$3,300 Main Event
Day 1cd Started
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
$3,300 Main Event
Day: 1cd
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1cd
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$1,854,720
Entries
672
Level
36
Blinds
200,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
149
Players Left
75
The flagship tournament of the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series is already well underway here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, with two starting flights complete and two more to go in the $3,300 Main Event. The first two starting flights have attracted a total of 360 entrants so far, of which 148 players survived to advance to Day 2.
Top Ten Chip Counts from Day 1a and Day 1b
| 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 | Fabio Peluso | Italy | 657,000 | 263 |
| 5 | Daniel Henriques | Portugal | 633,000 | 253 |
| 6 | Jianwei Lin | Australia | 619,000 | 248 |
| 7 | Basem Abudavas | Jordan | 600,000 | 240 |
| 8 | Mustafa Ercan | Turkey | 596,500 | 239 |
| 9 | John Doe | n/a | 534,500 | 214 |
| 10 | Wael Sarkis | Lebanon | 533,500 | 213 |
France's Samy Barka currently holds the overall chip lead with 783,000 chips, worth 313 big blinds going into Day 2. Barka is most closely followed by Lebanon's Michel Habib (753,000) and Russia's Dmitry Yurasov (736,000), who took down the last Merit Poker Series $3,300 Main Event at the Gangster Series this past October for $295,500. Other notable players who have already advaned to Day 2 include Benjamin Hamnett (427,000), Nikolay Fal (402,500), 2023 WSOP finalist Dean Hutchison (380,000), Andrea Dato (314,500), Maxime Chilaud (291,000), Roman Hrabec (209,000) and Shuang Luo (160,000).
Day 1c begins at noon local time and will feature a similar structure as the first two starting flights. Players will start with 100,000 chips and play nine 40-minute levels. There will be a break after every three levels. Unlimited reentries and late registration will be available until the end of Level 14 on Day 2. There will also be a turbo Day 1d starting flight featuring 25-minute levels beginning today at 7:00 p.m. local time.
As always, PokerNews will be on-site to cover all the action today from when cards are in the air until players bag and tag at the end of the night.
Level: 1
Blinds: 200/500
Ante: 500
Level 1
: Blinds 200/500, 500 ante
With 18 entrants to start the day cards are in the air for Day 1c of the $3,300 Main Event
Level 1
: Blinds 200/500, 500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Level 1
: Blinds 200/500, 500 ante
With two players seeing a board of 9?8?2? and 3,200 in the middle, Jean Mikhael checked from the big blind and called a 2,000 bet from Rashad Iskandarov in the cutoff.
Iskandarov bet again for 6,000 when checked to on the Q? turn. Mikhael put in a check-raise to 23,000 which was enough to force a fold from his opponent.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
108,000 | |
|
|
90,400
-9,600
|
-9,600 |
Level 1
: Blinds 200/500, 500 ante
With six players seeing a board of K?3?2?5? and 8,300 already in the middle, Sinead Priestley bet 3,100 from the big blind. Hady El Asmar called in the hijack, Oleksii Semeniaka called from the cutoff and all other players folded.
Priestley bet again for 6,200 on the 3? river and this time both Asmar and Semeniaka opted to fold.
Elsewhere in the tournament area, bracelet winners Guoliang Wei and Ermanno Di Nicola have recently taken their seats.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
102,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
||
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
||
|
|
90,300
-9,700
|
-9,700 |
|
82,500
82,500
|
82,500 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 600
Level 2
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Hakan Kuscu opened to 1,500 from under the gun and Ali Zebarjad put in a min-raise to 2,500 from middle position. Guoliang Wei defended from the big blind and Zebarjad called as well.
All three players checked the 8?7?6? flop leading to the 8? turn. Wei bet 5,000 and received a call from Kuscu while Zebarjad got out of the way.
Wei bet again for 15,000 on the A? river and this time Kuscu opted to fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
94,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
|
|
||
|
78,000
78,000
|
78,000 |
|
76,000
76,000
|
76,000 |
Level 2
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Sultan Meirbekov opened to 1,500 from middle position and received calls from Mohamad El Siblani in the cutoff and Ermanno Di Nicola in the big blind.
The flop came 10?2?2?. Di Nicola checked, Meirbekov fired a 2,200 continuation bet, El Siblani called and Di Nicola folded.
Meirbekov bet again for 3,700 on the 3? turn and once again El Siblani made the call.
The river was the 9?. Meirbekov checked, El Siblani bet 10,000 and Meirbekov called.
El Siblani tabled 3?2? for twos full of threes and Meirbekov's hand hit the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
128,000
128,000
|
128,000 |
|
|
83,500
-16,500
|
-16,500 |
|
|
71,000
-29,000
|
-29,000 |
|
|
||