Jianwei Lin Unleashes the Tiger on Day 1a of the Merit Poker Western Series Main Event
Jianwei Lin uses a small tiger as his card protector. On one of the last hands on Day 1a of the Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event, that tiger woke up.
Lin doubled up off Roman Hrabec with a pair of threes against ace-king for his last 266,000 in one of the largest pots of the day. Lin propelled himself among the chip leaders with that double up as he bagged up 619,000 to end the night.
Samy Barka finished as chip leader over the remaining 71 players with 783,000. He��s followed by Michel Habib (758,000) and Dmitry Yurasov (736,000), who won the Merit Poker Gangster Series Main Event last month and put himself in position for a run at back-to-back titles here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samy Barka | France | 783,000 | 313 |
| 2 | Michel Habib | Lebanon | 753,000 | 301 |
| 3 | Dmitry Yurasov | Russia | 736,000 | 294 |
| 4 | Jianwei Lin | Australia | 619,000 | 248 |
| 5 | Basem Abudavas | Jordan | 600,000 | 240 |
| 6 | Mustafa Ercan | Turkey | 596,500 | 239 |
| 7 | Xiang Lian | China | 496,000 | 198 |
| 8 | Candido Cappiello | Italy | 476,500 | 191 |
| 9 | Benjamin Hamnett | United States | 427,000 | 171 |
| 10 | Ilia Korliakov | Russia | 421,000 | 168 |
Other top stacks include Mustafa Ercan (596,500) and Xiang Lian, who sent out Maxim Lykov with two aces on his way to finishing with 496,000. Candido Cappiello (476,500) and Benjamin Hamnett (427,000) also enjoyed a prosperous day on the felt. Andrew Hedley (402,000), who exchanged his commentator gig for a shot at the title, 2023 WSOP finalist Dean Hutchison (380,000), Ryan Plant (315,000), and Maxime Chilaud (291,000) also survived the day. Hrabec ended up with 209,000 after taking that huge hit against Lin.
Those unfortunate enough to head for the exit over the course of nine hour-long levels on Day 1a included Warm Up runner-up Abdullah Alajmi, Andrea Dato, Nina Krasilnikova, Peng Yang, Toni Kaukua, and Alisa Sibgatova. The good news is that they have three more starting flights to try again, with unlimited reentries allowed up to the end of Level 14 on Day 2.
A total of 188 players entered Day 1a. Another group of hopefuls get their shot when Day 1b begins at noon local time tomorrow. Day 1c is on January 22 and features 40-minute levels, while a turbo Day 1d flight starts at 7 p.m. on the 22nd with 25-minute levels. All surviving players from the four opening flights combine for Day 2 on January 23.
PokerNews will be back following all the action tomorrow for the second flight of what has already proven to be an action-packed Main Event here in North Cyprus.