Shuang Luo Leads the Way in Day 1b of $3,300 Main Event
Day 1b of the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $3,300 Main Event here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino has come to a close. China's Shuang Luo finished the night with the chip lead, ending the night with 670,500 chips, a stack that will be worth 268 big blinds heading into Day 2. Luo is most closely followed by WPT champion Dmitry Gromov (627,500) and Romania's Razvan Sabau (585,000).
Luo has momentum on her side with an impressive showing at the recent 2023 EPT Cyprus, where she scored four finishes in the money. Those include a victory in the $330 Women's event for $6,578 as well as a deep run in the $5,300 Main Event, where she ultimately finished 41st for $18,700. She has just under $190,000 in career tournament earnings and a previous best cash of ¥ 600,000 ($92,788) from a first-place finish at a 2021 event in Beijing, which she will be looking to surpass with a final table finish in this event.
$3,300 Main Event Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shuang Luo | China | 670,500 | 268 |
| 2 | Dmitry Gromov | Russian Federation | 627,500 | 251 |
| 3 | Razvan Sabau | Romania | 585,000 | 234 |
| 4 | Bakhos Joumaa | Lebanon | 485,500 | 194 |
| 5 | Roman Nuraev | Russian Federation | 416,000 | 166 |
| 6 | Guoliang Wei | China | 401,500 | 161 |
| 7 | Fadi Barakeh | Lebanon | 400,000 | 160 |
| 8 | Volodymyr Drokin | Ukraine | 391,000 | 156 |
| 9 | Ihar Soika | Belarus | 370,000 | 148 |
| 10 | Romain Retiere | France | 348,000 | 139 |
Day 1b attracted a total of 148 entrants to bring the overall field size between the first two starting flights to 303. Of those 148 entrants, 65 players were able to advance to Day 2 after nine hour-long levels of play today. The deep structure of the event, which featured a 250-big blind starting stack, ensured that there was plenty of room to maneuver. A good example of this occurred in the second level of the day, where WPT champion Benjamin Hamnett ran pocket queens into the pocket kings of Parahat Nurmuhammedov but lost the absolute minimum, losing under ten big blinds in that hand and preserving the majority of his stack.
Gromov took the chip lead midway through the day after picking off a bluff from Ankit Ahuja and would hold on to the chip lead until Luo began to close the gap in the last few levels of the day.
Other notables to advance to Day 2 today include Bakhos Joumaa (458,500), Guoliang Wei (401,500), Ahuja (322,000), Halil Tasyurek (159,000), previous Merit Poker Main Event champion Maxime Chilaud (131,000), winner of the 2023 Gangster Series $2,200 Warm Up Ivan Govorov (129,500) and winner of the 2023 Gangster Series $5,300 High Roller Giorgiy Skhulukhiya.
Others who entered Day 1b but were not fortunate enough to finish the night with chips in a bag include Tugce Hursoz, Albert Daher, Hamnett and Oleg Netaliev, who finished runner up in the last Merit Poker Main Event at the 2023 Retro Series this past August for $417,900.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event until a winner is crowned on December 3.