2024 Merit Poker Western Series

$5,300 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info

2024 Merit Poker Western Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q5
Prize
$177,500
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$703,800
Entries
153
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
121
Players Left
30

Held and Luo Over One Million

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Justus Held
Justus Held

Justus Held had opened from the hijack and received calls from Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in the small blind and Ghassan Bitar in the big blind.

The flop came K37 and Bitar lead out with a bet of 16,000. Skhulukhiya folded and Held raised to 45,000. Bitar made the call.

Bitar check-called another bet from Held on the 10 turn, this time for 42,000.

On the 6 river Bitar checked and Held bet 175,000. Bitar, who had 320,000 left in his stack, went deep into the tank.

After several minutes had gone by Bitar flicked in a call and tabled 33 for a flopped set turned into a small flush on the river. Held turned over AA for an overpair, turned into the nut-flush on the river to scoop a gargantuan pot.

Meanwhile at another table, Fausto Tantillo was recently eliminated at the hands of Xixiang Luo, who is the only other player in the field with over one million chips.

Player Chips Progress
Justus Held de
Justus Held
1,145,000
565,000
565,000
Xixiang Luo cn
Xixiang Luo
1,125,000
400,000
400,000
Ghassan Bitar lb
Ghassan Bitar
145,000
-285,000
-285,000
Fausto Tantillo it
Fausto Tantillo
Busted

Tags: Fausto TantilloGhassan BitarGiorgiy SkhulukhiyaJustus HeldXixiang Luo

Level: 17

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 10,000

Zukowicz Calls Down Doe

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Monika Zukowicz
Monika Zukowicz

With two players seeing a board of 695K and roughly 60,000 already in the middle, Monika Zukowicz checked from the big blind and John Doe bet 54,000 from the button. After a couple minutes of consideration Zukowicz made the call.

Doe bet again on the J river, this time for 100,000 and was once again called by Zukowicz. Doe could only show Q7 for complete air while Zukowicz tabled J9 for two pair to score nearly a full double up while making a big dent in the day 1 chip leader's stack.

Player Chips Progress
Monika Zukowicz pl
Monika Zukowicz
430,000
248,000
248,000
John Doe
John Doe
246,000
-186,000
-186,000
Day 1 Chip Leader

Tags: John DoeMonika Zukowicz

Assorted Chip Counts after Final Break

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Xixiang Luo cn
Xixiang Luo
725,000
603,500
603,500
Joseph Sabe lb
Joseph Sabe
650,000
205,000
205,000
Aleksandr Kirichenko ru
Aleksandr Kirichenko
638,000
378,000
378,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
Justus Held de
Justus Held
580,000
290,000
290,000
Eugenio Peralta it
Eugenio Peralta
558,000
558,000
558,000
Fahredin Mustafov bg
Fahredin Mustafov
530,000
-66,000
-66,000
Guoliang Wei cn
Guoliang Wei
485,000
215,000
215,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya ge
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya
480,000
-90,000
-90,000
Frederic Popot fr
Frederic Popot
435,000
330,500
330,500
Shuang Luo cn
Shuang Luo
355,000
-15,000
-15,000
Roman Hrabec cz
Roman Hrabec
280,000
98,000
98,000
Peng Yang cn
Peng Yang
190,000
-240,000
-240,000
Andrey Pateychuk ru
Andrey Pateychuk
132,000
22,000
22,000
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner

Level: 16

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000

Break

Level 15 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Players are on the final break of the evening. 49 players remain. Play will continue for either three more levels after break or until the money is reached.

Fal Plays it Slow

Level 15 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Vedat Mutlu opened to 20,000 from early position and Nikolay Fal called from the small blind.

The flop came A98 and Fal check-called a 30,000 continuation bet from Mutlu.

Fal check-called another bet from Mutlu on the K turn, this time for 75,000.

Both players checked the 3 river. Mutlu tabled A6 for top pair but Fal showed down 88 for a set to take down a sizable pot.

Player Chips Progress
Nikolay Fal ru
Nikolay Fal
428,000
384,000
384,000
Vedat Mutlu tr
Vedat Mutlu
235,000
124,500
124,500

Tags: Nikolay FalVedat Mutlu

Big Blind Special for Shornikau

Level 15 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Vladimir Troyanovskiy opened to 13,000 from the button and Maksim Shornikau defended from the big blind.

The flop came 753 and Shornikau check-called a 15,000 continuation bet from Troyanovskiy.

Both players checked the 3 turn leading to the 10 river. Shornikau bet 29,000 and Troyanovskiy called.

Shornikau tabled J3 for trips and Troyanovskiy mucked.

Player Chips Progress
Vladimir Troyanovskiy ru
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
445,000
5,000
5,000
Maksim Shornikau by
Maksim Shornikau
395,000
191,500
191,500

Tags: Maksim ShornikauVladimir Troyanovskiy

Zukowicz Doubles Through Munteanu

Level 15 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu opened to 15,000 from the small blind and Monika Zukowicz defended from the big blind.

The flop came A54. Munteanu fired a 10,000 continuation bet which was called by Zukowicz.

Munteanu bet again for 18,000 on the 5 turn and Zukowicz moved all in for 65,000. Munteanu snap-called with a covering stack to put Zukowicz at risk.

Monika Zukowicz: 104
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu: AK

Both players had connected with the board. Munteanu was well ahead with aces up but still needed to fade a spade or a four to score the knockout. The Q river gave Zukowicz a flush to score a full double up at Munteanu's expense.

Player Chips Progress
Monika Zukowicz pl
Monika Zukowicz
182,000
-19,000
-19,000
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu ro
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu
170,000
52,000
52,000

Tags: Bogdan-Andrei MunteanuMonika Zukowicz