Halil Tasyurek opened the button before Guo Liang Wei defended his big blind.
The 6♠7♠4♠ flop hit the felt and action checked to Tasyurek who continued for 125,000. Wei took a moment before putting in a check-raise to 300,000. Tasyurek thought over his options for a few moments before he moved all in and Wei snap called.
Halil Tasyurek: A♣A♠
Guo Liang Wei: 5♥3♥
Tasyurek was in rough shape but still had outs in the form of a spade. The K♦ turn and 7♥ river would not bring the help he needed and he made his exit from the feature table at the hands of a cold deck.
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya opened the cutoff to 70,000 before the action folded to Halil Tasyurek in the small blind who cold-called and then Maxime Chilaud defended his big blind.
The 8♠9♣8♣ flop landed and action checked to Chilaud who moved all in for his last 165,000. Skhulukhiya got out of the way but after a short tank Tasyurek flicked in a call to put Chilaud at risk.
Maxime Chilaud: J♣6♣
Halil Tasyurek: K♠Q♠
The 7♥ turn brought in a few more outs for Chilaud but the 4♠ river would make the king high of Tasyurek good enough to scoop the pot. Chilaud made his exit in 12th Place.
Dawid Smolka opened the cutoff to 70,000 before the action moved to in the big blind who moved all in for 265,000. Smolka sat in the tank for a moment but eventually he flicked in a chip.
Jakub Michalak: A♠7♦
Dawid Smolka: A♣5♠
The 3♥J♣J♦ flop was safe for Michalak. The 4♥ turn would bring in a small sweat in the form of a gutter for Smolka and then the 2♣ river would nail said draw giving Smolka the wheel and sending Michalak to the rail.
Action folded to Aleksandr Kirichenko on the button who moved all in having the blinds covered. Dawid Smolka was in the big blind and called off for his tournament life.
The cards hit their backs.
Dawid Smolka: K♦J♣
Aleksandr Kirichenko: 6♥6♠
The A♣A♠7♥ flop landed and Smolka was still behind. The 9♠ turn left him drawing slim but the 7♦ river double paired the board making Smolka's king-high the best hand and earning him the pure double.
Dmitry Gromov moved all in from middle position before current chip leader Aleksandr Kirichenko jammed over the top. The remaining players folded and they were off to a full board with Gromov all in and at risk.
Dmitry Gromov: 9♦9♠
Aleksandr Kirichenko: A♦J♣
The full board ran out 10♠4♠5♦6♥J♦ and with the jack on the river Kirichenko sent Gromov to the rail.
On a board of J♦10♣9♠ Kully Sidhu checked from the big blind to Aleksandr Kirichenko who was under the gun. He put out a continuation bet of 45,000 and was promptly check-raised by Sidhu to 325,000 only leaving himself 75,000 behind.
Kirichenko shrugged, checked his cards, and moved all in. Sidhu called and the cards hit their backs.
Kully Sidhu: K♣J♠
Aleksandr Kirichenko: J♣9♦
The 8♦ turn and 4♠ river would not bring the help that Sidhu needed and he would be the official bubble boy.
The 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $5,300 High Roller started with 121 runners, but on Day 3, only 22 players will descend on the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino to compete. The winner will take home the $149,200 top prize along with the trophy and bragging rights.
Maxime Chilaud from France achieved a massive chip lead after playing the first 18 levels. With an impressive stack of 1,729,000 chips, he became the first player to surpass the million-chip mark. He is the only player with over 100 big blinds and will enter Day 3 with a significant advantage. He is followed by Recep Aydemir from Turkey (1,055,000), Dawid Smolka from Poland (1,000,000), Bracelet winner Guo Liang Wei (971,000), and Rytis Strigunas (907,000) to complete the top five.
Dawid Smolka
Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Name
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Maxime Chilaud
France
1,729,000
108
2
Recep Aydemir
Turkey
1,055,000
66
3
Dawid Smolka
Poland
1,000,000
63
4
Guo Liang Wei
China
971,000
61
5
Rytis Strigunas
United Kingdom
907,000
57
6
Aleksandr Kirichenko
Russia
865,000
54
7
Leonid Sidelkovskiy
Russia
839,000
52
8
Kully Sidhu
United Kingdom
632,000
40
9
Dmitry Pokhabov
Cyprus
505,000
32
10
Natan Chauskin
Belarus
451,000
28
Rytis Strigunas
There are several notable players to keep an eye on during Day 2 of the tournament. Among them are Dmitry Yurasov, a two-time bracelet winner, who has 228,000 chips. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya from Georgia has 451,000 chips, while Natan Chauskin from Belarus also has 451,000 chips. Dmitry Gromov, the chip leader from Day 1, has 255,000 chips and is another player to watch out for.
On Tuesday, the third day of the High Roller begins at 2:00 p.m. The event is scheduled to play until a winner is determined, and the final table will be broadcast on a 30-minute delay on the Merit Poker YouTube channel.
Dmitry Yurasov
The prize pool for the tournament is a whopping $556,660, but currently, none of the players have made any money. There are still 22 players left in the event, and only 15 of them will receive a minimum cash prize of $8,900. Today, the players will begin at level 19, with blinds of 8,000/16,000/16,000. The average stack size is around 34 big blinds, and there will be a lot of movement up and down the leaderboard.
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