$3,300 Main Event
Day 2 Started
2023 Merit Poker Western Series
$3,300 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 Merit Poker Western Series
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$2,089,320
Entries
757
Level
38
Blinds
500,000 / 1,000,000
Ante
1,000,000
Entries
307
Players Left
114
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
627,000 | |
|
||
|
607,000 | |
|
515,000 | |
|
511,000 | |
|
||
|
496,000 | |
|
495,000 | |
|
475,000 | |
|
467,000 | |
|
464,000 | |
|
||
|
459,000 | |
|
|
440,000 | |
|
438,500 | |
|
429,000 | |
|
||
|
429,000
429,000
|
429,000 |
|
425,000 | |
|
424,000 | |
|
|
421,000 | |
|
|
419,000 | |
|
418,000 | |
|
418,000 | |
|
406,500 | |
|
405,000 | |
|
400,000 | |
|
392,000 | |
|
|
380,000 | |
Chakib M'hiri Leads More Than 300 Survivors Into Day 2 of the Main Event
The poker room at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino will be packed today when Day 2 of the Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event begins at noon local time.
The first four starting flights saw 607 total entries, already far surpassing the $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. A large field of 303 players are still in contention at the start of Day 2, led by Tunisia's Chakib M'hiri.
M'hiri enjoyed a fruitful Day 1, at times surpassing the 700,000-chip milestone before finishing with 627,000. Right behind him is Aleksandar Jakovljevic with 607,000. There are still plenty of notables with large stacks remaining in the field, including Timur Margolin (429,000), Nuri Hadioglu (418,000), Gabi Livshitz (338,500), and Maxime Chilaud (314,500).
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chakib M'hiri | Tunisia | 627,000 | 251 |
| 2 | Aleksandar Jakovljevic | Romania | 607,000 | 243 |
| 3 | Anatoliy Shteyn | Russia | 515,000 | 206 |
| 4 | Salavat Shafigullin | Russia | 511,000 | 204 |
| 5 | Mohamed El-Sayed | Lebanon | 496,000 | 198 |
| 6 | Osman Atmaca | Turkey | 495,000 | 198 |
| 7 | Koray Korkmaz | Turkey | 475,000 | 190 |
| 8 | Eduard Bagrov | Armenia | 467,000 | 187 |
| 9 | Matan Krakow | Israel | 464,000 | 186 |
| 10 | Sergei Sokharev | Russia | 459,000 | 184 |
Day 2 will kick off in Level 10, with blinds of 1,000-2,500 and a 2,500 big blind ante. Late registration is open for the first four levels of the day, so the field should grow considerably by the time the prize pool is confirmed. Players are allowed unlimited reentries for the duration of the registration period.
PokerNews will be following all the action as the massive field gets whittled down towards the money bubble here on Day 2 in North Cyprus.
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,500
Ante: 2,500
Shuffle Up and Deal
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
The players have unbagged their chips and Day 2 is now underway.
Butans Busts Ivanov
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Kaspars Butans had the 
in a preflop all in against the 
of Lyudmil Ivanov.
The board would run out 
to bust Ivanov and give an early boost to Butans.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
247,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
Busted |
Al-Kubasi Takes One
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Action was picked up on the turn as the board read 
. From the big blind, Ali Muthana Yassin Al-Kubasi bet 30,000 and was called by Zolbayar Batbold who was under the gun.
The river came the 
. Al-Kubasi led for 75,000. Batbold took his time before he folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
320,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
|
155,000
-46,500
|
-46,500 |
Ozbek Gets Massive Double to Begin the Day
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Four players saw a flop of 
as action checked to Gokhan Ozbek in the hijack who bet 4,500. A player in the small blind called before La Sengphet raised to 17,500 in the big blind.
Seyedahmad Haghgou called in middle position. Ozbek then tanked for nearly two minutes before he raised to 34,500. Sengphet got out of the way, but Haghgou called again.
The turn came the 
and Haghgou bet enough to put Ozbek all in. Ozbek called for his last 70,000 with 
for a set, while Haghgou had 
for two pair.
The river came the 
and Ozbek more than doubled his stack early on Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
270,000
-55,000
|
-55,000 |
|
240,000
127,000
|
127,000 |
|
150,000
-149,500
|
-149,500 |
Goulder Raises the River
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Alex Goulder and Damir Rakhimov went heads-up to a flop of 
when Goulder bet 13,000 on the button. Rakhimov called in early position as the fell on the turn.
Both players checked to the river, when Rakhimov led out for 16,500. Goulder came back with a raise to 86,500, and Rakhimov called after some deliberation.
Goulder turned over 
for the nut flush to win the pot.
Paul Newey is at this table but has yet to take his seat on Day 2, the 93,000-chip stack he began the day with being blinded down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
280,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
|
95,000
-152,000
|
-152,000 |
|
86,000
-7,000
|
-7,000 |
Abakirov Rides Wheel to Big Double
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Action came in on the turn as the board showed 
. From the big blind, Kubanychbek Abakirov bet 18,000 and his opponent, who entered the day as one of the lrgest stacks but wished to remain anonymous, called from the small blind.
The river came the 
. The small blind checked. Bakirov thought for a while before betting 80,500. Hid opponent quickly raised all in and Abakirov snap-called.
The small blind tabled the 
for a flopped set but it was beaten by the 
wheel of Abakirov to knock the anon player down to about 300,000 from his early high perch and send the huge pot to the Kyrgyz player.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
635,000
413,000
|
413,000 |