$3,300 Main Event | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-26-2025 14:04 UTC+2

Mandara Commits Himself On the River

Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Renars Skanis raised to 600,000 from middle position and Ryan Mandara called out of the big blind.

The flop came 10♥Q♦9♠ and Mandara check-called a bet of 700,000 from Skanis to the 9♣ turn, where both checked.

A 7♣ dropped on the river and after thinking for a while, Mandara bet around 2,700,000, leaving himself 25,000 behind. Skanis didn't need to think long before he folded, and Mandara took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Renars Skanis	11,600,000 1,400,000	1,400,000

Ryan Mandara	5,700,000 2,200,000	2,200,000

Tags: Renars Skanis Ryan Mandara

01-26-2025 14:14 UTC+2

Sokolovsky Over Seven Million

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Alexander Sokolovsky opened from middle position and Umberto Ruggeri called in the big blind .

On the 9♥5♦2♠ flop, Ruggeri decided to lead out for 600,000, then Sokolovsky raised to 1,700,000. Ruggeri called,

An A♦ landed on the turn and after Ruggeri checked, Sokolovsky bet 2,275,000, leaving himself just 25,000 behind. Ruggeri snap-folded, and Sokolovsky boosted his stack to over seven million.

Player	Chips	Progress
Umberto Ruggeri	11,200,000 800,000	800,000
Alexander Sokolovsky	7,100,000 2,550,000	2,550,000

Tags: Alexander Sokolovsky Umberto Ruggeri

01-26-2025 14:23 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Renars Skanis	15,000,000 3,400,000	3,400,000

Muhtar Taysi	11,300,000 200,000	200,000
Umberto Ruggeri	10,800,000 400,000	400,000
Mario Colavita	8,900,000 400,000	400,000
Xiaosheng Zheng	8,700,000 300,000	300,000
Mihai Niste	7,900,000 1,825,000	1,825,000
Alexander Sokolovsky	7,000,000 100,000	100,000
Ryan Mandara	5,100,000 600,000	600,000

Edward Quinn	4,200,000 2,350,000	2,350,000

01-26-2025 14:35 UTC+2

Colavita Pairs On the River

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Edward Quinn raised from under the gun to 600,000 and Mario Colavita called from the hijack.

They went to a flop of 10♥3♥2♠, where both checked to the 7♥ turn. Quinn checked, Colavita bet 800,000, and Quinn called.

A J♦ dropped on the river and both players knuckled the table, then Quinn showed A♠K♣ for ace-high. Colavita quickly rolled over Q♠J♠ for a rivered pair of jacks to scoop the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mario Colavita	10,000,000 1,100,000	1,100,000
Edward Quinn	4,500,000 300,000	300,000

Tags: Mario Colavita Edward Quinn

01-26-2025 14:40 UTC+2

Zheng Fires Two Streets

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Kai Cocklin

Level 34 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Xiaosheng Zheng made it 600,000 to go from under the gun and Renars Skanis came along from the cutoff.

The flop came 2♦8♦2♠ and Zheng continued with a bet of 750,000, which Skanis called to see the J♠ land on the turn. Zheng didn't slow down and fired out 2,500,000, which got a fold out of Skanis.

Player	Chips	Progress
Renars Skanis	12,500,000 2,500,000	2,500,000

Xiaosheng Zheng	10,000,000 1,300,000	1,300,000

Tags: Renars Skanis Xiaosheng Zheng

Level: 35

Blinds: 200,000/400,000

Ante: 400,000

01-26-2025 14:48 UTC+2

Mandara Moves Up a Gear

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Renars Skanis opened to 800,000 from middle position and Ryan Mandara defended his big blind.

On the flop of 4♣6♠A♣, Mandara checked it over to Skanis, who put out a continuation-bet of 700,000. Mandara called.

A 9♠ landed on the river and Mandara checked again, then Skanis fired out 1,300,000. Mandara thought about it for a while, then shoved for around 3,400,000. Skanis quickly folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Renars Skanis	9,500,000 3,000,000	3,000,000

Ryan Mandara	8,000,000 2,900,000	2,900,000

Tags: Renars Skanis Ryan Mandara

01-26-2025 14:53 UTC+2

Zheng Surges Into the Lead

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Muhtar Taysi raised from under the gun to 800,000 and got a call from Xiaosheng Zheng on the button. Mario Colavita also called from the big blind.

When the flop came A♣2♠5♣, Colavita checked and Taysi bet 500,000. Zheng then raised to 1,500,000, Colavita folded, and Taysi put in the call.

Both then tapped the table on the 4♥ turn and K♦ river, where Taysi showed 7♥7♣ for a pair of sevens. Zheng, however, had the winner as he showed A♥Q♣ for a pair of aces.

Player	Chips	Progress
Xiaosheng Zheng	14,000,000 4,000,000	4,000,000
Muhtar Taysi	9,000,000 2,300,000	2,300,000
Mario Colavita	8,500,000 1,500,000	1,500,000

Tags: Mario Colavita Muhtar Taysi Xiaosheng Zheng

01-26-2025 15:04 UTC+2

Skanis Puts Pressure on Ruggeri

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

The action folded around to Umberto Ruggeri in the small blind, who limped in. Renars Skanis was in the big blind and checked his option.

They saw a flop of 4♣J♣6♥ where Ruggeri threw out a green chip, worth 500,000, and Skanis called.

A Q♦ on the turn drew another bet out of Ruggeri, this time for 1,400,000. Again, Skanis called.

When the 8♥ dropped on the river, Ruggeri checked and after some time, Skanis bet 2,200,000. Ruggeri had a decision, but after around 30 seconds of thinking, he laid his hand down.

Player	Chips	Progress
Renars Skanis	11,500,000 2,000,000	2,000,000

Umberto Ruggeri	7,000,000 3,800,000	3,800,000

Tags: Renars Skanis Umberto Ruggeri

01-26-2025 15:09 UTC+2

Ruggeri Survives a Scary Sweat

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Muhtar Taysi raised the cutoff to 800,000 and Umberto Ruggeri shoved from the button for almost 7,000,000. The blinds folded, and after some thought, Taysi elected to call.

Umberto Ruggeri: A♣K♥ All in
Muhtar Taysi: A♥K♠

"Chop, chop," said both players, who shared a warm embrace upon seeing that they had the same hand.

However, the deck seemed to have other ideas as the 3♠4♠A♠ flop gave Taysi a freeroll to win the pot. However, despite the extra equity, the 7♣10♣ runout was clean, and the two chopped the pot.

What a sweat for Ruggeri!

Player	Chips	Progress
Muhtar Taysi	9,500,000 500,000	500,000
Umberto Ruggeri	7,400,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Muhtar Taysi Umberto Ruggeri