2023 Merit Poker Western Series

$3,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2023 Merit Poker Western Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
$372,800
Event Info
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$2,089,320
Entries
757
Level Info
Level
38
Blinds
500,000 / 1,000,000
Ante
1,000,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
215
Players Left
106

$3,300 Main Event

Day 1a Completed

Shafigullin Bags Big on Day 1a of the Main Event

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Salvat Shafigullin
Salvat Shafigullin

Day 1a of the Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event is now over and complete after nine levels of play that saw 215 entries get whittled down to around 106 as the night came to an end.

Of the largest stacks to end the night was Salavat Shafigullin who bagged up 511,000. He was seen with a big stack in the middle part of the day and would just keep on building from there.

One of the other largest stacks was actually at the same table asMohamed El-Sayed was able to gather 496,000 and finish the night right on the heels of Shafigullin, just a few seats away.

Top Ten Stacks of Day 1a

PositionPlayerCountryChip Count
1Salavat ShafigullinRussia511,000
2Mohamed El-SayedLebanon496,000
3Osman AtmacaTurley495,000
4Koray KorkmazTurkey475,000
5Eduard BagrovArmenia467,000
6Sergei SokharevRussia459,000
7Timur MargolinIsrael429,000
8Mikahil ZamyatinRussia425,000
9Mehmet Ali ErceylanTurkey421,000
10Abraham PassetUnited Kingdom418,000

Familiar North Cypurs regulars Koray Korkmaz (475,000) and Timur Margolin (429,000) ended proceedings as two of the biggest stacks as they tagged their bags.

A few other notable players who found a bag to Day 2 were; La Sengphet (325,000), Ghanim Dashti (280,000) and Daniel Lowery (206,000) who has made the trek across the world to play in this series after recent success back in the USA.

With almost 50% of the field making it to Day 2, the meat of the tournament is still yet to be entered as registration is open for three levels into Day 2. The players who survived Day 1a will join those who survive Day 1b, 1c, and 1d as well as any last-minute entries.

PokerNews will be back at it tomorrow at 12 noon, where Day 1b will commence.

Tags: Daniel LoweryGhanim DashtiKoray KorkmazLa SengphetMohamed El-SayedSalavat ShafigullinTimur Margolin

End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Salavat Shafigullin ru
Salavat Shafigullin
Day 1A Chip Leader
511,000 16,000
Mohamed El-Sayed lb
Mohamed El-Sayed
496,000 21,000
Osman Atmaca tr
Osman Atmaca
495,000
Koray Korkmaz tr
Koray Korkmaz
475,000 475,000
Eduard Bagrov am
Eduard Bagrov
467,000
Sergei Sokharev ru
Sergei Sokharev
459,000
Timur Margolin il
Timur Margolin
WSOP 2X Winner
429,000 74,000
Mikhail Zamyatin ru
Mikhail Zamyatin
425,000 250,000
Memet Ali Erceylan tr
Memet Ali Erceylan
421,000
Abraham Passet gb
Abraham Passet
418,000 223,000
Evgenii Korchagin ru
Evgenii Korchagin
406,500
Iulian-Remus Blebea ro
Iulian-Remus Blebea
405,000
Vladislav Doroshkov ru
Vladislav Doroshkov
376,500 46,500
Ceyhan Tezcan tr
Ceyhan Tezcan
338,500 83,500
Jacek Pustula pl
Jacek Pustula
326,500 261,500
Hossein Zolghadriha ir
Hossein Zolghadriha
325,500 500
La Sengphet us
La Sengphet
325,000 140,000
Algirdas Saveikis lt
Algirdas Saveikis
307,500
Lev Kydatov ru
Lev Kydatov
306,500
Liviu-Catalin Toderita ro
Liviu-Catalin Toderita
305,500 95,500
Victor Fryda fr
Victor Fryda
300,000 128,000
Mustafa Biz tr
Mustafa Biz
295,000
Berc Sindiroglu tr
Berc Sindiroglu
294,500
Vitaliy Pankov ru
Vitaliy Pankov
286,500
Daniil Shalaev ru
Daniil Shalaev
286,000

Read full

Kliper Raises Flop

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Arie Kliper
Arie Kliper

Action came in on the flop as it showed {2-Clubs}{4-Clubs}{9-Clubs}. Ceyhan Tezcan bet 15,000 from under the gun.

Arie Kliper raised by tossing out some chips from the small blind. Tezcan took a few moments before he folded as Kliper collected and became one of the larger stacks in the room.

Player Chips Progress
Arie Kliper il
Arie Kliper
337,000 337,000
Ceyhan Tezcan tr
Ceyhan Tezcan
255,000 255,000

Tags: Arie Kliper

Level: 9

Blinds: 1,000/2,500

Ante: 2,500

PN Podcast: Postle Back in Poker & Guest Mori Eskandani Remembers Shares Mirage Stories

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
PN Pod Mori Eskandani
PN Pod Mori Eskandani

In the latest PokerNews Podcast episode of 2023, Chad Holloway and Connor Richards handle things while Jesse Fullen is in Australia. They discuss Mike Postle’s sudden reappearance in the poker world after making a final table at the Million Dollar Heater at Beau Rivage in Mississippi, while also talking about the slowroll and needle that accompanied his bust out.

They try to balance that story with a heart-warming one where Johnnie “Johnnie Vibes” Moreno put a bartender into the MSPT Sycuan Main Event, with the recreational player going on to finish in fourth place for $40,000!

Other stories discussed include WSOP.com Player of the Years, Lon McEachern and Daniel Lowery winning WSOP Circuit gold rings, and early winners from the PokerGO Cup.

Speaking of which, PokerGO’s Mori Eskandani joins the show as this week’s guest. The Poker Hall of Famer talks 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) preparations, who came close to challenging Jason Koon on High Stakes Duel III (HSD), plus when we can expect the next HSD match to take place. He also discussed new developments to this year’s PokerGO Tour (PGT) and shared memories from the days when the Mirage was the hot spot for poker in Vegas.

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!