Denis Stoma raised to 800,000 under the gun as action folded to Dashinka, who looked down at K♥K♦ on the button and moved all in. The blinds quickly folded back to Stoma who got rid of A♦4♦ as Dashinka showed his kings and took the pot.
Fausto Tantillo raised to 800,000 in the cutoff before Raffaele Castro three-bet to 1,500,000 on the button. Tantillo folded and Castro showed 8♠8♣ as he took the pot.
The next hand, Anthony Khouzami moved all in for 4,600,000 in the small blind as action went on Mohamad El-Sayed in the big blind. He gave it some thought before mucking as Khouzami showed K♥K♠.
"All of a sudden everybody wants to fold. Nobody wants to make it 800, nobody wants to do anything," Khouzami said.
Ermanno Pacini limped in from the cutoff, Fouad Toujani came along in the small blind, and Dashinka checked his option.
All three players checked the 7♦7♣4♣ flop. The turn was the Q♦ and Dashinka bet 450,000. Both Pacini and Toujani called.
The 4♠ river was again checked through as Toujani turned over Q♥5♥ for two pair. Dashinka mucked, while Pacini mucked 9♠9♥ as Toujani took down the pot.
Anthony Khouzami raised to 800,000 under the gun before Raffaele Castro moved all in from the big blind. Khouzami snap-called for 6,000,000.
Anthony Khouzami: A♠J♣
Raffaele Castro: A♦K♥
Khouzami found himself dominated with his tournament life on the line as the flop came 10♣8♣2♣, giving him some hope with a flush draw. The A♥ turn gave both players top pair, but the K♠ river improved Castro to two pair and sent Khouzami to the rail on the final table bubble.
The remaining nine players are bagging up their chips before they return for the final table tomorrow at 1 p.m.
With one more day to go in the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series, there is still plenty to play for at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Perhaps appropriately, four Italians have reached the final table of the $2,200 La Notte Degli Assi, with Fausto Tantillo leading the way.
The final day begins at 1 p.m. local time, where the final nine contenders will return to battle for the trophy and the top prize of $355,000.
Tantillo bagged 65 big blinds on Day 4, finishing with a total of 25,875,000 chips for a healthy advantage over start-of-day chip leader Dashinka (17,000,000).
The Italian pro boasts more than $1,000,000 in live tournament earnings, with many of those results coming right here in Northern Cyprus. That includes a win this spring in the 2024 Mediterranean Poker Party $15,000 Super High Roller for $231,800, along with six other final table finishes at Merit since the start of 2023.
However, this run to the Day 5 chip lead would not have happened without some luck along the way. Tantillo caught an ace to crack kings, but even that would not have been good if Denis Stoma didn’t let go of his pocket sevens that would have sent Tantillo to the rail.
He’s joined by fellow Italians Raffaele Castro (16,100,000), WSOP bracelet winner Simone Andrian (13,875,000) and Day 2 leader Ermanno Pacini (10,425,000), who all sit in the top six on the leaderboard.
Day 4 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Fausto Tantillo
Italy
25,875,000
65
2
Dashinka
Israel
17,000,000
43
3
Raffaele Castro
Italy
16,100,000
40
4
Simone Andrian
Italy
13,875,000
35
5
Fouad Toujani
France
11,200,000
28
6
Ermanno Pacini
Italy
10,425,000
26
7
Kirill Burtin
Russian Federation
7,150,000
18
8
Mohamad El-Sayed
Lebanon
5,850,000
15
9
Denis Stoma
Belarus
5,700,000
14
Anthony Khouzami
Day 4 began with 41 players returning to action, with ten knocked out in the first two hours of play. From there, a steady stream to the payout desk continued as the dramatic action saw Tantillo take control in the final two tables.
While Dashinka held the lead at the feature table after scoring a knockout with aces, Castro brought an end to the night by sending Anthony Khouzamito the rail in 10th place.
That saw all nine lock up at least $34,450, with a $10,550 pay jump looming with the next elimination and the largest pieces of the $2,084,720 prize pool still to be decided.
Others still in contention include Fouad Toujani (11,200,000), Kirill Burtin (7,150,000), Mohamad El-Sayed (5,850, 000) while Stoma (5,700,000) returns as the short stack with 14 big blinds.
$2,200 La Notte Degli Assi Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize (USD)
1
$355,000
2
$240,000
3
$160,000
4
$115,000
5
$90,000
6
$72,000
7
$57,700
8
$45,000
9
$34,450
Merit Poker Trophy
Action will resume at 1 p.m. local time with 29:42 remaining on the clock in Level 35, and blinds of 200,000/400,000 along with a 400,000 big blind ante. You can catch the final table on the Merit Poker YouTube channel at 2 p.m. local time.
Catch all of the final day action, as the PokerNews live reporting team provides full coverage as the newest Merit Poker champion will be crowned.
