Yang Leads the Way as Fields Combine for Day 2 of Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up
The survivors from four starting flights will combine today at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino for Day 2 of the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up starting at 12:30 p.m. local time.
While the turbo Day 1d flight is currently underway, Peng Yang holds the current overall chip lead going into Day 2 with 1.086,000 chips, worth 434 big blinds. Yang is the only player across the first three starting flights to bag over one million chips, and is most closely followed by Day 1b chip leader Ermanno Di Nicola (937,500) and Aleksandar Tot (827,500).
Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Peng Yang | China | 1,086,000 | 434 |
| 2 | Ermanno Di Nicola | Italy | 937,500 | 375 |
| 3 | Aleksandar Tot | Montenegro | 827,500 | 331 |
| 4 | Hadi Khordbin | Iran | 781,000 | 312 |
| 5 | Antoine Hasbani | Lebanon | 559,550 | 224 |
| 6 | Roman Stoica | Moldova | 552,500 | 221 |
| 7 | Qusai Albakeer | N/A | 549,500 | 220 |
| 8 | Qiang Xu | China | 536,000 | 214 |
| 9 | Ramez Haddad | Lebanon | 521,000 | 208 |
| 10 | Xixiang Luo | China | 503,500 | 201 |
Other players who have already advanced to Day 2 include Andrea Dato (499,000) Guoliang Wei (366,500), Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (359,000), Koray Korkmaz (358,500) Maxime Chilaud (83,500) and Dmitry Gromov (48,000).
Blinds will begin today on Level 9 at 1,000/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante. Eight further hour-long levels are scheduled to be played today, with a 10-minute break after every two levels. Late registration remains open through the end of Level 12 on Day 2, with players allowed unlimited reentries. Some notable players who have not yet bagged for Day 2 include Ivan Govorov and Dmitry Yurasov. Both players won titles at the Merit Poker Gangster Series this past November and may register late to this event in search of another victory.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the moment cards are in the air today until a winner is crowned on Day 4, which is scheduled for Friday, January 19.