Morgenstern Grabs Day 1c Chip Lead; Gilboa, Hakim, Chouity, Filatov, Urbanovich, and Jouhkimainen Through Too
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 |
, Filatov continued with a bet of 11,000 which his opponent called.
on the turn to the 
on the river. Filatov now shoved and his opponent asked for a count. The dealer confirmed Filatov had 36,200 behind and the initial raiser opted to fold after checking his cards and his own stack a few times.
and the player in the early position three-bet. The players in mid-position and the lojack called and so did Morgenstern. 
on the flop to the 
on the turn. Morgenstern and the player in the early position checked again. The mid-position player bet half the pot which the lojack snap-called. Morgenstern also called while the early position player folded.
for Morgenstern to hit a pair on the river. He checked again and so did the mid-position player. The lojack bet half the pot and Morgenstern called, strongly believing his opponent was bluffing. The mid-position player tanked and then folded (claiming he folded a king afterward). Morgenstern was right to make the call as the lojack held 
for the missed flush draw and this pot took Morgenstern to over 400,000.
, Shegay checked, Khorchidian bet 11,000 and Sotiropoulos folded. Shegay decided to raise to 27,000 which Khorchidian called.
on the river. Shegay took some time and then decided to bet 40,500. Khorchidian took his time too and then decided to shove. Shegay asked for a count, the dealer confirmed Khorchidian had 92,800 behind. Shegay tanked until another player called the clock on him. The floor gave Shegay 30 seconds to take a decision and before she could even start counting down, Shegay flicked in a chip for the call.
open for the bluff and Shegay cheered out loud, jumping up from his chair, while flipping over 
. Khorchidian quickly made his way out of the tournament area.
land on the turn. Savenkov bet 16,000 and Niste called.
for the nut-flush. 
