2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

$2,200 Merit Poker Cup
Day: 1a
Event Info

2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
55
Prize
$167,100
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$844,560
Entries
459
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
192
Players Left
84

$2,200 Merit Poker Cup

Day 1a Completed

Dato, Andrian and Peluso Advance in Day 1a of Merit Poker Cup

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Andrea Dato
Andrea Dato

The first of three starting flights has come to a close for the $2,200 Merit Poker Cup here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Day 1a attracted 192 entrants and 84 players survived until the end of the night to advance to Day 2.

Huseyin Akgul bagged the largest stack at the end of the night, finishing with 744,000, worth just under 298 big blinds. Akgul is most closely followed by Mukhtar Nasiradinov (728,000), Emad Ghadamian (660,000), Joseph Mouwad (541,000) and previous WPT champion Andrea Dato (521,000). Akgul made an excellent river call with a small pair midway through the day to put himself at the top of the counts and rode that momentum all the way to bagging a top stack at the end of the night.

Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Huseyin AkgulTurkey744,000298
2Mukhtar NasiradinovRussian Federation728,000291
3Emad GhadamianIran660,000264
4Joseph MouwadLebanon541,500217
5Andrea DatoItaly521,000208
6Victor YugayUzbekistan464,000186
7Murat OzyurtTurkey426,000170
8Simeon SpasovBulgaria403,000161
9Boris SmuskeviciusLithuania402,000161
10Damir ZhugralinKazakhstan395,000158

Dato bagging a top stack is particularly noteworthy as he recently achieved his career-best score here in Cyprus with a runner up finish in the 2023 EPT Cyprus Main Event for $652,000 this past October. Clearly adept at navigating large tournament fields, Dato will be a force to be reckoned with as he takes his stack worth 208 big blinds into Day 2.

Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Aleksandr Kirichenko (186,000), Dinesh Alt (180,500), Simone Andrian (167,500), Rosalie Petit (155,000) and Fabio Peluso (112,000). Although the Merit Poker Cup is a new tournament introduced during this festival, Andrian did win the equivalent-buy in $2,200 Warm Up at the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series this past January for $165,000. Time will tell if another victory is in the cards for the Italian pro and bracelet winner in this event.

Simone Andrian
Simone Andrian

Players who entered Day 1a but were not fortunate enough to advance to Day 2 include Felipe Ketzer and Andrey Pateychuk.

Stay tuned for more coverage as PokerNews brings you all the action from the remainder of the festival along the shores of the Mediterranean in North Cyprus.

Tags: Aleksandr KirichenkoAndrea DatoDinesh AltFabio PelusoHuseyin AkgulJoseph MouwadRosalie PetitSimone Andrian

End of Night Chip Counts (full)

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Huseyin Akgul tr
Huseyin Akgul
744,000
Day 1A Chip Leader
Profile photo of Mukhtar Nasiradinov ru
Mukhtar Nasiradinov
728,000
Profile photo of Emad Ghadamian ir
Emad Ghadamian
660,000
660,000
660,000
Profile photo of Joseph Mouwad lb
Joseph Mouwad
541,500
Profile photo of Andrea Dato it
Andrea Dato
521,000
WPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Victor Yugay uz
Victor Yugay
464,000
464,000
464,000
Profile photo of Murat Ozyurt tr
Murat Ozyurt
426,000
426,000
426,000
Profile photo of Simeon Spasov bg
Simeon Spasov
403,000
403,000
403,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Profile photo of Boris Smuskevicius lt
Boris Smuskevicius
402,000
Profile photo of Damir Zhugralin kz
Damir Zhugralin
395,000
40,000
40,000
Profile photo of Joshua Marquardt de
Joshua Marquardt
362,500
34,500
34,500
Profile photo of Adem Marjanovic at
Adem Marjanovic
357,000
Profile photo of Mehmet Sarigoz
Mehmet Sarigoz
352,000
352,000
352,000
Profile photo of Damir Gabdullin ru
Damir Gabdullin
344,000
-51,000
-51,000
Profile photo of Erdal Gulseven tr
Erdal Gulseven
338,000
152,000
152,000
Profile photo of Ufuk Kortan tr
Ufuk Kortan
321,500
321,500
321,500
Profile photo of Anton Markov bg
Anton Markov
316,000
Profile photo of Emil Mattsson se
Emil Mattsson
311,500
311,500
311,500
Profile photo of Alexander Ivanov ru
Alexander Ivanov
311,000
311,000
311,000
Profile photo of George Tomescu ro
George Tomescu
309,500
152,500
152,500
Profile photo of Amir Saeid ir
Amir Saeid
305,000
305,000
305,000
Profile photo of Stephane Gabarre fr
Stephane Gabarre
292,000
292,000
292,000
Profile photo of John Doe G
John Doe G
290,000
290,000
290,000
Profile photo of Mehdi Chaoui ma
Mehdi Chaoui
281,500
281,500
281,500
Profile photo of Alan Turabayev kz
Alan Turabayev
280,500
280,500
280,500

Read full

Akgul Building a Monster Stack

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

With two players seeing a final board of 10833K and roughly 85,000 already in the middle, Fausto Tantillo checked from middle position and Huseyin Akgul bet 45,000 from the hijack. Tantillo went into the tank.

"Ace-king"? Tantillo wondered out loud. After a couple minutes Tantillo flicked in the call.

Akgul turned over KJ for top pair to take the pot and continue adding chips to his already formidable stack.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Huseyin Akgul tr
Huseyin Akgul
825,000
409,000
409,000
Day 1A Chip Leader
Profile photo of Fausto Tantillo it
Fausto Tantillo
85,000
35,000
35,000

Tags: Fausto TantilloHuseyin Akgul

Marjanovic Shows Down Ace-High

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Adem Marjanovic opened to 5,500 from middle position and Maksim Skripkin three-bet to 23,000 from the cutoff. Marjanovic made the call.

The flop came K82 and Marjanovic check-called a 15,000 continuation bet from Skripkin.

Both players then checked the 4 turn and 5 river. Marjanovic tabled AQ and Skripkin's hand hit the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Adem Marjanovic at
Adem Marjanovic
222,000
Profile photo of Maksim Skripkin ru
Maksim Skripkin
120,000
-3,000
-3,000

Tags: Adem MarjanovicMaksim Skripkin

Kaukua Wins Battle of Second Pairs

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Toni Kaukua opened from the button and was called by Andrea Dato in the big blind.

Both players checked the KQJ flop leading to the 6 turn. Dato bet 3,800 and was called by Kaukua.

Both players checked the 3 river. Dato tabled Q4 for second pair but Kaukua had him outkicked with Q10 for a better second pair to take the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Andrea Dato it
Andrea Dato
617,000
439,000
439,000
WPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Toni Kaukua fi
Toni Kaukua
195,000
Day 3 Chip Leader

Tags: Andrea DatoToni Kaukua

Level: 8

Blinds: 1,000/2,500

Ante: 2,500

Svesko Picks Off a Bluff

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Boris Smuskevicius opened to 4,000 from middle position and Darko Svesko defended from the big blind.

Both players checked the 1093 flop leading to the K turn. Svesko bet 4,000 and Smuskevicius check-raised to 15,000. Svesko made the call.

On the 9 river Svesko checked and Smuskevicius bet 40,000. Svesko called after taking a minute to consider his options.

Smuskevicius immediately mucked after being called on the river and Svesko took down a healthy pot without having to show the winning hand.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Boris Smuskevicius lt
Boris Smuskevicius
339,000
-4,200
-4,200
Profile photo of Darko Svesko rs
Darko Svesko
120,000
-89,000
-89,000

Tags: Boris SmuskeviciusDarko Svesko