The poker room at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino was buzzing all day long, as the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series continued to see lots of exciting action. That includes the $1,100 IPO Master, as a total of 284 entries joined the 317 players who bagged over the first two days of the event for Day 2. At the end of play, only 176 remain in contention heading into the weekend.
Among the big stacks at the end of nine more levels of action is Turkey’s Jak Ferman, who will return to action with more than 140 big blinds after bagging 1,908,000 chips. Two of the leaders from the opening flights are also near the top of the leaderboard, as Day 1b pace-setter Hassan Nashar collected 1,585,000 while Day 1a leader Seyedali Hosseinirami has 1,410,000.
Not far behind sits Abdelrahman Moursy, who bagged a healthy stack of 1,243,000 after finding value with pocket aces during the final few hands of the day. Moursy scored his largest recorded live tournament cash right here during the 2022 Merit Poker Retro Series, scoring a fourth-place finish for $9,885.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jak Ferman | Turkey | 1,908,000 | 159 |
| 2 | John Doe K | n/a | 1,705,000 | 142 |
| 3 | Hassan Nashar | Senegal | 1,585,000 | 132 |
| 4 | Seyedali Hosseinirami | Iran | 1,410,000 | 118 |
| 5 | Mousa Barakat | Paraguay | 1,305,000 | 109 |
| 6 | Andrea Monteriso | Italy | 1,274,000 | 106 |
| 7 | Eros Nastasi | Italy | 1,250,000 | 104 |
| 8 | Abdelrahman Moursy | United Kingdom | 1,243,000 | 104 |
| 9 | Ettore Cuzzone | Italy | 1,201,000 | 100 |
| 10 | Riccardo Santagostino | Italy | 1,191,000 | 99 |
There will be plenty of eyes on the payouts in this event, as 937 total entries helped smash the $500,000 guarantee by creating a prize pool of $862,040. The top 125 players will earn at least $1,300, with action on the money bubble likely to occur fairly quickly on Day 3. The $1,100 IPO Master champion will take home the coveted title, along with the first-place prize of $146,600.
Among the notable names to advance was Kalidou Sow, who needed another bullet after running into pocket kings twice. The second hand sent him to the rail momentarily, but a reentry saw him build up a stack of 708,000.
WSOP bracelet winner Fabio Peluso also managed to find a bag, collecting 834,000 chips for Saturday's action.
Day 3 begins on Level 19, with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and a 12,000 big blind ante. Each level will now be extended to 60 minutes in length, with 20-minute breaks after every two hours of play.
The Dolce Vita Series is just getting started, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage as the $1,100 IPO Master event works its way toward the money bubble on Saturday.
