2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

$3,300 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q5
Prize
$338,500
Event Info
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$1,832,640
Entries
664
Level Info
Level
37
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Players Info - Day 1b
Entries
166
Players Left
74

$3,300 Main Event

Day 1b Completed

Alisa Sibgatova Dominates Day 1b of Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Alisa Sibgatova
Alisa Sibgatova

Day 1b of the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event has come to a close here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Alisa Sibgatova finished the night with the largest stack across both of the first two starting flights, ending with 661,000. That stack will be worth just over 264 big blinds going into Day 2. She is most closely followed by Aleksandar Tot (559,000) and Mihai Tusnea (487,000). Sibgatova has just over $90,000 in career tournament earnings with her best cash of €23,210 ($26,078) coming from a deep run in the 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event.

Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Alisa SibgatovaRussian Federation661,000264
2Aleksandar TotMontenegro559,000224
3Mihai TusneaRomania487,000195
4Ruslan BakhtievRussian Federation454,000182
5Naji TanuriLebanon440,500176
6Edgard RaffoulLebanon438,000175
7Sergey BortsovIsrael429,500172
8Umutcan IpekogluTurkey425,000170
9Jenya GavrilovichBelarus364,500146
10Adrian StateRomania358,500143

Day 1b Highlights

Day 1b attracted a total of 166 entrants to bring the total field size from the first two starting flights to 351. Of those 166 entrants, 74 players were able to find a bag at the end of the night and advance to Day 2 after nine hour-long levels of play. Despite the deep structure of this event, featuring 60-minute levels and a starting stack worth 200 big blinds, the action was fast and furious from the start. Tot set the pace in the first level of the day after being on the right side of a brutal cooler that saw pocket aces cracked by quad queens. Tot would experience many ups and downs from that point on but would ultimately finish the night with the second-largest stack in the room.

Aleksandar Tot
Aleksandar Tot

Can Miral found himself among the chip leaders midway through the day after getting the maximum with pocket aces, but his momentum would come to a crashing halt later in the night after Razvan Sabau cracked his set of eights.

Sibgatova was under the radar for most of the day before rapidly accumulating chips in the last two levels. In one of the final hands of the night she would river a full house to crack Sari Haddad's turned straight and by that point she easily had the largest chip stack in the room.

Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Andrey Pateychuk (304,000), Fabio Peluso (146,000), Halil Tasyurek (52,500) and Aylar Lie (32,500). Peluso in particular had a tough start to the day, finding himself short-stacked early on. Later he would make an admirable comeback, doubling up twice in the span of just a few hands to preserve his tournament life and ultimately advance to Day 2.

Fabio Peluso
Fabio Peluso

Notable players from today's Day 1b flight who were not fortunate enough to advance to Day 2 include Giorgiy Skhulukhiya and Dmitry Gromov.

As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event until a winner is crowned on March 26.

Tags: Aleksandar TotAlisa SibgatovaAndrey PateychukAylar LieCan MiralFabio PelusoHalil TasyurekMihai TusneaRazvan SabauSari Haddad

End of Night Chip Counts (full)

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Alisa Sibgatova ru
Alisa Sibgatova
661,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
Profile photo of Aleksandar Tot me
Aleksandar Tot
559,000
Profile photo of Mihai Tusnea ro
Mihai Tusnea
487,000
Profile photo of Ruslan Bakhtiev ru
Ruslan Bakhtiev
454,000
Profile photo of Naji Tannoury lb
Naji Tannoury
440,500
440,500
440,500
Profile photo of Edgard Raffoul lb
Edgard Raffoul
438,000
Profile photo of Sergey Bortsov il
Sergey Bortsov
429,500
Profile photo of Umutcan Ipekoglu tr
Umutcan Ipekoglu
425,000
Profile photo of Jenya Gavrilovich by
Jenya Gavrilovich
364,500
364,500
364,500
Profile photo of Adrian State ro
Adrian State
358,500
Profile photo of Dmitrii Andreev ru
Dmitrii Andreev
349,000
-11,500
-11,500
Profile photo of Mario Scalia it
Mario Scalia
348,500
137,200
137,200
Profile photo of Nikolay Fal ru
Nikolay Fal
345,500
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Gregoire Auzoux fr
Gregoire Auzoux
321,500
321,500
321,500
Profile photo of Arne Coulier be
Arne Coulier
312,500
212,500
212,500
Profile photo of Stephane Gabarre fr
Stephane Gabarre
307,000
-33,000
-33,000
Profile photo of Andrey Pateychuk ru
Andrey Pateychuk
304,000
EPT Main Event Champion
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Lyudmil Ivanov bg
Lyudmil Ivanov
300,000
211,000
211,000
Profile photo of Ihor Kaliahin ua
Ihor Kaliahin
291,000
291,000
291,000
Profile photo of Frederic Popot fr
Frederic Popot
286,500
286,500
286,500
Profile photo of Walid Bou Habib lb
Walid Bou Habib
276,000
-105,000
-105,000
Profile photo of Alekseev Vladimir
Alekseev Vladimir
270,000
270,000
270,000
Profile photo of Razvan Sabau ro
Razvan Sabau
268,500
-43,500
-43,500
Profile photo of Can Miral tr
Can Miral
265,000
-12,000
-12,000
Profile photo of Volodymyr Drokin ua
Volodymyr Drokin
250,000
250,000
250,000

Read full

Sibgatova Spikes the River

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

With two players seeing a board of Q735 and 16,000 already in the middle, Sari Haddad bet 5,500 from the small blind and Alisa Sibgatova raised to 12,000 from middle position. Haddad moved all in for approximately 100,000 and Sibgatova snap-called with a covering stack.

Sari Haddad: 64 All in
Alisa Sibgatova: 77

Both players had monsters. Sibgatova had flopped a set only for Haddad to take the lead with a straight on the turn. The Q river improved Sibgatova to a full house and she collected another massive pot while Haddad made his exit from the tournament area.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Alisa Sibgatova ru
Alisa Sibgatova
595,000
181,000
181,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
Profile photo of Sari Haddad lb
Sari Haddad
Busted

Tags: Alisa SibgatovaSari Haddad

Pateychuk Flushes Out Dinler

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Andrey Pateychuk
Andrey Pateychuk

In a preflop confrontation Dogan Dinler was all in for 111,000 from the button and up against Andrey Pateychuk who had a covering stack in the small blind.

Dogan Dinler: QQ All in
Andrey Pateychuk: K10

Dinler was ahead with the premium pocket pair but the 624 flop gave Pateychuk plenty of outs in the form of a flush draw and live king. The 3 turn brought some further outs to chop the pot and the 7 river brought the flush in for Pateychuk who took down a sizable pot while Dinler was sent to the rail late in the day.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Andrey Pateychuk ru
Andrey Pateychuk
275,000
148,000
148,000
EPT Main Event Champion
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Dogan Dinler tr
Dogan Dinler
Busted

Tags: Andrey PateychukDogan Dinler

Bortsov Gets All of It

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Sergey Bortsov
Sergey Bortsov

With two players seeing a final board of 2K94K and roughly 150,000 already in the middle, Antoine Hasbani moved all in from early position for roughly 90,000 and was quickly called by Sergey Bortsov from the next seat over who had a covering stack.

Bortsov tabled K9 for kings full of nines to take down one of the biggest pots of the tournament so far while Hasbani made his exit from the tournament area.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Sergey Bortsov il
Sergey Bortsov
475,000
145,000
145,000
Profile photo of Antoine Hasbani lb
Antoine Hasbani
Busted

Tags: Antoine HasbaniSergey Bortsov

Gabdullin and Baranski Play a Classic Flip

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Damir Gabdullin
Damir Gabdullin

In a preflop confrontation Damir Gabdullin was all in from the small blind for 158,500 and was up against Sergey Baranski on the button who held a covering stack.

Damir Gabdullin: QQ All in
Sergey Baranski: AK

Baranski took the lead with top pair on the K93 flop leaving Gabdullin drawing to just two outs. The 6 turn changed nothing but the Q river gave Gabdullin a set to score a massive double up at Baranski's expense.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Damir Gabdullin ru
Damir Gabdullin
323,000
93,000
93,000
Profile photo of Sergey Baranski by
Sergey Baranski
181,000
-247,000
-247,000

Tags: Damir GabdullinSergey Baranski

Assorted Chip Counts after Final Break

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Edgard Raffoul lb
Edgard Raffoul
535,000
Profile photo of Alisa Sibgatova ru
Alisa Sibgatova
414,000
12,000
12,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
Profile photo of Ruslan Bakhtiev ru
Ruslan Bakhtiev
410,000
Profile photo of Nikolay Fal ru
Nikolay Fal
375,000
288,000
288,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Dmitrii Andreev ru
Dmitrii Andreev
360,500
7,500
7,500
Profile photo of Aleksandar Tot me
Aleksandar Tot
343,000
123,000
123,000
Profile photo of Razvan Sabau ro
Razvan Sabau
312,000
82,000
82,000
Profile photo of Yassin Mahmoud jo
Yassin Mahmoud
241,500
-203,500
-203,500
Profile photo of Yunsheng Sun cn
Yunsheng Sun
223,000
15,000
15,000
Profile photo of Antoine Hasbani lb
Antoine Hasbani
185,000
-190,000
-190,000
Profile photo of Fabio Peluso it
Fabio Peluso
182,000
19,000
19,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Aleksandr Kirichenko ru
Aleksandr Kirichenko
130,000
27,000
27,000
Profile photo of Andrey Pateychuk ru
Andrey Pateychuk
127,000
-123,000
-123,000
EPT Main Event Champion
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Giorgiy Skhulukhiya ge
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya
88,000
-126,000
-126,000
Profile photo of Yiannakis Papapetrou cy
Yiannakis Papapetrou
83,000
-22,000
-22,000
Profile photo of Aylar Lie no
Aylar Lie
40,000
-45,000
-45,000