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

03-16-2025 23:27 UTC+2

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♥.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexandru Papazian	190,000

Aleksandar Tomovic	110,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Alexandru Papazian Aleksandar Tomovic

03-16-2025 23:15 UTC+2

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.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrija Cvetkovic	240,000 30,000	30,000
Zhao Cheng	145,000
Johnny Lodden	130,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Andrija Cvetkovic Johnny Lodden Zhao Cheng

Level: 5

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

03-16-2025 23:03 UTC+2

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

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhao Cheng	145,000 25,000	25,000
Lyudmil Ivanov	90,000 90,000	90,000

Tags: Lyudmil Ivanov Zhao Cheng

03-16-2025 23:02 UTC+2

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

03-16-2025 22:50 UTC+2

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.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alisa Sibgatova	175,000 15,000	15,000
Leonid Orman	148,000 38,000	38,000

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Leonid Orman

03-16-2025 22:36 UTC+2

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.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrija Cvetkovic	210,000 45,000	45,000
Tymofii Savkin	155,000 45,000	45,000
Zhao Cheng	120,000

Tags: Andrija Cvetkovic Tymofii Savkin Zhao Cheng

03-16-2025 22:21 UTC+2

Some Big Stacks at the Break

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Tim Baker

Level 4 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrija Cvetkovic	255,000 145,000	145,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	245,000 45,000	45,000
Volodymyr Drukin	220,000 110,000	110,000
Georgios Tsouloftas	210,000 210,000	210,000

Alisa Sibgatova	190,000 190,000	190,000
Baltazar Five	175,000 175,000	175,000
Dmitry Kataev	170,000 60,000	60,000
Maroun Jazzar	165,000 55,000	55,000
Dmitriy Zakharov	165,000 165,000	165,000
Zoran Sesum	160,000 50,000	50,000

Level: 4

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 800

03-16-2025 22:07 UTC+2

Break Time

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 300/700, 700 ante

Players are now on a 15-minute break.