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

01-15-2025 14:57 UTC+2

Player	Chips	Progress
Ehsan Amiri	240,000 130,000	130,000

Khorchidian Stays Alive

Kai Cocklin

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♣ All in
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
Georgios Skarparis	80,000 80,000	80,000

Nichan Khorchidian	55,000 55,000	55,000

Tags: Georgios Skarparis Nichan Khorchidian

01-15-2025 14:40 UTC+2

Akeh Keeps on Soaring

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Kai Cocklin

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
Ashraf Akeh	525,000 25,000	25,000
Evgeniy Golenko	80,000 80,000	80,000

Tags: Ashraf Akeh Evgeniy Golenko

01-15-2025 14:34 UTC+2

Welcome to Club PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

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01-15-2025 14:23 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts at the Break

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Kai Cocklin

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
Ashraf Akeh	500,000 250,000	250,000
Pouya Ranjehdel	250,000 10,000	10,000
Pantelis Karsouma	240,000 240,000	240,000
Antoine Hasbani	210,000 210,000	210,000
Tulica Iani	200,000 200,000	200,000
Paul Runcan	200,000 95,000	95,000
Dmitry Gromov	180,000 180,000	180,000

Ehsan Gorji	170,000 70,000	70,000
Soraya Estrada	160,000 160,000	160,000
Eduard Tasoev	160,000 160,000	160,000
Xin Yuan	130,000 20,000	20,000

Level: 4

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

01-15-2025 14:03 UTC+2

Break Time

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Players have been sent on a 20-minute break.

01-15-2025 14:01 UTC+2

Lie Lead-Shoves the River

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Aylar Lie made it 1,800 to go from under the gun and Yaniv Shushan three-bet from the next seat to 4,000. The button called, and Lie also called.

On the 3♣10♠2♠ flop, Lie checked and Shushan bet 5,100. The button called, and Lie called.

When the 6♦ dropped on the turn, Lie checked for a second time and Shushan continued to fire, this time for 15,000. Again, both the button and Lie called.

The 4♣ landed on the river and after a few seconds, Lie stacked all of her chips into one pile and moved them into the middle. Shushan went deep into the tank and after around a minute, he folded, as did the button, which meant Lie took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aylar Lie	140,000 40,000	40,000
Yaniv Shushan	85,000

Tags: Aylar Lie Yaniv Shushan

01-15-2025 13:49 UTC+2

Set Over Set Goes Ranjehdel's Way

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Pouya Ranjehdel was seen raking in a big pot and sending Sachin Joshi to the rail at the same time.

It seemed all the chips got in the middle on a board of 6♣J♣10♣Q♠, in a spot where Joshi had one out.

Sachin Joshi: 6♥6♠ All in
Pouya Ranjehdel: Q♣Q♦

Joshi couldn't find his one-oputer as the K♠ completed the board, which meant Ranjehdel jumped up the leaderboard.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pouya Ranjehdel	240,000 140,000	140,000
Sachin Joshi	Busted

Tags: Pouya Ranjehdel Sachin Joshi

01-15-2025 13:40 UTC+2

Yuan Rivers a Flush, Gets Amiri to Pay

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

With around 30,000 chips already in the middle on a 4♦J♦A♥2♦10♥ board, Ehsan Amiri had fired 15,000 from the small blind, and Xin Yuan made it 50,000 to go out of the big blind.

Amiri was in the tank for some time and after around two minutes, he settled on a call.

Yuan then flipped Q♦10♦ for a flush, and Amiri flashed the A♦ before he mucked.