2019 Merit Poker Classic

Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2019 Merit Poker Classic

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k10
Prize
$565,157
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$2,990,267
Entries
649
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000

Main Event

Day 3 Completed

Kovalenko Takes Chip Lead into the Penultimate Day

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Pavel Kovalenko
Pavel Kovalenko

After the bubble burst, two more hands were played before the players bagged up for Day 4 tomorrow in the Merit Poker Classic $5,300 Main Event which was also the end of Level 15. The tournament only played five levels as they needed to finish before 8 PM local time. Pavel Kovalenko takes the overnight chip lead with 3,162,000 in his bag.

A lot of Kovalenko’s chips were won when he made the right call against Vlad Darie. Kovalenko had five-bet preflop and was called by Darie. After they both checked through the ten-queen-queen flop, Kovalenko check-called the bet of Darie on the seven on the turn. The river completed the board with a trey and a flush draw. Kovalenko checked again and now Darie put him all-in. Kovalenko tank-called with the pocket kings and saw Darie had ace-high in his hand to take him into the chip lead which he didn’t let go for the rest of the day.

Also bagging big with more than twice the average chip count are Pavel Plesuv with 3,055,000, the Day 1e chip leader Kacper Pyzara (3,000,000), Joey Weissman (2,494,000), Boris Kolev (2,318,000), Jacek Ladny (2,125,000), Andreas Christoforou with 2,000,000. Other notable players making it through to Day 4 include Kenny Hallaert, Manig Loeser, Day 2 chip leader Sergey Baburin, Dragos Trofimov, Andrey Pateychuk, Stoyan Obreshkov, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, and Darie too.

Ludovic Geilich
partypoker pro Ludovic Geilich bagged a top ten stack

The partypoker representatives still have two irons in the fire with Ludovic Geilich and Kristen Bicknell. Geilich tagged 2,147,000 chips at the end of the day but Bicknell only has eleven big blinds to start Day 4 with. Joni Jouhkimainen fell to Elvin Sarkarov when he ran his ace-king into the sevens of Sarkarov. Anatoly Filatov was eliminated by Loeser when he shoved his ace-six from the big blind and was called with ace-seven.

Hand-for-hand play started with around 30 minutes left in Level 15 and 73 players remaining. Vicent Bosca was eliminated before the real bubble would start. Bosca called a raise of Ashkan Fattahi but Weissman three-bet in the small blind. Fattahi got out of the way but Bosco shoved which Weissman snap-called with ace-king. Bosca held pocket jacks and flopped a set but Weissman picked up a straight draw and hit it on the turn to eliminate him.

Selahaddin Bedir (right) eliminates [Removed:61] (left) on the bubble
Selahaddin Bedir (right) eliminates [Removed:61] (left) on the bubble

During the bubble, four different players managed to double up but it finally burst when [Removed:61] shoved his last 27,000 from the cutoff and was called by the players in the blinds. In the end, it was Selahaddin Bedit who burst the bubble as he held four-trey on the trey-king-jack-trey-four board to make a full house while Youness had queen-jack.

Jeff Hakim, Mikhail Galitskiy, Saar Wilf, Day 1d chip leader Shaul Meir, and Igor Ovcharenko all min-cashed during the final two hands of the night while the rest all bagged up to play Level 16 tomorrow, Saturday, May 11, at noon local time with another six levels of 75 minutes each scheduled.

The full chip counts and seat draw for Day 4 will be posted as soon as the PokerNews live reporting team receives them from the organization. Make sure to return at noon to follow all the action from the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino as the tournament’s penultimate day will be played here in sunny Cyprus.

Tags: Anatoly FilatovAndreas ChristoforouAndrey PateychukBoris KolevDragos TrofimovElvin SarkarovIgor OvcharenkoJacek LadnyJeff HakimJoey WeissmanJoni JouhkimainenKenny HallaertKristen BicknellLudovic GeilichManig LoeserMikhail GalitskiyPavel KovalenkoPavel PlesuvSaar WilfSelahaddin BedirSergey BaburinShaul MeirStoyan ObreshkovVicent BoscaVlad DarieVladimir Troyanovskiy

Day 4 Seat Draw

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
TableSeatPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
11John FourLithuania554,00022
12Orhan AtesTurkey1,275,00051
13Albert DaherLebanon478,00019
14Andrey PateychukRussia767,00031
15Oliver RuesingGermany94,0004
16Mustafa BizTurkey1,586,00063
17Garik TamasyanRussia1,322,00053
18Elie FarahLebanon271,00011
19Aleksandras VoisnisLithuania280,00011
      
21Daniel BraudeIsrael1,079,00043
22Mehmet KolguTurkey136,0005
23Pavel YakobsonRussia1,313,00053
24Manig LoeserGermany1,044,00042
25Assad RaminAfghanistan791,00032
26Moshe RefaelowitzIsrael345,00014
27Kristen BicknellCanada270,00011
28Kenny HallaertBelgium1,765,00071
29Sergey BaburinRussia982,00039
      
31Daniil KiselevRussia449,00018
32Joey WeissmanUnited States2,494,000100
33Hasan DoganTurkey741,00030
34Nikita KalininRussia258,00010
35Tobias DuthweilerGermany544,00022
36Anton MorgensternGermany1,200,00048
37Ulan DzholdoshbekovRussia759,00030
38Jacek LadnyPoland2,125,00085
      
41John ThreeIsrael979,00039
42Aleksandr KopasovRussia846,00034
43Joep RaemaekersNetherlands628,00025
44Pavel PlesuvMoldova3,055,000122
45John TwoNetherlands747,00030
46Edgard RaffoulLebanon202,0008
47Uri ReichensteinIsrael1,800,00072
48Ludovic GeilichGermany2,147,00086
      
51Anatoly SuvorovRussia350,00014
52Dragos TrofimovMoldova887,00035
53Kacper PyzaraPoland3,000,000120
54Lachezar PetkovSlovenia303,00012
55Basem AbudavasKuwait778,00031
56Arnas DzedulionisLithuania646,00026
57Ben FarrellUnited Kingdom463,00019
58Karwan HasanIraq1,381,00055
      
61Vladimir TroyanovskiyRussia592,00024
62Boris KolevBulgaria2,318,00093
63Hadi KhordbinIran90,0004
64Christian BauerGermany233,0009
65Selahaddin BedirTurkey2,383,00095
66Ashkan FattahiIran1,000,00040
67Vlad DarieRomania460,00018
68Florian DutaRomania516,00021
      
71Andreas ChristoforouCyprus2,000,00080
72Hady El AsmarLebanon300,00012
73Andrei RazovRussia579,00023
74Bassel AlanazLebanon1,378,00055
75Ugur SecilmisTurkey265,00011
76Stoyan ObreshkovBulgaria724,00029
77Basil YaicheFrance746,00030
78Timur KhamidullinRussia357,00014
      
81Nariman YaghmaiIran722,00029
82Aleksei IstominRussia224,0009
83Elvin SarkarovAzerbaijan2,793,000112
84Dori YacoubLebanon810,00032
85Shahar LeviIsrael1,437,00057
86Pavel KovalenkoRussia3,162,000126
87Milad OghabianIran364,00015
88Tarek YassineLebanon550,00022

End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

The full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.

Player Chips Progress
Pavel Kovalenko ru
Pavel Kovalenko
Day 3 Chip Leader
3,162,000 387,000
Pavel Plesuv md
Pavel Plesuv
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
3,055,000 955,000
Kacper Pyzara pl
Kacper Pyzara
Day 1E Chip Leader
3,000,000 -170,000
Elvin Sarkarov az
Elvin Sarkarov
2,793,000 558,000
Joey Weissman us
Joey Weissman
WSOP 1X Winner
2,494,000 494,000
Selahaddin Bedir tr
Selahaddin Bedir
2,383,000 53,000
Boris Kolev bg
Boris Kolev
WSOP 2X Winner
2,318,000 1,418,000
Ludovic Geilich gb
Ludovic Geilich
2,147,000 707,000
Jacek Ladny pl
Jacek Ladny
2,125,000 1,798,000
Andreas Christoforou cy
Andreas Christoforou
2,000,000 350,000
Uri Reichenstein il
Uri Reichenstein
1,800,000 1,293,500
Kenny Hallaert be
Kenny Hallaert
1,765,000 745,000
Mustafa Biz tr
Mustafa Biz
1,586,000 1,018,000
Shahar Levi il
Shahar Levi
1,437,000 137,000
Karwan Hasan cy
Karwan Hasan
1,381,000 -379,000
Bassel Alanaz lb
Bassel Alanaz
1,378,000 -47,000
Garik Tamasyan am
Garik Tamasyan
1,322,000 354,000
Pavel Yakobson ru
Pavel Yakobson
1,313,000 613,000
Orhan Ates tr
Orhan Ates
1,275,000 1,021,500
Anton Morgenstern de
Anton Morgenstern
Day 1C Chip Leader
1,200,000 109,000
Daniel Braude il
Daniel Braude
1,079,000 806,000
Manig Loeser de
Manig Loeser
WSOP 2X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
1,044,000 74,000
Ashkan Fattahi ir
Ashkan Fattahi
1,000,000
Sergey Baburin ru
Sergey Baburin
Day 2 Chip Leader
982,000 -368,000
John Three il
John Three
979,000 -161,000

Read full

Bedir Bursts the Bubble by Busting Youness

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

[Removed:61] shoved from the cutoff for 27,000 and was called by Selahaddin Bedir and the player in the big blind.

The flop came {3-Diamonds}{k-Hearts}{j-Clubs} on which both players checked.

The turn was the {3-Clubs} and now Bedir bet 65,000 and the big blind folded.

Bedir and Youness had to wait till all action was completed on the other tables before they could go to showdown.

[Removed:61]: {q-Diamonds}{j-Spades}
Selahaddin Bedir: {4-Hearts}{3-Hearts}

Bedir had turned trip treys and Youness had flopped a pair of jacks. Only another jack could save Youness but he bricked the river as the {4-Clubs} completed the board to burst the bubble.

The tournament director then announced that they needed to play two more hands before they would be bagging up for Day 4 tomorrow, Saturday, May 11 at noon.

Player Chips Progress
Selahaddin Bedir tr
Selahaddin Bedir
2,330,000 1,824,000
[Removed:61] us
[Removed:61]
Busted

Tags: Selahaddin Bedir

Dzholdoshbekov Shoves on Meir

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Ulan Dzholdoshbekov raised to 57,000 from mid-position and was called by Shaul Meir in the cutoff.

The flop came {j-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}, Dzholdoshbekov continued with a bet of 100,000 which Meir called.

The turn was the {4-Hearts} and now Dzholdoshbekov shoved for 450,000 which covered Meir's stack but Meir still asked for a count. Meir dived into the tank for a while and in the end, the tournament director warned Meir that he would get put on the clock. The floor started counting down and when he reached two, Meir opted to fold.

Player Chips Progress
Ulan Dzholdoshbekov ru
Ulan Dzholdoshbekov
814,000 220,000
Shaul Meir il
Shaul Meir
Day 1D Chip Leader
245,000 -1,255,000

Tags: Shaul MeirUlan Dzholdoshbekov

Biz Doubles Up

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Uri Reichenstein raised to 40,000 from mid-position and was called by John Two in the small blind. Mustafa Biz shoved from the big blind for 254,000 and only Two called.

Mustafa Biz: {a-Hearts}{a-Spades}
John Two: {a-Clubs}{j-Clubs}

The flop came {j-Spades}{2-Spades}{q-Clubs} for Two to hit a pair of jacks but keep Biz ahead.

The turn was the {k-Spades} to now also give Two some extra outs to burst the bubble.

The river completed the board with the {2-Diamonds} for Biz to double on the bubble.

Player Chips Progress
John Two nl
John Two
1,720,000 20,000
Mustafa Biz tr
Mustafa Biz
568,000 -277,000

Tags: Mustafa BizUri Reichenstein