |
| 2 | Mukhtar Nasiradinov | Russian Federation | 728,000 | 291 |
| 3 | Emad Ghadamian | Iran | 660,000 | 264 |
| 4 | Joseph Mouwad | Lebanon | 541,500 | 217 |
| 5 | Andrea Dato | Italy | 521,000 | 208 |
| 6 | Victor Yugay | Uzbekistan | 464,000 | 186 |
| 7 | Murat Ozyurt | Turkey | 426,000 | 170 |
| 8 | Simeon Spasov | Bulgaria | 403,000 | 161 |
| 9 | Boris Smuskevicius | Lithuania | 402,000 | 161 |
| 10 | Damir Zhugralin | Kazakhstan | 395,000 | 158 |
Dato bagging a top stack is particularly noteworthy as he recently achieved his career-best score here in Cyprus with a runner up finish in the 2023 EPT Cyprus Main Event for $652,000 this past October. Clearly adept at navigating large tournament fields, Dato will be a force to be reckoned with as he takes his stack worth 208 big blinds into Day 2.
Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Aleksandr Kirichenko (186,000), Dinesh Alt (180,500), Simone Andrian (167,500), Rosalie Petit (155,000) and Fabio Peluso (112,000). Although the Merit Poker Cup is a new tournament introduced during this festival, Andrian did win the equivalent-buy in $2,200 Warm Up at the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series this past January for $165,000. Time will tell if another victory is in the cards for the Italian pro and bracelet winner in this event.
Players who entered Day 1a but were not fortunate enough to advance to Day 2 include Felipe Ketzer and Andrey Pateychuk.
Stay tuned for more coverage as PokerNews brings you all the action from the remainder of the festival along the shores of the Mediterranean in North Cyprus.
$2,200 Merit Poker Cup
Day 1a Completed