Bogdan Munteanu moved all in for 368,000 from the cutoff and Marius Kudzmanas called off for his last 200,000 to put himself at risk.
Marius Kudzmanas: K?J?
Bogdan Munteanu: A?J?
The board ran out K?10?3?3?A?. Kudzmanas had pulled ahead on the flop with a king despite being dominated but the ace on the river sealed his fate and he was sent to the rail in 19th place.
Maksim Shornikau opened to 40,000 from the hijack and Ceyhan Tezcan three-bet to 80,000 from the button. Shornikau moved all in, covering Tezcan who started the hand with 188,000. Tezcan made the call and was at risk.
Ceyhan Tezcan: J?J?
Maksim Shornikau: K?J?
The board ran out 6?2?A?7?K?. Tezcan made the nut-flush on the turn to send Tezcan to the rail and collect the last of his chips.
Fahredin Mustafov moved all in for 262,000 from the button and Aleksandar Tot called with a covering stack from the small blind to put Mustafov at risk.
Fahredin Mustafov: 7?6?
Aleksandar Tot: A?6?
Tot had his opponent dominated with a bigger six and remained ahead on the 5?J?Q?5?2? runout to send Mustafov to the rail on the stone bubble and take down a nice pot.
With two players seeing a board of 5?6?9?7? and roughly 270,000 already in the middle, Justus Held bet 85,000 from the big blind and was called by Aleksandr Kirichenko from under the gun.
Held fired again for 160,000 on the J? river. Kirichenko, looking slightly exasperated with the situation, flicked in the call.
Held turned over 7?5? for two pair to take the chip lead from Kirichenko.
Elsewhere in the tournament area, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya was recently eliminated.
Anatoly Nikitin opened to 32,000 from under the gun and Alisa Sibgatova three-bet to 105,000 from the cutoff, leaving roughly 160,000 behind. Nikitin moved all in with a covering stack and Sibgatova snap-called.
Alisa Sibgatova: Q?Q?
Anatoly Nikitin: A?K?
It was a classic preflop race that Nikitin got the better of on the A?6?3? flop. He remained ahead on the 10? turn and K? river to send Sibgatova to the rail in the first hand of the day and score nearly a full double up.
The 2023 Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller has been reduced from a field of 153 entrants to just 30 remaining players here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. All 30 will have their sights set on taking home the title and lion's share of the $703,800 prize pool.
Russia's Aleksandr Kirichenko holds the overall chip lead after Day 2, bagging 1,480,000 chips worth 93 big blinds. Kirichenko made the final table of the last Merit Poker $5,300 high roller event at the Gangster Series this past October, making it all the way to heads up play against Giorgiy Skhulukhiya before falling in second place. Today Kirichenko has a chance to avenge that runner up finish with another shot at a high roller title here in Cyprus. Kirichenko is most closely followed by Germany's Justus Held (1,390,000) and Maksim Shornikau of Belarus (1,320,000).
Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Aleksandr Kirichenko
Russian Federation
1,480,000
93
2
Justus Held
Germany
1,390,000
87
3
Maksim Shornikau
Belarus
1,320,000
83
4
Xixiang Luo
China
1,250,000
78
5
John Doe
N/A
907,000
57
6
Shuang Luo
China
821,000
51
7
Joseph Sabe
Lebanon
728,000
46
8
Aleksandar Tot
Montenegro
684,000
43
9
Guoliang Wei
China
591,000
37
10
Frederic Popot
France
426,000
27
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya
Others to make it to the final day include Day 1 chip leader John Doe (907,000), bracelet winner Guoliang Wei (591,000), Skhulukhiya (345,000), Skirbic (334,000), ACR team pro Monika Zukowicz (236,000) and Andrey Pateychuk (204,000).
Xixiang Luo
Players will begin at 2:00 p.m. local time just ten spots shy of the money bubble, with blinds at 8,000/16,000 and a 16,000 big blind ante. The top 20 players will all be guaranteed at least a min-cash of $7,800 but all will be seeking the top prize of $177,500.The event is scheduled to play down to a winner today and will be streamed on the Merit Poker YouTube channel. PokerNews will be posting on a 60-minute delay to avoid spoiling the results of the stream.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the final day of this event as well as the $3,300 Main Event which is set to begin today.
