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

11-29-2024 05:42 UTC-12

Bakhtiev Pays Off Paunescu

Ryan Lashmar

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

With three players seeing a board of 7♠9♥10♣J♣ and around 500,000 in the middle, Nicolae Paunescu checked from the big blind, Ruslan Bakhtiev checked from the hijack and a player on the button checked in position.

Paunescu bet 150,000 on the 3♠ turn. Bakhtiev called while the player on the button got out of the way. Paunescu turned over a straight with 8♥7♥ for the winner and took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ruslan Bakhtiev	2,700,000
Nicolae Paunescu	2,450,000 425,000	425,000

Tags: Nicolae Paunescu Ruslan Bakhtiev

11-29-2024 05:49 UTC-12

Start-of-Day Chip Leader Kirill Shcherbakov Among the Latest Casualties

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Ryan Lashmar

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Shcherbakov	Busted

Igor Abelmasov	Busted
Traian Stanciu	Busted
Marc Foggin	Busted
Ramez Haddad	Busted
Denis Kapustin	Busted

11-29-2024 05:56 UTC-12

Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack by PokerNews

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Kai Cocklin

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Have you heard about MyStack by PokerNews? It is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. MyStack directly connects you to PokerNews' live reporting pages, making you an even bigger part of the action in the events you play.

MyStack is a free poker tool and PokerNews activates MyStack for every event it is live reporting from, regardless of that tournament's buy-in. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!

Click Here to Set Up Your Account

11-29-2024 06:01 UTC-12

Mukhamedzhanov Among the Big Stacks

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Kai Cocklin

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

There were around 800,000 chips in the pot on a board of 9♣8♣10♦4♥ when Iliyas Mukhamedzhanov shoved around 1,200,000 into the middle. Roman Gadzhiev had around 800,000 behind and after a short time, he elected to fold.

Mukhamedzhanov now has around 2,100,000 to work with and is among the top stacks as the penultimate level nears its climax.

Player	Chips	Progress
Iliyas Mukhamedzhanov	2,100,000 1,600,000	1,600,000
Roman Gadzhiev	800,000 100,000	100,000

Tags: Iliyas Mukhamedzhanov Roman Gadzhiev

11-29-2024 06:06 UTC-12

Selected Chip Counts

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Kai Cocklin

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nichan Khorchidian	5,200,000 175,000	175,000

Andrey Pateychuk	3,200,000 1,300,000	1,300,000

Adrian State	3,100,000 500,000	500,000
Pavel Shchitnikov	2,800,000 650,000	650,000
Assyl Tleuzhanov	2,700,000 705,000	705,000

Benjamin Winsor	2,700,000 2,540,000	2,540,000
Ruslan Bakhtiev	2,300,000 400,000	400,000
Evagoras Evagorou	1,800,000 300,000	300,000
Erik Wigg	1,500,000 625,000	625,000

Dumitru Pora	950,000 50,000	50,000
Zhen Chen	650,000 250,000	250,000
Joseph Mouwad	500,000 350,000	350,000

11-29-2024 06:08 UTC-12

Ketzer Gets a Massive Double Through Paunescu

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Ryan Lashmar

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Nicolae Paunescu opened to 60,000 from the cutoff and Felipe Ketzer three-bet to 220,000 from the small blind. Paunescu made the call.

The flop came K♦9♠3♠ and Ketzer continued for 200,000. Paunescu called.

Ketzer bet 265,000 on the 8♠ turn and Paunescu moved all in with a covering stack. Ketzer, who had around 1,200,000 behind, went into the tank. He speculated that it didn't make sense for Paunescu to have a flush, and that he must have ace-queen with the ace of spades, before making the call.

Felipe Ketzer: K♣9♣ All in
Nicolae Paunescu: A♠Q♣

Ketzer was ahead with two pair while Paunescu had the nut-flush draw. The 6♣ river was a brick and Ketzer dragged in a colossal pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Felipe Ketzer	3,610,000 2,235,000	2,235,000
Nicolae Paunescu	800,000 1,650,000	1,650,000

Tags: Felipe Ketzer Nicolae Paunescu

Level: 25

Blinds: 20,000/40,000

Ante: 40,000

11-29-2024 06:20 UTC-12

Cetiner Doubles With Aces

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Kai Cocklin

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

Ibrahim Cetiner was all-in and at risk for around 850,000, but had the best starting hand in poker to try and double up with.

Ibrahim Cetiner: A♣A♦ All in
Shai Zurr: Q♣Q♥

Cetiner was ahead with his aces and stayed there on the 8♥7♦3♥7♠2♥ runout, which doubled him up to around 1,800,000. Zurr, on the other hand, lost a bunch but still has a healthy stack with around 1,500,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ibrahim Cetiner	1,800,000 600,000	600,000
Shai Zurr	1,500,000 250,000	250,000

Tags: Ibrahim Cetiner Shai Zurr

11-29-2024 06:25 UTC-12

Pateychuk Nears Five Million, Wigg Left Short

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Kai Cocklin

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

There were over 1,500,000 chips already in the pot on a board of K♥8♠10♠8♣9♣ when Andrey Pateychuk checked it over to Erik Wigg on the button.

Wigg was in the tank for a while but eventually knuckled back, then mucked when Pateychuk showed A♣K♣ for top pair, top kicker.

Pateychuk now has around 4,500,000 chips as the day looms closer to ending.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Pateychuk	4,500,000 1,300,000	1,300,000

Erik Wigg	600,000 900,000	900,000

Tags: Andrey Pateychuk Erik Wigg

11-29-2024 06:27 UTC-12

Zurr's Aces Go Down in Flames

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Ryan Lashmar

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

In a massive preflop confrontation Shai Zurr was all in for just over 1,500,000 and up against Dmitry Gromov who covered him.

Shai Zurr: A♣A♠ All in
Dmitry Gromov: A♥K♦

Zurr was a huge favorite with pocket aces versus Gromov's ace-king but the 10♠4♦Q♠3♦J♥ runout gave Gromov a Broadway straight to send Zurr to the rail in brutal fashion and put himself in contention for the chip lead.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	3,500,000 2,750,000	2,750,000

Shai Zurr	Busted

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Shai Zurr