Shuang Luo had a raise to 93,000 in front of her from under the gun, while Peng Yang then reraised to 180,000. According to tablemate Aleksandar Tot, Luo had opened under the gun, Yang three-bet, and Guoliang Wei four-bet. Luo then put in her five-bet and Yang six-bet the pot, forcing out Wei.
Luo, though, moved all in for 280,000 and Yang snap-called.
Shuang Luo: A♣K♥
Peng Yang: A♥A♠
More than 600,000 was in the middle as the two players saw the flop come 6♥3♠J♣. The J♥ turn already left Luo drawing dead and heading for the exit as the 4♥ river locked up the massive pot for Yang to rocket him up into the chip lead near the end of the night.
Emrah Daban raised to 6,500 on the button before Maksim Skripkin moved all in for 50,000 in the small blind. Kristoffer Eid called in the big blind, Daban moved all in, and Eid called for around 120,000.
Maksim Skripkin: 8♠8♥
Kristoffer Eid: Q♥Q♦
Emrah Daban: A♦A♠
Daban had both players covered and at risk with his aces as the flop came 3♠9♥K♦. The turn was the 8♦ and Skripkin pulled in the lead with a set.
The 7♦ completed the board and Skripkin tripled up, while Daban sent Eid off to the exit.
There’s never a bad time to wake up with aces, but that is especially true when an opponent seven-bet shoves all in. That’s the dream scenario that unfolded for Peng Yang today on Day 1a of the $2,200 Warm Up at the Merit Poker Western Series and made him the overwhelming chip leader.
Yang picked up two aces in a pot where he six-bet to 180,000, only for Shuang Luo to move all in for her last 280,000. Yang snap-called and beat Luo’s ace-king to send her crashing to the rail as he built a massive stack over the remaining 47 players heading into Day 2.
He’s trailed by Hadi Khordbin, who found himself on the right side of two big pots near the end of the day. He hit a set of eights right before the last break, then flopped a full house with pocket sixes to bust Cheng Zhao as he finished the night with 781,000. Other big stacks include Qiang Xu (536,000), Xixiang Luo (503,500), Andrea Dato (499,000), Guoliang Wei (366,500), and Koray Korkmaz (358,500).
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Peng Yang
China
1,086,000
434
2
Hadi Khordbin
Iran
781,000
312
3
Roman Stoica
Moldova
552,500
221
4
Qiang Xu
China
536,000
214
5
Xixiang Luo
China
503,500
201
6
Azamat Tulepbergenov
Kazakhstan
502,500
201
7
Andrea Dato
Italy
499,000
200
8
Emrah Daban
Turkey
368,000
147
9
Guoliang Wei
China
366,500
147
10
Koray Korkmaz
Turkey
358,500
143
Dmitry Gromov
Nina Krasilnikova (267,000), Fausto Tantillo (259,500), Nikolay Fal (212,000), and Maxime Chilaud (83,500) also made it through to Day 2. Dmitry Gromov also survived the day, but that is little consolation after he built a massive stack of more than 600,000 early only to see it whittled down to just 48,000 by the time he bagged up. Toni Kaukua, Ermanno Di Nicola, and Giorgiy Skhulukhiya were among those knocked out on Day 1a and will have to try again in a later flight if they hope for a chance to capture the title.
A total of 115 entries came out for Day 1a. The field will grow considerably tomorrow when Day 1b begins at noon local time. There is also a turbo Day 1c flight at 9:30 p.m. tomorrow with 25-minute levels, and a Day 1d flight at 10 a.m. on January 17 with 15-minute levels. The surviving players from the four starting flights then combine on Day 2 at 12:30 p.m. on the 17th.
PokerNews will be back inside the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino tomorrow for Day 1b as a new crop of hopefuls take their shot at the title here in North Cyprus.
