$2,200 IPO Master
Day 2 Started
2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series
$2,200 IPO Master
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$1,343,200
Entries
730
Level
38
Blinds
500,000 / 1,000,000
Ante
1,000,000
Entries
300
Players Left
123
Players Left 1 / 730
Filter
(1)
The $2,200 IPO Master at the 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series is heading into its next chapter as Day 2 gets underway today at 12:30 p.m. inside the luxurious Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. So far, the first three starting flights have drawn a combined 530 entries and 248 survivors will return to battle for a share of the $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Russia's Roman Kolotiuk comes into today's proceedings with the biggest stack, after he managed to accumulate a huge stack of 875,500 on Day 1b. Kolotiuk's closest rival is the Day 1a chip leader, Hassan Nashar, with 699,500 chips. Rounding out the top three is Afshin Afsharorumieh with 670,000, while the. Day 1c chip leader Konstantin Voronin starts today with 601,000, and is the only other player to bring through a stack of over six hundred thousand.
While Day 2 gets underway, the final turbo flight, Day 1d is still playing out. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 15, allowing last-minute entries and short stacks one final shot at building a stack before the field officially joins.
Current Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Kolotiuk | Russian Federation | 875,500 | 350 |
| 2 | Hassan Nashar | Guinea-Bissau | 699,500 | 280 |
| 3 | Afshin Afsharorumieh | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 670,000 | 268 |
| 4 | Konstantin Voronin | Russian Federation | 601,000 | 240 |
| 5 | Michael Iakovlev | Russian Federation | 540,000 | 216 |
| 6 | Kirill Burtin | Russian Federation | 534,000 | 214 |
| 7 | Imad Saab | Lebanon | 527,000 | 211 |
| 8 | Samuel Dray | France | 521,000 | 208 |
| 9 | Osman Ihlamur | Turkey | 513,500 | 205 |
| 10 | Gerard Carbo Santamaria | Spain | 506,000 | 202 |
Several big names will also carry healthy stacks into Day 2, including Michael Iakovlev (540,000), Osman Ihlamur (513,500), Imad Saab (527,000), and Maciej Toma (497,000). Others such as Danielle Noja (452,500), Aleksei Savenkov (444,000), Ivan Banovic (443,000), and Aleksandr Chernikov (388,000) are also in striking distance as the field begins to consolidate.
Day 1d kicked off this morning at 10:00 a.m. as the final turbo flight before all remaining players return at 12:30 p.m. to resume the race toward the IPO Master title. Levels will remain at 40 minutes until the field reaches Day 3, where the structure will extend to 60 minutes and the pressure will only intensify.
IPO Master Remaining Schedule
| Date | Day | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 30 | Day 1d | 10 a.m. | 13 minutes |
| July 30 | Day 2 | 12:30 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| July 31 | Day 3 | 12 p.m. | 60 minutes |
| August 1 | Day 4 | 12 p.m. | 60 minutes |
Stay locked in with PokerNews for chip counts, seat draws, and live updates from the first card to the final river.
There is a slight delay to the start of the day as players take their seats.
Level: 11
Blinds: 1,500/2,500
Ante: 2,500
Level 11
: Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante
Cards are in the air for Day 2 of the $2,200 IPO Master.
Level 11
: Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante
From under the gun, Mark Saad made it 5,000 to go with Tamer Abdelzaher calling from the next seat. Fang Zhang bumped up the action to 22,000 from middle position. When it folded back to Saad, he four-bet to 65,000, which forced Abdelzaher to fold. Zhang five-bet ripped it for 185,000, and Saad made the call.
Fang Zhang: A♠A♥ 
Mark Saad: K♦K♠
It was poker's classic cooler of aces versus kings, and Zhang looked poised to double-up early in the day. The board ran out 5♥4♥9♠J♥7♣, keeping Zhang's bullets ahead the whole way, and she earned the double-up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
390,000
206,000
|
206,000 |
|
230,000
224,000
|
224,000 |
|
215,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Level 11
: Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante
Kadir Altinbasak limped from middle position before Grzegorz Kozieja raised to 10,000 from the cutoff. Andrei Daniliuk jammed for 41,000 out of the big blind, which was only called by Altinbasak.
Andrei Daniliuk: K♥Q♠
Kadir Altinbasak: K♣10♣
Daniliuk had Altinbasak dominated with the higher kicker and managed to stay in front on the A♦6♦5♠7♣5♣ runout.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
240,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
|
130,000
16,500
|
16,500 |
|
95,000
51,500
|
51,500 |
Level 11
: Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante
Hassan Nashar began Day 2 with the second-largest stack of 699,500, good for 280 big blinds. But just 30 minutes into the day, he was spotted making his way out of the tournament area. The details of his early exit remain unclear, but he wasted no time heading to the rebuy desk and is now back in action with a fresh starting stack of 100,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
100,000
599,500
|
599,500 |
|
||
Level: 12
Blinds: 1,500/2,500
Ante: 2,500
Level 12
: Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante
Tamer Abdelzaher checked first from the small blind on a flop of 6♠8♦2♣. Xiaosheng Zheng bet 8,500 from under the gun with only Ivan Zabiiakin calling from middle position.
Heads-up now to the J♠ turn, where Zheng opted to slow down and check. Zabiiakin fired out 16,500 and Zheng flicked in the call.
Two checks followed the 10♦ river and Zheng revealed 9♦9♥ for a pair of nines. However, this was second best to the A♦J♦ of Zabiiakin for a turned pair of jacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
200,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
120,000
48,000
|
48,000 |
