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$5,300 High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
$5,300 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info
2024 Merit Poker Western Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$703,800
Total Entries
153
Level
30
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
121
Players Left
30
Players Left 1 / 153
Filter
Level 18
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Day 2 of the Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller has come to a close here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus. After ten 40-minute levels, Aleksandr Kirichenko has emerged as the overall chip leader, ending the night with 1,480,000, worth 93 big blinds going into the final day tomorrow. Kirichenko began the day as the fifth-largest stack and appeared to be in complete control with an above-average stack throughout the evening. Kirichenko would surge to the top of the counts after being on the right side of a late-night cooler and is most closely followed by Germany's Justus Held (1,390,000) and Maksim Shornikau of Belarus (1,320,000).
Kirichenko recently claimed the biggest score of his career with a second-place finish at the last Merit Poker $5,300 High Roller event from the Merit Poker Gangster Series this past October. Kirichenko won $104,500 in that event but ultimately fell short to Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in heads-up play. With $800,000 in career tournament earnings to his name the Russian pro is clearly adept at navigating large fields and will seek to avenge his runner up finish during tomorrow's Day 3.
Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksandr Kirichenko | Russian Federation | 1,480,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Justus Held | Germany | 1,390,000 | 87 |
| 3 | Maksim Shornikau | Belarus | 1,320,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Xixiang Luo | China | 1,250,000 | 78 |
| 5 | John Doe | N/A | 907,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Shuang Luo | China | 821,000 | 51 |
| 7 | Joseph Sabe | Lebanon | 728,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Aleksandar Tot | Montenegro | 684,000 | 43 |
| 9 | Guoliang Wei | China | 591,000 | 37 |
| 10 | Frederic Popot | France | 426,000 | 27 |
Day 2 began with 59 players. Late registration and reentries were available for the first four levels of play today which resulted in approximately 60 more entrants. That brought the total field size to 153 entrants, generating a prize pool of $703,800 that smashed the $300,000 guarantee.
ACR team pro Monika Zukowicz and Serbia's Milos Skrbic both got off to a good start today. Zukowicz picked off a bluff from Feng Qu to nearly double up her stack in the second level of the day. Zukowicz would score another double up in similar fashion later in the evening after catching another bluff, this time from Day 1 chip leader John Doe. Skrbic, who made the final table of the 2019 WSOP main event, would knock out Maxime Chilaud in a brutal cooler to rocket up the counts in another early highlight.
China's Shuang Luo began to build a monster stack midway through the day. After an overbet on the river forced a fold from Kirichenko she found herself among the chip leaders and ended the night with a top ten chip stack. Around the same time, Justus Held began building a colossal stack of his own after making the nut-flush on the river to pull ahead of Ghassan Bitar's flopped set.
Kirichenko claimed the chip lead late in the evening after being on the right side of the ultimate cooler. Kirichenko held pocket-aces, got in a raising war with an opponent who held pocket kings, and remained ahead throughout to score a pot worth well over 100 big blinds. Kirichenko would remain at the top of the counts for the rest of the evening.
Some notable players to advance to Day 3 include bracelet winner Guoliang Wei (591,000), Skhulukhiya (345,000), Skrbic (334,000), Zukowicz (236,000) and Andrey Pateychuk (204,000). Others not as fortunate to find a bag at the end of the night include Moritz Dietrich, Dmitry Gromov, Yunsheng Sun, Ihar Soika, Roman Hrabec and Vladimir Troyanovskiy.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action for this event which will play down to a winner tomorrow, January 20.
Level 18
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Level 18
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
The action has reached a conclusion on Day 2 of the $5,300 High Roller. A total of 30 players managed to find a bag and advance to Day 3.
Stay tuned for full updated chip counts and a recap of the night's action that will be available shortly.
Level 18
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Andrey Pateychuk found himself all in from the cutoff for his last 90,000 against John Doe in the hijack who covered.
Andrey Pateychuk: A♠9♣
John Doe: 5♥5♣
The board ran out 6♣6♥10♦Q♦A♥. Pateychuk's tournament life was saved by the ace on the river and he scored a full double up just 11 spots shy of making the money.
Level 18
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
The tournament staff have announced that there will be three more hands played before the conclusion of Day 2.
Level 18
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Paul Amsellem opened to 25,000 from the hijack and Toni Kaukua moved all in for roughly 160,000 from the hijack. Amsellem called to put Kaukua at risk.
Toni Kaukua: A♥10♥
Paul Amsellem: Q♦Q♥
The board ran out 6♥5♣4♦3♥J♠. Amsellem's pocket-queens held up and he scored nearly a full double up while sending Kaukua to the rail.
Also seated at this table is Aleksandr Kirichenko, who recently took a massive lead over the rest of the field. According to the other players at his table, Kirichenko was involved in a colossal preflop raising war with another opponent that lead to both players being all in preflop for a pot worth roughly 1,500,000. Kirichenko held pocket-aces against his opponent's pocket-kings and remained ahead to capture the biggest pot of the tournament so far.
Level: 18
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 12,000
Level 17
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
With two players seeing a board of K♣5♦8♦9♣, Peng Yang found himself all in and at risk against Eugenio Peralta.
Peng Yang: A♣9♥
Eugenio Peralta: A♠A♦
Yang was drawing to just two outs and failed to connect with the 3♣ river, resulting in his elimination while Peralta collected the last of his chips.
Level 17
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Xixiang Luo opened to 20,000 from under the gun and Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu moved all in for 151,000 from the next seat over. Luo made the call with a covering stack to put Munteanu at risk.
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu: 5♥5♣
Xixiang Luo: A♦K♠
Munteanu pulled ahead on the 9♣J♥7♦ flop and the 5♦ turn left Luo drawing dead. The 2♠ river was a formality after which Munteanu scored a full double up through Luo.
Despite the minor setback Luo still holds the second-largest stack in the room by a wide margin.
