$2,200 Warm Up Day 1bc | 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series

03-14-2025 14:40 UTC+2

Farah Bluffs Every Street

Kai Cocklin

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

With around 10,000 in the middle on a 6♦3♣9♣ flop, Elie Farah bet 5,500 from the small blind and Konstantin Kostadinov called from the cutoff.

A 9♦ dropped on the turn and Farah kept firing with a bet of 18,500, which again Kostadinov called to see the 7♠ land on the river. Farah decided to fire one more bullet at the pot, this time for 25,000, which would be the last he saw of that chip as Kostadinov made the call with 8♣8♦ and beat the bluff of Farah, who held A♥Q♥.

Player	Chips	Progress
Konstantin Kostadinov	240,000 240,000	240,000
Elie Farah	20,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Elie Farah Konstantin Kostadinov

03-14-2025 14:57 UTC+2

Xu and Sibgatova Clash

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Kai Cocklin

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

There were already around 11,000 chips in the pot on a flop of 4♥9♣9♠ when both Yuan Xu and Alisa Sibgatova checked to see the 2♥ drop on the turn. Xu checked again then Sibgatova bet out 3,500. Xu called.

A 7♦ completed the board and both checked it down with Xu showing K♠Q♣, but Sibgatova held the winner with A♣K♥ for ace-high.

Xu is no stranger to Northern Cyprus as the Chinese player finished fifth in the Eureka Main Event just a few months ago for a huge score of $101,390 - a career best. A Merit Poker cash still eludes Xu, but with the entire series ahead of him, he will be hoping that the Carmen Series will bring fortune his way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yuan Xu	95,000 95,000	95,000
Alisa Sibgatova	70,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Yuan Xu

Level: 5

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 1,200

03-14-2025 15:13 UTC+2

Hassan Wins a Flip Against Novak

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Andrii Novak put in a min-raise and was three-bet by Ali Hassan two seats over. When it got back to Novak, he four-bet to 17,500, and Hassan shoved for just under 40,000. Novak quickly called.

Ali Hassan: 6♥6♦ All in
Andrii Novak: A♥K♦

It was a fair fight and one that Hassan needed to win as he was the at-risk player. The flop of 9♠4♠4♣ didn't bring any help to Novak, and neither did the Q♥ turn. A 6♠ on the river improved Hassan to a full house and saw him double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ali Hassan	80,000
Andrii Novak	60,000

Tags: Andrii Novak Ali Hassan

03-14-2025 15:26 UTC+2

Fal Over 200,000 at Halfway Mark

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Nikolay Fal has taken his stack up above the 200,000-chip mark as the day nears its halfway mark.

In the latest hand he played, the action was picked up on a 10♠A♣Q♠ flop with around 35,000 in the middle. Fal, in the big blind, checked, as did Arun Sood and the button.

A Q♥ on the turn saw Fal lead out for 11,100, which only the button called to the Q♦ river. With three queens on board, both players elected to check and Fal's J♠J♣ was good at showdown as the button mucked.

Fal is a regular at Merit Poker stops and has seven wins on the tour, including a Main Event victory back in 2022 at the Western Series for a cool $326,153, his career-best cash.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikolay Fal	210,000
Arun Sood	150,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Arun Sood Nikolay Fal

03-14-2025 15:40 UTC+2

Bacak's Stack Gets Smaller

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Hulusi Bacak played a big pot against Dmitry Gromov in the opening level and his stack has never recovered. After the latest hand, Bacak was left with around 25,000, which is good for 20 big blinds.

There were already around 11,000 chips in the middle on a 7♣6♣K♥5♥ board when Bacak checked from the blinds and Andrii Novak fired 6,000. Bacak called.

An A♣ hit the river and after Bacak checked, Novak bet 35,000, which was more than what Bacak had remaining. Though there didn't see to be much of a decision for the Turkish player as he quickly folded, forfeiting the pot to Novak.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	80,000 40,000	40,000

Andrii Novak	65,000 5,000	5,000
Hulusi Bacak	25,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Hulusi Bacak Andrii Novak

Level: 6

Blinds: 800/1,500

Ante: 1,500

03-14-2025 15:52 UTC+2

Flashback: Elie Farah Takes Down 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Last year in the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event, It took nearly 12 hour-long levels for a winner to emerge from the 41 players who entered the final day at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.

Elie Farah was the last player standing, scoring five final table knockouts and last defeating Felipe Ketzer in heads-up play to take home the title and top prize of $338,500.

Farah notably was down to his last 125,000 chips on the stone bubble during Day 3 aciton, worth just five big blinds at that time. His previous best score before this comes from an eighth-place finish in the 2022 Merit Poker Retro Series Main Event for $30,255. This victory not only exceeds his previous best more than tenfold, it also triples his total live tournament earnings which before this event stood at just under $150,000.

2024 Carmen Series Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize (USD)
1	Elie Farah	Lebanon	$338,500
2	Felipe Ketzer	Brazil	$249,200
3	Dinesh Alt	Switzerland	$153,000
4	Bart Lybaert	Belgium	$113,100
5	Dmitry Gromov	Russian Federation	$84,700
6	Tahsin Cankurtaranli	Turkey	$68,400
7	Andrey Litvinov	Russian Federation	$56,600
8	Maher Achour	Tunisia	$45,100
9	Danut Chisu	Romania	$33,900

Read the Full Recap Here

03-14-2025 16:01 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikolay Fal	220,000 10,000	10,000
Michel Molenaar	200,000 200,000	200,000
Nenad Dukic	200,000
Arun Sood	170,000 20,000	20,000
Yuan Xu	170,000 75,000	75,000
Andrey Pateychuk	140,000 140,000	140,000

Alisa Sibgatova	120,000 50,000	50,000
Boris Smuskevicius	110,000 10,000	10,000
Luke Marsh	100,000 60,000	60,000
Ran Ilani	50,000 40,000	40,000

03-14-2025 16:12 UTC+2

Amsellem Carves Up Turkie

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Paul Amsellem just stacked a player and brought his stack up to around 230,000 as the penultimate break looms closer.

On a 2♣2♦Q♣ flop with around 70,000 in the middle, Wissam Turkie bet 10,000 from the hijack and Amsellem clicked it to 20,000 on the button. Turkie called.

A 6♦ landed on the turn and Turkie shoved for around 50,000, which Amsellem snap-called.

Wissam Turkie: Q♦J♦ All in
Paul Amsellem: K♥K♦

Amsellem had his man right where he wanted him and Turkie needed to find one of two outs in order to stay alive. The 3♥ wasn't the card that Turkie needed, which meant he made his way to the exit while Amsellem raked in a chunky pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Amsellem	230,000
Wissam Turkie	Busted

Tags: Wissam Turkie Paul Amsellem