$2,200 Warm Up
Day 1a Completed
2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series
$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$833,520
Entries
453
Level
34
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
107
Players Left
45
Mustafa Sancak Bags Day 1a Chip Lead of the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $2,200 Warm Up
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Action has come to a close on Day 1a of the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $2,200 Warm Up at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Mustafa Sancak finished the night at the top of the counts, bagging an impressive 592,500 chips worth just over 197 big blinds going into Day 2.
Day 1a attracted a total of 107 entrants, with 45 players making it to Day 2. Sancak emerged as one of the chip leaders midway through the day and was able to consistently leverage his stack to apply pressure to his opponents and take down many pots without having to go to showdown.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mustafa Sancak | Turkey | 592,500 | 198 |
| 2 | Inas Eldeghedy | Egypt | 491,000 | 164 |
| 3 | Christos Christou | Cyprus | 433,000 | 144 |
| 4 | Halil Tasyurek | Turkey | 418,500 | 140 |
| 5 | Abdelmajid Chiboub | France | 377,500 | 126 |
| 6 | Hadi Khordbin | Iran | 365,500 | 122 |
| 7 | Semih Aras | Cyprus | 365,000 | 122 |
| 8 | Shuang Luo | China | 361,000 | 120 |
| 9 | Gorkem Gedikoglu | Turkey | 352,000 | 117 |
| 10 | Karim Abdelhamid | Canada | 347,000 | 116 |
Sancak is closely followed by Egyptian film director Inas Eldeghedy (491,000), Christos Christou (433,000) and Halil Tasyurek (418,500). Tasyurek is currently enjoying a stellar year in poker, having recently finished fourth at the 2023 European Poker Tour Cyprus Main Event for a career-best score of $358,075.
Tasyurek surged up the counts midway through the day after flopping a flush to crack Azamat Tulepbergenov's pocket kings. Tasyurek never looked back from that point and continued to make good reads on his opponents throughout the day, including one notable hand where he correctly called with king-high on the river after his opponent's low pocket pair had been counterfeited.
Other notables to survive the eight 60-minute levels include Shuang Luo (361,000), Ankit Ahuja (324,000), Victor Yugay (147,000) as well as Merit Poker regulars Selahaddin Bedir (190,000), Koray Korkmaz (168,000) and Aleksandr Pak (135,000). Yugay also made the final table of the 2023 EPT Cyprus Main Event, finishing in eighth place for $125,350.
Others who entered Day 1a but weren't fortunate enough to find a bag include Guoliang Wei, Frederico Senno and Parahat Nurmuhammedov, the latter of which enjoyed the chip lead during the early levels of the day.
Three starting flights remain for this event. Day 1b takes place at noon local time tomorrow, November 23rd, while Day 1c takes place at 9:30 p.m. local time the same day. There will be a turbo Day 1d flight on November 24 before the survivors from each starting flight combine later that day. Late registration and unlimited re-entries will remain available until Level 12, which will be midway through Day 2 on November 24.
Stay tuned for more coverage as PokerNews brings you all the action from the remainder of the festival along the shores of the Mediterranean in North Cyprus.
End of Night Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
592,500
78,500
|
78,500 |
|
||
|
491,000
53,000
|
53,000 |
|
433,000
433,000
|
433,000 |
|
418,500
23,500
|
23,500 |
|
377,500
29,500
|
29,500 |
|
365,500
265,500
|
265,500 |
|
|
365,000
265,000
|
265,000 |
|
361,000
361,000
|
361,000 |
|
|
352,000
352,000
|
352,000 |
|
347,000
117,000
|
117,000 |
|
|
343,000
247,000
|
247,000 |
|
335,000
241,000
|
241,000 |
|
324,000
63,000
|
63,000 |
|
319,500
46,500
|
46,500 |
|
312,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
301,500
301,500
|
301,500 |
|
279,500
27,000
|
27,000 |
|
279,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
269,000
146,500
|
146,500 |
|
268,500
268,500
|
268,500 |
|
|
263,500
263,500
|
263,500 |
|
263,000
71,500
|
71,500 |
|
|
217,000 | |
|
210,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
192,000
192,000
|
192,000 |
Play Concludes for Day 1a
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
The action has come to a close for Day 1a of the $2,200 Warm Up. The event attracted a total of 107 entrants, with 45 players bagging and tagging for Day 2.
Stay tuned for a full list of chip counts for those that advanced to Day 2, as well as a recap of the day's action that will follow shortly.
Bortsov Flops a Set and Gets Paid
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Viktor Yugay opened to 6,000 from early position before Umut Yukselier three-bet to 15,500 from middle position. Sergey Bortsov called in the hijack before Recep Ankarali four-bet to 36,000 from the button. Yugay got out of the way, Yukselier called for slightly less to put himself at risk and Bortsov called as well.
The flop came Q♣10♠3♥. Ankarali bet 50,000, Bortsov moved all in for approximately 83,000 and Ankarali made the call to put Bortsov at risk.
Umut Yukselier: A♥K♦
Sergey Bortsov: 10♣10♥
Recep Ankarali: A♠K♥
Bortsov was well ahead with middle set and only needed to fade a gutshot straight draw from his opponents to avoid elimination. The 8♥ turn and 8♦ river were bricks and Bortsov received nearly a full triple up while Yukselier was sent to the rail and Ankarli was reduced to just roughly 16 big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
272,000
272,000
|
272,000 |
|
162,000
-22,500
|
-22,500 |
|
|
40,500
-150,500
|
-150,500 |
|
|
Busted |
Tasyurek Calls with King-High
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Halil Tasyurek opened to 5,000 from under the gun and received calls from Alisa Sibgatova in middle position, Ivan Govorov on the button and Abdelmajid Chiboub in the small blind.
All four players checked the 10♠6♥9♣ flop leading to the 10♣ on the turn. Tasyurek bet 9,000 and was called by Sibgatova while both Govorov and Chiboub got out of the way.
Tasyurek checked on the 6♦ river and Sibgatova bet 15,000. Tasyurek snap-called.
Sibgatova could only show down 5♦5♣ for a pair of fives that had been counterfeited by the double board-pairing river. Tasyurek tabled K♣Q♥ for just a king kicker to the two pair that was already on the board to take down a sizable pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
395,000
119,000
|
119,000 |
|
|
348,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
|
273,000
143,000
|
143,000 |
|
71,000
-56,000
|
-56,000 |
Hursoz Pips Partakkis
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
In a preflop confrontation Herodotos Partakkis found himself all in for roughly 40,000 from middle position against Tugce Hursoz in the cutoff who covered.
Herodotos Partakkis: A♣Q♥
Tugce Hursoz: A♠K♠
Hursoz was ahead with a bigger ace and remained so on the 8♣A♦6♦8♠3♣ runout to score the knockout and take down a decent pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
297,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Dumitru Battles Sancak in the Blinds
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Cristinel Dumitru limped in from the small blind and Mustafa Sancak checked his option in the big blind.
The flop came K♣4♥2♥ and Sancak bet 3,000. Dumitru made the call.
Sancak bet again for 4,000 on the Q♣ turn and once again Dumitru called.
On the A♠ river Sancak checked and Dumitru bet 12,000. Sancak mucked his hand and Dumitru took down a decent pot without showdown.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
514,000
-33,000
|
-33,000 |
|
|
||
|
108,000
108,000
|
108,000 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/2,500
Ante: 2,500
Ankarali Takes from Bagocius
Level 7
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Mantas Bagocius opened to 4,000 from middle position and received calls from Recep Ankarali in the hijack and Huseyin Kaba in the cutoff.
The flop came 7♥6♣4♦ and Bagocius fired a 10,500 continuation bet. Ankarali called while Kaba got out of the way.
On the 6♥ turn Bagocius slowed down with a check. Ankarali bet 20,000 and Bagocius quickly folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
191,000
191,000
|
191,000 |
|
128,000 | |
|
52,000
-23,400
|
-23,400 |