$10,400 Merit Millions Day 1b | 2025 Merit Millions

04-10-2025 15:00 UTC+2

PokerNews to Give Away Ten $125 Mediterranean Poker Party Satellite Tickets

Tim Baker

Level 4 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

The Merit Royal Diamond Casino and Spa opens its doors to the poker-loving public next month, with the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party running from May 3-13. Over $10 million is guaranteed across the festival, and you could be playing for a huge chunk of that eyewatering sum for free, thanks to a PokerNews-exclusive promotion.

GGPoker is hosting Mediterranean Poker Party satellites that award packages worth $12,500. Those satellites have four steps: $1.20, $12, $125, and $1,050. You can buy into any step your bankroll allows, with each satellite awarding a seat in the next highest step.

PokerNews has ten Step 3 $125 satellite tickets to give away to its readers, meaning ten of you will be one step away from battling it out for a $12,500 package! You need to think again if you feel nobody wins anything from a $125 satellite because Azamat Lamkov will tell you differently.

In 2024, Lamkov progressed to the Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event from a $125 buy-in satellite. A few days later, Lamkov was the last player standing from a 1,260-strong field and became the tournament's champion. His reward? A cool $1 million!

Find Full Details Here

04-10-2025 14:58 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrei Boghean	2,300,000 50,000	50,000
Abdullah Alajmi	2,000,000 150,000	150,000
Konstantin Voronin	2,000,000 100,000	100,000
Damir Zhugralin	1,400,000 400,000	400,000
Joseph Haddad	1,300,000 100,000	100,000
Daniel Shademanpour	1,300,000 300,000	300,000

Mehdi Chaoui	1,150,000 250,000	250,000
Traian Stanciu	1,100,000 50,000	50,000
Onur Ozgur	1,100,000 140,000	140,000
Mario Colavita	1,000,000 100,000	100,000
Antoine Hasbani	1,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Semen Sorkin	1,000,000
Giorgiy Skhuluhiya	950,000 50,000	50,000
Josef Vogel	900,000 900,000	900,000
Krasimir Yankov	880,000 880,000	880,000
Gurcan Gungoren	800,000 200,000	200,000
Baltazar Five	700,000 700,000	700,000
Nikita Kalinin	640,000 360,000	360,000
Joris Ruijs	600,000 400,000	400,000
Jan Petersen	500,000 600,000	600,000
Yury Salikaev	480,000 520,000	520,000
Johnny Lodden	450,000 100,000	100,000
Andrey Pateychuk	340,000 40,000	40,000

Level: 4

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000

04-10-2025 14:37 UTC+2

Break Time

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 3,000/7,000, 7,000 ante

Players are now on a 20-minute break.

04-10-2025 14:35 UTC+2

Alajmi Outflops Pateychuk to Double

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 3,000/7,000, 7,000 ante

Abdullah Alajmi raised to 30,000 under the gun and Andrey Pateychuk three-bet to 150,000 out of the small blind. Alajmi four-bet shoved for 930,000 and Pateychuk made the call.

Abdullah Alajmi: A♠10♠ All in
Andrey Pateychuk: A♦K♥

Pateychuk had Alajmi dominated and looked poised to send him to the rail. That is until the dealer spread out the flop of 9♦10♦J♥ to put Alajmi in the lead with a pair of tens. Pateychuk couldn't improve on the 5♥ turn or 9♠ river, and the majority of his stack was sent over to Alajmi.

Player	Chips	Progress
Abdullah Alajmi	1,850,000 1,850,000	1,850,000
Andrey Pateychuk	300,000 700,000	700,000

Tags: Abdullah Alajmi Andrey Pateychuk

04-10-2025 14:15 UTC+2

Boghean Rivers Broadway to Double Through Lodden

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 3,000/7,000, 7,000 ante

With the board showing 2♣Q♥10♠4♦, Johnny Lodden bet around 240,000 from early position with Andrei Boghean calling from the button.

The rive came the J♣ and Lodden chose to check. Boghean did some inventory and then shoved for roughly 745,000. Lodden had the covering stack and thought it over for a while. Eventually, Lodden put in the call.

Andrei Boghean: A♦K♣ All in
Johnny Lodden: A♥Q♣

Boghean had found the perfect river to give him Broadway and Lodden had paid him off with top pair top kicker. Boghean moved up to over two million, while Lodden was left with 350,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrei Boghean	2,250,000 1,050,000	1,050,000
Johnny Lodden	350,000 750,000	750,000

Tags: Andrei Boghean Johnny Lodden

04-10-2025 14:03 UTC+2

Some More to Enter the Field

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 3,000/7,000, 7,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Semen Sorkin	1,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Daniel Shademanpour	1,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000

Andrey Pateychuk	1,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000

Giorgiy Skhuluhiya	1,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000

Level: 3

Blinds: 3,000/7,000

Ante: 7,000

04-10-2025 13:54 UTC+2

Haddad Five-Bet Shoves

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Jan Petersen raised to 15,000 under the gun before Mehdi Chaoui three-bet to 50,000 from the hijack. Joseph Haddad cold-called on the button, but Petersen four-bet to 220,000. This was enough to make Chaoui pass his cards, but Haddad had other ideas. After thinking for around a minute, Haddad back-jammed for around 900,000.

Petersen went deep into the tank, thinking for multiple minutes. Eventually, he reluctantly slid his cards face down into the muck, allowing Haddad to drag in the pot uncontested.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joseph Haddad	1,200,000 200,000	200,000
Jan Petersen	1,100,000 100,000	100,000
Mehdi Chaoui	900,000 100,000	100,000

Tags: Jan Petersen Joseph Haddad Mehdi Chaoui

04-10-2025 13:43 UTC+2

Boghean Takes from Lodden

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Johnny Lodden opened from the cutoff and Andrei Boghean defended out of the big blind.

The two players saw the flop come down 4♥A♥7♣ and Boghean check-called a bet of 15,000 from Lodden.

Both players were happy to check the J♦ turn to see the 9♣ land on the river. Boghean led out for 70,000, which caused Lodden to pause for a few moments before ultimately letting his hand go and awarding the pot to Boghean.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrei Boghean	1,200,000 200,000	200,000
Johnny Lodden	1,100,000 100,000	100,000

Tags: Andrei Boghean Johnny Lodden