Lebanon Well Represented on Top of Counts After Day 2 of Main Event
Day 2 of the Merit Poker Western Series Main Event was one that was full of chip-slinging action. It began with 307 players and several more would take advantage of late registration for the first few levels of the day to officially make 757 entries and create a prize pool of $2,089,320.
At the end of 10 levels of play, 114 players would remain.
Ara Melkisetian (2,365,000) dramatically took the chip lead in one of the last few hands of the night when he found the right time for aces against kings to take for a pot of over 2 million and surge him to the top of the counts.
It was Lebanese domination at the top of the counts as Walid Bou Habib (2,100,000) who held a more steady top stack in the final few levels, and Makram Bou Habib (1,635,000) were two of the largest stacks in addition to the chip leader.
Benjamin Hammann (1,775,000) of France bagged one of the largest stacks after he had a strong chip up in the final level and Aleksandr Chernikov (1,635,000) were two of the other larger stacks.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ara Melkisetian | Lebanon | 2,365,000 | 158 |
| 2 | Walid Bou Habib | Lebanon | 2,100,000 | 140 |
| 3 | Benjamin Hammann | France | 1,775,000 | 118 |
| 4 | Makram Bou Habib | Lebanon | 1,635,000 | 109 |
| 5 | Aleksandr Chernikov | Russia | 1,605,000 | 107 |
| 6 | Maciej Komorowski | Poland | 1,460,000 | 97 |
| 7 | Orthodoxos Orthodoxou | Cyprus | 1,310,000 | 87 |
| 8 | Ceyhan Tezcan | Turkey | 1,230,000 | 82 |
| 9 | Vitaly Pankov | Russia | 1,205,000 | 80 |
| 10 | Eduard Barsegian | Russia | 1,200,000 | 80 |
Kyrgyz player Kubanychbek Abakirov surged early in the day as he held as much as almost 400 big blinds at one point in the first few levels of Day 2 before he would plateau and eventually drop down a bit before finishing with 865,000.
Start of day chip leader Chakib M’Hiri had an up-and-down day that started well but had a rocky patch where he would drop down as low as 200,000 before building back up to 825,000 to end the night.
Israeli players Gabi Livshitz (600,000), Uri Reichenstein (600,000) and Timur Margolin (495,000) were all able to advance and are among the survivors to Day 3.
Day 3 will get underway at 12 p.m. local time. It will be a vital day of action as the money bubble will hit with 89 players remaining as the stakes get more serious. Players will return in Level 20 with blinds at 10,000/15,000/15,000.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team for wire to wire coverage of Tuesday's Day 3.
. Rakhimov continued for 26,000 and Nader called to the 
turn. Rakhimov bet another 100,000 and Nader tanked for a moment before announcing he was all in for 330,000.
, but Nader showed him 
for two pair. Standing up from his seat to await the river, the dealer turned over the 
and Nader loudly slapped his hands together in celebration as he secured the double up.
and Korchagin survived.
and they got the rest of Orthodoxou's 366,000 chips in the middle.
and Orthodoxou knocked out Sinclair while earning the massive double up against Al-Kubasi.
turned set but was up against the 
straight of A-Kubasi.
and the stacks were counted down to confirm that Secilmis was barely covered.
board as Raffoul finished with the nut flush, sending Goulder to the rail.
. From the small blind, Kubanychbek Abakirov came with a bet of 160,000.
. Akiki flashed the 
