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

01-21-2025 18:16 UTC+3

Skarparis' Ace Gets Exposed

Kai Cocklin

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

Georgios Skarparis was receiving his cards from the dealer and unfortunately for him, the A♥ was exposed and was swapped out for another card. A player in early position then made it 2,500 and despite losing an ace, Skarparis called. Renars Skanis then squeezed to 8,000, which only Skarparis called.

On the A♠6♠7♦ flop, Skarparis checked and Skanis fired a small continuation-bet, which got Skarparis to fold. Skarparis then revealed K♥Q♥ and said he would have been dealt Big Slick if he had kept the ace. Skanis showed J♥J♠, which suggests they might gave gotten the chips in preflop.

Despite that, Skarparis was still in good spirits and sits with around 170,000 at the midway point of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Georgios Skarparis	170,000 90,000	90,000

Renars Skanis	70,000

Tags: Georgios Skarparis Renars Skanis

01-21-2025 18:09 UTC+3

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Kai Cocklin

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

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01-21-2025 18:01 UTC+3

Fourie's King Good at Showdown

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Kai Cocklin

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

There was a raise from under the gun to 2,400 and Rudolf Fourie called from the hijack. Marc Foggin also called from the cutoff.

The three saw a flop of 5♣K♦9♣ where it checked to Fourie, who bet 7,000. Foggin called, and the under-the-gun player folded.

A 4♦ dropped on the turn and Fourie showed no signs of slowing down as he announced a bet of 18,000. Foggin took just a few seconds before he called.

Fourie did eventually slow down when the scary A♠ came on the river, and Foggin knuckled back.

Fourie then showed a pair of kings with K♣Q♦, and Foggin mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Marc Foggin	175,000
Rudolf Fourie	110,000 5,000	5,000

Tags: Marc Foggin Rudolf Fourie

01-21-2025 17:49 UTC+3

Day 1b Surpasses Day 1a Entries

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Kai Cocklin

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

During the break, the number of entries in Day 1b creeped up to 188, which exceeds the 181 that registered in yesterday's Day 1a.

The total number of entries in the Main Event now sits at 370 with two starting flights to go and late registration remains open until the end of Level 14.

01-21-2025 17:41 UTC+3

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

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

Player	Chips	Progress
Caner Gunes	330,000 230,000	230,000
Darius Neagoe	300,000 150,000	150,000

Milad Langar	300,000 5,000	5,000
Georgios Skarparis	260,000 85,000	85,000

Sergei Varnaev	260,000 70,000	70,000
Dmitry Gromov	250,000 250,000	250,000

Anton Danilov	240,000 30,000	30,000
Mustafa Biz	220,000 50,000	50,000
Wim Verhaegen	210,000 210,000	210,000

Charbel Salloum	200,000 200,000	200,000
Mehmet Karsli	200,000 200,000	200,000
Mario Fata	180,000 80,000	80,000

Level: 5

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 1,200

01-21-2025 17:21 UTC+3

Break Time

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Kai Cocklin

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

Players have been sent on a 15-minute break.

01-21-2025 17:14 UTC+3

Uhara Hits the Jackpot and Stacks Habib

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Kai Cocklin

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

There were already 85,000 chips in the pot on a 2♥4♥7♥ flop when Motokatsu Uhara in the big blind, Walid Bou Habib in the hijack, and the player in the cutoff all checked,

A 5♦ dropped on the turn and Uhara checked again, then Habib fired 46,000. The cutoff folded, and Uhara shoved. Habib had around 60,000 behind and made the call.

Walid Bou Habib: A♥J♦ All in
Motokatsu Uhara: 7♠7♦

Uhara was well ahead with his set and needed to fade a heart on the river in order to eliminate Habib. It was the A♦ that fell on the river, and despite that card improving Habib, it wasn't enough, and he was sent to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Motokatsu Uhara	350,000 200,000	200,000
Walid Bou Habib	Busted

Tags: Motokatsu Uhara Walid Bou Habib

01-21-2025 17:06 UTC+3

Ehsan Amiri

296,000 35,000

Table 11Seat 5

01-21-2025 17:03 UTC+3

Runcan Bricks Huge Combo Draw, Langar Doubles

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Kai Cocklin

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

On a flop of 5♦10♣J♣ with 6,000 in the middle, Paul Runcan checked from the small blind and Milad Langar bet 1,500 from the cutoff. Runcan then made it 10,000, and Langar called.

When the 7♥ landed on the turn, Runcan checked and Langar fired 15,500. Runcan then shoved for around 145,000, and Langar quickly called for his stack of around 140,000.

Milad Langar: 10♦10♠ All in
Paul Runcan: 6♣4♣

Runcan had a huge combo draw and needed to find a four, eight, or a club on the river to scoop the big pot. Unfortunately for Runcan, the river bricked out, and Langar was shipped the chunky pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Milad Langar	305,000
Paul Runcan	5,000 120,000	120,000

Tags: Milad Langar Paul Runcan