Main Event
Day 1c Completed
2019 Merit Poker Classic
Main Event
Day: 1c
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
Morgenstern Grabs Day 1c Chip Lead; Gilboa, Hakim, Chouity, Filatov, Urbanovich, and Jouhkimainen Through Too
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The third starting flight of the $5,300 Main Event here at the Merit Poker Classic has come to an end with 96 players out of 202 entries in total making it through to Day 2 tomorrow, Thursday, May 2. Claiming the Day 1c chip lead is Germany’s Anton Morgenstern with 604,600.
Morgenstern earned most of those chips when he called his opponent’s bluff and kept on building to finish at the top of the chip counts at the end of the day. Other notable players who bagged an above average stack include Dmitry Gromov (487,500), Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy (438,400), Saar Wilf (369,000), Uri Gilboa (350,400), Milad Oghabian (307,000), Jeff Hakim (292,000), Nicolas Chouity (287,500), Anton Wigg (212,000), and Paul Newey with 210,100.
The partypoker pros who played today have all made it through with Anatoly Filatov leading the group, bagging 353,000 in the end after having to reenter earlier in the day. Dzmitry Urbanovich tagged 205,200 which is still above average. Joni Jouhkimainen will take 134,000 with him to Day 2 which is still good for more than 50 big blinds.
Day 1d is set to start at 9:30 PM local time which will feature eight levels too but they will only last 30 minutes each. Day 1e starts before Day 2, at 10 AM which will have eight 20-minute levels. The seat draw for Day 2 is to follow and will be posted as soon as the PokerNews live reporting team receives them from the organization. Day 2 will start at 1:30 PM on Thursday, May 9 so make sure to return then for all the action from the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
2019 Merit Poker Classic $5,300 Main Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Starting Time | Late Reg | Entries | Survivors | Further Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | Monday May 6th | 12:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 93 | 43 | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
| 1b | Tuesday May 7th | 12:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 161 | 80 | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
| 1c | Wednesday May 8th | 12:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 202 | 96 | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
| 1d | Wednesday May 8th | 21:30 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 8 Levels of 30 minutes |
| 1e | Thursday May 9th | 10:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 8 Levels of 20 minutes |
| 2 | Thursday May 9th | 13:30 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 6 Levels of 75 minutes |
| 3 | Friday May 10th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | TBD |
| 4 | Saturday May 11th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | TBD |
| 5 | Sunday May 12th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | Play down to a winner |
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The full chip counts will be posted as soon as PokerNews receives them from the organization together with a seat draw. A recap of today is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
604,600 | 29,600 |
|
563,100 | 563,100 |
|
504,600 | 504,600 |
|
491,400 | 491,400 |
|
487,500 | -17,500 |
|
450,300 | 250,300 |
|
438,400 | 209,400 |
|
431,600 | 431,600 |
|
|
421,600 | 421,600 |
|
400,900 | 400,900 |
|
388,400 | 388,400 |
|
385,400 | 385,400 |
|
385,000 | 385,000 |
|
|
380,200 | 380,200 |
|
375,000 | 55,000 |
|
369,000 | 145,000 |
|
|
364,600 | 364,600 |
|
356,500 | 356,500 |
|
356,000 | 356,000 |
|
353,000 | 21,000 |
|
350,400 | -29,600 |
|
342,800 | 342,800 |
|
|
341,300 | 341,300 |
|
|
324,500 | 324,500 |
|
307,000 | 2,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and three more hands need to be dealt before the remaining players can bag and tag their chips.
Filatov Takes One Out
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The player in the early position raised to 5,000, Anatoly Filatov three-bet to 13,000 from the lojack. The player in hijack called and the initial raiser folded.
The flop came 
on which they both checked to see the 
land on the turn. Filatov now bet 20,000 and his opponent called.
The river completed the board with the 
to bring the flush on the board. Filatov bet 135,000 which covered the 95,000 his opponent had left. After tanking for a minute, he decided to risk his tournament life which was the wrong decision as Filatov held 
for the nut-flush while he himself mucked. The dealer revealed he held 
for the lower flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
332,000 | 72,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Some Chip Counts
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
575,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
470,000 | |
|
240,000 | 45,000 |
|
228,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
224,000 | -41,000 |
|
200,000 | 35,000 |
|
|
66,000 | 1,000 |
|
60,000 | 8,000 |
Gilboa Shoves
Level 8
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The board read 
with 40,000 in the middle already.
Uri Gilboa had bet 20,000 from under the gun and his opponent in the middle position raised to 50,000. Gilboa responded with a shove, having his opponent covered which cause him to dive into the tank. After a while, the mid-position player opted to fold.
Gilboa showed he held 
for the flopped two pair and turned full house.
"Good fold," Gilboa commented.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
380,000 | 107,000 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
Latest Chip Counts
Level 7
: 900/1,800, 1,800 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
370,000 | -88,000 |
|
299,000 | -1,000 |
|
|
260,000 | 164,000 |
|
|
230,000 | 90,000 |
|
230,000 | -40,000 |
|
209,000 | 49,000 |
|
175,000 | 25,000 |
|
170,000 | -30,000 |
|
109,000 | -81,000 |
|
86,000 | 39,000 |
|
|
30,000 | -5,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Recent Chip Counts
Level 7
: 900/1,800, 1,800 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
570,000 | 120,000 |
|
|
320,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
305,000 | 67,100 |
|
|
273,000 | 63,000 |
|
|
265,000 | -26,000 |
|
230,000 | -104,000 |
|
|
229,000 | 9,000 |
|
|
218,000 | 103,000 |
|
205,000 | 22,000 |
|
|
200,000 | 20,000 |
|
188,000 | -4,000 |
|
188,000 | 58,000 |
|
180,000 | 110,000 |
|
|
135,000 | 35,000 |
|
120,000 | 16,000 |
|
110,000 | -110,000 |
|
92,000 | -10,000 |
|
78,300 | 23,300 |
|
49,000 | 5,000 |