$2,200 Warm Up Day 1a | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-14-2025 17:03 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts at the Break

Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Azamat Tulepbergenov	330,000

Kianoosh Matin	300,000
Robbie Schiffbauer	300,000
Danielle Noja	240,000 40,000	40,000
Arian Kashani	240,000 80,000	80,000
Fabio Peluso	230,000 30,000	30,000

Nichan Khorchidian	225,000 75,000	75,000
Rudolf Fourie	170,000
Maksim Ban	100,000
Alexander Sokolovsky	100,000 30,000	30,000
Paul Newey	60,000 10,000	10,000

Level: 7

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-14-2025 17:16 UTC+2

Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack by PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

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01-14-2025 17:27 UTC+2

Verbruggen Forces Amiri Out on the Turn

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Halil Tasyurek opened from under the gun and Ehsan Amiri called from the small blind. Tom Verbruggen then squeezed to 13,500 from the big blind, which both Tasyurek and Amiri called.

The trio saw a flop of K♦9♥4♥ where Amiri checked and Verbruggen bet 8,000. Tasyurek got out of the way, but Amiri stuck around.

When the A♠ dropped on the turn, Amiri checked once again, then folded to the 27,000-chip bet from Verbruggen.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tom Verbruggen	130,000 30,000	30,000
Ehsan Amiri	110,000
Halil Tasyurek	60,000 130,000	130,000

Tags: Ehsan Amiri Halil Tasyurek Tom Verbruggen

01-14-2025 17:34 UTC+2

Ketzer Off to a Good Start

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Felipe Ketzer hasn't been seated long but already has his stack up to around 170,000.

In the latest hand involving the Brazilian player, he raised to 3,500 from early position and Ran Ilani made it 14,000 from the big blind. Ketzer then shipped his entire stack into the middle, and Ilani quickly relented.

Player	Chips	Progress
Felipe Ketzer	165,000
Ran Ilani	125,000

Tags: Felipe Ketzer Ran Ilani

01-14-2025 17:45 UTC+2

Senno’s Jacks Bite the Dust as Vikayev Wins the Flip

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Adlan Vikayev made it 3,500 to go from under the gun, and Stanislaw Grodek fired back with a three-bet to 10,000 from the hijack. Fredrico Senno wasn’t about to fold his hand quietly, putting in a four-bet to 25,000 from the button. Vikayev, with all guns blazing, then five-bet to a hefty 150,000. Grodek quickly got out of the way with 55,000 behind, but Senno wasn’t backing down and shoved for just over 150,000. Vikayev shrugged and made the call.

Fredrico Senno: J♠J♦
Adlan Vikayev: A♦K♠

Senno’s pocket jacks were holding strong, but he still needed to dodge plenty of outs to avoid getting bucked off this hand. The 2♥4♦Q♦ flop kept him ahead, though the 3♣ on the turn gave Vikayev a wheel draw, making any five good for a straight.

The river was the K♦, and just like that, Vikayev roped in a bigger pair to scoop the biggest pot of the day so far, sending Senno packing.

Player	Chips	Progress
Adlan Vikayev	375,000 175,000	175,000
Stanislaw Grodek	55,000 40,000	40,000
Fredrico Senno	Busted

Tags: Adlan Vikayev Fredrico Senno Stanislaw Grodek

01-14-2025 17:55 UTC+2

Fourie Tangles With Kashani, Loses a Chunk of Chips

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Arian Kashani opened the cutoff to 3,500 and Azamat Tulepbergenov made it 10,000 from the button. Rudolf Fourie was in the small blind and cold-called, then Kashani four-bet to 33,000. Tulepbergenov folded, but Fourie called.

The flop came 10♠3♣Q♠ and Fourie check-called a bet of 15,500 from Kashani to the 7♠ turn, which went check-check.

A 2♥ dropped on the river and Fourie fired out a bet of 20,000, then after some consideration, Kashani shoved. Fourie had around 75,000 behind, but didn't want to invest another dime into the pocket as he quickly folded, earning Kashani the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Arian Kashani	300,000 60,000	60,000
Rudolf Fourie	75,000 95,000	95,000

Tags: Arian Kashani Azamat Tulepbergenov Rudolf Fourie

Level: 8

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-14-2025 18:00 UTC+2

Noja Gets Value from Murcia

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Kai Cocklin

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

With around 50,000 chips already in the middle on a board of 9♥10♦Q♠10♣6♣, Danielle Noja had fired 35,000 on the river, which had Remy Murcia in a tricky spot. After thinking it over for some time, Murcia eventually settled on a call.

Noja then flipped K♥J♠ for a straight, and Murcia flashed the 10♥ before he mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Danielle Noja	275,000 35,000	35,000
Remy Murcia	105,000 50,000	50,000

Tags: Danielle Noja Remy Murcia

01-14-2025 18:09 UTC+2

Bekbayev Back in Action

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Kai Cocklin

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

After busting earlier, Askar Bekbayev is back in action and opened the cutoff to 3,000. Alexander Sokolovsky then three-bet from the big blind to 13,000, and Bekbayev called.

Sokolovsky then continued for 8,000 on the 7♠A♠6♦ flop, and Bekbayev quickly gave up.