Level: 4
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 1,000
2025 Merit Poker Western Series
$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 1bc
Event Info
2025 Merit Poker Western Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1bc
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$921,840
Entries
501
Level
35
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
223
Players Left
150
Players Left 1 / 501
Filter
(1)
Level 4
: Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
And just to clarify, Ashraf Akeh does really have 500,000 chips, that's not a typo!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
500,000
250,000
|
250,000 |
|
250,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
240,000
240,000
|
240,000 |
|
210,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
|
200,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
200,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
180,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
||
|
|
170,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
160,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
|
|
160,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
|
130,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Level 4
: Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
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Level 4
: Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Both Evgeniy Golenko and Ashraf Akeh saw a flop of Q♣8♣J♦, which went check-check to the 2♠ turn, where Golenko bet 3,000 and Akeh called.
An 8♦ dropped on the river and Golenko said "Ok, you can't bluff now," as an eight had already been exposed earlier in the hand. After Golenko checked, Akeh bet 9,000, and Golenko folded.
Akeh then showed a bluff with A♣10♦ as he raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
525,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Level 4
: Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Nichan Khorchidian was down to around 25,000 chips, but not long after play resumed from the break, he scored a much-needed double-up.
On a flop of 8♥5♦5♥, the rest of Khorchidian's chips went in the middle, and Georgios Skarparis made the call.
Nichan Khorchidian: A♣8♣ 
Georgios Skarparis: A♥Q♣
Khorchidian had paired his eight and stayed in front after the 3♣9♣ runout, which earned him the extra chips he needed.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
||
|
55,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
Level 4
: Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Ehsan Amiri just got a chunky river bet paid off, which brought his stack to around 240,000!
The board read 6♦10♣5♠7♠2♠ and with around 50,000 chips in the pot, Amiri bet 35,000 on the river. His opponent in the hijack was thinking for quite some time before he finally settled on a call.
Amiri then showed a flush with 9♠8♠, and his opponent quietly mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
240,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
Level: 5
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 1,200
Level 5
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Confusion arose in a hand with three players still in on the river with around 35,000 chips in the pot. Ashraf Akeh had bet 20,000 and Ahmad Abdelhadi called, before Evgeniy Golenko shoved for 35,000.
Akeh then announced "I have two pair," before he realized that Golenko hadn't called, but in fact shoved. The floor were called and the action was allowed to continue, where Akeh eventually folded. Abdelhadi then went into the tank and said, "This is a very weird hand," before he called to put Golenko at risk.
Golenko then showed a straight with K♣10♥, and Abdelhadi was forced to reveal he had backdoored trips with K♥Q♥.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
390,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
|
110,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
90,000 |
Level 5
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Traian Stanciu and Ramez Haddad were playing a pot and got all of their chips into the middle on the turn with the board reading 9♠2♠3♥4♠.
Ramez Haddad: 10♠7♠
Traian Stanciu: K♠J♠
Haddad was drawing dead and had no chance to win the hand, which seemed to be one of many coolers on the table as some of the players requested a table change to get away from it!
A meaningless 9♦ fell on the river, and Stanciu collected the full stack of Haddad to send his count up to around 250,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
250,000 | |
|
Busted |
Level 5
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Last January at the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series, France's Mohamed Mokrani was crowned champion of the $3,300 Main Event, outlasting the 672-entry field and defeating Nichan Khorchidian in a brief heads-up duel to take home the title and top prize of $342,500. The $1,500,000 guarantee was easily eclipsed, with the final prize pool confirmed at $1,854,720.
Mokrani started the final day as the fifth-largest stack and went mostly under the radar before a late-night surge catapulted him ahead of perennial chip leaders Felipe Ketzer and Khorchidian during three-handed play. Mokrani only had $15,211 in recorded lifetime tournament earnings prior to this event, and the win was nearly forty times greater than his previous-best cash of $8,124.
2024 Western Series $3,300 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohamed Mokrani | France | $342,500 |
| 2 | Nichan Khorchidian | Lebanon | $252,500 |
| 3 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | $155,000 |
| 4 | Christophe Panetti | Switzerland | $114,400 |
| 5 | Damir Zhugralin | Kazakhstan | $85,700 |
| 6 | Mustafa Ercan | Turkey | $69,100 |
| 7 | Antoine Hasbani | Lebanon | $57,300 |
| 8 | Samy Barka | France | $45,600 |
| 9 | Hadi Khordbin | Iran | $34,300 |
