New Champion Will Be Crowned on the Final Day of the Merit Poker Western Series Main Event
The Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino has welcomed poker players from around the world for the past 10 days to this glittered seaside paradise by the Mediterranean. That journey is capped off today when the Merit Poker Western Series crowns its champion in the $3,300 Main Event.
Just 16 players out of a starting field of 757 entries are still in contention for the title when play resumes at 1 p.m. local time in North Cyprus. Aleksandr Chernikov (13,600,000) and Dominik Panka (11,575,000) pace the field, holding more than a third of the total chips in play between them.
Trying to chase them down will be Eduard Barsegian (9,450,000), Amarbayasgalan Sainjargal (6,175,000), and Ernestas Degtiariovas (4,850,000). Further down the leaderboard are Luc Bindel (4,200,000), Maroun Jazzar (3,725,000), Ara Melkisetian (2,300,000), and Edgard Raffoul (2,000,000). Each remaining player is already guaranteed $19,155, with the champion taking home $372,800.
Final 16 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksandr Chernikov | 13,600,000 | 91 |
| 2 | Dominik Panka | 11,575,000 | 77 |
| 3 | Eduard Barsegian | 9,450,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Amarbayasgalan Sainjargal | 6,175,000 | 41 |
| 5 | Ernestas Degtiariovas | 4,850,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Luc Bindel | 4,200,000 | 28 |
| 7 | Vladislav Doroshkov | 3,975,000 | 27 |
| 8 | Maroun Jazzar | 3,725,000 | 25 |
| 9 | Serge Matta | 3,175,000 | 21 |
| 10 | Justus Held | 2,825,000 | 19 |
| 11 | Maciej Komorowski | 2,425,000 | 16 |
| 12 | Ara Melkisetian | 2,300,000 | 15 |
| 13 | Sergei Efimov | 2,000,000 | 13 |
| 14 | Edgard Raffoul | 2,000,000 | 13 |
| 15 | Bakhos Joumaa | 1,850,000 | 12 |
| 16 | Orthodoxos Orthodoxou | 1,375,000 | 9 |
The action will pick up on Level 30, with blinds of 100,000-150,000 and a 150,000 big blind ante. Merit Poker will also be streaming the feature table on a 30-minute delay on their YouTube channel.
These 16 players are left out of what was once a massive field spread over two rooms. At the end of today, there will be only one champion. PokerNews will be guiding you along the entire way with live updates until the newest champion is holding aloft the coveted Merit Poker trophy.
flop with a pair of aces. The board ran out 
and Joumaa survived.
, followed by the 
on the turn as Sainjargal picked up both straight and flush draws.
and Melkisetian doubled up.
, giving Panka a pair of queens. Left looking for a one-outer, Efimov couldn't hit the miracle on the 
runout as he became the first casualty of the day.
river and hit the rail in 15th place.
flop left open the possibility of a chop, but the board came 
fell on the turn.
and Raffoul doubled up.
. Both players ended up with a pair of aces, but Matta's queen-kicker played to earn him the massive double up.