$2,200 Merit Poker Cup
Day 1a Completed
$2,200 Merit Poker Cup
Day 1a Completed
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.
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Huseyin Akgul | Turkey | 744,000 | 298 |
2 | Mukhtar Nasiradinov | Russian Federation | 728,000 | 291 |
3 | Emad Ghadamian | Iran | 660,000 | 264 |
4 | Joseph Mouwad | Lebanon | 541,500 | 217 |
5 | Andrea Dato | Italy | 521,000 | 208 |
6 | Victor Yugay | Uzbekistan | 464,000 | 186 |
7 | Murat Ozyurt | Turkey | 426,000 | 170 |
8 | Simeon Spasov | Bulgaria | 403,000 | 161 |
9 | Boris Smuskevicius | Lithuania | 402,000 | 161 |
10 | Damir Zhugralin | Kazakhstan | 395,000 | 158 |
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.
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.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Huseyin Akgul | 744,000 | |
|
||
Mukhtar Nasiradinov
|
728,000 | |
Emad Ghadamian |
660,000
660,000
|
660,000 |
Joseph Mouwad | 541,500 | |
Andrea Dato | 521,000 | |
|
||
Victor Yugay |
464,000
464,000
|
464,000 |
Murat Ozyurt |
426,000
426,000
|
426,000 |
Simeon Spasov |
403,000
403,000
|
403,000 |
|
||
Boris Smuskevicius | 402,000 | |
Damir Zhugralin |
395,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Joshua Marquardt |
362,500
34,500
|
34,500 |
Adem Marjanovic | 357,000 | |
Mehmet Sarigoz
|
352,000
352,000
|
352,000 |
Damir Gabdullin |
344,000
-51,000
|
-51,000 |
Erdal Gulseven |
338,000
152,000
|
152,000 |
Ufuk Kortan |
321,500
321,500
|
321,500 |
Anton Markov | 316,000 | |
Emil Mattsson |
311,500
311,500
|
311,500 |
Alexander Ivanov |
311,000
311,000
|
311,000 |
George Tomescu |
309,500
152,500
|
152,500 |
Amir Saeid |
305,000
305,000
|
305,000 |
Stephane Gabarre |
292,000
292,000
|
292,000 |
John Doe G
|
290,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
Mehdi Chaoui |
281,500
281,500
|
281,500 |
Alan Turabayev |
280,500
280,500
|
280,500 |
Play has concluded for Day 1a of the Merit Poker Cup.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the night's action as well as chip counts.
The tournament staff have announced that five more hands will be played before the end of the night.
With two players seeing a final board of 10♣8♥3♣3♦K♠ 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 K♦J♣ for top pair to take the pot and continue adding chips to his already formidable stack.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Huseyin Akgul |
825,000
409,000
|
409,000 |
|
||
Fausto Tantillo |
85,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
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 K♣8♦2♣ and Marjanovic check-called a 15,000 continuation bet from Skripkin.
Both players then checked the 4♥ turn and 5♠ river. Marjanovic tabled A♣Q♦ and Skripkin's hand hit the muck.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adem Marjanovic | 222,000 | |
Maksim Skripkin |
120,000
-3,000
|
-3,000 |
Toni Kaukua opened from the button and was called by Andrea Dato in the big blind.
Both players checked the K♥Q♥J♥ flop leading to the 6♠ turn. Dato bet 3,800 and was called by Kaukua.
Both players checked the 3♣ river. Dato tabled Q♦4♦ for second pair but Kaukua had him outkicked with Q♣10♠ for a better second pair to take the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Andrea Dato |
617,000
439,000
|
439,000 |
|
||
Toni Kaukua | 195,000 | |
|
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/2,500
Ante: 2,500
Boris Smuskevicius opened to 4,000 from middle position and Darko Svesko defended from the big blind.
Both players checked the 10♦9♦3♠ 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 |
---|---|---|
Boris Smuskevicius |
339,000
-4,200
|
-4,200 |
Darko Svesko |
120,000
-89,000
|
-89,000 |