Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 Merit Poker Classic
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 Merit Poker Classic
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$2,990,267
Entries
649
Level
35
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Levi, Rudolph, Weissman, Pateychuk, Loeser, and Kempe All Through To Day 2; Jazzar Takes Day 1a Chip Lead;
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Day 1a of the $5,300 Main Event here at the Merit Poker Classic has come to an end with 93 entries. Out of those 93 entries, 43 players have made it through to Day 2, Thursday, May 9. Claiming the Day 1a chip lead is Maroun Jazzar with 574,200 in chips.
Trailing Jazzar in the chip counts are Shahar Levi (532,600), Volodymyr Yastreb (455,000) and Christian Rudolph (432,500). Other notable players to have bagged and tagged an above average stack for Day 2 include Joey Weissman (400,800), Pavel Kovalenko (339,900), Bart Lybaert (310,300), Andrey Pateychuk (259,600), Daria Feshchenko (259,100), Albert Daher (257,100), and Boris Kolev with 192,000.
Vicent Bosca, Ioannis Angelou-Konstas, Manig Loeser, Miguel Iglesias, Rainer Kempe, and Mario Mosböck have also made it through this quiet starting day. Unfortunately, not everyone managed to win their hands today as Ali Reza Fatehi, Javier Fernandez, Aleksandr Gofman, and Markus Pohl all failed to win their final all-ins.
Another starting flight will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7 at noon local time with the exact same structure of eight levels of 60 minutes each with a 10-minute break after every two levels. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the action as more familiar faces will jump into the Main Event here in the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The full chip counts and a recap of today are to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
574,200 | |
|
532,600 | 12,600 |
|
455,000 | 155,000 |
|
432,500 | 247,500 |
|
400,800 | 10,800 |
|
339,900 | 119,900 |
|
310,300 | 80,300 |
|
|
302,200 | |
|
286,800 | |
|
280,000 | 10,000 |
|
275,000 | |
|
267,400 | |
|
259,600 | 49,600 |
|
259,100 | -2,900 |
|
257,100 | 97,100 |
|
|
247,000 | |
|
200,000 | |
|
192,000 | 75,000 |
|
|
191,500 | -65,500 |
|
184,400 | |
|
184,300 | -19,700 |
|
|
173,000 | |
|
|
171,400 | |
|
|
168,000 | |
|
167,700 | 32,700 |
Two More Hands
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and the dealers have been instructed to deal two more hands before the remaining players can bag and tag their chips for Day 2.
Levi Tops the Counts For Now
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
520,000 | 120,000 |
|
|
262,000 | 112,000 |
|
|
210,000 | 110,000 |
|
164,000 | -46,000 |
|
138,000 | 38,000 |
|
19,000 | -87,000 |
Tamasyan More Than Triples
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Boris Kolev raised to 5,000 from mid-position, Christian Rudolph called in the hijack. Garik Tamasyan shoved on the button for 22,000 and both Kolev and Rudolph called.
The flop came 
, Kolev check-folded to the 23,000 bet of Rudolph to let them battle it out.
Garik Tamasyan: 
Christian Rudolph: 
The turn was the 
to give Tamasyan two pair.
The river completed the board with the 
for Tamasyan to stay ahead and double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000 | -8,000 |
|
|
185,000 | 185,000 |
|
|
117,000 | -143,000 |
|
71,000 | -138,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Weissman Takes Two Down
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Joey Weissman has just eliminated two other players and was kind enough to relate what had happened:
The under-the-gun player had raised to 4,000 and Weismann called from the cutoff with 
. Rainer Kempe called in the small blind and so did the player in the big blind.
The flop came 
, Kempe and the big blind checked, the initial raiser bet 6,500 and only Weissman and the big blind called.
The turn was the 
to give Weissman the nut-flush. The player in the big blind checked again. The initial raiser shoved and Weissman called. The player in the big blind also shoved and Weissman called again. The big blind player had 
while the under-the-gun player held 
for the lower flush and was drawing dead for the straight flush as Weismann had the in his hand already.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
390,000 | 290,000 |
|
130,000 | 30,000 |
|
110,000 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
Mnatsakyan Hits the River
Level 7
: 900/1,800, 1,800 ante
Vanush Mnatsakyan raised to 3,600 from under the gun and was called by the player in the cutoff. Aleksandr Gofman three-bet to 18,900 from the small blind which Mnatsakyan called and the cutoff-player folded.
They both checked through the whole 
board. Gofman tabled 
but couldn't beat the 
of Mnatsakyan who had rivered a pair of jacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
257,000 | 185,000 |
|
|
204,000 | 54,000 |
|
|
135,000 | -49,000 |
|
|
62,000 | 2,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Pohl Pushed Out by Lybaert
Level 7
: 900/1,800, 1,800 ante
The board read 
with 57,000 in the middle already.
Markus Pohl checked in the small blind and Bart Lybaert shoved from the big blind with the bigger stack. Pohl contemplated for a while and then flicked in a chip for the call. Lybaert turned over 
for the rivered flush and Pohl quickly got up from his chair and made his way out of the tournament area without flipping over his hole cards. The dealer showed Pohl held 
for the flopped top pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
238,000 | 182,000 |
|
|
Busted |