2023 Merit Poker Western Series

$2,200 Warmup
Day: 1bc
Event Info

2023 Merit Poker Western Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a5
Prize
$181,200
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$962,320
Entries
523
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Players Info - Day 1bc
Entries
201
Players Left
99

Big Stacks Reichenstein and Livshitz Collide

Level 3 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Uri Reichenstein
Uri Reichenstein

Uri Reichenstein and Gabi Livshitz were already two of the bigger stacks in the room before they tangled in a big pot.

With around 15,000 in the middle on a board of {3-Clubs}{2-Spades}{10-Hearts}{a-Hearts}, Reichenstein bet 8,000 from the hijack and Livshitz called on the button. The river came the {3-Hearts}, and Reichenstein tanked for about a minute before announcing another bet of 21,000.

Now it was Livshitz's turn to tank for a few minutes before he tossed in a raise to 70,000. Reichenstein spent a few moments pondering the decision before mucking.

Player Chips Progress
Gabi Livshitz il
Gabi Livshitz
230,000
230,000
230,000
Uri Reichenstein il
Uri Reichenstein
195,000
-50,000
-50,000

Tags: Gabi LivshitzUri Reichenstein

Baybars Doubles in Massive Cooler

Level 1 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Vasili Firsau
Vasili Firsau

With stacks so deep, all-in confrontations have been hard to come by so far on Day 1b until Halil Baybars and Vasili Firsau just tangled in a massive pot.

Baybars had a raise of around 15,000 in front of him from the button before the flop and Firsau, in the small blind, called to see the {5-Clubs}{3-Hearts}{a-Clubs} flop.

Both players checked as the {8-Diamonds} fell on the turn. Firsau checked again and Baybars bet 15,000. Firsau came back with a raise to 41,000 and Baybars immediately moved all in for around 75,000.

Firsau called just as quickly and turned over {8-Clubs}{8-Diamonds} for the turned set. Baybars, though, showed {a-Hearts}{a-Spades} for a flopped set as Firsau shot out of his seat.

The river came the {j-Clubs} and Firsau could only laugh as he was forced to hand over most of his stack.

Player Chips Progress
Halil Baybars tr
Halil Baybars
180,000
70,000
70,000
Vasili Firsau by
Vasili Firsau
30,000
-70,000
-70,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Halil BaybarsVasili Firsau

Daniliuk Wakes Up With Kings to Take Big Pot

Level 1 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Andrei Daniliuk
Andrei Daniliuk

Andrei Daniliuk and an opponent in the cutoff saw a flop of {5-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{9-Diamonds} when Daniliuk check-called a bet of 3,000.

The turn came the {5-Spades} and Daniliuk led out for 10,000. The player in the cutoff called as the {5-Hearts} fell on the river. Daniliuk this time bet 17,000.

The cutoff tanked for several minutes before throwing in the chips to call. Daniliuk opened up {k-Diamonds}{k-Hearts} for a full house and his opponent tapped the table before mucking his cards.

Player Chips Progress
Andrei Daniliuk ru
Andrei Daniliuk
135,000
135,000
135,000

Tags: Andrei Daniliuk

Saddle Up for Day 1b of the Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up at Noon

Merit Poker
Merit Poker

The wild west meets a glittering seaside paradise when Day 1b of the Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up begins at noon local time.

This event kicks off a 12-day festival that will see players from around the world descend on the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino in North Cyprus for plenty of duels and shootouts until they are the last one standing. Day 1a was held yesterday and saw 60 players from a starting field of 131 survive to make Day 2. Paul Browne ended the day as the chip leader with 635,500. Other players that have already booked their spot into Day 2 include Fahredin Mustafov (233,000), Nikolay Fal (201,500), Michael Lech (141,500), and Joseph Hebert (69,000).

Day 1a Top 10 chip counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Paul BrowneUnited Kingdom635,500254
2Ryan MandaraUnited Kingdom621,000248
3Aibek KozhomzharovKyrgyzstan535,000214
4Roelof PeppingNetherlands461,000184
5La SengphetUnited States442,000177
6Simeon SpasovBulgaria417,000167
7Aleksei IstominRussia402,500161
8Kemalettin DogantekinTurkey398,000159
9Julien LorieFrance393,000157
10Sorin-Irinel LicaRomania333,000133

Players begin the tournament with 100,000 chips. Day 1 consists of eight 60-minute levels, with a 15-minute break after every two levels. The surviving players return for Day 2 on January 18. Late registration is open until the end of Level 12 on Day 2, with players allowed unlimited reentries.

Russian high roller Artur Martirosian won this event last year, prevailing over a field of 550 players to earn $190,652. Manig Loeser (sixth), Ivan Deyra (15th), and Florian Duta (17th) also made deep runs a year ago.

One player will walk away with the top prize out of the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, and PokerNews will be on hand providing live updates and chip counts throughout the tournament.

Tags: Artur MartirosianFahredin MustafovFlorian DutaIvan DeyraJoseph HebertManig LoeserMichael LechNikolay FalPaul Browne