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243,000
34,000
Table 1Seat 2
2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$1,188,640
Total Entries
646
Level
37
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Entries
279
Players Left
105
Players Left 1 / 646
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Level 16
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Mihai Niste started the hand with a raise to 10,000. Imad Saab was next to act and three-bet to 32,000. When it got back to Niste he four-bet shoved for roughly 150,000. Saab called and the cards were revealed.
Mihai Niste: Q♦Q♥ 
Imad Saab: A♥K♠
Niste was the player at risk, and needed his Ladies to hold if he was to continue his journey in this event. The flop of 10♠2♠2♥ was great for Niste, but the K♣ fell on the turn to catapult Saab into the lead. There was no miracle river for Niste as the 8♦ fell, sending him to the rail.
Level 16
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
The action was picked up with the board showing J♥10♦5♥Q♣ and with around 30,000 in the middle. Maksim Shornikau bet 20,000 from the hijack and Hassan Nashar made the call from the button.
The river came the 6♥ and both players checked. Shornikau flipped over A♠K♥ for a Broadway straight and this won him the pot as Nashar showed two pair with Q♦J♣.
Level 16
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Aren Bezhanyan raised to 11,000 from early position with only Bart Lybaert calling from the big blind.
The flop came down 5♣8♠3♦ and Lybaert check-called a bet of 8,000 from Bezhanyan.
Upon seeing the 4♥ land on the turn, Lybaert led out for 17,000. Bezhanyan made the call.
Lybaert slowed down and checked when the 9♣ dropped on the river. Bezhanyan fired out a big bet of 75,000, which caused Lybaert to quickly let go of his hand.
Level: 16
Blinds: 2,000/5,000
Ante: 5,000
Level 15
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Players are now on their second 20-minute break of the day. At the end of this break, late registration will close.
Level 15
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Level 15
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
In the 882nd episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Kyna England, and Connor Richards discuss the return of Nik Airball to Hustler Casino Live (HCL) after a yearlong casino ban. They also dive into other HCL news such as the announcement of the next Million Dollar Cash Game, GGPoker buying out Nick Vertucci's shares, and Ryan Feldman celebrating his 40th birthday. Speaking of the big 4-0, Chad and Connor also surprise Kyna with decorations and cake for her 40th birthday!
The triumvirate then highlight Ari Engel retaking the lead from Maurice Hawkins in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit all-time ring race with both Josh Reichard and Daniel Lowery staying hot on their heels with recent ring wins of their own. You'll also hear about Chad Eveslage winning the $100K Super High Roller Bowl Mixed Games, Bryn Kenney winning another Triton Poker title, and Keith Heine earning his way into the MSPT Hall of Fame.
Plus, an update on the Tom Goldstein high-stakes poker saga and the return of the Bay 101 Shooting Star to the World Poker Tour (WPT) schedule for the first time since 2017!
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Level 15
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Fahredin Mustafov opened with a raise to 8,000 from the hijack before three-bet to 24,000 by the button player. After the blinds folded, Mustafov four-bet to 41,000. It didn't take long before his opponent five-bet shoved to put Mustafov all in for his last 150,000. Mustafov snap-folded and forfeited the pot to his opponent.
Level 15
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 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 |
