2025 Merit Poker Western Series

$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 Merit Poker Western Series
Final Results
Winner
Prize
$180,200
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$921,840
Total Entries
501
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
375
Players Left
38
Players Left 1 / 501
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Flashback: Mohamed Mokrani Ships the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series Main Event

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Mohamed Mokrani
Mohamed Mokrani

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

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Mohamed MokraniFrance$342,500
2Nichan KhorchidianLebanon$252,500
3Felipe KetzerBrazil$155,000
4Christophe PanettiSwitzerland$114,400
5Damir ZhugralinKazakhstan$85,700
6Mustafa ErcanTurkey$69,100
7Antoine HasbaniLebanon$57,300
8Samy BarkaFrance$45,600
9Hadi KhordbinIran$34,300

Read the Full Recap Here

Al-Barwani Doubles Through Lie Again

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Ghassan Al-Barwani moved all in from early position for 99,000 with only Aylar Lie making the call from the button to try and bust him.

Ghassan Al-Barwani: J9 All in
Aylar Lie: AQ

Al-Barwani was behind and needed to find some help to stay alive. He found it on the 1098 flop as he took the lead with a pair of nines. The 2 turn didn't change anything, as the 4 came on the river and Al-Barwani doubled up through Lie again.

Tags: Aylar LieGhassan Al-Barwani

Chip Counts as Dinner Approaches

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Salloum Runs into Aces

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Charbel Salloum committed the last of his chips into the middle preflop with Xiaosheng Zheng being the player trying to send him home.

Charbel Salloum: AK All in
Xiaosheng Zheng: AA

Salloum was on the unfortunate end of a cooler and needed a lot of help from the dealer to stay alive in the tournament. The board ran out 657K2, which kept Zheng's aces ahead the whole way, sending Salloum to the rail.

Tags: Charbel SalloumXiaosheng Zheng

Hirs Pushes Ketzer Out

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Aliaksandr Hirs and Felipe Ketzer are sitting at the same table and just tangled in a pot that went Hirs' way.

With around 60,000 already in the middle on a J63 flop, Ketzer bet 13,000 and Hirs made it 30,000 on the button. Ketzer called.

A 2 dropped on the turn and Hirs sized up with a bet of 76,000, which after some consideration, got Ketzer to fold.

Tags: Aliaksandr HirsFelipe Ketzer

Level: 18

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000

Al-Barwani Doubles Through Lie

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Ghassan Al-Barwani
Ghassan Al-Barwani

Aylar Lie raised to 12,000 from early position with only Ghassan Al-Barwani defending out of the big blind.

The dealer fanned out a flop of J103 and Al-Barwani check-called a bet of 8,000 from Lie.

Al-Barwani checked again on the 9 turn and Lie shoved for Al-Barwani's remaining 65,000. Al-Barwani snap-called.

Ghassan Al-Barwani: Q9 All in
Aylar Lie: 88

Al-Barwani had turned the best hand with a pair of nines and just had to fade a few of Lie's outs on the river. The 7 fell to give Lie a straight, but Al-Barwani also improved to a flush and he earned the double-up

Tags: Aylar LieGhassan Al-Barwani

Selected Chip Counts

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Cappiello Gets Value With Aces

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

WIth roughly 110,000 in the middle on a flop of 463 Candido Cappiello checked from the hijack and Aliaksei Boika in the cutoff checked behind.

The Q hit the turn and both players quickly checked for the 2 to hit the river. Cappiello bet 80,000 and Boik instantly called. Cappiello turned over red aces with AA and it was good as Boika player swiftly mucked his cards.

Tags: Candido CappielloAliaksei Boika

Tromski Falls to Akeh

Level 17 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Piotr Tromski had his last few big blinds in the pot and was looking to land a double-up and run up a stack, however he had to get past Ashraf Akeh first.

Piotr Tromski: KJ All in
Ashraf Akeh: QQ

It seemed a tough task for Tromski, especially after the Q43 flop have Akeh top set. An A on the turn did give Tromski a way out, but the 2 river was a brick, and he was eliminated.

Hassan Sey and Dawid Smolka also busted on other tables.

Tags: Ashraf AkehPiotr Tromski

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