$2,200 Warm Up | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-18-2025 14:03 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

Kai Cocklin

Level 33 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	14,800,000 800,000	800,000
Georgios Skarparis	14,100,000 100,000	100,000

Philipp Wood	7,000,000 2,300,000	2,300,000
Ali Zebarjad	5,900,000 600,000	600,000
Danielle Noja	5,500,000 500,000	500,000
Konstantin Kvashin	2,900,000 2,300,000	2,300,000

Level: 34

Blinds: 200,000/400,000

Ante: 400,000

01-18-2025 14:28 UTC+2

Kvashin Goes Aggressive

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

The first two hands since play restarted have both gone to Konstantin Kvashin. In the first hand he shoved 2,900,000 from the cutoff and got it through, and in the second he made it 2,600,000 from the hijack and again picked up the blinds.

Player	Chips	Progress
Konstantin Kvashin	4,900,000 2,000,000	2,000,000

Tags: Konstantin Kvashin

01-18-2025 14:41 UTC+2

Wood Loses Two in a Row

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Philipp Wood's stack just took a hit in back-to-back hands.

First, Wood raised from under the gun to 800,000 then folded to the shove of Danielle Noja from the big blind.

Then, Zhen Chen raised from the hijack and Wood defended from the big blind.

On the 4♦8♦5♥ flop, Wood check-folded to Chen's continuation-bet.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	15,000,000 200,000	200,000
Danielle Noja	7,000,000 1,500,000	1,500,000
Philipp Wood	5,000,000 2,000,000	2,000,000

Tags: Danielle Noja Philipp Wood Zhen Chen

01-18-2025 14:48 UTC+2

Wood's Decline Continues, Skarparis Pulling Away

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Philipp Wood made it 1,000,000 to go from the hijack and Georgios Skarparis called in the small blind.

Both checked the K♠4♦4♥ flop and Skarparis led out for 650,000 on the 9♥ turn. Wood folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	17,000,000 2,900,000	2,900,000

Philipp Wood	3,800,000 1,200,000	1,200,000

Tags: Georgios Skarparis Philipp Wood

01-18-2025 14:55 UTC+2

Chen's Pair Good at Showdown

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Ali Zebarjad limped in from the small blind and Zhen Chen checked his option in the big blind.

On the A♠Q♦7♦ flop, Zebarjad bet 400,000 and Chen called to see the A♥ turn, which went check-check.

The 5♥ turn was also checked through and Zebarjad showed K♠9♥ for king-high, but Chen's 9♣7♥ was good with a pair of sevens.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	15,000,000
Ali Zebarjad	4,800,000 1,100,000	1,100,000

Tags: Ali Zebarjad Zhen Chen

01-18-2025 14:59 UTC+2

Ali Zebarjad Eliminated in 6th Place ($36,140)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

The action folded to Ali Zebarjad on the button, who shoved for just under 5,000,000. When Georgios Skarparis looked at his cards in the big blind, he immediately called.

Ali Zebarjad: A♣2♣ All in
Georgios Skarparis: A♥A♠

There were still two shorter stacks on the table, but Zebarjad's pursuit of glory was on the brink of being shot down.

It was all but over on the 4♦7♥4♠ flop as Zebarjad needed running cards to survive. The 10♠ turn ended things for Zebarjad, and the K♦ completed the board,

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	23,000,000 6,000,000	6,000,000

Ali Zebarjad	Busted

Tags: Ali Zebarjad Georgios Skarparis

01-18-2025 15:01 UTC+2

Kvashin Finds Big Slick at a Crucial Time

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

The action folded around to Danielle Noja in the small blind, who shoved all in. Konstantin Kvashin was in the big blind and called off his stack of around 2,500,000.

Konstantin Kvashin: A♥K♠ All in
Danielle Noja: J♥7♠

Kvashin managed to pair his ace on the flop and double up on the 9♦2♠A♦6♥8♣ runout, which kept his hopes alive.

Player	Chips	Progress
Konstantin Kvashin	5,400,000 500,000	500,000
Danielle Noja	4,000,000 3,000,000	3,000,000

Tags: Konstantin Kvashin Danielle Noja

01-18-2025 15:06 UTC+2

Philipp Wood Eliminated in 5th Place ($45,050)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Philipp Wood made it 2,000,000 from the button and left himself around 800,000 behind. Georgios Skarparis used some extra time in the big blind and eventually shoved, then Wood called off his remaining chips.

Philipp Wood: A♦6♣ All in
Georgios Skarparis: 9♠8♠

Wood was out in the lead and maintained it through the 5♦10♠4♥ flop. A board-pairing 10♣ on the turn brought Wood one step closer to a much-needed double, but he couldn't swerve the 9♣ river, which meant he was out in 5th.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	26,000,000 3,000,000	3,000,000

Philipp Wood	Busted

Tags: Georgios Skarparis Philipp Wood

Level: 35

Blinds: 250,000/500,000

Ante: 500,000