After eight 40-minute levels the action has come to a close for Day 1 of the 2023 Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. The event has already surpassed it's $300,000 guarantee, attracting a total of 91 entrants, of which 59 players managed to advance to Day 2. That number will undoubtedly increase as late registration and reentries remain available for until the end of Level 12, midway through Day 2.
Vladimir Troyanovski bagged one of, if not the biggest stack of the evening, finishing the night with 402,000 chips, worth 268 big blinds going into Day 3. Troyanovski kept a low profile throughout the day until a late night surge drove him to the top of the chip counts, surpassing the likes of Aleksandr Kirichenko and Fausto Tantillo who exchanged the chip lead multiple times throughout the day. Other players to bag big at the end of the evening include Joseph Sabe (338,500) and Ihar Soika (320,500).
Western Series $5,300 High Roller Day 1 Assorted Big Stacks
| Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Troyanovski | Russian Federation | 402,000 | 268 |
| Joseph Sabe | Lebanon | 338,500 | 226 |
| Ihar Soika | Belarus | 320,500 | 214 |
| Aleksandr Kirichenko | Russian Federation | 308,000 | 205 |
| Shuang Luo | China | 265,000 | 177 |
| Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 245,000 | 163 |
| Roman Hrabec | Czechia | 230,500 | 154 |
| Junjie He | China | 218,000 | 145 |
| Roman Gadzhiev | Russian Federation | 204,000 | 136 |
| Qiang Xu | China | 200,000 | 133 |
Despite a relatively deep structure featuring starting stacks worth 250 big blinds and 40-minute levels, several players wasted no time building a stack right out of the gate. In one of the first hands of the day, Tantillo picked off a bluff from Moritz Dietrich to take down a pot worth over 200 big blinds. Kirichenko and Roman Gadzhiev also got off to a hot start today with both players doubling their starting stacks within the first three levels.
Notable crushers Dmitry Yurasov, who took down the $3,300 Main Event at the Merit Poker Gangster Series this past October for $295,500, and Dmitry Gromov, who finished runner up in the same event, registered midway through the day. Yurasov would ultimately bust in the later levels of the evening but Gromov wasted no doubling up his starting stack and establishing himself as one of the bigger stacks in the room. Gromov's momentum would later be halted by Xiaohua Fu, who won two sizable pots off of Gromov in quick succession to send the Russian pro tumbling back down the counts.
Other notable players to bag and tag at the end of the night include Kirichenko (308,000), Shuang Luo (265,000), Tantillo (245,000), Roman Hrabec (230,500), Andrey Pateychuk (152,000), Gromov (82,500), Monika Zukowicz (78,500) and Yunsheng Sun (78,000). Hrabec and Pateychuk in particular are noteworthy as both players enjoyed a stellar year in 2023 in terms of results at the poker table. Pateychuk made an incredibly deep run at the 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing in 17th for $430,200. Hrabec scored no less than four six-figure scores in 2023, including three Triton final tables and one WSOP final table for nearly $1,500,000 across those four cashes alone.
Day 2 of the $5,300 High Roller is scheduled to begin tomorrow, January 19 at 8:00 p.m. local time and play ten 40-minute levels, starting at Level 9 with the blinds at 1,000/1,500 and a 1,500 big blind ante. As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action for this event until a winner is crowned on Day 3 taking place on January 20.
