Welcome to Day 1c of Event #19: $3,300 Main Event
The pinnacle of the Merit Poker Carmen Series at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino is well underway, with two of four starting flights in the books for its flagship tournament, Event #19: $3,300 Main Event. Today features the latter two flights, with all those taking to the felt today hoping to join the 214 survivors who currently have a seat on Day 2.
Days 1a and 1b attracted a total of 450 entries, meaning that only 50 more are required to meet the tournament's lofty $1,500,000 guarantee. That figure is sure to be passed on Day 1c. Through the first two flights, Roman Gadzhiev managed to bag the biggest stack with 821,000, well ahead of his nearest competitor, Day 1b chipleader Vitalii Pankov (585,000). Whether or not any individual in this flight is able to catch Gadzhiev remains to be seen.
Play commences at 12 p.m. local time with all those who enter starting with 100,000 in tournament chips. Blinds will start at 200/500 with a 500 big blind ante with levels on Day 1c lasting 40-minutes (as opposed to 60-minutes on Days 1a and 1b). A total of nine levels will be played today before the survivors bag up for the night, with late registration not closing until Level 13 on Day 2.
Day 2 resumes on Friday, March 31st at 12 p.m. at which point the fields from all four starting flights will combined into one. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as its live reporting team provides updates through to the conclusion of Event #19: $3,300 Main Event.