$2,200 Warm Up
Day 1bc Completed
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 1bc
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1bc
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$830,640
Entries
446
Level
33
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Entries
221
Players Left
107
From Last to First: Ermanno Di Nicola Bags the Chip Lead on Day 1b of the $2,200 Warm Up
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Ermanno Di Nicola’s experience through the first two days of the Merit Poker Western Series couldn’t have been any different.
Di Nicola was the first player eliminated in the opening flight of the $2,200 Warm Up yesterday as he ended up going through multiple entries without bagging chips. Today on Day 1b, he not only made it through the day but finished as chip leader over the 68 surviving players.
Di Nicola built up a big stack over the day and aggressively used it to accumulate even more chips, picking off bluffs from Justus Held and applying pressure to fellow big stack Behrouz Ghaedi in two sizeable pots. The recent WSOP bracelet winner ended up with 937,500, just trailing the million-chip stack that Peng Yang bagged up yesterday.
Aleksandar Tot (827,500), Antoine Hasbani (559,500), Jalal Jafari (455,000), and Vitalii Pankov (419,500) also ended Day 1b as big stacks. Gang Zhao, part of the sizeable Chinese contingent that has already made their mark on the tournament, found aces against Aylar Lie’s kings near the end of the night to finish with 413,000.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ermanno Di Nicola | Italy | 937,500 | 375 |
| 2 | Aleksandar Tot | Montenegro | 827,500 | 331 |
| 3 | Antoine Hasbani | Lebanon | 559,500 | 224 |
| 4 | Qusai Albakeer | n/a | 549,500 | 220 |
| 5 | Ramez Haddad | Lebanon | 521,000 | 208 |
| 6 | Sergey Bortsov | Israel | 456,500 | 183 |
| 7 | Jalal Jafari | Turkey | 455,000 | 182 |
| 8 | Andre Mehreb | Lebanon | 440,000 | 176 |
| 9 | Vitalii Pankov | Russia | 419,500 | 168 |
| 10 | Gang Zhao | China | 413,000 | 165 |
Others to book their ticket for Day 2 include Adrian State (290,500), Ara Melkisetian (207,000), Thomas Eychenne (203,000), Felipe Ketzer (192,000), and Andrey Pateychuk (190,500). Cheng Zhao, coming off a final-table run at EPT Prague last month, ended up with 116,000, while Lie finished with 83,500 after suffering that late cooler.
A total of 162 entries came out for Day 1b, building a field of 277 through two starting flights. Just 115 will return for Day 2. There is also a Day 1c flight that begins at 9:30 p.m. with 25-minute levels, and a Day 1d flight tomorrow at 10 a.m. with 15-minute levels. Survivors will combine for Day 2 at 12:30 p.m. local time. Late registration remains open through the end of Level 12 on Day 2, with players allowed unlimited reentries.
PokerNews will also return tomorrow for Day 2 as the field begins the march towards the money. Stay tuned for live updates throughout the remainder of the festival here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
Day 1c Chip Counts
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Day 1c attracted a further 45 entries, with 31 players advancing to Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
330,000
330,000
|
330,000 |
|
||
|
267,000
267,000
|
267,000 |
|
||
|
|
267,000
267,000
|
267,000 |
|
|
266,000
266,000
|
266,000 |
|
245,500
245,500
|
245,500 |
|
|
203,500
203,500
|
203,500 |
|
199,500
199,500
|
199,500 |
|
193,500
193,500
|
193,500 |
|
192,000
192,000
|
192,000 |
|
180,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
171,000
171,000
|
171,000 |
|
169,000
169,000
|
169,000 |
|
|
162,000
162,000
|
162,000 |
|
|
157,500
157,500
|
157,500 |
|
156,500
156,500
|
156,500 |
|
149,000
149,000
|
149,000 |
|
134,000
134,000
|
134,000 |
|
129,000
129,000
|
129,000 |
|
|
113,500
113,500
|
113,500 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
96,500
96,500
|
96,500 |
|
88,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
84,500
84,500
|
84,500 |
|
|
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
|
78,000
78,000
|
78,000 |
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
937,500
77,500
|
77,500 |
|
||
|
827,500
-22,500
|
-22,500 |
|
559,500
79,500
|
79,500 |
|
549,500
199,500
|
199,500 |
|
521,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
|
456,500 | |
|
|
455,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
|
440,000 | |
|
419,500
119,500
|
119,500 |
|
413,000
83,000
|
83,000 |
|
|
413,000
183,000
|
183,000 |
|
383,500 | |
|
359,000
119,000
|
119,000 |
|
350,500
-49,500
|
-49,500 |
|
346,500 | |
|
|
344,000
274,000
|
274,000 |
|
329,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
318,500
-31,500
|
-31,500 |
|
314,500
234,500
|
234,500 |
|
300,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
|
292,000 | |
|
290,500
270,500
|
270,500 |
|
286,500
146,500
|
146,500 |
|
|
276,500 | |
|
263,500
83,500
|
83,500 |
Play Concludes
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Day 1b has ended with 69 players remaining.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Three More Hands
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Tournament officials announced that players will see three more. hands before bagging up for the night.
The clock currently shows 71 players remaining out of 162 total entries.
Zhao Puts a Massive Cooler on Lie
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Gang Zhao got his last 164,500 in the middle before the flop from early position and was up against Aylar Lie in middle position.
Gang Zhao: A♦A♣
Aylar Lie: K♠K♣
Lie had run into the ultimate cooler and found no miracles on the 3♥10♦9♣7♦4♦ as she handed over a significant portion of her stack at the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000
330,000
|
330,000 |
|
90,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Daniliuk Runs Into Ihlamur's Set
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Three-handed on a flop of 10♥6♣3♣, Jose Nehme bet 25,000 from under the gun before Osman Ihlamur moved all in for 158,000 in middle position. Andrei Daniliuk stuck in his last 94,000 in the hijack and Nehme asked for a count of both opponents before eventually folding.
Andrei Daniliuk: K♦K♠
Osman Ihlamur: 3♠3♦
Ihlamur had flopped a set to leave Daniliuk at risk of having his kings cracked. The board ran out Q♠4♣ and Daniliuk was eliminated shortly before the end of the night.
Aleksandar Tot and Antoine Hasbani are also at this table with two of the biggest stacks in the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
850,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
|
480,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
320,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
|
300,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
Busted |
Di Nicola Keeps Climbing
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Ermanno Di Nicola and Behrouz Ghaedi went heads-up to a flop of 5♠Q♣8♦ where Di Nicola bet 7,500 from the cutoff.
Ghaedi called under the gun and the K♣ fell on the turn. Di Nicola then bet 17,000 and Ghaedi again called.
The river was the 4♥ and Di Nicola fired out 46,000. Ghaedi quickly folded and Di Nicola took the pot to add to his already-massive stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
860,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
400,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
Achour Shoves Out Kaukua
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Toni Kaukua put in a raise of 38,500 from the small blind and Maher Achour called in the cutoff.
The flop came 10♠J♠6♠ and Kaukua continued for 20,000. Achour called and the 9♣ fell on the turn.
Kaukua then bet another 40,000 and Achour moved all in. Kaukua, with around 130,000 remaining, quickly folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
350,000 | |
|
130,000
35,000
|
35,000 |