$2,200 Warm Up Day 3 | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-17-2025 14:02 UTC+2

Sadek Hits Broadway

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Kai Cocklin

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Philipp Wood made it 160,000 to go from the hijack and Esper Sadek called from the cutoff.

The pair saw a flop of J♣7♠5♠ where Wood made a small continuation-bet of 130,000, which Sadek quickly called.

Wood slowed down with a check on the 10♠ turn, then Sadek took the chance to fire out 210,000. Wood called.

When the A♣ dropped on the river, Wood checked again and Sadek bet out 485,000. Within just a second, Wood had called.

Sadek then showed K♠Q♣ for Broadway, and Wood mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Esper Sadek	3,500,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Philipp Wood	850,000 50,000	50,000

Tags: Esper Sadek Philipp Wood

01-17-2025 13:52 UTC+2

Gaspare Sposato Eliminated in 20th Place ($8,020)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Dan Borlan raised from the hijack and Gaspare Sposato called from the big blind.

On a flop of 2♣6♣J♠, Sposato checked from the big blind and Borlan fired out a bet of 150,000. Sposato then raised to 500,000, and Borlan called.

When the K♥ landed on the turn, Sposato shoved for around 1,200,000, and Borlan snap-called.

Gaspare Sposato: K♣Q♣ All in
Dan Borlan: 2♠2♥

Sposato had top pair with a flush draw, but Borlan's bottom set was a huge favorite to scoop the pot. A 7♠ on the river was the wrong shade of black for Sposato, and he was out in 20th.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Borlan	4,500,000 1,600,000	1,600,000
Gaspare Sposato	Busted

Tags: Dan Borlan Gaspare Sposato

01-17-2025 13:49 UTC+2

Paul Newey Eliminated in 21st Place ($8,020)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Paul Newey shoved his stack of around 800,000 into the middle from the hijack and Murat Bayyurt also shoved from the cutoff.

Paul Newey: 5♦5♠ All in
Murat Bayyurt: A♣K♥

Another tournament, another flip, and this one was spicy as both improved on the 10♣5♣6♣ flop with Newey making a set and Bayyurt having the nut flush draw. A 4♠ on the turn was safe for Newey, but he couldn't swerve the 7♣ river as Bayyurt made a flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Murat Bayyurt	2,200,000 1,275,000	1,275,000
Paul Newey	Busted

Tags: Murat Bayyurt Paul Newey

01-17-2025 13:46 UTC+2

Boris Kolev Eliminated in 22nd Place ($7,190)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Sachin Joshi opened from early position and then called the shove of Boris Kolev, who had around 500,000 in his stack.

Boris Kolev: A♠Q♥ All in
Sachin Joshi: 10♠10♦

Kolev needed to win the flip to remain in contention, but didn't find much to work with on the 4♥J♦2♥ flop. A J♠ turn also was no help, and Kolev made his way to the exit when the 2♠ fell on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sachin Joshi	1,600,000 540,000	540,000
Boris Kolev	Busted

Tags: Boris Kolev Sachin Joshi

01-17-2025 13:39 UTC+2

Alisa Sibgatova Eliminated in 23rd Place ($7,190)

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Tim Baker

Level 27 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Georgios Skarparis raised from late position and then called the 600,000 shove from Alisa Sibgatova.

Alisa Sibgatova: A♠Q♥ All in
Georgios Skarparis: Q♣J♠

Skarparis was dominated and looked posied to be sending over a portion of his stack to Sibgatova. The flop of 8♦4♥5♣ kept Sibgatova ahead with ace-high. The 9♥ turn meant only a jack on the river would send her home. The brutal J♦ dropped on the river to give Skarparis the winner with a pair of jacks and Sibgatova was sent to the cashier's desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	8,000,000 800,000	800,000

Alisa Sibgatova	Busted

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Georgios Skarparis

Level: 27

Blinds: 40,000/80,000

Ante: 80,000

01-17-2025 13:35 UTC+2

Sofia Merkulova Eliminated in 24th Place ($7,190)

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Tim Baker

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Sofia Merkulova shoved for 790,000 from middle position and after it folded round to Nicolae Paunescu in the big blind, he snap-called.

Sofia Merkulova: A♥K♥ All in
Nicolae Paunescu: A♠A♦

Merkulova was in the worst possible shape with Big Slick against the aces of Paunescu. A clean runout of 6♠4♠7♠9♣6♥ meant Paunescu's aces stayed ahead the whole way, and Merkulova was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nicolae Paunescu	2,100,000 800,000	800,000
Sofia Merkulova	Busted

Tags: Nicolae Paunescu Sofia Merkulova

01-17-2025 13:29 UTC+2

Seat Draw

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Table	Seat	Player	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Alisa Sibgatova	800,000	13
1	2	Ali Zebarjad	1,600,000	27
1	3	Dan Borlan	2,900,000	48
1	4	Aliaksandr Hirs	1,100,000	18
1	5	Mario Fata	1,600,000	27
1	6	Grigorii Rodin	2,500,000	42
1	7	Gaspare Sposato	2,300,000	38
1	8	Georgios Skarparis	7,200,000	120


2	1	Konstantin Kvashin	2,150,000	36
2	2	Nicolae Paunescu	1,300,000	22
2	3	Paul Newey	830,000	14
2	4	Murat Bayyurt	925,000	15
2	5	Sofia Merkulova	640,000	11
2	6	Alexandru Lupeleac	1,2800,00	21
2	7	Danielle Noja	3,800,000	63
2	8	Seyedahmad Haghgou	3,300,000	55


3	1	Zhen Chen	4,200,000	70
3	2	Philipp Wood	800,000	13
3	3	Esper Sadek	2,500,000	42
3	4	Boris Kolev	600,000	10
3	5	Yaniv Shushan	1,300,000	22
3	6	Sachin Joshi	1,060,000	18
3	7	Nikolay Ponomarev	980,000	16
3	8	Andrei Roscan	2,700,000	45

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	7,200,000 200,000	200,000

Zhen Chen	4,200,000 600,000	600,000
Danielle Noja	3,800,000 200,000	200,000
Haghgou Seyedahmad	3,300,000 1,600,000	1,600,000
Dan Borlan	2,900,000 1,200,000	1,200,000
Andrei Roscan	2,700,000 100,000	100,000
Grigorii Rodin	2,500,000 100,000	100,000
Esper Sadek	2,500,000 400,000	400,000
Gaspare Sposato	2,300,000 100,000	100,000
Konstantin Kvashin	2,150,000 100,000	100,000
Ali Zebarjad	1,600,000 300,000	300,000
Mario Fata	1,600,000 1,100,000	1,100,000
Nicolae Paunescu	1,300,000 20,000	20,000
Yaniv Shushan	1,300,000 450,000	450,000
Alexandru Lupuleac	1,280,000 120,000	120,000
Aliaksandr Hirs	1,100,000 600,000	600,000
Sachin Joshi	1,060,000 260,000	260,000
Nikolay Ponomarev	980,000 370,000	370,000
Murat Bayyurt	925,000 175,000	175,000
Paul Newey	830,000 270,000	270,000
Alisa Sibgatova	800,000
Philipp Wood	800,000 815,000	815,000
Sofia Merkulova	640,000 40,000	40,000
Boris Kolev	600,000 365,000	365,000

01-17-2025 13:21 UTC+2

Skarparis Catches a Boat on the River to Send Yuan Out

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

With the elimination of Mario Colavita, it meant just 25 players remained, one away from the three table redraw.

Georgios Skarparis had the chance to make the redraw happen as he had Xin Yuan at risk for a pot worth around 3,000,000.

Xin Yuan: A♦Q♦ All in
Georgios Skarparis: J♥J♦

It was a fair fight and one that looked to be going Yuan's way as the 5♣2♥A♣ flop gave him top pair. A 2♣ on the turn was a brick, but the J♠ river meant Skarparis spiked a full house to snatch the pot away and send Yuan to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	7,000,000 3,000,000	3,000,000

Mario Colavita	Busted
Xin Yuan	Busted

Tags: Georgios Skarparis Mario Colavita Xin Yuan

01-17-2025 13:10 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Danielle Noja	4,000,000 300,000	300,000
Esper Sadek	2,900,000 1,375,000	1,375,000
Andrei Roscan	2,800,000 705,000	705,000
Grigorii Rodin	2,600,000 825,000	825,000
Xin Yuan	1,700,000 460,000	460,000
Ali Zebarjad	1,300,000 560,000	560,000
Alisa Sibgatova	800,000 350,000	350,000
Sachin Joshi	800,000 390,000	390,000
Emad Ghadamian	Busted