$5,300 High Roller | 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series

Nov 28, 2023

Jakub Michalak Eliminated in 13th Place ($8,900)

Jeremy Geist

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

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.

Tags: Dawid Smolka Jakub Michalak

Nov 28, 2023

Smolka Gets Important Double

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Jeremy Geist

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

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.

Tags: Aleksandr Kirichenko Dawid Smolka

Nov 28, 2023

Rytis Strigunas Eliminated in 14th Place ($8,900)

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Jeremy Geist

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Rytis Strigunas moved all in under the gun for his last 190,000 before Guo Liang Wei flat called from late position and the rest of the table folded.

Rytis Strigunas: 8♦8♠
Guo Liang Wei: A♦J♥

The 3♠2♦2♠ flop and 6♥ turn were both safe but the J♦ river would give Wei the best hand to send Strigunas to the rail.

Tags: Rytis Strigunas Guo Liang Wei

Nov 28, 2023

Dmitry Gromov Eliminated in 15th Place ($8,900)

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Jeremy Geist

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

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.

Tags: Aleksandr Kirichenko Dmitry Gromov

Nov 28, 2023

Bubble Bursts in First Orbit of Hand for Hand Play

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Jeremy Geist

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

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.

All players are now in the money.

Tags: Aleksandr Kirichenko Kully Sidhu

Level: 22

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 30,000

Nov 28, 2023

Stone Bubble

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Jeremy Geist

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Players have returned from break and the floor has announced hand for hand play.

PokerNews coverage will now be on a 60-minute delay to match the stream.

Nov 28, 2023

Final Two Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts (full)

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Jeremy Geist

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Natan Chauskin	Belarus	950,000	38
1	2	Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Georgia	560,000	22
1	3	Clement Bonnant	France	1,450,000	58
1	4	Huseyin Akgul	Turkey	875,000	35
1	5	Rytis Strigunas	Lithuania	190,000	8
1	6	Halil Tasyurek	Turkey	1,000,000	40
1	7	Maxime Chilaud	France	675,000	27
1	8	Guo Liang Wei	China	1,000,000	40

2	1	Dawid Smolka	Poland	300,000	12
2	2	Leonid Sidelkovskiy	Russia	260,000	10
2	3	Liwei Sun	China	800,000	32
2	4	Jakub Michalak	Poland	395,000	16
2	5	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	260,000	10
2	6	Kully Sidhu	United Kingdom	465,000	19
2	7	Aleksandr Kirichenko	Russia	1,950,000	78
2	8	Recep Aydemir	Turkey	600,000	24

Nov 28, 2023

Break Time and Condensing of Tables

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Jeremy Geist

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

With the elimination of a player, the field is now down to two tables. They will not be redrawing but rather just combining tables.

This is also now the stone bubble. Players are taking a 20-minute break while the staff does a color up.

Nov 28, 2023

Skhulukhiya Gets a Clutch Double

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Jeremy Geist

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

The action folded all the way to Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in the small blind who moved all in for 274,000. It was then on Recep Aydemir in the big blind who tanked but put the put in the call.

Giorgiy Skhulukhiya: A♣2♦
Recep Aydemir: K♥Q♦

The full board 8♠2♣8♦8♥J♥ and with bottom boat Skhulukhiya earned the pure double.

On the feature table Navid Samavati hit the rail to bring the field to 16 players.