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

08-16-2023 22:14 UTC+2

Straight On The River For Aydemir

Maxime Taldir

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

From under the gun, Recep Aydemir shoved for 665,000 chips. Alexey Popov called in the middle position, and the other players folded.

Recep Aydemir: A♦10♠
Alexey Popov: A♠Q♦

The flop 6♣K♣7♦ didn't help Aydemir, but he had a straight draw thanks to the turn 9♦. Luckily for him, Aydemir hit the flush on the river 8♠ and doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexey Popov	3,000,000 -600,000	-600,000
Recep Aydemir	1,450,000 650,000	650,000

Tags: Alexey Popov Recep Aydemir

08-16-2023 22:05 UTC+2

Last Players In The Rail (50th-60th)

Maxime Taldir

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Dauren Zhaparov	Busted
Huseyin Akgul	Busted
Mustafa Biz	Busted
Vladislav Doroshkov	Busted
Nikolay Losev	Busted
Eli Saad	Busted
Konstantin Held	Busted
Arunas Sapitavicius	Busted
Milad Oghabian	Busted
Geo	Busted
Hamza Ben Fkih Ali	Busted

08-16-2023 21:51 UTC+2

Barakat Knocks Out Two Players

Maxime Taldir

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Table 1, there was a three-way all-in and a call preflop, with Mousa Barakat having the biggest stack of the three players.

Player 1: QxQx
Player 2: A♥K♥
Mousa Barakat: A♦A♣

In this massive pot, Barakat could have had a stack of 10,000,000 chips if he won the pot. And that's what happened on 6♥5♣10♣7♥2♣. Barakat is now, by far, the chip leader of the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mousa Barakat	10,000,000 7,350,000	7,350,000

Tags: Mousa Barakat

Level: 27

Blinds: 30,000/60,000

Ante: 60,000

08-16-2023 21:34 UTC+2

Player	Chips	Progress
Ruslan Volkov	7,900,000 1,875,000	1,875,000
Nenad Dukic	6,250,000 400,000	400,000
Thomas Eychenne	5,170,000 -365,000	-365,000
Rachid El Yaacoubi	4,815,000 3,430,000	3,430,000
Vlado Banicevic	4,550,000 1,995,000	1,995,000
George-Mircea Tomescu	4,300,000 2,200,000	2,200,000
Oleg Netaliev	3,900,000 3,150,000	3,150,000
Alexey Popov	3,600,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Chrysi Phiniotis	3,500,000 1,250,000	1,250,000
Ara Melkisetian	3,500,000 2,440,000	2,440,000
Dauren Zhaparov	3,100,000 2,295,000	2,295,000
Florian Guimond	2,800,000 300,000	300,000

Vasyl Palandiuk	2,600,000 1,800,000	1,800,000
Alexandr Dusco	2,500,000 1,050,000	1,050,000
Dominik Panka	2,255,000 805,000	805,000

Benjamin Hamnett	2,000,000 275,000	275,000

Konstantin Voronin	1,700,000 700,000	700,000
Milos Petakovic	1,650,000 -65,000	-65,000
Enrico Mosca	1,200,000 530,000	530,000
Dore Hajjar	1,115,000 -1,085,000	-1,085,000
Darko Svesko	790,000 -535,000	-535,000
Ufuk Erkmen	790,000 340,000	340,000
Zulfiya Kolgu	730,000 730,000	730,000

Players On A Break

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

55 players left are on a 10-minute break. After that, they'll play three ore levels for today.

08-16-2023 21:10 UTC+2

Saad Runs Into Aces

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

After David Hu doubled up on him, Eli Saad moved all in for 1,100,000 chips, and he was called by Chinguun Bolor-Erdene.

Eli Saad: K♣K♠
Chinguun Bolor-Erdene: A♥A♣

Bad timing for Saad, who ran into Bolor-Erdene's aces. To make things worse for him, the dealer gave a flush draw to Bolor-Erdene on the flop 2♥3♥Q♥, and a set on the turn A♦. The 7♥ completed the board and the flush, leading to Saad's elimination.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chinguun Bolor-Erdene	4,900,000 2,305,000	2,305,000
Eli Saad	Busted

Tags: Eli Saad

08-16-2023 20:55 UTC+2

Hajjar Finds The Ace On The River

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Geo "John Doe" opened from under the gun to 125,000. Then Dore Hajjar, on his left, shoved for a total of 1,035,000. All other players folded to John Doe, who called.

Dore Hajjar: A♠K♦
John Doe: 10♦10♣

On the flop 6♦4♥5♣ and the turn 6♣, Doe kept the lead. But the A♥ on the river saved Hajjar, who doubled up to 2,200,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dore Hajjar	2,200,000
Geo	880,000

Tags: Dore Hajjar

08-16-2023 20:40 UTC+2

Latest Eliminations (61st-78th)

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Erdem Gundogan	Busted
Mehmet Demirkol	Busted
Domenico Zappia	Busted
Sharky_Sams	Busted
Viktor Yugay	Busted
Dogan Dinler	Busted
Kazim Karacay	Busted
Temirlan Zhakenov	Busted
Siarhei Chudapal	Busted
Caner Nar	Busted
Mohammad Nadjafian	Busted
Ibrahim Ghassan	Busted
Kamal Bejjani	Busted
Mauro Guglielmoni	Busted
Martynas Vitkauskas	Busted

08-16-2023 20:28 UTC+2

3-Way All In On The Turn

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

According to some players at the table, Eli Saad opened from middle position. Then David Hu three-bet from the cutoff, and Domenico Zappia in the small blind moved all in for a single blind.

Saad called the all-in and the three-bet, then checked on the flop A♠9♦J♣. Hu checked back to see the Q♦ on the turn, where Saad moved all in. With a smaller stack of 350,000 chips, Hu called.

Domenico Zappia: 4♣3♥
David Hu: A♣10♠
Eli Saad: Q♣8♣

Saad hit a pair of queens on the turn, but Hu had a pair of aces. So after the river 5♦, Hu took the pot to double up, and Zappia was eliminated.