$5,300 High Roller Day 1 | 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series

Mar 17, 2025

Papazian Holds on With a Pair of Eights

Tim Baker

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

The flop showed 7♦K♥8♠ and there were around 20,000 chips in the pot. Aleksandar Tomovic was first to act in the big blind, and put out a bet of 7,000. Alexandru Papazian called on the button to see at least a turn.

The J♦ dropped on the turn and both players opted to check for the K♦ to land on the river. The action checked through again and Tomovic flipped over ace-high with A♦Q♣. Papazian had that beat with a pair of eights holding 10♥8♥.

Tags: Alexandru Papazian Aleksandar Tomovic

Mar 17, 2025

Lodden Takes it Away From Cheng

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Tim Baker

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Johnny Lodden came in with a raise to 2,000 from cutoff. Zhao Cheng called on the button, and Andrija Cvetkovic defended his big blind.

The flop of 3♠A♥10♥ fell and the action checked around to the Cheng, who decided to bet out for 4,500. Cvetkovic quickly got out of the way, but Lodden check-raised to 15,000. Cheng looked back at his cards before tossing them back to the dealer.

Tags: Andrija Cvetkovic Johnny Lodden Zhao Cheng

Level: 5

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

Mar 17, 2025

Cheng Forces Ivanov to Fold the Turn

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Zhao Cheng opened with a raised from the hijack and was three-bet to 8,000 by Lyudmil Ivanov out of the cutoff. Cheng stuck around with a call.

Cheng checked on the 3♣J♥6♦ flop and Ivanov continued with a bet of 7,000. Cheng check-raised to 15,000, which Ivanov called.

A board-pairing 3♥ fell on the turn and Cheng put out a bet of 30,000. Ivanov folded, and relinquished the pot to Cheng

Tags: Lyudmil Ivanov Zhao Cheng

Mar 17, 2025

Plenty of Action Ahead at Merit Poker!

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Don’t miss any of the exciting poker action at Merit this spring, as both the Merit Millions and Mediterranean Poker Party are on the way.

The special Merit Millions event will run from April 8-13, with a buy-in of $10,400 over four starting flights. The champion will earn $1,000,000, with the rest of the prize pool distributed between players at the final table.

The Mediterranean Poker Party (MPP) returns to Merit from May 3-13, bringing with it more than $10 million in guaranteed prize pools, including a monster-sized $5,300 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed MPP Main Event.

Featuring four flights, the MPP Main Event runs from May 8-12 and could see the champion reel in a million-dollar score. In 2024, some 1,260 entries resulted in a $6,048,000 prize pool, much more than the advertised $5 million guarantee.

Look out for satellites running on GGPoker and win your way to Merit this spring!

Find More Information Here

Mar 16, 2025

Orman Takes From Sibgatova

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Alisa Sibgatova came in with a raise to 1,800 from early position and got three-bet by Leonid Orman to 6,500 from the next position. After it folded back to Sibgatova, she called to see a flop.

Sibgatova checked upon seeing the flop come down 10♣K♥6♥. Orman bet 5,000, and Sibgatova put in the call.

The turn came the board-pairing 6♦ and Sibgatova checked once more. Orman fired out 20,000 this time, which was enough to force a fold from Sibgatova.

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Leonid Orman

Mar 16, 2025

Cvetkovic Pays to See Savkin's Boat

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Tymofii Savkin opened from early position with Andrija Cvetkovic calling on the button, and Zhao Cheng defending his big blind.

The dealer spread out a flop of 7♣J♣7♥ and the action checked to Savkin, he bet 2,500, which only the initial raiser Cvetkovic called.

Both players checked when the J♠ fell on the turn and the 2♥ landed on the river. Cvetkovic led out now for 4,000, and was met by a raise to 20,000 from Savkin. Cvetkovic dropped in the call, and was shown a full house by Savkin with K♥J♦. Cvetkovic mucked and Savkin took down the pot.