$2,200 Warm Up
Day 2 Completed
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
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
264
Players Left
81
Abdullah Alajmi Leads the Final 81 in Day 2 of Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Day 2 of the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up has come to a close here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus. Abdullah Alajmi has emerged as the overall Day 2 chip leader, bagging 1,550,000 chips to end the night, worth 155 big blinds going into tomorrow's Day 3. Alajmi is most closely followed by Simone Andrian (1,398,000) and Adrian State (1,160,000).
Alajmi began the day with an average stack but wasted no time accumulating chips with an aggressive style of play that earned him many pots without showdown. Alajmi only has one one recorded live tournament score for $6,500, a number he will surpass should he finish in 24th place or better in this event. In stark contrast, State and Andrian are no strangers to success in the large-field poker tournaments. Both players have nearly $1,000,000 in live career tournament earnings and Andrian holds a WSOP gold bracelet from an event in 2021 that earned him a career-best score of €158,616 ($179,653).
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdullah Alajmi | Kuwait | 1,550,000 | 155 |
| 2 | Simone Andrian | Italy | 1,398,000 | 140 |
| 3 | Adrian State | Romania | 1,160,000 | 116 |
| 4 | Hadi Khordbin | Iran | 1,075,000 | 108 |
| 5 | Aleksandar Tot | Montengro | 1,058,000 | 106 |
| 6 | Xixiang Luo | China | 1,053,000 | 105 |
| 7 | Baurzhan Akimov | Kazakhstan | 1,045,000 | 105 |
| 8 | Peng Yang | China | 1,027,000 | 103 |
| 9 | Ghassan Bitar | Monaco | 1,003,000 | 100 |
| 10 | Guoliang Wei | China | 940,000 | 94 |
Day 2 began with 159 survivors from the first three starting flights. They were later joined by eight more players from the turbo Day 1d flight that began this morning. Late registration and unlimited reentries were available for the first four levels of play today, which resulted in approximately 110 more entrants. That brought the total field size to 446, generating a prize pool of $830,640. By the end of the night only 81 players managed to find a bag and advance to Day 3.
The slow structure of the tournament ensured that the players, many of whom began the day with well over 100 big blinds, had plenty of room to maneuver. Day 1a chip leader Peng Yang and Day 1b chip leader Ermanno Di Nicola not only began the day with the two biggest stacks, but also were seated at the same table for the first half of the day. The two chip leaders trended in opposite directions; Di Nicola continued to accumulate chips while Yang would ultimately bust and reenter just before the end of late registration. Despite the setback, Yang made good use of his second bullet and would finish the day with a top ten chip stack.
Also seated at this table throughout the day were Alajmi, who showed no fear in tangling with the big stacks, and Dzmitry Urbanovich, who quickly made his presence felt after turning a full house to score nearly a full triple up.
Alajmi began to surpass Di Nicola for the chip lead in the later levels of the day and nearly surpassed two million chips at one point after firing three barrels to force a fold from Yuefan Gu. From this point Di Nicola could not sustain the momentum he had earlier and he would finish Day 2 with roughly half the chips he had to begin the day.
Some notables to advance to Day 3 include Yang (1,027,000), Guoliang Wei (940,000), Matthew Davenport (704,000), Urbanovich (637,000), Di Nicola (594,000), Hadi Khadra (548,000), Andrea Dato (378,000), Qiang Xu (306,000), Andrey Pateychuk (167,000), Andrei Daniliuk (159,000) and Dmitry Gromov (90,000). Other notables who failed to find a bag by the end of the night include Shuang Luo, Felipe Ketzer, Maxime Chilaud and Giorgiy Skhulukhiya.
Day 3 begins tomorrow January 18, at 12:00 p.m. local time and is scheduled to play ten hour-long levels, with blinds starting at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates for this event until a winner is crowned on Day 4, which will take place on January 19.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,550,000
-395,000
|
-395,000 |
|
||
|
1,398,000
1,062,500
|
1,062,500 |
|
||
|
1,160,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
1,075,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
1,058,000
230,500
|
230,500 |
|
1,053,000
549,500
|
549,500 |
|
1,045,000
548,000
|
548,000 |
|
1,027,000
927,000
|
927,000 |
|
||
|
1,003,000
823,000
|
823,000 |
|
940,000
530,000
|
530,000 |
|
|
||
|
920,000
390,000
|
390,000 |
|
892,000
524,000
|
524,000 |
|
863,000
83,000
|
83,000 |
|
830,000
-60,000
|
-60,000 |
|
794,000
678,000
|
678,000 |
|
776,000
363,000
|
363,000 |
|
772,000
317,000
|
317,000 |
|
745,000 | |
|
718,000
451,000
|
451,000 |
|
718,000
605,000
|
605,000 |
|
712,000
543,000
|
543,000 |
|
705,000
642,500
|
642,500 |
|
704,000
114,000
|
114,000 |
|
701,000
601,000
|
601,000 |
|
700,000
508,000
|
508,000 |
End of the Night
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
The action has come to a close for Day 2 of the $2,200 Warm Up. A total of 81 players managed to find a bag at the end of the night.
Stay tuned for updated chip counts and a full recap of the night's action that will soon follow.
Final Five Hands
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
The tournament staff have announced that five more hands will be played before the end of the night.
Pateychuk Bailed Out on the River
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Andrey Pateychuk moved all in for 96,000 and John Doe called from early position with a covering stack. All other players got out of the way leaving Pateychuk at risk.
Andrey Pateychuk: 9♠9♦
John Doe B: A♣10♣
Pateychuk was in rough shape on the J♥10♠3♦ flop and K♥ turn but the 9♣ river gave him a set to score a full double up at Doe's expense.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,320,000
1,320,000
|
1,320,000 |
|
212,000
21,500
|
21,500 |
|
||
Akbas Puts Khadra in the Blender
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Halil Akbas opened to 45,000 from the button and received a call from Hadi Khadra in the big blind.
Khadra checked in the dark as the A♠5♦2♣ flop was dealt. Akbas fired an 100,000 continuation bet and Khadra made the call.
Both players checked the A♣ turn leading to the 6♥ river. Khadra checked and Akbas moved all in for 161,000, sending Khadra deep into the tank.
Khadra cut out calling chips from his stack and looked at his opponent for a reaction. After a couple minutes Khadra ultimately decided to fold and Akbas took down the sizable pot without showdown.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
475,000
164,500
|
164,500 |
|
455,000
-585,000
|
-585,000 |
Level: 16
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000
Alajmi Approaching Two Million
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Yuefan Gu opened to 15,000 from the button and received calls from Abdullah Alajmi in the small blind and Vitalii Pankov in the big blind.
The flop came 10♠3♣3♠ and Alajmi lead out with a bet of 28,000. Pankov got out of the way while Gu made the call.
Gu called another bet from Alajmi on the 7♥ turn, this time for 54,000.
On the 4♦ river Alajmi fired a third barrel for 75,000. Gu thought about his decision briefly before folding and Alajmi took down another pot without showdown, extending his lead over the rest of the field.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,945,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
530,000
286,000
|
286,000 |
|
280,000
-90,000
|
-90,000 |
Official Payouts
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $165,000 |
| 2 | $121,500 |
| 3 | $74,300 |
| 4 | $55,000 |
| 5 | $41,300 |
| 6 | $33,100 |
| 7 | $27,500 |
| 8 | $22,000 |
| 9 | $16,500 |
| 10-12 | $12,060 |
| 13-15 | $9,850 |
| 16-18 | $8,450 |
| 19-21 | $7,390 |
| 22-24 | $6,650 |
| 25-26 | $5,815 |
| 27-35 | $5,090 |
| 36-44 | $4,430 |
| 45-53 | $3,770 |