Shuang Luo raised before the flop and was called by a player in the cutoff before Felipe Ketzer three-bet to 12,100 in the small blind. Luo then four-bet to 30,000.
The cutoff folded, but Ketzer came back with a five-bet to 47,700. Luo called and the flop came K♦8♦8♥. Ketzer continued for 7,300 and Luo called.
Both players checked the 2♣ turn and the 6♥ fell on the river. Ketzer then bet enough to put Luo all in and Luo, with around 30,000 remaining, snap-folded.
Mark Smith and Ali Akbar Zebarjad built a pot of 48,000 as they headed to the turn with the board showing 5♦7♥4♥7♠. Smith then bet 50,000 from the cutoff and Zebarjad called in the big blind.
The river was the K♦ and Smith announced he was all in, having Zebarjad well covered. Zebarjad, with around 50,000 remaining, quickly folded.
Muhammed Bozkurt raised to 3,500 under the gun and received two callers before Stelios Orphanides three-bet to 13,000 on the button. Ghassan Bitar called, but Jad Warde then moved all in for 50,000.
The table folded back to Orphanides who reshoved. "I'm going to gamble," Bitar said as he called off his last 30,000.
Baurzhan Akimov bet 8,000 from the cutoff on a board of 4♦Q♥3♠ before Jalal Jafari raised to 18,000 on the button. Thomas Eychenne reraised to 40,000 in the big blind and Akimov folded.
Jafari, though, stuck around to see the Q♠ turn. Eychenne slowed down and checked, and Jafari announced he was all in. Eychenne tanked for a minute before giving up his hand.
Pierre Jreige raised to 10,000 in middle position and Egor Romaniuk called next to act.
"Tell me what the board is," Jreige said, turning away from the table as the dealer exposed 5♠J♠2♦.
"Deuce, five, jack," Jalal Jafari told him. Jreige then bet 15,000 and Romaniuk called. The 10♦ fell on the turn and Jreige announced he was all in for 77,000. Romaniuk snap-called with Q♥Q♠, but Jreige showed him the bad news as he turned over K♠K♦.
Anatoly Nikitin reentered after losing an all-in coin flip against Toni Kaukua and got involved in another pot against Qusai Albakeer.
Albakeer raised to 10,000 in early position before Nikitin three-bet to 30,000 in the big blind. Albakeer moved all in and Nikitin called for 80,000.
Anatoly Nikitin: A♥K♥
Qusai Albakeer: 3♣3♦
Nikitin was again racing for his tournament life but didn't find any help on the 10♣Q♦5♣2♣8♣ board as Albakeer finished with a flush to send him once again to the rail.
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.
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.
Felipe Ketzer
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.
