$3,300 Main Event Day 3 | 2024 Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series

11-29-2024 06:37 UTC-12

Should Doug Polk Be Banned from Playing His Own Tournament? | PokerNews Podcast #867

Chad Holloway

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

In the 867th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, sponsored by the free-to-play WSOP App, Chad Holloway, Kyna England, and Mike Holtz are at Level 9 Studio to discuss the "controversy" of Doug Polk making the final table of his own poker tournament down at The Lodge in Austin, Texas. Should a poker operator be allowed to play in their own event? That seemed to be the question of the week in the poker world.

The crew then played "Race the Ace" to determine a winner in ourgiveaway for a seat into the ClubWPT Gold $5,000,000 Freeroll Invitational (the answer to how many engraved plates are on the WPT Mike Sexton Champion's Cup was 374)! From there, it is a look at Maria Ho winning the Celebrity Poker Tour (CPT) 2024 Championship and Chad got to meet Impractical Jokers Brian "Q" Quinn and Joe Gatto, Sketch, and Vegas Matt.

Speaking of fun events, find out who won the Global Poker Table Talk event during Formula 1 featuring Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Phelps, Carlos Sainz, and Charles Leclerc, and then get a behind-the-scenes look at the Big Deal for One Drop, which both Chad and Connor Richards attended. They caught up with Phil Hellmuth and even interviewed Jennifer Tilly.

Kyna then shares highlights from her trip to England for the PokerStars Women's Winter Festival. Then things wrap with a look at the upcoming Bar Poker Open taking place in Florida from Dec. 6-8 (Norman Chad will be there to do commentary)!

The podcast is sponsored by the #1 free-to-play WSOP app. Remember to use bonus code "POKERNEWS" if you download and play for an extra 1,000,000 in chips!

A new PokerNews Podcast will drop weekly every Friday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

11-29-2024 06:40 UTC-12

Khorchidian Eliminates Paunescu to Extend Lead

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Nichan Khorchidian shoved from the small blind and Nicolae Paunescu , who had around 700,000 in the big blind and was covered, made the call for his tournament life.

Nicolae Paunescu: A♦5♦ All in
Nichan Khorchidian: 6♠6♣

Paunescu made a pair of fives but couldn't improve further on the 8♥3♠5♥9♥3♣ runout and was sent to the rail while Khorchidian continued accumulating chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nichan Khorchidian	6,750,000 1,550,000	1,550,000

Nicolae Paunescu	Busted

Tags: Nichan Khorchidian Nicolae Paunescu

11-29-2024 06:41 UTC-12

Twists and Turns as Pateychuk and State Witness Rollercoaster Runout

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

On a flop of 9♣10♠J♠ with around 1,700,000 already in the middle, Andrey Pateychuk checked it over to Adrian State, who fired out 450,000. Pateychuk then shoved, and State quickly called off his stack which totaled around 2,300,000.

Adrian State: K♠K♦ All in
Andrey Pateychuk: 9♠9♥

Pateychuk revealed his set of nines and held a massive advantage over State's overpair. With the chance to soar into the chip lead, Pateychuk leaned forward with his eyes locked on the board. But poker is a game of cruel twists, and the turn delivered a dagger as the K♥ flipped the script and gave State a bigger set.

Suddenly, the roles reversed and only a nine on the river would see Pateychuk scoop the pot, or a queen would lead to an unlikely chop. Anything else, and State would not only scoop the pot but emerge as the tournament chip leader in the last level of the night.

The dealer burned and turned the river card, and as it landed, a collective gasp erupted as the Q♦ hit the felt, which put a straight on board. The pot was chopped, leaving both players to split their chips and regroup after that rollercoaster runout.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Pateychuk	4,600,000 100,000	100,000

Adrian State	3,200,000 100,000	100,000

Tags: Adrian State Andrey Pateychuk

11-29-2024 06:52 UTC-12

Hursoz Sends Chen Home Late on Day 3

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Tugce Hursoz opened the cutoff to 90,000 and Zhen Chen shoved for 470,000 from the small blind. When it got back to Hursoz, she quickly called.

Zhen Chen: A♣7♣ All in
Tugce Hursoz: 10♥10♣

Hursoz had the lead with her pocket tens and remained in front after the Q♠J♣4♠ flop hit the baize. A 2♠ turn left Chen with one chance at survival, but the 9♦ wasn't the card he was looking for, and he was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tugce Hursoz	2,200,000 750,000	750,000
Zhen Chen	Busted

Tags: Tugce Hursoz Zhen Chen

11-29-2024 06:57 UTC-12

Recent Eliminations

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	Busted
Joseph Mouwad	Busted
Clement Bonnant	Busted
Baris Caliskan	Busted
Nicolae Paunescu	Busted
Shai Zurr	Busted

Mehdi Chaoui	Busted
Andrei Daniliuk	Busted
Candido Cappiello	Busted
Nikolay Fal	Busted
Yusuf Romano	Busted

11-29-2024 06:59 UTC-12

Final Three Hands

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

The floor have announced that three more hands will be played tonight, then the survivors will bag up for the evening.

11-29-2024 07:11 UTC-12

Day 3 Comes to an End

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Day 3 has wrapped up with 29 players still in contention!

Stay tuned for a recap of the day's action.

11-29-2024 07:13 UTC-12

End of Day Chip Counts (full)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nichan Khorchidian	6,900,000 150,000	150,000

Andrey Pateychuk	4,095,000 505,000	505,000

Vedat Yilmaz	3,975,000 3,175,000	3,175,000
Dmitry Gromov	3,780,000 280,000	280,000

Pavel Shchitnikov	3,305,000 505,000	505,000
Felipe Ketzer	3,170,000 440,000	440,000
Ruslan Bakhtiev	2,800,000 500,000	500,000
Adrian State	2,800,000 400,000	400,000
Assyl Tleuzhanov	2,700,000

Iliyas Mukhamedzhanov	2,585,000 485,000	485,000
Tugce Hursoz	2,500,000 300,000	300,000
Benjamin Winsor	2,250,000 450,000	450,000
Evagoras Evagorou	2,150,000 350,000	350,000
Dimitrios Barmpathanasis	1,920,000 45,000	45,000
Dauren Zhaparov	1,805,000 95,000	95,000
Naji Tannoury	1,665,000 665,000	665,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	1,650,000 900,000	900,000
Ibrahim Cetiner	1,600,000 200,000	200,000
Anton Wigg	1,600,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Charbel Salloum	1,270,000 770,000	770,000
Aleksei Gortikov	1,090,000 615,000	615,000
Asaf Groofi	1,080,000 400,000	400,000
Dumitru Pora	1,045,000 95,000	95,000
Fredrico Senno	945,000 5,000	5,000
Alexandru Cinca	795,000 45,000	45,000

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11-29-2024 07:47 UTC-12

Life Outside Poker: Boston Rob Shares Story of Costa Rica Poker Raid w/ Daniel Negreanu & Cheryl Hines

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Connor Richards

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 21st episode, Connor speaks with Survivor legend Boston Rob, aka Rob Mariano, about growing up near Fenway Park, learning poker at the age of 6, studying psychology at Boston University, applying for Survivor and winning Season 22, his recent appearance on Deal or No Deal Island and filming an upcoming season of The Traitors.

Boston Rob also revealed a story about Costa Rican authorities raiding a mansion known to host high-stakes poker games during a 2006 filming that included Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, David Williams, Michael Mizrachi and actress Cheryl Hines.

"(Gambling mogul) Calvin (Ayre) had a big party at the house, and they came in guns drawn," he said. "And we were fine, but we all had to stay at the party until they checked our passports and everything. I think it was a little bit of a shakedown. But we had a good weekend."

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Boston Rob by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

Tags: Cheryl Hines Connor Richards Daniel Negreanu David Williams Josh Arieh Rob Mariano Michael Mizrachi

11-29-2024 07:51 UTC-12

Day 4 Seat Draw

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Vedat Yilmaz	Turkey	3,975,000	80
1	2	Abdelhakim Zoufri	Netherlands Antillies	470,000	9
1	3	Naji Tannoury	Lebanon	1,665,000	33
1	4	Dimitrios Barmpathanasis	Greece	1,920,000	38
1	5	Adrian State	Romania	2,800,000	56
1	6	Nichan Khorchidian	Lebanon	6,900,000	138
1	7	Alexandru Cinca	Romania	795,000	16
1	8	Dauren Zhaparov	Kazakhstan	1,805,000	36

2	1	Tugce Hursoz	North Cyprus	2,500,000	50
2	2	Fredrico Senno	Lebanon	945,000	19
2	3	Asaf Groofi	Israel	1,080,000	22
2	4	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	3,780,000	76
2	5	Pavel Shchitnikov	Russia	3,305,000	66
2	6	Ruslan Bakhtiev	Russia	2,800,000	56
2	7	Roman Gadzhiev	Russia	600,000	12

3	1	Dumitru Pora	Romania	1,005,000	20
3	2	Yaniv Shushan	Israel	350,000	7
3	3	Aleksei Gortikov	Russia	1,090,000	22
3	4	Charbel Salloum	Lebanon	1,270,000	25
3	5	Iliyas Mukhamedzhanov	Kazakhstan	2,585,000	52
3	6	Assyl Tleuzhanov	Kazakhstan	2,700,000	54
3	7	Grigoli Liklikadze	Georgia	770,000	15

4	1	Felipe Ketzer	Brazil	3,170,000	63
4	2	Benjamin Winsor	United Kingdom	2,250,000	45
4	3	Ibrahim Cetiner	Turkey	1,600,000	32
4	4	Andrey Pateychuk	Russia	4,095,000	82
4	5	Bogdan Jontulovic	Serbia	1,650,000	33
4	6	Anton Wigg	Sweden	1,600,000	32
4	7	Evagoras Evagorou	Cyprus	2,150,000	43