Ahmed Slimen three-bet to 6,500 in middle position and Iurii Saiapin called in early position.
Slimen bet another 3,000 on the A?Q?8? flop and Saiapin called. The turn was the J? and Slimen bet enough to put Saiapin all in.
Saiapin snap-called for his last 10,000 with K?J?, but Slimen had Q?Q? for a set. The A? fell on the river to improve Slimen to a full house and Saiapin was sent to the rail.
Antoine Hasbani opened to 2,000 from middle position and found calls from the button and small blind. Jad Dandachi then three-bet to 14,000 in the big blind and only Hasbani called.
Dandachi led out for 17,000 on the 9?10?3? flop, with Hasbani calling to the Q? turn. Dandachi checked and made the call when Hasbani fired 33,000.
Another check from Dandachi followed the 6? river, where Hasbani announced all in. Dandachi took a moment before letting his hand go.
Onur Ozgur tossed out a blue 5,000 chip to signify a raise before Andrei Daniliuk three-bet to 6,000 in the hijack. Ozgur then moved all in and Daniliuk called for his last 35,000.
Andrei Daniliuk: A?K?
Onur Ozgur: K?K?
The last king in the deck fell on the K?2?2? flop to give Ozgur a full house. Daniliuk was already drawing dead after the 10? turn, while the J? completed the board on the river and Daniliuk made his exit.
Three players built a pot of around 20,000 as they went to the turn with the board showing J?4?3?6?. Zeki Karali then bet 12,000 from the big blind, Viktor Utrobin called in the hijack, while Hakan Pamukcu folded on the button.
The river was the 10? and Karali bet another 20,000. Utrobin snap-called and Karali showed 8?8?. Utrobin, though, turned over J?8? for a pair of jacks to win the pot.
Kirill Burtin opened to 2,000 in the cutoff and was called by the small blind. The big blind then three-bet to 7,700 and both calls were made.
Action check to Burtin on the 7?J?8? flop, firing a bet of 8,500 with only the big blind coming along. Another check on the 8? turn saw Burtin size up to 19,500, good enough to take down the pot as the big blind mucked.
Three-handed on a flop of 2?K?2?, Evgenii Tambovtsev bet 1,700 from middle position before Sepehr Hosseini raised to 5,000 in the hijack. Chrysi Phiniotis called under the gun, while Tambovtsev got out of the way.
The turn was the J? and Hosseini bet 10,000. Phiniotis again called and the 3? fell on the river. Both players then checked.
Phiniotis showed Q?Q?, but Hosseini had K?Q? and took the pot with two pair.
After returning from the reentry desk with a fresh stack, Cheng Zhao called an open to 1,200 from Amirreza Roudsari to see the J?Q?A? flop.
Zhao checked from the big blind and Roudsari slid out 1,500 from the cutoff. The 9? turn saw both players check to the 7? river. Zhao led out for 4,500 and Roudari went into the tank.
After taking some time, Roudsari opted to lay it down and Zhao raked in the chips.
Cheng Zhao raised to 1,500 under the gun and was called by a player in the hijack before Maksim Skripkin three-bet to 7,000 in the small blind. Both opponents called and they went three-handed to the Q?J?J? flop.
Skripkin checked to Zhao and he bet 10,000. The hijack folded, while Skripkin called to see the 8? turn. Zhao then moved all in for 40,000.
Skripkin snap-called with Q?Q? for a flopped full house and Zhao was already drawing dead with K?10?. The river was the K? and Zhao was sent to the rail.
Bernard Boutboul opened from early position and was promptly three-bet to 5,300 by Denis Zelenkin on his left. Action folded back around to Boutboul, who four-bet to 14,900.
Zelenkin moved all in and Boutboul snap-called.
Bernard Boutboul: K?K?
Denis Zelenkin: A?K?
The runout of 5?5?10?4?Q? was clean for Boutboul, taking down an early double while leaving Zelenkin short.
The guaranteed prize pool of $1,500,000 is expected to be passed today at the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series, where 606 entrants have already battled on the felt through the first two flights of the $2,200 La Notte Degli Assi.
Just 224 of them have found a bag at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, where more hopefuls and some returning players will look to collect a big stack on Day 1c. Action begins at 12 p.m. local time, while a turbo flight will follow at 7 p.m. local time when Day 1d gets underway.
So far, Greece’s Symeon Alexandridis leads all surviving players after bagging up 917,500 chips on Day 1b. Samir Nacer was the leader after Monday’s opening flight with 703,500, giving players a glimpse of what type of stack it will take to be among the leaders heading into Day 2 on Thursday, August 1.
Overall Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Symeon Alexandridis
Greece
917,500
367
2
Gregory Luttke
France
897,000
359
3
Yassin Mahmoud
Jordan
747,000
299
4
Samir Nacer
France
703,500
281
5
Zvezdan Tadic
Serbia
694,000
278
6
Navid Samavati
Iran
682,500
273
7
Ermanno Pacini
Italy
676,500
271
8
Caner Gunes
Turkey
671,500
269
9
Maroun Jazzar
Lebanon
664,000
266
10
Dashinka
Israel
650,000
260
Roman Gadzhiev
Plenty of notable names have already qualified, as the list of Day 1a survivors includes Guillermo Cifuentes (586,000), Yilu Yuan (476,500), Maxim Lykov (232,000), Roman Gadzhiev (190,000) and Koray Korkmaz (155,500).
Among the players to qualify through Day 1b are Maher Achour (527,500), Viktor Yugay (449,000), Jeremie Zouari (410,000), Nikolay Fal (145,500), Simone Andrian (117,500) and Fabio Peluso (114,000).
$2,200 La Notte Degli Assi Remaining Schedule
Date
Day
Time
Wed. July 31
Day 1c
12:00 p.m.
Wed. July 31
Day 1d
7:00 p.m.
Thu. August 1
Day 2
12:00 p.m.
Fri. August 2
Day 3
12:00 p.m.
Sat. August 3
Day 4
12:00 p.m.
Sun. August 4
Final Day
12:00 p.m.
Day 1c gets underway at 12:00 p.m. with 40-minute levels, starting with blinds of 200/500 and a 500 big blind ante. Players begin with 100,000 chips, and the event includes unlimited reentries.
Those that fail to find a bag on any of the opening flights can still buy in on Day 2, as late registration remains open until the end of Level 14.
As always, be sure to stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will keep you informed from the floor of the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino here in Cyprus.
