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

01-17-2025 16:09 UTC+2

Skarparis Goes Big

Kai Cocklin

Level 30 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Aliaksandr Hirs raised to 300,000 from the hijack and Georgios Skarparis three-bet to 900,000 out of the small blind. When the action got to Hirs, he called.

On the Q♦6♠3♠ flop, Skarparis fired out a chunky bet of 1,500,000, which after some thought, got Hirs to fold.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	5,900,000 600,000	600,000

Aliaksandr Hirs	4,200,000 1,400,000	1,400,000

Tags: Aliaksandr Hirs Georgios Skarparis

01-17-2025 16:13 UTC+2

Andrei Roscan Eliminated in 12th Place ($13,180)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 30 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Aliaksandr Hirs raised from under the gun and then snap-called the shove of Andrei Roscan, who was in the big blind with around 1,600,000.

Andrei Roscan: 6x6x All in
Aliaksandr Hirs: A♦K♣

Roscan desperately needed to win the flip, but got off to the worst possible start as the A♥10♠8♠ flop gave Hirs top pair. A J♥ on the turn changed nothing, and the 10♦ river meant Roscan was out in 12th.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aliaksandr Hirs	6,400,000 2,200,000	2,200,000
Andrei Roscan	Busted

Tags: Aliaksandr Hirs Andrei Roscan

01-17-2025 16:28 UTC+2

Nicolae Paunescu Eliminated in 11th Place ($13,180)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 30 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Philipp Wood opened to 300,000 from under the gun and Nicolae Paunescu three-bet to 1,775,000 from the small blind. When it got back to Wood, he shoved, and Paunescu called for his stack of around 3,000,000.

Nicolae Paunescu: K♥K♠ All in
Philipp Wood: A♥A♠

Paunescu was looking to escape an absolute cooler, but didn't find much to work with on the 4♣5♠Q♣ flop. the 5♦ turn changed nothing, and Paunescu was out the door in 11th when the 6♣ dropped on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Philipp Wood	7,600,000 4,200,000	4,200,000
Nicolae Paunescu	Busted

Tags: Nicolae Paunescu Philipp Wood

01-17-2025 16:33 UTC+2

Skarparis Gets a Full Double Into the Break

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Kai Cocklin

Level 30 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

While the other players had gone on their break, Aliaksandr Hirs raised from the cutoff and Georgios Skarparis defended his big blind.

On the 2♠6♥5♥ flop, Skarparis checked and Hirs fired out a continuation-bet of 150,000. Skarparis then check-raised to 475,000, and Hirs called.

When the 10♠ dropped on the turn, Skarparis shoved for 3,075,000 — almost double the pot. After using a few time banks, hirs called.

Georgios Skarparis: 6♦6♣ All in
Aliaksandr Hirs: 10♥8♥

Skarparis slammed his hand down as if he had it locked up, but he still had to fade the river as Hirs had a flush draw. The 3♠ dropped on the river, which was a brick, and Skarparis climbed to almost 8,000,000 while Hirs dropped down the pecking order.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	7,700,000 1,800,000	1,800,000

Aliaksandr Hirs	3,100,000 3,300,000	3,300,000

Tags: Aliaksandr Hirs Georgios Skarparis

01-17-2025 16:35 UTC+2

Break Time

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Kai Cocklin

Level 30 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

The final ten players are on a 20-minute break.

01-17-2025 16:43 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 30 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	7,800,000 800,000	800,000
Philipp Wood	7,400,000 200,000	200,000
Danielle Noja	5,700,000 600,000	600,000
Ali Zebarjad	4,500,000 800,000	800,000
Grigorii Rodin	4,000,000 1,400,000	1,400,000
Haghgou Seyedahmad	3,600,000 1,900,000	1,900,000
Konstantin Kvashin	3,400,000 650,000	650,000
Mario Fata	3,000,000 1,000,000	1,000,000

Level: 31

Blinds: 100,000/200,000

Ante: 200,000

01-17-2025 16:51 UTC+2

One More Elimination Until the Day Ends

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Kai Cocklin

Level 31 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

With ten players remaining, only one more players needs to bust before the day will end and the final table will be set.

The average stack right now is around 5,000,000, which is 25 big blinds.

01-17-2025 17:00 UTC+2

Rodin Shoves on Skarparis

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Kai Cocklin

Level 31 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Georgios Skarparis raised from the cutoff to 400,000 and Ali Zebarjad called on the button. Grigorii Rodin also called from the big blind.

They went to a flop of 3♦10♠K♦ where Rodin checked and Skarparis fired 475,000. Zebarjad folded, then Rodin shoved for 3,450,000. After thinking it over, Skarparis decided to muck, and Rodin boosted his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	6,400,000 1,300,000	1,300,000

Grigorii Rodin	5,400,000 1,400,000	1,400,000
Ali Zebarjad	3,600,000 900,000	900,000

Tags: Ali Zebarjad Georgios Skarparis Grigorii Rodin

01-17-2025 17:05 UTC+2

Cowboys Help Kvashin Double

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Kai Cocklin

Level 31 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Philipp Wood was in the cutoff and seeing a lot of shorter stacks to his left, he shoved. The actiong ot to Konstantin Kvashin in the big blind who looked at his cards and immediately called off his stack of around 3,000,000.

Konstantin Kvashin: K♦K♣ All in
Philipp Wood: Q♦10♠

Kvashin had woken up with the Cowboys and made full use of them as the runout of 4♥4♠5♥8♠7♦ was as dry as they come for Wood.