Play has reached a conclusion for the first of four starting flights in the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. The first flight attracted 185 total entrants with 83 players advancing to Day 2 at the end of the night.
Dmitrii Kuzin bagged the biggest stack of the evening, finishing with 647,500 chips worth 259 big blinds going into Day 2. Kuzin is most closely followed by Fausto Tantillo (602,000) and Jovan Kenjic (547,500). Tantillo took a commanding chip lead midway through the day only to be overtaken by Kuzin in the last two levels of the night.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Dmitrii Kuzin | Russian Federation | 647,500 | 259 |
| 2 | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 602,000 | 241 |
| 3 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | 547,500 | 219 |
| 4 | George Tomescu | Romania | 514,000 | 206 |
| 5 | Uladzimir Zhyharau | Belarus | 507,500 | 203 |
| 6 | Florian Guimond | France | 448,500 | 179 |
| 7 | Kacper Pyzara | Poland | 444,000 | 178 |
| 8 | Simone Andrian | Italy | 436,500 | 175 |
| 9 | Daniel Kyosev | Bulgaria | 417,000 | 167 |
| 10 | Maximilian Silz | Germany | 405,500 | 162 |
Kuzin has already made a few deep runs in Merit Poker tournaments here in Cyprus, including a fourth-place finish in the Merit Poker Retro Series $2,200 Warm Up in 2022 for a career-best score of $59,300. The Russian player will undoubtedly be looking to top that score with a another deep run in this event.
Some more notables to end the day with chips in a bag include Simone Andrian (436,500), Milos Skrbic (404,000), Vladimir Bozinovic (388,000), Andrea Dato (276,000), Felipe Ketzer (164,500) and Victor Yugay (125,000). Others who entered Day 1a but were not fortunate enough to advance include Fabio Peluso, Bart Lybaert, Anton Markov and Dawid Smolka.
Both Ketzer and Andrian had big scores at the Merit Poker Western Series this past January. Ketzer took third place in the $3,300 Main Event of that festival for $155,000 while Andrian won the $2,200 Warm Up for $165,000. Both players will be a force to be reckoned with going into Day 2 as they look to replicate the success they had from the last Merit Poker Series.
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.
