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$5,300 High Roller
Day 1 Completed
2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series
$5,300 High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info
2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$1,462,800
Total Entries
318
Level
34
Blinds
200,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
209
Players Left
121
Players Left 1 / 318
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Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Day 1 of the $5,300 High Roller, featuring a $750,000 guaranteed prize pool, played out today at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino as part of the 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series. So far, the event has attracted 209 entries, making it the second-largest High Roller ever held at Merit Poker.
After eight 40-minute levels, 121 players managed to bag up chips for Day 2. Leading the way is Hassan Nashar, who closed the night with 680,000 chips. He vaulted up the leaderboard after dragging a big pot with king-high in the penultimate level, then capped off the day with one of his most memorable hands so far.
On the final hand of the night, Nashar got it all in preflop with four-deuce against the aces of Kemal Aslan. Though nearly drawing dead on the flop, Nashar hit runner-runner to make a straight and bust his opponent. Nashar let out a loud “Yes! Yes!” and exchanged a high-five with Boris Smuskevicius as he pulled in the pot and secured his spot at the top of the chip counts.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hassan Nashar | Guinea-Bissau | 680,000 | 453 |
| 2 | Ghassan Abou Khalil | Lebanon | 555,500 | 370 |
| 3 | Yusuf Tekin | Turkey | 540,000 | 360 |
| 4 | Amir Hassan | Tunisia | 494,000 | 329 |
| 5 | Jingxuan Zhu | China | 458,500 | 306 |
| 6 | Basel Khabbazeh | United Arab Emirates | 440,000 | 293 |
| 7 | Antoine Hasbani | Lebanon | 425,000 | 283 |
| 8 | Mekan Yusupov | Turkey | 376,500 | 251 |
| 9 | Jose Roman | Spain | 348,500 | 232 |
| 10 | Alexander Sokolovsky | Serbia | 344,500 | 230 |
Lebanon's Ghassan Abou Khalil ended Day 1 as the closest challenger to Nashar with a stack of 555,500, while Yusuf Tekin of Turkey rounds out the podium positions after bagging 540,000 at the end of the night.
Some other players who amassed big stacks for Day 2 include Basel Khabbazeh (440,000), Antoine Hasbani (425,500), Mekan Yusupov (376,500), Alexander Sokolovsky (344,500), and Joseph Sabe (336,000), who picked up aces and queens in quick succession and eliminated players with both hands. A few more returning to the baize tomorrow include Vedat Yilmaz (307,000) and Merit Poker regular Dmitry Gromov (244,000).
Day 2 resumes at 6 p.m. local time on Friday, August 1, with blinds at 1,000/1,500 and a 1,500 big blind ante. Players may reenter an unlimited number of times until the end of Level 12, giving them more chances to join the growing field. The schedule for Day 2 will be confirmed shortly after play begins.
Remaining $5,300 High Roller Schedule
| Date | Day | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 1 | Day 2 | 6 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| August 2 | Day 3 | 1 p.m. | 40 minutes |
Be sure to follow PokerNews as Day 2 gets underway to see who continues their run toward one of the biggest prizes of the series.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Play has finished for Day 1 of the $5,300 High Roller with 124 players managing to make it through to Day 2. Stay tuned for a full list of chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 31st episode, Connor talks with poker content creator Frank "Frankie C" Cucchiara about growing up in the hometown of Wild Bill Hickok, getting into poker in college, Next Gen Poker, building one of the most successful YouTube channels in poker, his 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event run, how new WSOP rules will impact vloggers, and playing this year's $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.
Frankie C also talked about being married to poker pro Kitty Kuo, being a dad, his new All-In Brownie, challenging Daniel Negreanu to a $10,000 heads-up poker match and stepping into the ring with UFC champion Sean "Suga" O'Malley.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
The floor has announced that there will be three more hands before the players bag up their chips for the night.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Gianmarco Kovari raised from under the gun and Hassan Nashar three-bet to 15,000 from next seat. When it got back to Kovari, he called.
Kovari knuckled the action over to Nashar on the 2♥7♦4♥ flop, and Nashar bet 50,000. Kovari check-jammed for around 160,000, which Nashar snap-called.
Gianmarco Kovari: Q♥10♥ 
Hassan Nashar: K♣Q♦
Nashar had correctly called with king-high and was up against the queen-high flush draw of Kovari. The 9♠ turn and 5♦ river didn't help Kovari, and Nashar won the pot of around 350,000 with just king-high.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Guo Liang Wei raised under the gun before Ali Amirfatahi jammed from the small blind for 20,500. Parahat Nurmuhammedov cold-called from the big blind, and Wei put in another raise to around 50,000. Nurmuhammedov thought it over for quite some time before folding AxKx.
Ali Amirfatahi: 10♦8♦
Guo Liang Wei: A♣K♠
Amirfatahi had the chance to triple up if he could get a favorable runout. The flop of J♥9♦Q♥ was rather favorable for Amirfatahi as he flopped a straight. However, the 10♥ turn quickly gave Wei the best hand with Broadway. An irrelevant 7♦ hit the river, and Amirfatahi was out.
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/1,500
Ante: 1,500
Level 7
: Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante
