With two players seeing a board of K♣10♣Q♦8♥ and a sizable pot already brewing, Ankit Ahuja bet 425,000 from the hijack only for Yunsheng Sun to move all in for his remaining stack of 1,780,000. Ahuja made the call with a covering stack to put Sun at risk.
Yunsheng Sun: A♠J♠
Ankit Ahuja: 10♠10♦
Ahuja had flopped a set but needed the board to pair as Sun had flopped the nut-straight. The 6♥ turn was a brick and Sun scooped a massive pot, decimating Ahuja's stack in the process.
Nuno Correia opened to 80,000 from middle position and Alisa Sibgatova moved all in for approximately 500,000 from the cutoff. Correia, who covered Sibgatova slightly, snap-called to put her at risk.
Alisa Sibgatova: 9♠9♣
Nuno Correia: A♠A♥
Sibgatova was in bad shape against Correia's aces and failed to find any improvement on the K♥K♠8♦10♣6♠ runout, resulting in her elimination while Correia secured nearly a full double up.
Bakhos Joumaa opened to 160,000 from early position and Yiannakis Papapetrou moved all in for his last 340,000. Action folded around to Joumaa who called with a covering stack to put Papapetrou at risk.
Yiannakis Papapetrou: A♠K♠
Bakhos Joumaa: 8♠8♦
Joumaa pulled ahead on the K♥Q♠4♥ flop and remained ahead on the 3♥ turn and J♥ river to send Papapetrou to the rail and collect the last of his chips.
The action folded to the cutoff where Clement Bonnant sat in the tank for about 30 seconds before moving all in. It folded to Ankit Ahuja in the big blind who got a count and then flicked in a call to put Bonnant at risk.
Clement Bonnant: A♥J♣
Ankit Ahuja: A♠8♠
Bonnant was a huge favorite as they headed to a flop. The dealer burned and turn the 2♠10♠4♣ board and suddenly Bonnant was not a huge favorite anymore. The 7♦ turn was clean but the 7♠ river would give Ahuja the nut flush to send Bonnant to the rail.
Ming Xi opened in early position to 45,000 before Guoliang Wei moved all in from the cutoff for about 150,000. It folded back to Xi who quickly called and the two players were off to a full board with Wei all in and at risk.
Guoliang Wei: 6♣6♠
Ming Xi: K♥K♠
The full board ran out 9♦10♥Q♦2♦3♦ and Wei hit the rail just before the second break of the day.
Oleg Netaliev opened under the gun to 35,000 before getting called by Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in middle position, by the cutoff, and by Rachid Yaacoubi in the big blind.
The 2♠6♥K♣ flop landed and action checked to Netaliev who continued for 35,000. Skhulukhiya called, the cutoff called, and then Yaacoubi check-raise jammed for 115,000.
Netaliev tanked for a minute and then called before Skhulukhiya also called and the cutoff folded.
The players were heads up to a 4♠ turn and Netaliev slowed down with a check. Skhulukhiya tanked and then put in a large bet of 215,000. Netaliev thought it over but eventually found a fold. The cards hit their backs and the cooler was real.
Rachid Yaacoubi: 2♣2♥
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya: 6♠6♣
It was set over set for a massive cooler and Yaacoubi would only have one out going to the river. That card would not come as the dealer put the 8♦ out to finish the board. Yaacoubi hit the rail on the stone bubble after a brutal cooler.
There were a few folds before Halil Tasyurek moved all in for 105,000 from middle position. The next player to act was Clement Bonnant who thought over his options for almost a full minute before cold calling the all in.
The remaining players folded and the two players were off to a full board with Tasyurek at risk.
Halil Tasyurek: 10♣10♠
Clement Bonnant: A♣J♦
The 4♦8♠8♥ flop was safe but the A♥ turn would put Tasyurek in rough shape. The 8♠ river brought no help and Tasyurek hit the rail at the hands of Bonnant.
Leonid Sidelkovskiy opened the cutoff to 22,000 before getting a call from both Vladas Burneikis in the small blind and Ming Xi in the big blind.
The 3♦8♠5♥ flop hit the felt and Burneikis quickly led out from the small blind for 25,000. Xi got out of the way and Sidelkovskiy raised to 65,000. Without thinking for more than a few seconds Burneikis clicked it back to 125,000. Sidelkovskiy held strong and put in the chips.
The J♥ rolled off on the turn and Burneikis slowed down and checked it over to Sidelkovskiy who went into the tank for a moment before putting out a bet of 85,000. Burneikis snap called.
The Q♦ landed on the river and finally the action slowed down and checked through.
Burneikis was first to show and tabled 8♥4♦ for a flopped top pair. Sidelkovskiy tabled 9♥9♦ for the better pair and scooped after withstanding the flop aggression and going thin for value on the turn.
The third day of the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $2,200 Warm Up tournament will begin at 12:00 p.m. local time, hosted at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Andrei Daniliuk has emerged as the current chip leader with 2,175,000 chips which are worth a staggering 218 big blinds. Lithuania's Vladas Burneikis (1,871,000) and Lebanon's Hadi Khadra (1.866.000) are closely following him on the leaderboard.
On Day 2 of the tournament, there were a total of 175 players in the field. During the first four levels of the day, late registration was available, and approximately 60 more players joined. This brought the field to a total of 453 entrants after late registration had closed, generating a prize pool of $833,520. At the end of the day, 79 players managed to bag and tag their chips, qualifying for Day 3.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Andrei Daniliuk
Russian Federation
2,175,000
218
2
Vladas Burneikis
Lithuania
1,871,000
187
3
Hadi Khadra
Lebanon
1,866,000
187
4
Bakhos Joumaa
Lebanon
1,696,000
170
5
Razvan Sabau
Romania
1,366,000
137
6
Leonid Sidelkovskiy
Russian Federation
1,203,000
120
7
Feyzullah Karaarslan
Turkey
1,188,000
119
8
Damir Gabdullin
Russian Federation
1,074,000
107
9
Tugce Hursoz
Turkey
1,052,000
105
10
Sultan Meirbekov
Kazakhstan
923,000
92
Several notable players advanced to Day 3 of the tournament, including Benjamin Hamnett with 789,000 chips, Dmitry Yurasov, the chip leader for Day 1b with 741,000 chips, Arun Sood, the chip leader for Day 1c with 463,000 chips, Ankit Ahuja with 414,000 chips, and Guoliang Wei with 167,000 chips.
Benjamin Hamnett
Today is Day 3 of the event, scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. local time on November 25. The gameplay is expected to continue for 10 hour-long levels, with blinds starting at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. The hour levels allow for plenty of chips to move hands and expect that the current leaderboard looks a lot different after a few hours of action packed levels. This will all culminate with one player taking home the trophy, the bragging rights and the massive $167,500 first-place prize.
For all the updates on this event until a winner is declared on November 26, make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews.
