2019 Merit Poker Classic

Main Event
Day: 1c
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
Total Entries
649
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Players Left 1 / 649
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Main Event

Day 1c Completed

Morgenstern Grabs Day 1c Chip Lead; Gilboa, Hakim, Chouity, Filatov, Urbanovich, and Jouhkimainen Through Too

Level 8 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Anton Morgenstern
Anton Morgenstern

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

DayDateStarting TimeLate RegEntriesSurvivorsFurther Information
1aMonday May 6th12:00Thursday May 9, ~19:009343Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes
1bTuesday May 7th12:00Thursday May 9, ~19:0016180Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes
1cWednesday May 8th12:00Thursday May 9, ~19:0020296Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes
1dWednesday May 8th21:30Thursday May 9, ~19:00--Play 8 Levels of 30 minutes
1eThursday May 9th10:00Thursday May 9, ~19:00--Play 8 Levels of 20 minutes
2Thursday May 9th13:30Thursday May 9, ~19:00--Play 6 Levels of 75 minutes
3Friday May 10th12:00Closed--TBD
4Saturday May 11th12:00Closed--TBD
5Sunday May 12th12:00Closed--Play down to a winner

Tags: Aleksandr MerzhvinskiyAnatoly FilatovAnton MorgensternAnton WiggDmitry GromovDzmitry UrbanovichJeff HakimJoni JouhkimainenMilad OghabianNicolas ChouityPaul NeweySaar WilfUri Gilboa

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.

Read full

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 {6-Spades}{2-Spades}{a-Spades} on which they both checked to see the {3-Spades} land on the turn. Filatov now bet 20,000 and his opponent called.

The river completed the board with the {5-Spades} 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 {k-Spades}{k-Clubs} for the nut-flush while he himself mucked. The dealer revealed he held {9-Spades}{9-Clubs} for the lower flush.

Tags: Anatoly Filatov

Some Chip Counts

Level 8 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Gilboa Shoves

Level 8 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Uri Gilboa
Uri Gilboa

The board read {q-Spades}{5-Clubs}{a-Clubs}{5-Spades}{8-Hearts} 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 {a-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} for the flopped two pair and turned full house.

"Good fold," Gilboa commented.

Tags: Uri Gilboa

Level: 8

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

Latest Chip Counts

Level 7 : 900/1,800, 1,800 ante

Recent Chip Counts

Level 7 : 900/1,800, 1,800 ante