$5,300 High Roller Day 1 | 2024 Merit Poker Western Series

01-18-2024 23:26 UTC+2

Gadzhiev Sets the Trap

Ryan Lashmar

Level 5 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Roman Gadzhiev opened to 2,000 from under the gun and received calls from Dmitry Yurasov in middle position and Yunsheng Sun in the big blind.

The flop came ptdth2s]. Sun checked, Gadzhiev bet 2,000, Yurasov called and Sun folded.

Gadzhiev slowed down with a check on the J♥ river and Yurasov bet 4,000. Gadzhiev called.

Both players checked the 3♠ river. Gadzhiev showed down J♦10♣ for a full house and Yurasov quickly mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Roman Gadzhiev	205,000 49,000	49,000
Yunsheng Sun	154,000 3,000	3,000
Dmitry Yurasov	99,000 3,000	3,000

Tags: Dmitry Yurasov Roman Gadzhiev Yunsheng Sun

01-18-2024 23:45 UTC+2

Popot Holds with Jacks

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 5 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Dmitry Gromov opened to 2,500 from under the gun and Frederic Popot three-bet to 6,000 from the cutoff. Gromov made the call.

The flop came K♠10♦2♥ and Gromov check-called a 6,000 continuation btet from Popot

Both players checked the A♥ turn and 8♣ river. Gromov tabled 10♥7♥ for a pair of tens while Popot showed down J♠J♣ for the winner to take the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	202,000 101,000	101,000

Frederic Popot	80,000 80,000	80,000

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Frederic Popot

01-18-2024 23:46 UTC+2

Break

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 5 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Players are now on their second and final break of the evening. The field has grown to 77 players of which 68 remain.

Level: 6

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 1,200

01-18-2024 23:59 UTC+2

Assorted Chip Counts after Final Break

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 6 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Fausto Tantillo	298,000 78,000	78,000
Aleksandr Kirichenko	253,000 3,000	3,000

Junjie He	218,000 93,000	93,000
Dmitry Gromov	214,000 12,000	12,000

Roman Gadzhiev	214,000 9,000	9,000
Jak Ferman	211,000 45,000	45,000
Joseph Sabe	144,000 144,000	144,000
Alisa Sibgatova	82,000 22,000	22,000
Dmitry Yurasov	77,500 21,500	21,500

Ihar Soika	69,000 6,500	6,500
Shuang Luo	54,000 94,000	94,000
Yunsheng Sun	37,800 116,200	116,200

01-19-2024 00:09 UTC+2

Kaukua Takes from Gadzhiev

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 6 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Roman Gadzhiev opened to 2,800 from under the gun and received a call from Toni Kaukua in the cutoff.

The flop came 10♦3♣2♣. Gadzhiev checked, Kaukua bet 2,500 and Gadzhiev called.

Kaukua bet again for 5,000 when checked to on the 6♠ turn and this time Gadzhiev opted to fold.

Player	Chips	Progress
Roman Gadzhiev	204,000 10,000	10,000
Toni Kaukua	42,500 42,500	42,500

Tags: Roman Gadzhiev Toni Kaukua

01-19-2024 00:28 UTC+2

Fu Calls Down Gromov

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 6 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Frederic Popot opened to 2,400 from middle position and received calls Xiaohua Fu in the small blind and Dmitry Gromov in the big blind.

The flop came 8♥7♦5♥. Fu checked, Gromov bet 3,000, Popot folded and Fu called.

Fu check-called another bet from Gromov on the J♠ turn, this time for 7,000.

Both players checked the J♥ river. Fu tabled 10♣8♣ for a flopped pair of eights which was good enough to take the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	196,000 18,000	18,000

Xiaohua Fu	124,000 124,000	124,000
Frederic Popot	70,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Frederic Popot Xiaohua Fu

Level: 7

Blinds: 800/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-19-2024 00:48 UTC+2

Tantillo and Kirichenko Keep Climbing

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 7 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Fausto Tantillo opened to 2,700 from the cutoff and received calls from Sergei Solovev in the small blind and Chady Ojeil in the big blind.

All three players checked the Q♥10♠9♣ flop leading to the A♣ turn. Solovev checked, Ojeil checked, Tantillo bet 7,500, Solovev folded and Ojeil called.

Ojeil checked again on the 4♠ river and Tantillo sized up with a bet of 25,500. Ojeil made the call.

Tantillo tabled A♦9♠ for two pair to take down another sizable pot, surpassing 300,000 chips in the process.

Meanwhile at another table, Aleksandr Kirichenko has also built a monster stack of 355,000 and currently holds the chip lead.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandr Kirichenko	355,000 102,000	102,000

Fausto Tantillo	327,000 29,000	29,000
Sergei Solovev	60,100 60,100	60,100
Chady Ojeil	34,000 34,000	34,000

Tags: Chady Ojeil Fausto Tantillo Sergei Solovev

01-19-2024 00:59 UTC+2

Fu Continues to Chop Down Gromov

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 7 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Xiaohua Fu opened to 3,000 from the cutoff only for Dmitry Gromov to three-bet to 11,000. Fu made the call.

The flop came 9♥7♠6♥. Fu checked, Gromov fired a 10,000 continuation bet and Fu put in a check-raise to 25,000. Gromov made the call.

Fu bet 40,000 on the 7♦ turn and this time Gromov's hand hit the muck.

Player	Chips	Progress
Xiaohua Fu	238,500 114,500	114,500
Dmitry Gromov	71,000 125,000	125,000

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Xiaohua Fu