$2,200 Warm Up Day 2 | 2024 Merit Poker Western Series

01-17-2024 14:09 UTC+3

Mussin Triples Up

Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Ermanno Di Nicola opened to 6,000 from the button before Abdullah Alajmi three-bet to 35,000 from the button. Berik Mussin called off for his remaining stack of 32,500 and Di Nicola made the call as well.

The flop came Q♣4♣2♦ and Di Nicola check-called a 40,000 bet from Alajmi.

On the Q♦ turn Di Nicola checked once more and Alajmi moved all in for roughly 120,000. Di Nicola made the fold leaving Mussin all in and at risk against Alajmi.

Berik Mussin: 3♣3♠
Abdullah Alajmi: A♠J♣

The 9♠ river changed nothing for either player. Mussin was ahead with two pair and secured a full triple up while Alajmi took the side pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ermanno Di Nicola	1,030,000 92,500	92,500

Abdullah Alajmi	195,000 71,500	71,500

Berik Mussin	101,000 101,000	101,000

01-17-2024 13:52 UTC+3

Bitar Runs into Rockets

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Aziz Efe opened to 5,500 from under the gun before John Doe three-bet to 16,000 from the cutoff. Ghassan Bitar called from the button and Efe called as well.

Doe bet 27,000 when checked to on the 5♠3♣2♦ flop. Bitar moved all in for 97,500, forcing Efe out of the pot while Doe made the call to put Bitar at risk.

Ghassan Bitar: 10♥10♣
John Doe: A♦A♠

Doe remained ahead with the bigger overpair on the J♣ turn and J♦ river to score the knockout and drag in a sizable pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
John Doe A	345,000 345,000	345,000
Aziz Efe	154,000 69,500	69,500
Ghassan Bitar	Busted

Tags: Azis Efe Bitar Ghassan

01-17-2024 13:33 UTC+3

Shuffle Up and Deal

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Cards are in the air for Day 2 of the $2,200 Warm Up.

So far there has been a total of 338 entrants across the first three starting flights, of which 159 players remain. The number of players will continue to grow as Day 1D is still currently underway and unlimited reentries and late registration will remain open until the end of Level 12.

Level: 9

Blinds: 1,000/2,500

Ante: 2,500

01-17-2024 12:39 UTC+3

Yang Leads the Way as Fields Combine for Day 2 of Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up

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Ryan Lashmar

The survivors from four starting flights will combine today at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino for Day 2 of the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up starting at 12:30 p.m. local time.

While the turbo Day 1d flight is currently underway, Peng Yang holds the current overall chip lead going into Day 2 with 1.086,000 chips, worth 434 big blinds. Yang is the only player across the first three starting flights to bag over one million chips, and is most closely followed by Day 1b chip leader Ermanno Di Nicola (937,500) and Aleksandar Tot (827,500).

Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Peng Yang	China	1,086,000	434
2	Ermanno Di Nicola	Italy	937,500	375
3	Aleksandar Tot	Montenegro	827,500	331
4	Hadi Khordbin	Iran	781,000	312
5	Antoine Hasbani	Lebanon	559,550	224
6	Roman Stoica	Moldova	552,500	221
7	Qusai Albakeer	N/A	549,500	220
8	Qiang Xu	China	536,000	214
9	Ramez Haddad	Lebanon	521,000	208
10	Xixiang Luo	China	503,500	201

Other players who have already advanced to Day 2 include Andrea Dato (499,000) Guoliang Wei (366,500), Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (359,000), Koray Korkmaz (358,500) Maxime Chilaud (83,500) and Dmitry Gromov (48,000).

Blinds will begin today on Level 9 at 1,000/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante. Eight further hour-long levels are scheduled to be played today, with a 10-minute break after every two levels. Late registration remains open through the end of Level 12 on Day 2, with players allowed unlimited reentries. Some notable players who have not yet bagged for Day 2 include Ivan Govorov and Dmitry Yurasov. Both players won titles at the Merit Poker Gangster Series this past November and may register late to this event in search of another victory.

As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the moment cards are in the air today until a winner is crowned on Day 4, which is scheduled for Friday, January 19.

Tags: Aleksandar Tot Antoine Hasbani Ermanno Di Nicola Hadi Khordbin Peng Yang Qiang Xu Qusai Albakeer Ramez Haddad Roman Stoica Xixiang Luo

$2,200 Warm Up

Day 2 Started