$3,300 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$3,300 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$1,832,640
Entries
664
Level
37
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Entries
172
Players Left
41
Ketzer Finishes with Massive Chip Lead in Day 3 of Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The curtain has fallen on Day 3 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus. Only 41 players remain from a field of 664 entrants after 25 levels of play across the first three days.
Felipe Ketzer finished the day with a staggering 8,255,000 chips, worth 165 big blinds going into the final day tomorrow. Ketzer's stack is at least twice the size of any other player left in the field, with his closest competition coming from Jeremie Zouari (3,975,000) Danut Chisu (3,100,000) and Fausto Tantillo (2,870,000). Outside of those three players, Ketzer's chip stack is at least three times the size of every other player left in the field.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | 8,255,000 | 165 |
| 2 | Jeremie Zouari | France | 3,975,000 | 80 |
| 3 | Danut Chisu | Romania | 3,100,000 | 62 |
| 4 | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 2,870,000 | 57 |
| 5 | Maher Achour | Tunisia | 2,610,000 | 52 |
| 6 | Dinesh Alt | Switzerland | 2,605,000 | 52 |
| 7 | Umutcan Ipekoglu | Turkey | 2,375,000 | 48 |
| 8 | Mateusz Wozniak | Poland | 2,150,000 | 43 |
| 9 | Caner Gunes | Turkey | 2,120,000 | 42 |
| 10 | Yuri Suvorov | Russian Federation | 1,970,000 | 39 |
Day 3 Highlights
The day began with 172 players returning from Day 2. Jovan Kenjic got off to a hot start today after correctly calling his opponent's hand and winning a massive flip. Kenjic would enjoy the chip lead for most of the first half of the day but couldn't keep the momentum going and would ultimately bust a couple levels before the end of the night.
Adria Diaz began the day with the second-largest stack but a bad run of cards would result in his elimination midway through the day after running into Andrey Pateychuk's full house. Pateychuk, who had a very deep run in the WSOP Main Event this past summer, finished the night with 1,175,000 and will be a force to be reckoned with going into the final day.
Fausto Tantillo began the day as chip leader and had a roller coaster session throughout the day. Tantillo found himself short-stacked on the stone bubble but would double up twice to keep himself in contention. Tantillo would never look back from that point and would ultimately finish with the fourth-largest stack in the room.
Anton Markov would become the unfortunate soul to burst the money bubble at the hands of Tomy Greineisen after the latter rivered a straight. From that point on all remaining players were guaranteed at least a min-cash of $4,580.
Ketzer flew under the radar for most of the day today before going on a massive heater in the last two levels. Ketzer first started gaining momentum with the elimination of Nan Zhu and would later win a four-bet pot versus Dmitry Gromov to establish himself as one of the largest chip stacks in the tournament at that time. Ketzer truly separated himself from the rest of the pack in one of the last hands of the night in a major cooler. Ketzer had pocket kings and held against two opponents who respectively had pocket queens and pocket jacks to score a double knockout and seize the largest pot of the tournament so far.
Other players to advance to the final day include Gromov (1,910,000), Bart Lybaert (1,325,000), Simone Andrian (1,155,000), Day 1c chip leader Rabih El-Hachem (760,000) and Day 1b chip leader Alisa Sibgatova (595,000). Others who were not as fortunate to advance to the final day include Vladimir Bozinovic, Boris Kolev, Renan Bruschi, Razvan Belea, Milos Skrbic, Fabio Peluso, Aleksandr Kirichenko, Aylar Lie, Halil Tasyurek, Andrea Dato and Benjamin Hamnett.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action for the final day of the event, set to start tomorrow March 26 at 12:00 p.m. local time with blinds starting at 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante.
Day 4 Seat Draw
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | 1 | Roman Stoica | 1,605,000 | 32 |
| 1 | 2 | Rabih El-Hachem | 760,000 | 15 |
| 1 | 3 | Mehdi Chaoui | 1,180,000 | 24 |
| 1 | 4 | Chady Ojeil | 680,000 | 14 |
| 1 | 5 | Kemal Aslan | 1,255,000 | 25 |
| 1 | 6 | Andrey Litvinov | 810,000 | 16 |
| 1 | 7 | Maher Achour | 2,610,000 | 52 |
| 1 | 8 | Fausto Tantillo | 2,870,000 | 57 |
| 1 | 9 | Sardor Shagulyamov | 1,250,000 | 25 |
| 2 | 1 | Maciej Komorowski | 1,715,000 | 34 |
| 2 | 2 | Alisa Sibgatova | 595,000 | 12 |
| 2 | 3 | Razvan Sabau | 2,470,000 | 49 |
| 2 | 4 | Mateusz Wozniak | 2,190,000 | 44 |
| 2 | 5 | Nenad Dukic | 930,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 6 | Yuri Suvorov | 1,970,000 | 39 |
| 2 | 7 | Felipe Ketzer | 8,255,000 | 165 |
| 2 | 8 | Bart Lybaert | 1,325,000 | 27 |
| 3 | 1 | Michel Habib | 1,075,000 | 22 |
| 3 | 2 | Georges Hanna | 570,000 | 11 |
| 3 | 3 | Mihai Tusnea | 1,405,000 | 28 |
| 3 | 4 | Dmitry Gromov | 1,910,000 | 38 |
| 3 | 5 | Dinesh Alt | 2,605,000 | 52 |
| 3 | 6 | Dmitrii Astratov | 495,000 | 10 |
| 3 | 7 | Tomy Greineisen | 1,275,000 | 26 |
| 3 | 8 | Iulian-Remus Blebea | 900,000 | 18 |
| 4 | 1 | Kalidou Sow | 460,000 | 18 |
| 4 | 2 | Traian Stanciu | 910,000 | 36 |
| 4 | 3 | Ahmet Akyun | 950,000 | 38 |
| 4 | 4 | Jeremie Zouari | 3,975,000 | 159 |
| 4 | 5 | Adrian State | 1,360,000 | 54 |
| 4 | 6 | Andrey Pateychuk | 1,175,000 | 47 |
| 4 | 7 | Dmitrii Andreev | 1,105,000 | 44 |
| 4 | 8 | Simone Andrian | 1,155,000 | 46 |
| 5 | 1 | Agharazi Babayev | 810,000 | 32 |
| 5 | 2 | Umutcan Ipekoglu | 2,375,000 | 95 |
| 5 | 3 | Danut Chisu | 3,100,000 | 124 |
| 5 | 4 | Robert Rbeiz | 900,000 | 36 |
| 5 | 5 | Rashad Iskandarov | 700,000 | 28 |
| 5 | 6 | Elie Farah | 1,510,000 | 60 |
| 5 | 7 | Caner Gunes | 2,120,000 | 85 |
| 5 | 8 | Tahsin Cankurtaranli | 1,330,000 | 53 |
End of Night Chip Counts (full)
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
8,255,000 | 55,000 |
|
3,975,000 | 1,670,000 |
|
3,100,000 | 2,650,000 |
|
2,870,000 | 1,555,000 |
|
2,610,000 | 2,035,000 |
|
2,605,000 | 1,890,000 |
|
2,375,000 | -240,000 |
|
2,150,000 | 1,479,000 |
|
2,120,000 | 1,623,000 |
|
1,970,000 | -380,000 |
|
1,910,000 | -220,000 |
|
1,715,000 | 735,000 |
|
1,605,000 | 948,000 |
|
1,510,000 | 1,160,000 |
|
1,405,000 | 645,000 |
|
1,360,000 | 390,000 |
|
1,330,000 | 1,226,000 |
|
1,325,000 | -250,000 |
|
1,275,000 | 640,000 |
|
1,255,000 | 422,000 |
|
1,250,000 | -45,000 |
|
1,180,000 | 1,180,000 |
|
1,175,000 | 325,000 |
|
1,155,000 | 622,000 |
|
|
1,105,000 | 696,000 |
End of the Night
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The action has come to a close for Day 3 of the Main Event. A total of 41 players were able to find a bag at the end of the night and advance to Day 2.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the night's action.
Ketzer Scores Double Knockout
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Felipe Ketzer raised on the button and Jenya Gavrilovich called in the small blind before Mikhail Zavoloka moved all in for 240,000 from the big blind. Ketzer called before Gavrilovich moved all in for 3,000,000. Ketzer, covering both players, made the call.
Mikhail Zavoloka: Q♦Q♣ 
Jenya Gavrilovich: J♥J♣
Felipe Ketzer: K♥K♦
All three players had monster hands but Ketzer had the best of it preflop with pocket kings. Zavoloka looked poised to take the main pot after spiking a set of queens on the 6♣10♠Q♥ flop. The 9♦ turn changed nothing but the K♣ river gave Ketzer top set to knock out both players and take down easily the biggest pot of the tournament so far at the very end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,200,000 | 3,800,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Skhulukhiya Runs into Rockets
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya opened to 225,000 from under the gun, committing slightly under half his stack. Sardor Shagulyamov moved all in from the button with a covering stack and Skhulukhiya made the call to put himself at risk.
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya: 5♠5♣
Sardor Shagulyamov: A♥A♦
Skhulukhiya picked up a flush draw on the 2♠3♠8♠ flop but found no help on the K♦ turn or 8♥ river and was sent to the rail in one of the final hands of the night while Shagulyamov collected a sizable pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,295,000 | 795,000 |
|
Busted |
Final Five Hands
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The tournament staff have announced that five more hands will be played before Day 3 concludes.
Rbeiz Spikes the River to Leave Jontulovic on Fumes
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Robert Rbeiz moved all in from under the gun for approximately 500,000 and was called by Bogdan Jontulovic on the button who held a covering stack.
Robert Rbeiz: 5x5x
Bogdan Jontulovic: AxAx
Rbeiz was in dire shape with the lower pocket pair and found no help on the Kx9x2x flop. The 8x turn was also a brick but he drilled a set on the 5x river to score a full double up and leave Jontulovic with just under four big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,015,000 | 328,000 |
|
140,000 | -619,000 |
Ketzer Not Slowing Down
Level 25
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Felipe Ketzer opened to 80,000 from early position and Dmitry Gromov put in a three-bet to 300,000 from the small blind. Ketzer four-bet to 680,000 and after about a minute to consider his options Gromov sent his hand into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,400,000 | 595,000 |
|
|
2,130,000 | -470,000 |