$3,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-21-2025 01:04 UTC+3

Edward Quinn Turns Up the Heat to Lead Day 1a of the Main Event

Kai Cocklin

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Day 1a of the $3,300 Main Event at the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series wrapped up after nine sixty-minute levels, with 182 entries recorded on the first of four starting flights. By the end of the day, 73 players had survived the action, led by Jersey’s Edward Quinn, who bagged an impressive 685,000 chips to claim the chip lead.

The $1,500,000 guarantee saw a sizeable chunk carved out inside the stunning Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, with three more starting flights still to come.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Place	Player	Country	Chip Count
1	Edward Quinn	Jersey	685,000
2	Antoine Vranken	Netherlands	557,000
3	Kamil Sokol	Poland	540,000
4	Stojan Vazic	Serbia	522,500
5	Boris Kolev	Bulgaria	493,500
6	Tommy Kemter	Netherlands	478,000
7	Menikos Panagiotou	Cyprus	476,500
8	Aliaksei Boika	Belarus	403,500
9	Wael Sarkis	Lebanon	401,000
10	Nicolae Paunescu	Romania	395,500

Quinn catapulted to the top of the chip counts during Level 8, courtesy of a massive double-up. Holding pocket jacks, he turned quads and got maximum value from the Big Slick of Jinlong Hu. Speaking to PokerNews after the day concluded, Quinn reflected on his performance.

"It's been a crazy series, I keep running up stacks but can't convert anything," said Quinn after the day ended. "I've had a few sick ones, especially the one-outer yesterday," he added in reference to a hand he played in the Warm Up.

Despite running badly so far, Quinn has set himself up for a deep run here in the Main Event after a cracking effort in Day 1a.

Bracelet winner Antoine Vranken finished second in the counts with 557,000, but was challenging Quinn for the chip lead until the final moments. Poland's Kamil Sokol rounds out the top three with 540,000.

Daniel Charlton is a player who wished tournaments had bad beat jackpots as he lost with quads to a straight flush by Aliaksei Boika. Charlton turned quad sevens and check-shoved the river, only to be shown a rivered straight flush of Boika, who held nine-eight of diamonds.

Other notables to make it through include Boris Kolev (493,500), Andrey Pateychuk (360,500), Dawid Smolka (347,000), and Jakub Michalak (249,000).

For those who fell short on Day 1a, there’s still hope, as three more starting flights remain. Day 1b kicks off tomorrow, January 21, at 12:00 p.m., followed by two flights on January 22. Late registration will remain open until the end of Level 14 on Day 2, giving players plenty of time to take another shot at building a stack.

Remaining Schedule

Date	Day	Time	Blind Levels
January 21	Day 1b	12:00 p.m.	60 minutes
January 22	Day 1c	12:00 p.m.	40 minutes
January 22	Day 1d	7:00 p.m.	25 minutes
January 23	Day 2	12:00 p.m.	60 minutes
January 24	Day 3	12:00 p.m.	60 minutes
January 25	Day 4	12:00 p.m.	60 minutes
January 26	Day 5	1:00 p.m.	60 minutes

Stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the rest of the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series for live updates and exclusive coverage in the Main Event.

Tags: Aliaksei Boika Andrey Pateychuk Antoine Vranken Boris Kolev Daniel Charlton Dawid Smolka Edward Quinn Jakub Michalak Jinlong Hu Kamil Sokol

01-20-2025 22:27 UTC+3

Michalak Turns a Set, Gadzhiev Can't Get Away From Top Two

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Kai Cocklin

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Jakub Michalak raised from early position and Luke Marsh called from the next seat. The player in the cutoff called, as did Roman Gadzhiev in the big blind.

All four checked the 2♥7♥A♦ flop to see the 8♣ drop on the turn, where Gadzhiev led out for 11,000. Michalak called, then both Marsh and the cutoff folded.

When the Q♣ dropped on the river, Gadzhiev announced a bet of 27,000 and slid forward the chips, then Michalak shoved for just under 120,000. Gadzhiev thought about it for a while before he eventually tossed in the call.

Michalak showed a turn set of eights with 8♦8♥, and Gadzhiev flipped A♥Q♦ before the dealer mucked them.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jakub Michalak	250,000 250,000	250,000
Roman Gadzhiev	175,000
Luke Marsh	130,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Jakub Michalak Luke Marsh Roman Gadzhiev

01-20-2025 21:09 UTC+3

Quinn Makes Quads to Double Through Hu

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Kai Cocklin

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The full action was missed but Edward Quinn just doubled up through Jinlong Hu to move his stack to almost half a million.

On a board of Kx9♥J♦J♣Xx, all of the chips were in the middle by the time showdown came around and Hu showed A♠K♥ for top pair. However, Quinn had quads with J♠J♥ to scoop the pot and bring his stack up to around 475,000.

Perhaps Hu is being punished by the poker gods after all.

Player	Chips	Progress
Edward Quinn	475,000 305,000	305,000

Jinlong Hu	50,000 220,000	220,000

Tags: Edward Quinn Jinlong Hu

01-20-2025 20:55 UTC+3

Jinlong Hu Angers Poker Gods, But Escapes With a Chop

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

A preflop raising war broke out between Dumitru Pora under the gun and Jinlong Hu in the small blind, culminating in Pora’s stack of approximately 180,000 going into the middle.

Dumitru Pora: A♦K♦
Jinlong Hu: A♠K♠

With both players holding Big Slick, the hand seemed destined to end in a chop. The 4♣J♣5♦ flop kept the status quo but offered Pora the chance to scoop with a backdoor flush.

Hu, seemingly confident he was safe, reached for his chips before the turn even arrived, as if attempting to reclaim them. However, he quickly withdrew his hands when the 6♦ hit the felt, giving Pora the flush draw and a shot at salvation.

The poker gods didn’t punish Hu for his premature actions, as the 2♣ on the river blanked, securing the expected chop. Both players split the pot, but perhaps Hu’s chip-grabbing antics narrowly avoided divine retribution.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jinlong Hu	270,000 170,000	170,000

Dumitru Pora	180,000 40,000	40,000

Tags: Dumitru Pora Jinlong Hu

01-20-2025 19:39 UTC+3

Straight Flush Over Quads Sees Charlton Eliminated

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Ring those bad beat jackpot alarm bells!

Daniel Charlton opened from under the gun and Halil Tasyurek called from the hijack. Aliaksei Boika also called from the button, as did a player in the big blind.

They saw a flop of A♠7♦6♦ where it checked to Boika, who put out a bet of 4,000, which only Charlton and Tasyurek called.

All three checked the 7♣ turn to see the 5♦ drop on the river, where again the action checked to Boika, who fired 20,000. After some deliberation, Charlton shoved for just over 130,000, which sent Tasyurek into the tank. After around two minutes, Tasyurek elected told, and in no time at all, Boika called.

Boika confidently flipped over 9♦8♦ for a straight flush, but the table erupted as Charlton revealed 7♠7♥ for quad sevens!

"This is how they get me out of here," said Charlton.

What a sick, sick hand. Lucky Charlton has a jacket with him because that was an absolute cooler!

Player	Chips	Progress
Aliaksei Boika	325,000 125,000	125,000

Halil Tasyurek	110,000 15,000	15,000
Daniel Charlton	Busted

Tags: Aliaksei Boika Daniel Charlton Halil Tasyurek

01-20-2025 18:59 UTC+3

Verbruggen Comes off Worst in Three-Way All-In

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Anton Danilov recalled the preflop action for us in a huge hand that resulted in three players being all-in preflop.

Tom Verbruggen, who has been in the thick of it so far today, meant to raise from under the gun but ended up being forced to limp. Antoine Vranken limped from the hijack, as did the cutoff and button before Danilov made it 10,500 from the small blind. Ihar Soika cold-called from the big blind, and then Verbruggen made it 35,000. Vranken then shoved for 100,000, the cutoff and button folded, Danilov shoved for 150,000, and Soika got out of the way. Verbruggen then had a big decision and after thinking it over, he called to put two players at risk.

Antoine Vranken: 8♠8♦ All in
Anton Danilov: Q♥Q♦ All in
Tom Verbruggen: A♠K♦

A huge three-way all-in gave Verbruggen a chance to stack two players and have a ton of chips. Vranken needed to find his eight, but it was the queens of Danilov that were still leading through the 4♠9♣J♠ flop.

Things got flipped upside down on the 8♣ turn as Vranken spiked his set to take the lead, which left Verbruggen drawing dead for the main pot. The side pot of around 100,000 was still up for grabs, but that went Danilov's way when the 5♥ dropped on the river.

When all was said and done, Vranken tripled to over 300,000, Danilov had 100,000, and Verbruggen dropped to around 150,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Antoine Vranken	320,000 320,000	320,000

Tom Verbruggen	150,000 140,000	140,000
Anton Danilov	100,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Antoine Vranken Anton Danilov Ihar Soika Tom Verbruggen

01-20-2025 17:58 UTC+3

Sey Flipped Out By Boika

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Hassan Sey had his stack of a little under 40,000 in the middle and was put at risk by Aliaksei Boika.

Hassan Sey: Q♣Q♦ All in
Aliaksei Boika: A♣K♦

Sey was on the prowl for a double-up, but got off to a bad start when the 8♣A♠6♥ flop paired Boika's ace. No queen appeared on the 6♦ turn or 10♣ river, and Sey was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aliaksei Boika	200,000 70,000	70,000

Hassan Sey	Busted

Tags: Aliaksei Boika Hassan Sey

01-20-2025 17:10 UTC+3

Chen Doubles Through Svesko

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Kai Cocklin

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

On a flop of 5♦10♥Q♦ with around 8,000 in the middle, Zhen Chen was seen with 10,500 in front of him and Darko Svesko had made it 25,000. Chen then shoved for around 95,000, and Svesko quickly called.

Zhen Chen: J♦9♦ All in
Darko Svesko: Q♣10♣

Chen had flopped a huge combo draw and needed to get there against the top two pair of Svesko. It was a case of 'instant service' for Chen as the 8♣ turn gave him the nuts, leaving Svesko needing to boat up on the river. However, the 6♥ river was a brick, meaning Chen doubled up while Svesko was left with 50,000 and anything but a convivial look on his face.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	200,000 200,000	200,000

Darko Svesko	50,000 50,000	50,000

Tags: Darko Svesko Zhen Chen

01-20-2025 15:51 UTC+3

Pateychuk Rivers a Flush and Stacks Gabdullin

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

There were already around 10,000 chips in the pot on a flop of A♦8♥2♠7♠ when Andrey Pateychuk fired out a bet of 10,000 from early position and Damir Gabdullin called from the hijack.

They both saw the 10♠ hit the river and after taking a look at his opponent's stack, Pateychuk shoved.

"I can't fold this one," said Gabdullin, who then put in the remainder of his stack, which looked to be around 50,000.

Pateychuk then flipped K♠5♠ for a flush, and Gabdullin's set of eights with 8♦8♣ went into the bin.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Pateychuk	200,000 60,000	60,000

Damir Gabdullin	Busted

Tags: Damir Gabdullin Andrey Pateychuk

01-20-2025 15:28 UTC+3

Verbruggen Six-Bet Shoves Seven-Deuce and Cracks Joyce's Cowboys

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

Philip Joyce recalled a hand that happened shortly before the break where he had squeezed from the blinds and Tom Verbruggen made a four-bet. Joyce then five-bet, Verbruggen six-bet shoved for around 90,000, and Joyce snap-called.

Tom Verbruggen: 7♥2♥ All in
Philip Joyce: K♠K♣

Verbruggen wanted an adventure of his own and got in one of the worst starting hands in poker against one of the best. However, the result wasn't was expected as Verbruggen made two pair on the 9♠2♦7♣3♠5♣ runout to secure an unexpected double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tom Verbruggen	190,000 190,000	190,000
Philip Joyce	30,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Philip Joyce Tom Verbruggen