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
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|
| 1 | Salavat Shafigullin | Russia | 511,000 |
| 2 | Mohamed El-Sayed | Lebanon | 496,000 |
| 3 | Osman Atmaca | Turley | 495,000 |
| 4 | Koray Korkmaz | Turkey | 475,000 |
| 5 | Eduard Bagrov | Armenia | 467,000 |
| 6 | Sergei Sokharev | Russia | 459,000 |
| 7 | Timur Margolin | Israel | 429,000 |
| 8 | Mikahil Zamyatin | Russia | 425,000 |
| 9 | Mehmet Ali Erceylan | Turkey | 421,000 |
| 10 | Abraham Passet | United Kingdom | 418,000 |
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
with four clubs on the board. Michele D'Angelo made a bet of 17,000 on the river. 
one card at a time, revealing no club while Bechor tabled the 
winner with the better pair.
.
for the bluff and took in the pot.
