$2,200 Warm Up Day 3 | 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series

03-16-2025 18:07 UTC+2

Aren Bezhanyan Eliminated in 20th Place ($10,145)

Kai Cocklin

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/125,000, 125,000 ante

The action folded to Aren Bezhanyan in the small blind who shoved all in for around 1,200,000. Dmitry Gromov was in the big blind and after peeking at his cards, he called with a marginally covering stack.

Aren Bezhanyan: 10♦8♠ All in
Dmitry Gromov: A♦3♣

Bezhanyan had around 50,000 less chips than Gromov and needed to connect with the board in order to survive. The flop of 9♥K♥J♣ did give Bezhanyan a gutshot, which he spiked on the 10♣ turn. Gromov, not impressed by the turn, started to get to his feet, but quickly sat back down again when the Q♠ river completed a gutshot of his own, sending Bezhanyan to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	2,700,000 300,000	300,000

Aren Bezhanyan	Busted

Tags: Aren Bezhanyan Dmitry Gromov

03-16-2025 18:03 UTC+2

Kirill Burton Eliminated in 21st Place ($10,145)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/125,000, 125,000 ante

Kirill Burtin made it 1,000,000 to go from the hijack and Humberto Galindo three-bet from the next seat to isolate. When it got back to Burtin, he flicked in his last few chips.

Kirill Burtin: A♣J♦ All in
Humberto Galindo: A♠A♦

Burtin seemed to know his fate before he even saw the hand of his opponent, and he wasn't given much hope on the K♣2♣K♠ flop. A J♥ on the turn gave him a sliver of hope, but the 9♦ river meant he was on his way to the payout desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Humberto Lopes Galindo	8,300,000 8,300,000	8,300,000
Kirill Burtin	Busted

Tags: Humberto Galindo Kirill Burtin

03-16-2025 17:57 UTC+2

Iurii Grigorev Eliminated in 22nd Place ($9,075)

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Tim Baker

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/125,000, 125,000 ante

Iurii Grigorev raised from under the gun to 1,000,000 with roughly 250,000 behind. Atanas Pavlov called from the hijack and the rest of the table folded.

Upon seeing the dealer fan out the flop of 9♠2♣6♥, Grigorev shoved his last chips into the middle and Pavlov called to put him at risk.

Iurii Grigorev: Q♣J♣ All in
Atanas Georgiev Pavlov: A♣J♥

Grigorev was behind with queen-high and needed some help from the dealer to survive. However, the rest of the board ran out 4♦6♣ to give Pavlov the winner with his ace-high, sending Grigorev to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Atanas Pavlov	5,800,000 2,300,000	2,300,000
Iurii Grigorev	Busted

Tags: Atanas Pavlov Iurii Grigorev

03-16-2025 17:52 UTC+2

Jan Petersen Eliminated in 23rd Place ($9,075)

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Tim Baker

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/125,000, 125,000 ante

Jan Petersen raised to 550,000 from middle position with just one T-25,000 chip behind. When it folded to Rui Querido Martins in the big blind, he got a count from the dealer before raising to put Petersen all in. Petersen tossed in his last chip and the cards were revealed.

Jan Petersen: K♦K♣ All in
Rui Querido Martins : Q♦9♦

Peterson had found pocket kings at the perfect time and looked likely to double-up to just over ten big blinds. The flop of 6♣J♦5♠ meant only running cards would end Petersen's tournament. The 8♣ hit the turn giving Martins a backdoor straight draw. The straight completed for Martins on the 7♣ river, and Petersen was sent to the cashier's desk in brutal fashion.

Player	Chips	Progress
Rui Querido Martins	3,900,000 1,400,000	1,400,000
Jan Petersen	Busted

Tags: Jan Petersen Rui Querido Martins

03-16-2025 17:45 UTC+2

Vladislav Doroshkov Eliminated in 24th Place ($9,075)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/125,000, 125,000 ante

Vladislav Doroshkov shoved from the cutoff for 800,000 and Humberto Galindo called from the button.

Vladislav Doroshkov: 6♦6♥ All in
Humberto Galindo: A♠A♣

Doroshkov was in huge danger of being eliminated and the chances of him going home increased when the flop came 3♦2♣A♥, giving Galindo a set. A 5♠ on the turn did give Doroshkov a gutshot, but the 8♥ river was a brick.

Player	Chips	Progress
Humberto Lopes Galindo	5,700,000 5,700,000	5,700,000
Vladislav Doroshkov	Busted

Tags: Humberto Galindo Vladislav Doroshkov

03-16-2025 17:22 UTC+2

Skhulukhiya Extracts Value From Malinov

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Kai Cocklin

Level 28 : Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante

Atanas Pavlov opened to 200,000 from the hijack and got called by Aren Bezhanyan in the cutoff, Atanas Malinov on the button, and Giorgiy Skhulukhiya from the big blind.

All three checked the K♣5♥4♦ flop to the 3♣ turn, where Skhulukhiya led for 475,000. Pavlov and Bezhanyan folded, but Malinov stuck around.

When the 6♠ fell on the river, the board got a lot dicier, prompting Skhulukhiya to bet a small amount of 350,000. After some tanking, Malinov called.

"Is two pair good?" said Skhulukhiya before he rolled over 5♣4♥.

"Two pair is good," replied Malinov.

Player	Chips	Progress
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	4,400,000 800,000	800,000

Atanas Malinov	4,300,000 2,100,000	2,100,000
Aren Bezhanyan	4,000,000 100,000	100,000

Atanas Pavlov	2,900,000 2,055,000	2,055,000

Tags: Aren Bezhanyan Atanas Pavlov Atanas Malinov Giorgiy Skhulukhiya

03-16-2025 16:17 UTC+2

Kvashin Hits the Rail

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Kai Cocklin

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Konstantin Kvashin moved his stack of around 1,100,000 into the middle from middle position and Kirill Burtin took one peek at his cards in the big blind and called.

Konstantin Kvashin: Q♠J♠ All in
Kirill Burtin: A♥Q♣

Kvashin was dominated but did pick up a bit of hope in the form of backdoor draws on the Q♥4♣9♠ flop. However, the backdoor was quickly sealed off as the 3♣ dropped on the turn, leaving Kvashin with just three outs. None of those appeared on the 4♠ river, and Kvashin had his marching orders.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Burtin	2,600,000 600,000	600,000

Konstantin Kvashin	Busted

Tags: Kirill Burtin Konstantin Kvashin

03-16-2025 15:57 UTC+2

Shcherbakov Storms to the Top of the Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Kirill Shcherbakov knows exactly how to play pocket jacks and it sent his stack storming to the top of the leaderboard.

Yilu Yuan opened the button to 175,000 and Shcherbakov three-bet from the small blind to 700,000. After the big blind folded, Yuan shoved for around 2,000,000, and Shcherbakov quickly called.

Yilu Yuan: A♥5♥ All in
Kirill Shcherbakov: J♥J♣

Yuan still had decent equity and picked up four more outs when the flop came down 10♦3♦2♣ as he improved to a wheel draw. A 2♦ on the turn kept the jacks of Shcherbakov in the lead, and Yuan was eliminated when the 10♠ dropped on the river.

Big, big pot for Shcherbakov.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Shcherbakov	4,600,000 2,100,000	2,100,000
Yilu Yuan	Busted

Tags: Kirill Shcherbakov Yilu Yuan

03-16-2025 15:42 UTC+2

Yuan Wins a Sweaty Flip Against Van Gent

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

There was an open from the hijack to 120,000 and Yilu Yuan shoved the cutoff for around 1,100,000. Cornelis Van Gent was in the big blind and after a short tank, he made the call, and the initial raiser folded.

Yilu Yuan: A♦K♣ All in
Cornelis Van Gent: 9♥9♠

It was a classic coinflip that Yuan needed to win as he was the at-risk player. A flop of K♥Q♥8♥ kept things interesting as Yuan flopped top pair but van Gent picked up a flush draw. The 5♦ turn was red, but not the kind the van Gent needed, and the 2♣ river was as bricky as they come.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yilu Yuan	2,400,000 1,230,000	1,230,000
Cornelis Van Gent	1,100,000 1,300,000	1,300,000

Tags: Cornelis Van Gent Yilu Yuan

03-16-2025 15:25 UTC+2

Hallay's Aces Beat Grigorev's Kings

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Iurii Grigorev picked up a premium hand, but was disappointed to see that he was up against a slightly better hand held by Axel Hallay after the two got their chips in preflop blind-on-blind.

Axel Hallay: A♥A♦ All in
Iurii Grigorev: K♣K♠

Hallay had the shorter stack and managed to double it up as the 7♣9♣3♣J♦5♥ runout kept his bullets in the lead. Grigorev, however, dropped down to around 700,00—even with Hallay.

Player	Chips	Progress
Axel Hallay	700,000 50,000	50,000
Iurii Grigorev	700,000 165,000	165,000

Tags: Axel Hallay Iurii Grigorev