M'Hiri Holds Heaps After Day 1b of the Merit Main Event
Day 1b Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event has reached its end as it saw about 158 entries play down to around 95 players in nine levels of play here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino.
Ending the night as one of the largest stacks was Chakib M'Hiri of Tunisia who finished with 627,000. His big stack was made aware of in the later part of the day and he would build from there, at one point having well over 700,000 before losing a flip to a shorter stack in one of the final few hands but still emerging as the likely largest stack.
Just behind him at the end of play was Aleksandar Jakovljevic of Romania (607,000) who held a big stack for much of the day.
Fresh off of a third-place finish in The Warm-Up event, Paul Browne continued that momentum with a great start to the day as he more than doubled his stack within the first level. He would continue to build as the night wore on and ended the night with 528,000.
Top 10 Chip Counts Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chakib M'Hiri | Tunisia | 627,000 |
| 2 | Alexander Jakovljevic | Romania | 607,000 |
| 3 | Paul Browne | United Kingdom | 528,000 |
| 4 | Anatloiy Shetyn | Russia | 515,000 |
| 5 | Michel Atallah | Lebanon | 440,000 |
| 6 | Valeriy Pak | Belarus | 438,500 |
| 7 | Idin Sedghinasab | United States | 424,000 |
| 8 | Denis Matafonov | Russia | 419,000 |
| 9 | Naji Abdo | Lebanon | 380,000 |
| 10 | Fadi El-Hany | Lebanon | 367,000 |
Several faces familiar to the North Cyprus poker scene were able to bag decent stacks and advance on to Day 2. They include; Belarusian Valeriy Pak (438,500), Gabi Livshitz (338,500) and his compatriot Uri Reichenstein (252,000).
About 60% of the players advanced to Day 2 where they will return to action on Monday January 23rd at 12 p.m. noon local time. They will join the 109 survivors of Day 1a and the ones who survive Days 1c and 1d tomorrow.
PokerNews will continue coverage of the Main Event tomorrow at 12 noon.
. Maxime Chilaud bet 14,000 from the big blind, Uri Reichenstein called under the gun and the button folded.
to brig four clubs to the board. Chilaud led out for 32,000. Reichenstein tanked for several moments before he folded his hand.
. From middle position Paul Browne tossed out 20,000 into a pot of 38,000.
for flopped broadway and collected the pot to move his stack up even more.
completed the board on the river. Pak's opponent fired another time for 20,000 which Pak quickly called and his opponent swiftly mucked his hand. Pak flashed the 
. From the big blind, Kubanychbek Abakirov bet 5,800 which Recep Aydemir called in the button.
. Both players checked. The river came the 
. Abakirov checked, Aydemir slung forward a bet of 13,000 and Abakirov called quickly.
for nothing while Abakirov had the 
for the winner as he took the chips.
. The small blind bet 5,000, Marco Carravieri raised to 15,000 from the big blind. An early position player called and the small blind folded.
. Carravieri led for 40,000 and his early position opponent quickly moved all in which Carravieri called.
and would need to fade another spade as his opponent had the 
. From under the gun, Ivan Karatayeu bet 3,000 into a pot that was about 11,000.
. Browne jammed all in and Yayla snap-called.
and he was busted, while Browne started the day well after his final table appearance in the Warm Up yesterday.