Amir Sonsino bet 31,000 from the cutoff on a flop of A♠Q♠2♣ and Simone Andrian called on the button, while Peng Yang folded the big blind.
The turn was the 8♠ and Sonsino led out for another 41,000. Andrian came back with a raise to 160,000 and Sonsino spent a minute in the tank before giving up his hand.
Mohamad El-Sayed raised to 20,000 in early position before Maksim Shornikau moved all in for 134,000 in the big blind. El-Sayed confirmed the amount and took a minute until he committed the chips.
Maksim Shornikau: A♦A♣
Mohamad El-Sayed: A♠J♥
The 7♦10♦5♣3♥9♥ board was safe for Shornikau's aces and he earned a double up.
Ermanno Di Nicola raised to 20,000 in early position before Dauren Zhaparov moved all in for 135,000 on the button. Qusai Albakeer reshoved in the big blind and Di Nicola got out of the way.
Dauren Zhaparov: K♦10♦
Qusai Albakeer: A♥10♥
Both players wound up with top pair on the 4♥7♥9♣10♣6♥ board, but Albakeer's ace-kicker played and Zhaparov joined the list of early Day 3 bustouts.
Heads-up on a flop of Q♦9♥4♥, Feng Qu bet 12,000 from the button and Koray Korkmaz raised to 60,000 in the big blind. Qu then reraised to 125,000, Korkmaz moved all in, and Qu called for around 70,000 more.
Feng Qu: Q♣7♦
Koray Korkmaz: Q♥10♣
Both players had flopped top pair, but Korkmaz was ahead with his ten-kicker as the board ran out K♣5♠, sending Qu to the rail.
On the first hand of the day, Justus Held raised to 20,000 in early position and received calls from Viliyan Petleshkov in middle position and cutoff Yasen Dichev. Damir Zhugralin then moved all in for 140,000 on the button and only Dichev called.
Damir Zhugralin: Q♦Q♥
Yasen Dichev: J♣10♣
Zhugralin was well ahead with his queens and spiked the Q♠ in the window to improve to a set, but it was followed by A♦K♥ as Dichev flopped a straight. The board ran out 8♦9♣ and Zhugralin was sent to a quick exit on Day 3.
The 81 players who return today for Day 3 of the $2,200 Warm Up at the Merit Poker Western Series at noon local time have one goal in common: make it to the money.
Just 53 players will survive the money bubble and guarantee themselves a share of the $830,640 prize pool. One player who doesn’t have to worry about the bubble is Simone Andrian. The Italian pro and WSOP bracelet winner takes 1,398,000 into Day 3, good for second place on the leaderboard behind only Abdullah Alajmi (1,550,000).
Adrian State (1,160,000), Hadi Khordbin (1,075,000), and Aleksandar Tot (1,058,000) round out the top five. Other top stacks include Day 1 chip leader Peng Yang (1,027,000), Guoliang Wei (940,000), Cheng Zhao (794,000), Nina Krasilnikova (718,000), Justus Held (705,000), and Dzmitry Urbanovich (637,000).
Day 3 Top 10 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
Further down the leaderboard are Ermanno Di Nicola (594,000), 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series Warm Up champion Hadi Khadra (548,000), Fahredin Mustafov (495,000), and Andrea Dato (378,000), who was runner-up in the EPT festival held here in Cyprus last October.
Hadi Khadra
With late registration closing yesterday, the field ended up with 446 total entries. Everyone making the money is guaranteed $3,770, with a final-table payout worth at least $16,500. The eventual champion takes home $165,000 and the Merit Poker trophy.
The action on Day 3 picks up on Level 17 with blinds of 5,000-10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play nine 60-minute levels, which should bring the field down toward the final table. Play will also be live-streamed with a 30-minute delay on Merit Poker’s YouTube channel.
Stay tuned as PokerNews brings you all the action as the field plays down past the money bubble and on toward the final table.
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