$3,300 Main Event Day 3 | 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series

03-22-2025 14:01 UTC+3

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

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03-22-2025 13:56 UTC+3

Orman Wins a Flip, Tuna Misses an Opportunity

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Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Akin Tuna just made a fold that he wasn't too pleased about as he would have eliminated two opponents!

Tuna made it 12,000 to go from early position and Ori Elul called in the next seat before Leonid Orman squeezed from the big blind to 62,000. Tuna made the call, then Elul back-raised all in for 254,000. Orman called off his stack of 210,000, and Tuna made a reluctant fold.

Leonid Orman: A♠K♠ All in
Ori Elul: J♠J♣

Orman was at risk and behind, needing to find some help from the board in order to survive. He didn't find it on the 6♥3♥9♠ flop, but Tuna seemed unimpressed as he said he folded pocket nines and would have flopped a set. Salvation did arrive for Orman on the K♥ turn as he made top pair, and Elul couldn't find his two-outer when the 8♥ dropped on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Akin Tuna	700,000 25,000	25,000
Leonid Orman	450,000 189,000	189,000
Ori Elul	45,000 243,000	243,000

Tags: Akin Tuna Leonid Orman Ori Elul

03-22-2025 13:53 UTC+3

Tsouloftas' Stack Passes Two Million

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Arriving at the table, there was roughly 40,000 in the middle and a board showing 9♣6♠4♦. From middle position, Lyudmil Ivanov had bet 16,000, and Georgios Tsouloftas had check-raised to 41,000 out of the big blind. Ivanov called, leaving himself around 140,000 behind heading to the turn.

The turn brought the 7♣, and Tsouloftas moved all in, sliding forward a stack of white T-25,000 chips to put Ivanov at risk. Ivanov quickly folded, and Tsouloftas took down the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Tsouloftas	2,100,000 356,000	356,000

Lyudmil Ivanov	140,000 210,000	210,000

Tags: Georgios Tsouloftas Lyudmil Ivanov

03-22-2025 13:41 UTC+3

Kopyl Wins Without Having to Show

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Milos Skrbic came in with a raise to 12,000 from the hijack only to be three-bet by Dmitrii Kopyl on the button to 33,000. Skrbic called to see a flop.

Skrbic chose to check-call a bet of 18,000 from Kopyl on the 8♦6♠2♠ flop.

The two players checked the 4♠ turn to see the K♠ land on the river. Skrbic led out for 45,000, which Kopyl called. Skrbic instantly mucked his cards, which meant Kopyl pulled in the pot without having to reveal what he called the river with.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitrii Kopyl	380,000 85,000	85,000
Milos Skrbic	130,000 85,000	85,000

Tags: Dmitrii Kopyl Milos Skrbic

03-22-2025 13:41 UTC+3

Tomovic Stays Alive

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Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

There was a raise from middle position to 12,000 that was called by Carlos Aoun in the hijack before Aleksandar Tomovic shoved for 60,000 in the cutoff. It folded back to Aoun, who confirmed the price then dropped the chips in.

Aleksandar Tomovic: 9♦9♠ All in
Carlos Aoun: A♦J♦

Aoun took the lead on the A♥K♥8♥ flop and it looked to be the end of Tomovic's run, but the 9♣ turn locked up the pot for him as he improved to an unbeatable set. Tomovic improved further to a full house on the 8♦ river, and has around 145,000 to work with.

Player	Chips	Progress
Carlos Aoun	650,000 22,000	22,000
Aleksandar Tomovic	145,000 43,000	43,000

Tags: Aleksandar Tomovic Carlos Aoun

03-22-2025 13:34 UTC+3

Tikhonov Ends Up Chopping With Novak

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Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Andrii Novak had opened from the cutoff then called a three-bet from Sergey Tikhonov on the button to see a flop of 10♦A♥A♦, where Novak check-called a bet of 13,000 from Tikhonov.

A 5♠ saw Novak again go into check-call mode when Tikhonov fired out 55,000, and they both watched the 10♠ double-pair the board on the river. Novak checked for a third time and Tikhonov fired one more bet of around 80,000 into the pot. Novak snap-called.

Tikhonov showed A♣K♠ for a boat, and Novak had the same hand with A♠J♣, meaning they chopped up the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrii Novak	1,550,000
Sergey Tikhonov	550,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Andrii Novak Sergey Tikhonov

03-22-2025 13:28 UTC+3

Novak Sniffs Out Razinkov's Bluff

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Ibrahim Ghassan raised to 12,000 from early position before Aleksandr Razinkov three-bet to 32,000 from the cutoff. Andrii Novak called from the button, and Ghasson stuck in the call also.

Three players went to a flop of 7♠10♦8♠, where action checked to Novak, who bet 35,000. Ghassan folded, but Razinkov called to see the turn.

The 9♠ turn checked through for the 3♠ to land on the river. Razinkov took back the betting lead by firing out for 55,000. Novak pondered briefly then stuck in the call.

Razinkov just had a pair of nines with Q♣9♣ on the four flush board. Novak could beat that with 6♦6♣ for a straight.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrii Novak	1,550,000 106,000	106,000
Ibrahim Ghassan	350,000 162,000	162,000
Aleksandr Razinkov	170,000 349,000	349,000

Tags: Aleksandr Razinkov Andrii Novak Ibrahim Ghassan

03-22-2025 13:21 UTC+3

Ghazarian Gone

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Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Kirill Burtin made it 12,000 to go from the button and Harout Ghazarian shoved from the big blind for around 70,000. Burtin was thinking for a while but ultimately decided to call, which put Ghazarian at risk.

Harout Ghazarian: 6♥4♣ All in
Kirill Burtin: 8♦7♥

Certainly two hands that you don't see all-in very often and it was the holding of Ghazarian that took the lead on the 4♠A♠3♠ flop as he paired his four. A 9♠ on the turn put a flush draw on board and gave Burtin some chop outs, but instead he took the lot as the 7♣ dropped on the river, ending Ghazarian's Main Event dreams.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Burtin	350,000 57,000	57,000
Harout Ghazarian	Busted

Tags: Harout Ghazarian Kirill Burtin

03-22-2025 13:17 UTC+3

Geilich Three-Bets the Flop

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Maxim Toldin opened the hijack to 12,000 with Ludovic Geilich calling from the small blind, and Karl Sandoff defending his big blind.

Geilich opted to lead out for 11,000 when the flop came down 10♠8♣6♦. Sandoff called before Toldin raised to 32,000. Geilich didn't take too long before he three-bet to 97,000. Sandoff got out the way, but Toldin took a bit more time before he folded and surrendered the pot to Geilich.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ludovic Geilich	1,200,000 54,000	54,000

Maxim Toldin	575,000 47,000	47,000
Karl Sandoff	230,000 26,000	26,000

Tags: Karl Sandoff Ludovic Geilich Maxim Toldin

03-22-2025 13:12 UTC+3

Yuan Busts First on Day 3

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Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Amir Mohammadi raised to 13,000 from under the gun and Yilu Yuan shoved from middle position for 114,000. Rosen Apostolov was in the big blind and shoved his stack of around 280,000, and Mohammadi got out of the way.

Yilu Yuan: A♠J♥ All in
Rosen Apostolov: A♥Q♥

Yuan was way behind and fell further back when the dealer put out a flop of 6♦4♣Q♦. A K♥ on the turn did give Yuan some hope with a Broadway draw, but the 2♥ on the river was a brick, and Yuan was the first player to hit the rail on Day 3.

Player	Chips	Progress
Rosen Apostolov	420,000 141,000	141,000
Amir Mohammadi	220,000 15,000	15,000
Yilu Yuan	Busted

Tags: Amir Mohammadi Rosen Apostolov Yilu Yuan