Danesh Zargaran waited until the final moments of Day 3 before seizing the chip lead of the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series $1,100 IPO Master.
Zargaran busted George Phiniotis in a set-over-set cooler on one of the last hands of the night as he finished with 5,450,000 and atop the leaderboard over the remaining 42 players. A quarter of Italians follow behind him, including Candido Cappiello (4,960,000), Simone Pascucci (3,850,000), Francesco Canzonieri (3,840,000), and Nicolo Bartolone (3,445,000).
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danesh Zargaran | Iran | 5,405,000 | 68 |
| 2 | Candido Cappiello | Italy | 4,960,000 | 62 |
| 3 | Simone Pascucci | Italy | 3,850,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Francesco Canzonieri | Italy | 3,840,000 | 48 |
| 5 | Nicolo Bartolone | Italy | 3,445,000 | 43 |
| 6 | Deniz Dalgic | Turkey | 3,245,000 | 41 |
| 7 | Azizjon Rakhimov | Uzbekistan | 3,105,000 | 39 |
| 8 | Romain Retiere | France | 3,020,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Georgios Skarparis | Cyprus | 2,900,000 | 36 |
| 10 | Mazen El-Ayache | Lebanon | 2,875,000 | 36 |
Azizjon Rakhimov cracked aces and kings in the same hand to bust two players as he finished with 3,105,000. Other top stacks include Romain Retiere (3,020,000), newly-crowned WSOP bracelet winner Georgios Skarparis (2,900,000), Bakhos Joumaa (2,780,000), and start-of-day chip leader Jak Ferman (2,635,000). EPT champion Kalidou Sow made a big hero call to double up on his way to bagging up 2,700,000.
Day 3 began with 176 players remaining out a massive field of 937. The first order of business was to burst the bubble, and the likes of Selahaddin Bedir, Natan Chauskin, and Koray Korkmaz left without a payday. Murad Cakir ran his top pair into the kings of Joumaa to burst the bubble as the remaining 125 players were all in the money.
Simone Andrian (123rd), Fabio Peluso (116th), Day 1 chip leader Hassan Nashar (115th), Day 1a chip leader Seyedali Hosseinirami (100th), Maksim Shornikau (86th), Recep Aydemir (81st), and Mihai Niste (81st) were all sent to the payout desk after the bubble burst. Reigning Merit Poker Carmen Series champion Elie Farah built a big stack and was in contention for the chip lead before doubling up two players on consecutive hands; he eventually busted in 66th.
The remaining players return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time to play down to a champion. The action picks up on Level 26 with blinds of 40,000-80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante, making the average stack less than 30 big blinds at the start of the day. Everyone left is guaranteed $3,880 for making it this day. A spot at the final table is worth $14,600, while the champion walks away with $146,600 and the prestigious Merit Poker title.
Stay tuned as PokerNews brings all the action leading up to the final table tomorrow and the eventual crowning of a champion.
