Nemo Koering opened to 5,000 from under the gun and got a call from a player in the hijack before Xin Tang squeezed to 22,000 from the cutoff. Both Koering and the hijack called.
On the 10♥Q♣6♥ flop, it checked to Tang, who fired an 18,000-chip continuation-bet, which got the job done as both of his opponents folded.
There were already around 90,000 chips in the pot on a 10♠7♣3♥5♣6♣ board when Antoine Vranken checked from the big blind over to Dawid Smolka. After a few seconds, Smolka elected to check back.
Vranken confidently showed Q♥Q♠, but Smolka flipped 6♠5♠ for a backdoored two pair to scoop the pot with just a few minutes to spare in the day.
The clock has been stopped with 13 minutes remaining and the floor have announced that three more hands will be played before the survivors bag up for the evening.
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
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.
