$2,200 Warmup Day 3 | 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series

$2,200 Warmup

Day 3 Completed

08-10-2023 23:40 UTC+2

Seat Draw For Day 4

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

TABLE	SEAT	PLAYER	COUNTRY	CHIP COUNT	BLINDS
1	1	Ran Koller	Israel	1,380,000	14
1	2	Bogdan Jontulovic	Serbia	5,390,000	54
1	3	Aleksandr Chernikov	Russia	3,110,000	31
1	4	Alain Hajj	Lebanon	4,865,000	49
1	5	Huseyin Kaba	Turkey	1,240,000	12
1	6	Abulmuhsin Aydin	France	2,090,000	21
1	7	Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Georgia	4,105,000	41
1	8	Wael Sarkis	Lebanon	1,575,000	16
1	9	Vladislav Doroshkov	Russia	3,065,000	31
					-
2	1	Oleg Eltsov	Russia	2,505,000	25
2	2	Oleg Ustinovich	Russia	4,500,000	45
2	3	Andrey Koks	Estonia	1,610,000	16
2	4	Hadi Khadra	Lebanon	3,385,000	34
2	5	Orestis Kanakopoulos	Greece	5,975,000	60
2	6	Mikhail Zamiatin	Russia	3,125,000	31
2	7	Afshin Taheri	Iran	6,360,000	64
2	8	Ran Ilani	Israel	1,740,000	17
					-
3	1	Maksim Shornikau	Belarus	1,250,000	13
3	2	Rudolf Domin	Russia	1,390,000	14
3	3	Kristaps Vismanis	Latvia	1,895,000	19
3	4	Murat Cakir	Turkey	2,260,000	23
3	5	Ercan Gundogan	Turkey	985,000	10
3	6	Goku		1,150,000	12
3	7	Or Nezer	Israel	6,150,000	62
3	8	Nicolas Chouity	Lebanon	8,735,000	87

08-10-2023 23:30 UTC+2

Day 3: Comfortable Chiplead For Nicolas Chouity

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

After a long Day 3, there are only 25 players left in the 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series $2,200 Warm-Up at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. They are the last players out of a field of 809 entrants, the last ones who can still win the $264,400 prize that will be offered to the winner.

Thanks to a massive pot win in the last levels, it is Nicolas Chouity who ended the day as the chipleader with 8,735,000 chips. The 2010 EPT Monte-Carlo champion is followed by Afshin Taher (6,360,000) and Or Nezer (6,150,000), the other two players with over six million chips.

End of Day 3 Chip Count

Rank	Player	Country	Chip count	Blinds
1	Nicolas Chouity	Lebanon	8,735,000	87
2	Afshin Taheri	Iran	6,360,000	64
3	Or Nezer	Israel	6,150,000	62
4	Orestis Kanakopoulos	Greece	5,975,000	60
5	Bogdan Jontulovic	Serbia	5,390,000	54
6	Alain Hajj	Lebanon	4,865,000	49
7	Oleg Ustinovich	Russia	4,500,000	45
8	Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Georgia	4,105,000	41
9	Hadi Khadra	Lebanon	3,385,000	34
10	Mikhail Zamiatin	Russia	3,125,000	31

Orestis Kanakopoulos will not be far behind with 5,975,000 chips. In the second position of the chipcount at the beginning of Day 3, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya is also qualified for Day 3, with a stack of 4,105,000 chips. Holding the largest stack in the field just before the bubble, Wael Sarkis didn't keep his stack of 3 million chips. However, he still had half of it at the end of the day and is still in cthe race for victory with 1,575,000 chips.

Finally, in the last positions, WSOP champion Ran Koller bagged 1,380,000 chips, while Ercan Gundogan will come back on Day 4 with the smallest stack of 985,000 chips.

Play will resume at noon local time tomorrow, Friday, August 11th. Blinds will pick up in Level 27, at 50,000-100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. Then, Day 4 will continue until a winner is crowned.

PokerNews will follow the action all the way until the end!

Tags: Afshin Taheri Alain Hajj Bogdan Jontulovic Ercan Gundogan Giorgiy Skhulukhiya Hadi Khadra Mikhail Zamiatin Nicolas Chouity Oleg Ustinovich Or Nezer Orestis Kanakopoulos Ran Koller Wael Sarkis

08-10-2023 23:10 UTC+2

Day 3 Chip Count (full)

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nicolas Chouity	8,735,000 635,000	635,000

Afshin Taheri	6,360,000 3,520,000	3,520,000
Or Nezer	6,150,000 330,000	330,000

Orestis Kanakopoulos	5,975,000 975,000	975,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	5,390,000 3,540,000	3,540,000
Alain Hajj	4,865,000 -160,000	-160,000
Oleg Ustinovich	4,500,000 1,150,000	1,150,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	4,105,000 1,925,000	1,925,000
Hadi Khadra	3,385,000 -1,215,000	-1,215,000
Mikhail Zamiatin	3,125,000 845,000	845,000
Aleksandr Chernikov	3,110,000 360,000	360,000
Vladislav Doroshkov	3,065,000 1,245,000	1,245,000
Oleg Eltsov	2,505,000 580,000	580,000
Murat Cakir	2,260,000 850,000	850,000
Abulmuhsin Aydin	2,090,000 -2,910,000	-2,910,000
Kristaps Vismanis	1,895,000 -505,000	-505,000
Ran Ilani	1,740,000 -1,810,000	-1,810,000
Andrey Koks	1,610,000 -490,000	-490,000
Wael Sarkis	1,575,000 135,000	135,000
Rudolf Domin	1,390,000 -100,000	-100,000
Ran Koller	1,380,000 -1,070,000	-1,070,000

Maksim Shornikau	1,250,000 -650,000	-650,000
Huseyin Kaba	1,240,000 -125,000	-125,000
Goku	1,150,000 -880,000	-880,000
Ercan Gundogan	985,000 35,000	35,000

08-10-2023 23:00 UTC+2

End Of The Day

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Bags are on the tables: Day 3 of the 2023 Merit Retro Series $2,200 Warm Up has concluded. Twenty-five players still have chips and will return for Day 4.

Stay tuned on PokerNews for the chip counts and the recap!

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikolaos Kiourntzidis	Busted
Murat Altas	Busted

08-10-2023 22:50 UTC+2

Last Four Hands Of The Day

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

There are 14 minutes remaining on the clock, but the tournamen director decided to put it on pause. The 27 players left in the $2,200 Warm Up will play four more hands today.

Player	Chips	Progress
Julien Loire	Busted
Michael Allen	Busted

Aleksandr Kirichenko	Busted

08-10-2023 22:38 UTC+2

Massive Pot For Chouity

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

In early position, Ilya Pavlov opened. However, from the cutoff, Nicolas Chouity chose to three-bet. The action went back to Pavlov, who moved all in with almost 4,000,000 chips. Chouity quickly called.

Ilya Pavlov: KxQx
Nicolas Chouity: A♥A♠

Pavlov's risky move wasn't successful, as Chouity had the best possible hand. A queen came on the flop, giving Pavlov a pair. But it wasn't enough. And after the board Q♠6♣3♥8♣4♦, he was eliminated.

Nicolas Chouity won this pot of 8,100,000 chips, and took the chiplead just a few minuts before the end of the day. After the hand, the clock was stopped to gather the 27 players left on the last three tables.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nicolas Chouity	8,100,000 4,970,000	4,970,000

Ilya Pavlov	Busted

Tags: Ilya Pavlov Nicolas Chouity

08-10-2023 22:20 UTC+2

Lucky Straight On The River For Doroshkov

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Under the gun, Vladislav Doroshkov moved all in for 810,000. Without asking for the count, Maksim Shornikau, seated on his left, called, and all the other players folded.

Vladislav Doroshkov: K♠Q♠
Maksim Shornikau: A♥K♣

Both players had a straight draw on the flop 10♦5♦J♠. The situation remained the same after the turn 8♣. But the straight was completed for Doroshkov on the river 9♥. He collected the 1,820,000 chips in the pot, while Alain Hajj was laughing watching the action. "So much drama at the table", he said, before sitting down.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	1,900,000 -800,000	-800,000
Vladislav Doroshkov	1,820,000 -530,000	-530,000

Tags: Maksim Shornikau Vladislav Doroshkov

08-10-2023 22:08 UTC+2

Sarkis Doubles Through Koks

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

From the hijack, Wael Sarkis shoved for 660,000 chips. Everybody else folded to Andrey Koks in the big blind who called.

Wael Sarkis: 10♠9♠
Andrey Koks: A♦Q♥

Far behind, Sarkis found a nine on 9♦2♣J♦K♠8♠ to save him and keep him in the tournament with 1,440,000 chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Koks	2,100,000 -1,200,000	-1,200,000
Wael Sarkis	1,440,000 140,000	140,000

Tags: Andrey Koks Wael Sarkis

08-10-2023 22:01 UTC+2

Last Level Of The Day

Maxime Taldir

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

The 31 players remaining just entered Level 26. It is the last level of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mehmet Dalkilic	Busted
Amirreza Roudsari	Busted