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

03-22-2025 17:42 UTC+2

Kolev Exits the Tournament

Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

With everyone in the money now, Boris Kolev raised to 35,000 from middle position before Darius Neagoe three-bet to 90,000 from the hijack. When it got back to Kolev, he four-bet shoved for roughly 520,000 and Neagoe called.

Boris Kolev: A♥Q♠ All in
Darius Neagoe: A♠K♦

Kolev was out-kicked with ace-queen to the Big Slick of Neagoe, and wasn't able to find any help on the 9♠6♥7♠2♥4♠ runout. Kolev headed to the payout desk while Neagoe stack moved up to 1,400,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Darius Neagoe	1,400,000 1,063,000	1,063,000

Boris Kolev	Busted

Tags: Boris Kolev Darius Neagoe

03-22-2025 17:40 UTC+2

In The Money!

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Kai Cocklin

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Without needing to go to hand-for-hand play, there were three quick bustouts which brought everybody into the money.

The last of those to be eliminated was the start-of-day chip leader Georgios Tsouloftas!

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Tsouloftas	Busted

03-22-2025 17:38 UTC+2

Eliminations

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Kai Cocklin

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Abdelhakim Zoufri	Busted
Aleksandr Ivanov	Busted
Aleksandr Razinkov	Busted
Alexander Sokolovsky	Busted
Alexandras Rusinovas	Busted
Antoine Vranken	Busted

Aren Bezhanyan	Busted
Arunas Sapitavicius	Busted
Atanas Malinov	Busted
Benjamin Hamnett	Busted

Catalin Moraru	Busted
Danielle Noja	Busted
Danyel Boyaciyan	Busted
Dinesh Alt	Busted
Dmitry Gromov	Busted

Fredrico Senno	Busted
George Chehadeh	Busted
Zero	Busted
Humberto Lopes Galindo	Busted
Ibrahim Ghassan	Busted
Ivan Sakharov	Busted
Jovan Kenjic	Busted
Leonid Bozhkov	Busted
Ludovic Periaux	Busted
Mircea Flutur	Busted

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03-22-2025 17:27 UTC+2

Shcherbakov Puts Khorchidian in the Blender

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Kirill Shcherbakov raised to 30,000 from middle position, and Nichan Khorchidian called from the hijack. Andrei Spataru also called, defending from the big blind.

On the K♠9♣A♥ flop, Spataru checked, Shcherbakov bet 35,000, and Khorchidian raised to 100,000. Spataru folded, and Shcherbakov called.

The turn was the 4♠, and both players checked to see the 2♦ land on the river. Shcherbakov led out for 65,000, only to see Khorchidian raise to 250,000. Shcherbakov then moved all in, putting Khorchidian at risk for his remaining 425,000.

Khorchidian went deep into the tank for more than two minutes before eventually letting his hand go. Shcherbakov showed the A♠ as he pulled in the big pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Shcherbakov	1,450,000 950,000	950,000
Andrei Spataru	900,000 100,000	100,000
Nichan Khorchidian	425,000 225,000	225,000

Tags: Andrei Spataru Kirill Shcherbakov Nichan Khorchidian

03-22-2025 17:21 UTC+2

Estrada Finds a Lucky River to Chop

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Kai Cocklin

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Soraya Estrada is a lucky, lucky lady after just finding a miracle river to earn herself a chop!

There were already around 300,000 chips in the middle on a 10♠3♥9♣Q♥ board when Andrei Konopelko checked and Estrada bet 175,000. Konopelko then shoved for 605,000, and Estrada counted out calling chips and slid them forward.

Andrei Konopelko: K♠J♠ All in
Soraya Estrada: Q♣J♦

Konopelko had the nuts and would scoop the pot as long as the river wasn't a king. Fortunately for Estrada, and unfortunately for Konopelko, the river was a K♦ meaning they both had a straight and chopped up the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Soraya Estrada	1,800,000 150,000	150,000
Andrei Konopelko	775,000 225,000	225,000

Tags: Andrei Konopelko Soraya Estrada

03-22-2025 17:10 UTC+2

Kirichenko Gets Zhu to Fold

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Kai Cocklin

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

There were already around 200,000 chips in the pot on a board of 6♣Q♠8♥J♥ when Aleksandr Kirichenko fired out a bet of 100,000 from under the gun. Jingxuan Zhu was in the hijack and called.

A Q♣ paired the board on the river and Kirichenko kept firing, this time for a bigger size of 290,000. Zhu went into the tank for quite some time but eventually settled on a fold, which allowed Kirichenko's stack to grow to around 1,350,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandr Kirichenko	1,350,000 752,000	752,000
Jingxuan Zhu	740,000 435,000	435,000

03-22-2025 17:09 UTC+2

Jakovljevic Triples Up With Pocket Nines

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Gregoire Auzoux raised to 30,000 from early position before Aleksandar Jakovljevic three-bet to roughly 300,000, leaving himself around 20,000 behind. Oleg Netaliev then moved all in from the big blind for 370,000. Auzoux called, covering both players, and Jakovljevic tossed in his last chips to put himself at risk.

Aleksandar Jakovljevic: 9♥9♣ All in
Oleg Netaliev: A♣K♣ All in
Gregoire Auzoux: A♥K♠

Jakovljevic found himself in excellent shape against the two Big Slicks of his opponents. The board ran out clean for his pocket nines, falling 4♥10♦6♥5♣6♣. Jakovljevic secured the triple-up, while Netaliev was left short with roughly 50,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandar Jakovljevic	950,000 422,000	422,000
Gregoire Auzoux	850,000 468,000	468,000
Oleg Netaliev	50,000 430,000	430,000

Tags: Aleksandar Jakovljevic Gregoire Auzoux

03-22-2025 17:01 UTC+2

Five Eliminations Until the Bubble Bursts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Currently, 124 players remain and there are only 119 places being paid, which means that after five more eliminations the bubble will have burst!

03-22-2025 16:58 UTC+2

Spataru Rakes a Small One With Queens

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Kai Cocklin

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Andrei Spataru made it 30,000 to go from middle position and Kirill Shcherbakov called in the cutoff. Bart Lybaert also called from the big blind.

The three went to a flop of 9♥9♦7♣ where it checked to Shcherbakov, who bet 30,000. Both Lybaert and Spataru called to see the 2♣ drop on the turn, which checked through.

A 3♠ completed the board and again it checked around. Lybaert instantly mucked without showing, Spataru showed a slowly-played Q♣Q♦, and Shcherbakov mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrei Spataru	1,000,000 671,000	671,000
Nichan Khorchidian	650,000 121,000	121,000
Bart Lybaert	600,000 160,000	160,000
Qiang Xu	575,000 60,000	60,000

Kirill Shcherbakov	500,000 49,000	49,000

Tags: Andrei Spataru Bart Lybaert Kirill Shcherbakov

03-22-2025 16:49 UTC+2

Lahev Fades the River to Double Up

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

After George Tomescu raised from middle position and the cutoff player called, Tomer Lahav squeezed from the small blind with both Tomescu and the cutoff player calling.

With around 325,000 in the middle, the three players saw the flop come down Q♦10♦8♥. Lahev fired out a continuation-bet of 250,000, which only the cutoff player called.

When the 5♥ landed on the turn, Lahev shoved for 280,000. The cutoff player did some inventory and took his time before eventually making the call.

Tomer Lahav: 10♥10♣ All in
Cutoff Player: A♦5♦

Lahev was ahead with his set of tens, but the cutoff player did have a flush draw with one card to come. The 8♠ landed on the river to improve Lahev to a full house and he doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tomer Lahav	1,400,000 1,223,000	1,223,000
George Tomescu	1,000,000 818,000	818,000

Tags: George Tomescu Tomer Lahav