$3,300 Main Event Day 1b | 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

03-22-2024 20:03 UTC+3

Assorted Chip Counts after Third Break

Ryan Lashmar

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

Player	Chips	Progress
Yassin Mahmoud	412,000 -136,000	-136,000
Antoine Hasbani	408,500 -6,500	-6,500
Walid Bou Habib	381,000 381,000	381,000
Sergey Baranski	362,000 87,000	87,000
Dmitrii Andreev	353,000 353,000	353,000
Stephane Gabarre	340,000 340,000	340,000
Can Miral	328,500 33,500	33,500
Alisa Sibgatova	296,000 221,000	221,000

Fabio Peluso	253,500 143,000	143,000

Chady Ojeil	248,000 248,000	248,000
Hadi Khordbin	239,000 -73,500	-73,500
Damir Gabdullin	230,000 123,500	123,500
Halil Tasyurek	229,000 229,000	229,000
Aleksandar Tot	220,000 43,000	43,000
Mustafa Biz	194,000 -115,000	-115,000
Andrey Pateychuk	174,000 174,000	174,000

Yiannakis Papapetrou	105,000 1,000	1,000
Aylar Lie	85,000 48,500	48,500
Andrei Daniliuk	63,000 4,600	4,600
Dmitry Gromov	25,000 -10,000	-10,000

Level: 7

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

03-22-2024 19:35 UTC+3

Break

Ryan Lashmar

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

Players are now on their third 15-minute break of the evening. The field has grown to 161 entrants of which 100 players remain.

03-22-2024 19:34 UTC+3

Gromov Staves Off Elimination

Ryan Lashmar

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

With two players seeing a board of 7♥7♠J♠4♣ Dmitry Gromov, who had committed nearly his entire stack of roughly 15,000 on a previous street, moved all in for his last 1,500 which he had left behind. Armand Matti made the call to put Gromov at risk.

Dmitry Gromov: K♣J♦ All in
Armand Matti: A♣10♦

Gromov was well ahead after connecting with the jack and just needed to fade an ace to avoid elimination. The 5♥ river was clean and Gromov secured a much-needed double up through Matti.

Player	Chips	Progress
Armand Matti	72,500
Dmitry Gromov	35,000 -37,000	-37,000

Tags: Armand Matti Dmitry Gromov

03-22-2024 19:18 UTC+3

Daniliuk Fires Two Barrels

Ryan Lashmar

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

A player from under the gun opened to 3,000 only for Andrei Daniliuk to three-bet to 9,000 from the cutoff.

The flop came K♣8♦4♥. The early position player checked, Daniliuk bet 3,500 and his opponent made the call.

Both players checked the 8♣ turn leading to the 3♥ river. Daniliuk bet 8,000 when checked to and this time it was enough to force a fold from his opponent.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrei Daniliuk	58,400 -18,100	-18,100

Tags: Andrei Daniliuk

03-22-2024 18:58 UTC+3

Peluso Fights Back from the Brink

Ryan Lashmar

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

Yiannakis Papapetrou opened to 3,000 from middle position and Fabio Peluso moved all in for 23,200 from the hijack. Boris Tabiyev called from the button with a covering stack and Papapetrou got out of the way.

Fabio Peluso: J♦J♣ All in
Boris Tabiyev: A♥K♦

Tabiyev was drawing dead by the turn on the J♠3♥5♥3♦7♠ runout. Peluso's full house was good at showdown and he scored a full double up.

Just a couple hands later, in another preflop confrontation, Peluso found himself all in and at risk for 53,100 and was up against Miad Shakiba who covered.

Fabio Peluso: A♦K♣ All in
Miad Shakiba: A♣Q♣

Peluso was in great shape with the bigger ace and remained ahead on the 5♥4♥7♥2♥10♦ runout to score a second full double, effectively quadrupling his stack from what it was at just a few hands prior.

Player	Chips	Progress
Boris Tabiyev	143,000 43,000	43,000
Fabio Peluso	110,500 10,500	10,500

Yiannakis Papapetrou	104,000 -5,000	-5,000
Miad Shakiba	38,000 -85,000	-85,000

Tags: Boris Tabiyev Fabio Peluso Miad Shakiba Yiannakis Papapetrou

03-22-2024 18:40 UTC+3

PokerNews Podcast: Dwan Drama, Women in Poker, Boston Rob & Brantzen on Reality TV

Ryan Lashmar

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

In the 821st episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz & Kyna England come to you from Level 9 Studios in Las Vegas to discuss the latest poker news, stories, and gossip. That includes the recent drama surrounding Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who recently talked to PokerNews in a 45-minute in-depth conversation about debt allegations recently leveled against him by Peter Jetten and Haralabos Voulgaris.

You can read everything Dwan had to say in our feature article here but suffice it to say he didn't give clear answers. Some say he spouted a word salad to most of the questions, and our crew took a look at some clips and offered their thoughts. We also asked Dwan point blank if he's ever been kidnapped by the Triads, an urban legend of sorts in the poker world.

Mike and Kyna then talked about their respective tournament successes since the last show, which led to a larger talk about women in poker and how the industry sometimes struggles to market to such a large segment of the population. From there, it was on to a discussion about the recent uptick of poker-related names venturing into the reality TV space including Boston Rob Mariano, Brantzen Poker, and Athena Jett.

Finally, the crew touched on Kevin Martin's 24/7 stream while attempting to win $5,000 playing online and close it out by offering their thoughts on the often-critical Allen Kessler.

Listen to the New PokerNews Podcast Here!

Did you know the PokerNews Podcast is no longer just audio? That's right, we've added a video show as well that you can view on the PokerNews YouTube Channel.

Level: 6

Blinds: 700/1,500

Ante: 1,500

03-22-2024 18:20 UTC+3

Papapetrou Cracks Set to Double

Ryan Lashmar

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

With two players seeing a board of 10♣5♥6♦2♠ and roughly 30,000 already in the middle, Yiannakis Papapetrou bet 13,000 from the big blind and was called by Lyudmil Ivanov in middle position.

On the J♣ river Papapetrou bet 25,500, leaving just under 5,000 behind. Ivanov moved all in with a covering stack and Papapetrou made the call.

Ivanov tabled 5♠5♣ for a set of fives but Papapetrou turned over 4♣3♦ for a six-high straight to score a full double up at Ivanov's expense.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yiannakis Papapetrou	109,000 109,000	109,000
Lyudmil Ivanov	89,000 -105,500	-105,500

Tags: Lyudmil Ivanov Yiannakis Papapetrou

03-22-2024 18:02 UTC+3

Two Streets of Value for Mahmoud

Ryan Lashmar

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

A player opened to 2,400 from under the gun and was called by Yassin Mahmoud on the button.

Both players checked the 6♠5♠4♠ flop leading to the 2♥ turn. The under the gun player check-called a 5,000 bet from Mahmoud.

Mahmoud bet again for 5,000 when checked to on the 9♠ river and was once again called by his opponent. Mahmoud tabled 10♠7♠ for a ten-high flush and his opponent promptly mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yassin Mahmoud	548,000 51,000	51,000

Tags: Yassin Mahmoud