Bartlomiej Swieboda Rides the Roller Coaster to the Top of the Leaderboard on Day 1b
The Merit Poker Western Series evokes imagery from the wild, wild west, and no one had a wilder day than Bartlomiej Swieboda on Day 1b of the $2,200 Warm Up.
Knocked down to just a few thousand chips, Swieboda got involved in a three-way all in with pocket sevens. He flopped a set, then hit quads on the river to triple up. But his excitement wouldn’t last long, as on the very next hand he again flopped a set, this time with pocket eights, but had Ben Hershkovich river a flush.
Swieboda’s roller-coaster day wasn’t over quite yet, however. Forced to reenter, he made the most of his second bullet, bagging up 463,000 and finishing Day 1b in fourth place on the chip leaderboard. He trails chip leader Ermanno Di Nicola (583,000), as well as Valentin Tsoy (545,000) and Arie Kliper (475,000).
Israeli pros Uri Reichenstein and Gabi Livshitz spent most of the day sharing a table and quite a bit of table banter as each enjoyed a fruitful Day 1b. Reichenstein ended up with 355,000, while Livshitz, who won this event in 2020, has 351,000. Other notables to survive the day include Koray Korkmaz (359,000), Maxime Chilaud (271,500), and Dawid Smolka (94,500).
Day 1b Top 10 chip counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ermanno Di Nicola | Italy | 583,000 | 233 |
| 2 | Valentin Tsoy | Uzbekistan | 545,000 | 218 |
| 3 | Arie Kliper | Israel | 475,000 | 190 |
| 4 | Bartlomiej Swieboda | Poland | 463,000 | 185 |
| 5 | Vasili Firsau | Belarus | 385,000 | 154 |
| 6 | Roman Kolotiuk | Russia | 371,000 | 148 |
| 7 | Eduard Barsegian | Russia | 370,000 | 148 |
| 8 | Georgios Skarparis | Cyprus | 363,000 | 145 |
| 9 | Evgenii Katymaev | Russia | 360,500 | 144 |
| 10 | Koray Korkmaz | Turkey | 359,000 | 144 |
A total of 201 entries gathered in the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino poker room to chase a portion of the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, and only 99 made it through to Day 2 tomorrow. They’ll join the 60 who survived Day 1a, as well as players from the turbo Day 1c flight later tonight. With late registration open for the first four levels of Day 2, the field will grow substantially larger before players reach the money.
Stay tuned for more action from the Merit Poker Western Series as PokerNews will be providing all the action up to a champion being crowned.
and Levy opened the betting for 32,000. Only Kliper called to see the 
on the turn.
river as Kliper turned over 
for top pair to win the pot.
, Prikhodko bet 15,000 from the small blind and Smolka, from under the call called. The turn came the 
and Smolka again called a bet, this time for 20,000.
river and Smolka checked behind. Prikhodko opened up 
.
. The turn came the 
, giving her opponent a set of fives.
on the river to make a straight and send her opponent to the rail.
. The 
turn gave him some hope with a straight draw, and the 
on the river improved him to a straight as he hit the miracle to stay alive.
for two pair, while Vazhnik had 
for a flush draw that hit two pair on the river.
