$3,300 Main Event Day 1c | 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series

08-14-2023 16:25 UTC+2

One Blind At The Time

Maxime Taldir

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

"I am suffering" said Amine Maskhaoui, who has half of the starting stack. The situation is not improving for him, even though he's trying. For example, he limped from the button, and Toni Kaukua checked his option to see the flop A♠J♠9♦.

Maskhaoui bet a single blind again. Kaukua check-called, then checked again on the turn Q♠. Maskhaoui checked back, and both players checked again on the river 8♦.

First to reveal his cards, Kaukua showed A♦7♦ for top pair. Maskhaoui, ready to fold his cards, took them back to check his hand again. However, they ended up in the muck, as his suffering continues.

Player	Chips	Progress
Toni Kaukua	112,000 54,500	54,500
Amine Maskhaoui	48,000 48,000	48,000

Tags: Amine Maskhaoui Toni Kaukua

Level: 8

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

08-14-2023 16:05 UTC+2

A Small Pot For Newey

Maxime Taldir

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

After an open by the button and a call by the small blind, Paul Newey defended from the big blind.

The dealer revealed a flop of J♦10♥A♦, but nobody added more chips to the pot. Seeing that, Newey bet 6,500 on the turn 7♣. The button called, but not the small blind.

Finally, the 10♠ fell on the river, and Newey bet 15,000. However, it was too much for his opponent, who folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Newey	220,000

Tags: Paul Newey

08-14-2023 15:45 UTC+2

Payehghazvini Raises On The Turn

Maxime Taldir

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Amarbayasgalan Sainjargal opted for a raise from the hijack, but it wasn't enough for Alireza Payehghazvini, who three-bet to 10,500 from the button.

Sainjargal eventually called, checked on the flop 3♠4♠7♦ and bet 21,500 chips on the turn 5♦.

Payehghazvini, who checked the first street too, then raised to 45,000 on the turn. After some time, Sainjargal gave up and folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alireza Payehghazvini	260,000 260,000	260,000
Amarbayasgalan Sainjargal	60,000 11,000	11,000

Tags: Alireza Payehghazvini Amarbayasgalan Sainjargal

Level: 7

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

08-14-2023 15:21 UTC+2

New Break

Maxime Taldir

Level 6 : Blinds 700/1,500, 1,500 ante

There are 137 players still in out of 196 entrants on Day 1c. They are on a 10-minute break. When they come back, they'll play three more levels before bagging.

08-14-2023 15:13 UTC+2

Astratov Hits Straight Against Rebei

Maxime Taldir

Level 6 : Blinds 700/1,500, 1,500 ante

Dmitriy Astratov opened with a bet of 3,000 from middle position. He was called by Karim Rebei, who was also in the middle position, and by the big blind.

On the flop 5♦8♥Q♣, Astratov added 5,000 chips to the pot. Rebei then raised to 12,000. The big blind folded at this point, and Astratov eventually called.

The turn was the Q♠. Rebei fired a second barrel of 6,700, and he was called again by Astratov, who took the lead on the river 6♠. He threw 30,000 chips in front of him. Rebei decided to raise to 150,000 to force Astratov to go all in, and he did, with his remaining 63,000 chips.

Dmitriy Astratov: 9♣7♣
Karim Rebei: A♣3♥

Astratov was lucky enough to find a straight on the river, beating Rebei's ace-high. He left the table to go on a break with a new stack of 166,000 chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitriy Astratov	166,000 166,000	166,000
Karim Rebei	78,000 78,000	78,000

Tags: Dmitriy Astratov Karim Rebei

08-14-2023 14:59 UTC+2

Lybaert Makes Another Victim

Maxime Taldir

Level 6 : Blinds 700/1,500, 1,500 ante

Perhaps the chipleader at the moment, Bart Lybaert, in the cutoff, called the big blind's all in of 54,500 chips.

Big blind: K♠J♦
Bart Lybaert: A♣Q♦

Lybaert is having a good day so far, and it continued with a board 9♦3♣A♥6♦Q♣ that gave him two pairs to kick the big blind out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bart Lybaert	399,000 139,000	139,000

Tags: Bart Lybaert

08-14-2023 14:45 UTC+2

Akyel In The Rail

Maxime Taldir

Level 6 : Blinds 700/1,500, 1,500 ante

In a 3-bet pot, three players agreed on 10,500 chips preflop to continue further and see the flop 7♣9♣6♥. Mazen Halabi, in the small blind, and Ran Koller, in early position, checked. However, Ramazan Akyel, sitting in the cutoff, went all-in for 13,700 chips. Halabi raised to 30,000 chips, causing Koller to fold.

Ramazan Akyel: 6♠5♠
Mazen Halabi: Q♥Q♣

Akyel had a pair and a straight draw, but it wasn't enough to surpass Halabi's queens, even after the 7♠ turn and the 10♥ river. As Akyel was leaving, Halabi claimed the pot, boosting his stack to 255,000 chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mazen Halabi	255,000 60,000	60,000
Ran Koller	120,000 120,000	120,000

Ramazan Akyel	Busted

Tags: Mazen Halabi Ramazan Akyel Ran Koller

Level: 6

Blinds: 700/1,500

Ante: 1,500