$10,400 Merit Millions | 2025 Merit Millions

04-13-2025 14:47 UTC+2

Aslanli Doubles Through Chaoui

Tim Baker

Level 22 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Rafael Aslanli raised the button to 600,000 with about 5,300,000 behind. After the small blind folded, Mehdi Chaoui shoved from the big blind to put Aslanli all in.Aslanli instantly called.

Rafael Aslanli: 9♦9♣ All in
Mehdi Chaoui: A♦4♣

Aslanli needed to fade an ace to double-up. He found a safe runout of 2♥J♥Q♠Q♣10♥ with his pocket nines and doubled up through Chaoui.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mehdi Chaoui	15,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Rafael Aslanli	12,500,000 8,500,000	8,500,000

Tags: Mehdi Chaoui Rafael Aslanli

04-13-2025 14:39 UTC+2

Life Outside Poker: How Chess Streamer Alexandra Botez Won Half a Million Playing Poker

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Tim Baker

Level 22 : 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 26th episode, Connor speaks with chess streamer and GGPoker ambassador Alexandra Botez about learning chess and poker from her dad, getting into streaming at Stanford, dealing with online trolls, creating content with her sister Andrea Botez and the similarities between chess and poker.

Botez also talked about winning $456,900 in a legendary 2022 Hustler Casino Live stream that included Phil Hellmuth, Mr. Beast and Ninja, as well as signing on as a GGPoker ambassador and securing two career-high cashes at World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise (she finished 60th in the $10,000 GGMillion$ Championship for $22,190 before finishing 187th in the $25,000 Super Main Event for $67,300).

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Alexandra Botez by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow Alexandra Botez and Connor Richards on X.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

Level: 22

Blinds: 150,000/300,000

Ante: 300,000

04-13-2025 14:32 UTC+2

Zhugralin Virtually Doubles With a Straight

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

When it folded to Rafael Aslanli in the small blind, he raised to 800,000 and Damir Zhugralin defended out of the big blind.

The two players checked the J♦K♥5♠ flop to see the 10♠ hit the turn. Aslanlii led out for 600,000 and Zhugralin raised to 1,700,000. Zhugralin called.

Aslanli checked the 10♥ river and Zhugralin bet 5,775,000 with just 25,000 behind. Aslanli burned through two time bank cards before making the call.

Zhugralin flipped over Q♥9♠ for a turned straight and all Aslanli could do is muck his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Damir Zhugralin	17,000,000 8,000,000	8,000,000
Rafael Aslanli	4,000,000 11,300,000	11,300,000

Tags: Damir Zhugralin Rafael Aslanli

04-13-2025 14:14 UTC+2

Cankurtaranli Busts the Tournament

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Tahsin Cankurtaranli got his last 3,500,000 into the middle preflop and Alexandr Lakhov made the call to try and bust him.

Tahsin Cankurtaranli: A♦K♠ All in
Alexandr Lakhov: K♦K♥

It was a brutal cooler for Cankurtaranli, who needed to find an ace to survive. However, the board came 2♣3♦7♥5♠10♦ and he was out in sixteenth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexandr Lakhov	10,000,000 3,800,000	3,800,000
Tahsin Cankurtaranli	Busted

Tags: Alexandr Lakhov Tahsin Cankurtaranli

04-13-2025 14:12 UTC+2

Two Table Redraw

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Natan Chauskin	Belarus	10,500,000	42
1	2	Joseph Haddad	Iraq	6,500,000	26
1	3	Maksim Shornikau	Belarus	5,800,000	23
1	4	Andrey Pateychuk	Russia	24,000,000	96
1	5	Boris Kolev	Bulgaria	9,000,000	36
1	6	Ali Al-Kubasi	Iraq	15,000,000	60
1	7	Konstantin Voronin	Russia	15,700,000	63
1	8	Aleksandr Kirichenko	Russia	38,000,000	152

2	1	Mehdi Chaoui	Morocco	14,000,000	56
2	2	Oleg Semionov	Lithuania	22,000,000	88
2	3	Alexandr Lakhov	Russia	6,200,000	25
2	4	Tahsin Cankurtaranli	Turkey	3,500,000	14
2	5	Andreas Christoforou	Cyprus	9,400,000	38
2	6	Romans Lihacovs	Latvia	4,500,000	18
2	7	Rafael Aslanli	Turkey	15,300,000	61
2	8	Damir Zhugralin	Kazakhstan	9,000,000	36

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandr Kirichenko	38,000,000 13,000,000	13,000,000

Andrey Pateychuk	24,000,000 1,200,000	1,200,000

Oleg Semionov	22,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000

Konstantin Voronin	15,700,000 1,300,000	1,300,000
Rafael Aslanli	15,300,000 3,700,000	3,700,000
Ali Al-Kubasi	15,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Mehdi Chaoui	14,000,000 7,500,000	7,500,000
Natan Chauskin	10,500,000 1,800,000	1,800,000
Andreas Christoforou	9,400,000 400,000	400,000
Boris Kolev	9,000,000 200,000	200,000

Damir Zhugralin	9,000,000 500,000	500,000
Joseph Haddad	6,500,000 1,700,000	1,700,000
Alexandr Lakhov	6,200,000 200,000	200,000
Maksim Shornikau	5,800,000 100,000	100,000
Romans Lihacovs	4,500,000 3,000,000	3,000,000
Tahsin Cankurtaranli	3,500,000 900,000	900,000

04-13-2025 14:08 UTC+2

Busted Players

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

There will now be a quick break while there is a two table redraw as 16 players remain

Player	Chips	Progress
Joseph Sabe	Busted
Hulya Seckin	Busted
Siarhei Chudapal	Busted

04-13-2025 14:01 UTC+2

Semionov Takes from Haddad

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Joseph Haddad raised to 500,000 from the hijack and Oleg Semionov three-bet to 1,250,000 from the button. When it got back to Haddad he called to see a flop.

The flop came down 3♥5♦6♦ and Haddad check-called a bet of 800,000 from Semionov.

The two players were happy to check the 5♣ turn and J♣ river. Haddad showed K♥Q♥ for king-high and lost the pot to Semionov's A♦Q♠ for ace-high.

Player	Chips	Progress
Oleg Semionov	21,000,000 2,000,000	2,000,000

Joseph Haddad	4,800,000 900,000	900,000

Tags: Joseph Haddad Oleg Semionov

04-13-2025 13:54 UTC+2

Christoforou Hits the River to Double

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Boris Kolev raised to button to 500,000 and Andreas Christoforou three-bet shoved for roughly 4,150,000 from the small blind. Ali Al-Kubasi called in the big blind with the covering stack and Kolev folded.

Andreas Christoforou: A♠8♣ All in
Ali Al-Kubasi: A♣K♠

Christoforou's ace was dominated by Al-Kubasi and he needed some help from the dealer to survive. The 9♥5♣4♣ flop didn't change anything, but the 4♦ turn gave Christoforou some chop outs. However, he managed to find the 8♥ on the river to scoop the whole pot and double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ali Al-Kubasi	16,000,000 5,500,000	5,500,000
Andreas Christoforou	9,000,000 3,000,000	3,000,000
Boris Kolev	8,800,000 2,400,000	2,400,000

Tags: Ali Al-Kubasi Andreas Christoforou Boris Kolev

04-13-2025 13:40 UTC+2

Flush Over Flush Goes Kirichenko's Way

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Aleksandr Kirichenko raised to button to 525,000 and Konstantin Voronin defended out of the big blind.

Voronin checked the Q♣10♦6♣ flop and Kirichenko put out a bet of 300,000. Voronin quickly check-raised to 1,075,000 and Kirichenko called.

Both players were happy to check the 4♠ turn to see the 4♣ land on the river. Voronin led out for 3,700,000 and Kirichenko quickly called.

Voronin showed a flush with 9♣3♣ and lost the pot to Kirichenko's 10♣2♣ for a higher flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandr Kirichenko	25,000,000 5,000,000	5,000,000

Konstantin Voronin	14,400,000 5,400,000	5,400,000

Tags: Aleksandr Kirichenko Konstantin Voronin