$5,300 High Roller Day 2 | 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series

03-17-2025 20:20 UTC+2

Haidar's Flush Leaves Gavrilovich on Crumbs

Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

On a flop of 3♠A♠2♦, Safi Haidar bet 8,000 from the small blind and was met by a raise to 22,000 from Jenya Gavrilovich out of the big blind. Haidar thought for a few moments before making the call.

The turn came the K♦ and Haidar check-called a bet of 13,000 from Gavrilovich.

When the Q♠ landed on the river Haidar shoved for 53,000 and Gavrilovich quickly called.

Safi Haidar: 9♠8♠ All in
Jenya Gavrilovich: A♣5♦

Haidar had the winner with the rivered flush, earning him the double-up, while leaving Gavrilovich on fumes.

Player	Chips	Progress
Safi Haidar	160,000 64,500	64,500
Jenya Gavrilovich	10,000 55,000	55,000

Tags: Jenya Gavrilovich Safi Haidar

03-17-2025 20:05 UTC+2

Pateychuk Takes it on the River

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Three players saw the flop of 5♥7♦K♥ come down. Andrey Pateychuk and Alisa Sibgatova checked from the blinds and Tarmo Tammel bet 3,500 from the cutoff. Pateychuk called from the small blind, but Sibgatova folded.

The 10♦ turn got checked through to see the J♥ land on the river. Pateychuk led out now for 7,000 and Tammel quickly let go of his hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tarmo Tammel	190,000 40,000	40,000
Andrey Pateychuk	120,000

Alisa Sibgatova	50,000 93,000	93,000

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Andrey Pateychuk

03-17-2025 19:57 UTC+2

Cooler Helps Ju Double Through Lodden

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

From late positions, Samuel Ju and Johnny Lodden just got all of their chips into the middle preflop, with Ju being the player at risk.

Samuel Ju: A♥A♦ All in
Johnny Lodden: J♣J♠

Ju had the current nuts and was likely to earn the double-up at the expense of Lodden. There was no help for Lodden on the K♣Q♥2♦2♥8♠ runout and almost half of his stack was sent over to Ju.

Player	Chips	Progress
Samuel Ju	240,000 2,000	2,000
Johnny Lodden	140,000 149,500	149,500

Tags: Johnny Lodden Samuel Ju

03-17-2025 19:47 UTC+2

Record-Breaking Merit Poker High Roller

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

With more than 220 entries already, the 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series High Roller has already set a new record for the largest High Roller field in Merit Poker history. The previous benchmark was 187 entries from the 2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series, which awarded $204,700 to the champion.

With late registration still open for another two hours, the prize pool and top prize are set to climb even higher.

Event	Entries	Top Prize
2023 Carmen Series	187	$204,700
2025 Western Series	174	$200,000
2024 Western Series	153	$177,500
2023 Western Series	147	$170,000
2024 Carmen Series	145	$174,500
2023 Gangster Series	121	$149,200
2024 Gatsby Series	103	$132,300

03-17-2025 19:40 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Tsouloftas	620,000 25,500	25,500

Tobias Peters	540,000 20,000	20,000

Baltazar Five	480,000 108,000	108,000
Vladislav Ivanov	450,000 64,000	64,000
Leonid Orman	440,000 136,500	136,500
Paul Lagan	440,000

Dmitry Kataev	380,000 135,500	135,500
Zoran Sesum	375,000 4,500	4,500
Kirill Burtin	340,000 54,000	54,000
Charbel Salloum	330,000 330,000	330,000
Francisco Perez Moreno	330,000 93,000	93,000
Fahredin Mustafov	300,000 110,000	110,000
Ludovic Geilich	300,000 76,500	76,500

Tarmo Tammel	230,000 230,000	230,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	220,000 11,000	11,000

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/2,500

Ante: 2,500

03-17-2025 19:26 UTC+2

Break Time

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Players are now on a 15-minute break.

03-17-2025 19:20 UTC+2

Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack by PokerNews

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Have you heard about MyStack by PokerNews? It is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. MyStack directly connects you to PokerNews' live reporting pages, making you an even bigger part of the action in the events you play.

MyStack is a free poker tool and PokerNews activates MyStack for every event it is live reporting from, regardless of that tournament's buy-in. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!

Click Here to Set Up Your Account

03-17-2025 19:09 UTC+2

Chen Doubles With Big Slick

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Tamazi Skhirtladze raised the minimum to 4,000 from under the gun before Zhen Chen stuck his 35,000 into the middle from middle position. When it folded back to Skhirtladze, he called to put Chen at risk.

Zhen Chen: A♠K♦ All in
Tamazi Skhirtladze: K♥Q♥

Chen had Skhirtladze dominated and looked poised to get the double. The clean runout of 7♥A♣9♠4♦2♥ gave Chen the winner with a pair of aces, and he stayed alive in the event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	75,000 35,500	35,500
Tamazi Skhirtladze	75,000 128,000	128,000

Tags: Tamazi Skhirtladze Zhen Chen

03-17-2025 18:58 UTC+2

Losev Takes From El-Asmar

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

With 20,000 in the pot already, Hady El-Asmar checked to Alexey Losev on a flop of K♦10♠6♦. Losev bet 7,000 from the button and El-Asmar called.

The two players checked the 4♠ turn to see the 2♥ land on the river. El-Asmar bet 5,000 and Losev snap-called. El-Asmar showed second pair with Q♣10♣, but was second best to the better kicker of Losev with A♦10♥.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexey Losev	190,000 114,000	114,000
Hady El-Asmar	100,000 52,000	52,000

Tags: Alexey Losev Hady El-Asmar