Day 2 Dawns with Luke Marsh in Command in the $2,200 Warm Up

The 2025 Merit Poker Western Series rides into Day 2 of the $2,200 Warm Up today at 12:30 p.m., with the survivors from all four starting flights finally merging for the first time inside the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.

Leading the charge is Luke Marsh, who stormed through Day 1b to bag an impressive 971,500 chips — around quadruple the average stack. Marsh will be looking to maintain his position at the top of the counts as the tournament heats up and the $1,000,000 guarantee gets closer to being smashed.

While Day 2 is set to kick off, there’s still action on the horizon with Day 1d — a fast-paced turbo flight — currently underway. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 15, so there’s still time for new players to throw their hats into the ring and for short stacks to take one last shot at glory.

Current Top Ten Chip Counts

Place	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Luke Marsh	United Kingdom	971,500	389
2	Ashraf Akeh	Canada	718,500	287
3	Azamat Tulepbergenov	Kazakhstan	637,000	255
4	Edward Quinn	United Kingdom	575,000	230
5	Adlan Vikayev	Kazakhstan	472,000	189
6	Soraya Estrada	Spain	440,000	176
7	Danut Chisu	Romania	430,000	172
8	Arian Kashani	Iran	421,500	169
9	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	420,500	168
10	Tulica Iani	Romania	414,500	166

Players starting Day 2 will face 40-minute blind levels, and with a field now surpassing 300 entries, today promises to deliver high-stakes drama as the race for the $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool continues. By the end of the day, the field will thin considerably, leaving only the strongest and savviest contenders to fight on for a shot at the title.