2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

$2,200 Merit Poker Cup
Day: 1bc
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 1bc
Entries
141
Players Left
65

$2,200 Merit Poker Cup

Day 1bc Completed

Korkmaz Leads the Way in Day 1b of Carmen Series Merit Poker Cup

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

Day 1b of the Carmen Series $2,200 Merit Poker Cup has come to a close here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. The second of four starting flights attracted a total of 141 entrants. After the dust had settled, 65 players were able to bag their chips at the end of the night and advance to Day 2. Koray Korkmaz finished the night with the biggest stack in the room, ending with 535,000 chips worth 214 big blinds going into Day 2. Korkmaz is most closely followed by Sergei Sokharev (504,500) and Iurii Saiapin (488,500).

Korkmaz got off to a great start during this festival after taking down the first event: $2,200 Mystery Bounty 6-handed for $85,000 including bounties. Korkmaz has just under $1,000,000 in lifetime tournament earnings and has momentum on his side going into Day 2 of the Merit Poker Cup.

Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Koray KorkmazTurkey535,000214
2Sergei SokharevRussian Federation504,500202
3Iurii SaiapinRussian Federation488,500195
4Siavash ZiaratIran432,500173
5Lyudmil IvanovBulgaria420,000168
6Halil TasyurekTurkey401,500161
7Maksim ShornikauBelarus380,500152
8Boris AngelovBulgaria373,500149
9Alexandru PapazianRomania364,000146
10Jenya GavrilovichBelarus343,500137

Day 1b began with 16 players to start. The tournament's excellent structure, featuring 60-minute levels and a starting stack worth over 150 big blinds, ensured players had plenty of room to maneuver. Vadim Volkhonskiy got off to a hot start today after cracking pocket aces with a set of kings and was able to ride that early success all the way to the end of the night where he bagged an average stack. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya was also among the chip leaders in the first few levels of the day after cracking his opponent's trips with a full house in another early highlight.

Halil Tasyurek
Halil Tasyurek

Fresh off a runner up finish yesterday in the $5,300 High Roller for $123,100, Halil Tasyurek wasted no time accumulating chips. He would win a monster pot with aces full midway through the day and ultimately finish the night with the sixth-largest stack.

Other notables to end the night with chips in a bag include Alexandru Papazian (364,000), Maxime Chilaud (259,500), Ozgur Secilmis (245,000) and Dmitry Gromov (136,000), Others who entered Day 1b but fell before the end of the night include Skhulukhiya, Andrey Pateychuk and Nikolay Fal.

Two starting flights remain for this event. Day 1c is already underway, while a turbo Day 1d is scheduled at 10:00 a.m. local time on March 29. The final flight begins just a couple hours before the fields combine for Day 2 at 12:30 p.m. local time the same day. Unlimited reentries and late registration will remain open until the end of Level 12, midway through Day 2.

As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action from tomorrow's Day 2 on March 29 until a winner is crowned on March 31.

Tags: Alexandru PapazianAndrey PateychukBoris AngelovDmitry GromovGiorgiy SkhulukhiyaHalil TasyurekIurii SaiapinJenya GavrilovichKoray KorkmazLyudmil IvanovMaksim ShornikauMaxime ChilaudNikolay FalOzgur SecilmisSergei SokharevSiavash ZiaratVadim Volkhonskiy

Day 1C Chip Counts

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ceyhan Tezcan tr
Ceyhan Tezcan
292,000
292,000
292,000
Profile photo of Benjamin Hamnett us
Benjamin Hamnett
251,000
251,000
251,000
WPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Miad Shakiba ir
Miad Shakiba
245,000
245,000
245,000
Profile photo of Milad Oghabian ir
Milad Oghabian
233,000
233,000
233,000
Profile photo of Krzystof Spisak
Krzystof Spisak
206,500
206,500
206,500
Profile photo of Georgios Skarparis cy
Georgios Skarparis
125,000
125,000
125,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Mesut Tekin
Mesut Tekin
116,000
116,000
116,000
Profile photo of Enver Hosver
Enver Hosver
88,000
88,000
88,000
Profile photo of Tugce Hursoz tr
Tugce Hursoz
38,500
38,500
38,500

End of Night Chip Counts (full)

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Koray Korkmaz tr
Koray Korkmaz
535,000
535,000
535,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
Profile photo of Sergei Sokharev ru
Sergei Sokharev
504,500
-35,500
-35,500
Profile photo of Iurii Saiapin ru
Iurii Saiapin
488,500
12,500
12,500
Profile photo of Siavash Ziarat ir
Siavash Ziarat
432,500
432,500
432,500
Profile photo of Lyudmil Ivanov bg
Lyudmil Ivanov
420,000
125,500
125,500
Profile photo of Halil Tasyurek tr
Halil Tasyurek
401,500
-82,500
-82,500
Profile photo of Maksim Shornikau by
Maksim Shornikau
380,500
380,500
380,500
Profile photo of Boris Angelov bg
Boris Angelov
373,500
72,500
72,500
Profile photo of Alexandru Papazian ro
Alexandru Papazian
364,000
364,000
364,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Profile photo of Jenya Gavrilovich by
Jenya Gavrilovich
343,500
163,200
163,200
Profile photo of Florian Guimond fr
Florian Guimond
341,500
63,500
63,500
Profile photo of O I
O I
337,000
337,000
337,000
Profile photo of Uladzimir Zhyharau by
Uladzimir Zhyharau
326,000
326,000
326,000
Profile photo of Boris Tabiyev kz
Boris Tabiyev
323,000
323,000
323,000
Profile photo of Dmitrii Kuzin ru
Dmitrii Kuzin
308,000
30,000
30,000
Profile photo of Omar Lakhdari dz
Omar Lakhdari
303,000
303,000
303,000
Profile photo of Edgard Raffoul lb
Edgard Raffoul
300,000
300,000
300,000
Profile photo of Ali Zebarjad au
Ali Zebarjad
294,000
3,000
3,000
Profile photo of Denis Zelenkin ru
Denis Zelenkin
285,000
28,000
28,000
Profile photo of Nan Zhu cn
Nan Zhu
274,500
274,500
274,500
Profile photo of Razvan Sabau ro
Razvan Sabau
267,500
42,000
42,000
Profile photo of Marcin Dziubdziela pl
Marcin Dziubdziela
264,500
65,700
65,700
Profile photo of Georges Hanna lb
Georges Hanna
262,000
64,000
64,000
Profile photo of Maxime Chilaud fr
Maxime Chilaud
259,500
151,500
151,500
Profile photo of Atanas Kodinov bg
Atanas Kodinov
253,000
253,000
253,000

Read full

Saiapin Turns the Goods

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

Roman Stoica opened to 5,000 from under the gun and received calls from Dmitry Gromov on the button and Iurii Saiapin in the big blind.

The flop came 762. Saiapin lead out with a 5,000 bet that was called by Stoica before Gromov raised to 15,000. Saiapin called while Stoica got out of the way.

Both players checked the 7 turn leading to the 4 river. Saiapin bet 25,000 and Gromov did not take long to fold.

Saiapin showed that he had AQ for the nut-flush on the turn as he took the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Iurii Saiapin ru
Iurii Saiapin
476,000
197,000
197,000
Profile photo of Roman Stoica md
Roman Stoica
161,000
-214,000
-214,000
Profile photo of Dmitry Gromov ru
Dmitry Gromov
99,000
99,000
99,000
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Dmitry GromovIurii SaiapinRoman Stoica

Scalia Flips Pateychuk to the Rail

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

Mario Scalia opened to 6,000 from under the gun and received a call from Razvan Sabau in the hijack before Andrey Pateychuk shoved from the small blind for roughly 70,000. Scalia reshoved with a slightly bigger stack and Sabau got out of the way.

Andrey Pateychuk: AQ
Mario Scalia: 99

It was a preflop flip that Scalia got the best of on the K7558 runout to send Pateychuk to the rail and score a full double up.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Razvan Sabau ro
Razvan Sabau
225,500
Profile photo of Mario Scalia it
Mario Scalia
147,000
-52,000
-52,000
Profile photo of Andrey Pateychuk ru
Andrey Pateychuk
Busted
EPT Main Event Champion
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner

Tags: Andrey PateychukMario ScaliaRazvan Sabau

Level: 8

Blinds: 1,000/2,500

Ante: 2,500

Tasyurek Cracks Aces to Bust Aversa

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

With two players seeing a boad of K103 and 15,000 in the middle, Antonio Aversa found himself all in from middle position for roughly 40,000 and was up against Halil Tasyurek in the small blind who covered him.

Antonio Aversa: AA All in
Halil Tasyurek: Q9

Aversa was ahead with the overpair until the K turn brought the flush in, leaving him drawing to just four outs. He couldn't catch an ace or a king on the Q river and was sent to the rail while Tasyurek continued to add chips to his stack.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Halil Tasyurek tr
Halil Tasyurek
484,000
91,500
91,500
Profile photo of Antonio Aversa it
Antonio Aversa
Busted

Tags: Antonio AversaHalil Tasyurek