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

03-16-2025 18:03 UTC+2

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

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

Level: 29

Blinds: 50,000/125,000

Ante: 125,000

03-16-2025 17:36 UTC+2

Seat Draw

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Kai Cocklin

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

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count
1	1	Humberto Galindo	Spain	4,700,000
1	2	Dmitrii Kopyl	Russia	3,000,000
1	3	Atanas Pavlov	Bulgaria	3,500,000
1	4	Aren Bezhanyan	Armenia	3,400,000
1	5	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	3,000,000
1	6	Giorgi Shkulukhiya	Georgia	4,200,000
1	7	Kirill Burtin	Russia	1,700,000
1	8	Vladislav Doroshkov	Russia	800,000

2	1	Alessio Isaia	Italy	4,200,000
2	2	Rui Martins	Malta	2,500,000
2	3	Damien Sylvain Gayer	France	1,100,000
2	4	Iurii Grigorev	Russia	1,000,000
2	5	Jan Petersen	Denmark	660,000
2	6	Kirill Shcherbakov	Russia	3,700,000
2	7	Atanas Georgiev Malin	Hungary	4,300,000
2	8	Oleh Frantsevych	Ukraine	3,500,000

3	1	Daniel Alexander Abrahamsson	Sweden	5,100,000
3	2	Eimantas Adomavicius	Lithuania	3,600,000
3	3	Fadi Zarka	Lebanon	1,300,000
3	4	Andrii Novak	Ukraine	900,000
3	5	Danielle Noja	Australia	3,400,000
3	6	Wojciech Frankowski	Poland	2,900,000
3	7	Erdal Gulseven	Turkey	700,000
3	8	Nikolay Ponomarev	United Kingdom	700,000

Player	Chips	Progress
Daniel Abrahamsson	5,100,000 4,100,000	4,100,000
Humberto Lopes Galindo	4,700,000 2,400,000	2,400,000
Atanas Malinov	4,300,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	4,200,000 200,000	200,000

Alessio Isaia	4,200,000 2,200,000	2,200,000

Kirill Shcherbakov	3,700,000 400,000	400,000
Eimantas Adomavicius	3,600,000 3,295,000	3,295,000
Atanas Pavlov	3,500,000 600,000	600,000
Oleh Frantsevych	3,500,000 1,400,000	1,400,000
Aren Bezhanyan	3,400,000 600,000	600,000

Danielle Noja	3,400,000 1,800,000	1,800,000
Dmitrii Kopyl	3,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Dmitry Gromov	3,000,000 1,550,000	1,550,000

Wojciech Frankowski	2,900,000 2,050,000	2,050,000
Rui Querido Martins	2,500,000 500,000	500,000
Kirill Burtin	1,700,000 1,000,000	1,000,000

Fadi Zarka	1,300,000 400,000	400,000
Damien Gayer	1,100,000 700,000	700,000
Iurii Grigorev	1,000,000 200,000	200,000
Andrii Novak	900,000 50,000	50,000
Vladislav Doroshkov	800,000 100,000	100,000
Erdal Gulseven	700,000 625,000	625,000
Nikolay Ponomarev	700,000 700,000	700,000
Jan Petersen	660,000 2,340,000	2,340,000

03-16-2025 17:25 UTC+2

Three Table Redraw

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Kai Cocklin

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

After Radoslav Stoyanov just busted, there will now be a three table redraw.

Player	Chips	Progress
Radoslav Stoyanov	Busted

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 17:10 UTC+2

Spisak, Sabau, and Madani Hit the Rail

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Kai Cocklin

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

Three more eliminations were recorded after the break with Krzysztof Spisak being one of the players to hit the rail.

Spisak had his last few big blinds in the middle on a flop of 2♠7♠6♥ and was put at risk by Jan Petersen.

Krzysztof Spisak: 5♣5♠ All in
Jan Petersen: Q♠4♠

Spisak was in the lead but was left drawing dead when the 9♠ landed on the turn. A meaningless 10♠ dropped on the river, and Spisak joined Ehsan Madani & Razvan Nicolae Sabau on the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jan Petersen	3,000,000 500,000	500,000
Ehsan Madani	Busted
Krzysztof Spisak	Busted
Razvan Nicolae Sabau	Busted

Tags: Ehsan Madani Jan Petersen Krzysztof Spisak Razvan Nicolae Sabau

03-16-2025 17:00 UTC+2

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

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Kai Cocklin

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

Read the Full Recap Here