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

01-22-2025 15:37 UTC+2

Mavrikioy Stays Alive

Tim Baker

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

Andreas Mavrikioy got his remaining 23,000 into the middle preflop and was called by a player out of the small blind, who was trying to send him home.

Andreas Mavrikioy: 6♣6♠ All in
Small Blindd: A♣J♥

Mavrikioy had found himself in a race that, if he won, would see him move back up to over half the starting stack.

The board runout of 8♦3♦2♥5♦10♠ was great for Mavrikioy, as his pocket sixes remained ahead the entire way, and he earned the much-needed double up in the Main Event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andreas Mavrikioy	60,000 45,000	45,000

Tags: Andreas Mavrikioy

Level: 6

Blinds: 800/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-22-2025 15:49 UTC+2

Chilaud's Aces Sends Zebarjad Home

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Tim Baker

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

Ali Zebarjad raised to 3,000 from middle position and was called by a player in the hijack before Maxime Chilaud squeezed out of the big blind to 11,500. Only Zebarjad called.

Chilaud put out a continuation-bet of 5,000 on the 6♣10♠3♣ flop and Zebarjad immediately shoved for roughly 27,000. Chilaud called.

Ali Zebarjad: 5♣2♣ All in
Maxime Chilaud: A♣A♥

Zebarjad had a chance to crack Chilaud's aces if he could find a club or four on the rest of the runout. The 9♠ turn meant Zebarjad was one card away from elimination. The 10♦ hit the river and Zebarjad was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maxime Chilaud	215,000 40,000	40,000
Ali Zebarjad	Busted

Tags: Ali Zebarjad Maxime Chilaud

01-22-2025 15:54 UTC+2

Sakis Nicolaou

Busted

Table 11Seat 8

Blinds 600/1200/1200 ante.
I raise ug to 2.5k with A♠A♠my stack: 32k. Big blind makes the call
Flop: 2♥K♣K♥pot: 7.9k. I c-bet 5k.
Turn: 7♦pot: 21.9k. I shove 20k.
He calls and shows K♠5♣River 3♦

01-22-2025 16:01 UTC+2

Flutur Rivers a Four-Flush

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Tim Baker

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

Heads-up on a flop of 9♦3♠9♠ where Mircea Flutur checked from the cutoff and faced a bet of 3,000 by Kirill Burtin on the button. Flutur made the call.

The Q♠ fell on the turn and Flutur check-called another bet from Burtin, this time for 13,500.

The 2♠ river caused both players to check and Flutur turned over K♠J♦ for a rivered king-high flush. It was good to win the pot as Burtin frustratingly mucked his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mircea Flutur	220,000
Kirill Burtin	80,000

Tags: Kirill Burtin Mircea Flutur

01-22-2025 16:11 UTC+2

Achour Takes From Ercan

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Tim Baker

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

Mustafa Ercan raised to 3,200 from early position and only Maher Achour called of the big blind.

The flop came down A♥K♠4♥ and Achour decided to check. Ercan fired a continuation-bet of 3,500, which Achour called.

The 8♥ turn and 7♠ river got checked down by both players and Achour tabled K♣2♦ for a pair of kings to take down the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mustafa Ercan	140,000 80,000	80,000
Maher Achour	95,000 5,000	5,000

Tags: Mustafa Ercan

01-22-2025 16:18 UTC+2

Uhara Starts to Chip Up

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Tim Baker

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

On a flop of 3♥Q♦Q♣, the player in the big blind checked and Motokatsu Uhara bet 4,000 from under the gun. Xiaosheng Zheng called from the button but the big blind player folded.

Heads-up to see the 4♥ fall on the turn. Uhara checked to Zheng, and Zheng chose to check behind.

The 6♠ landed on the river and Uhara led out for 10,000. Zheng thought it over for a few moments before he folded his cards and surrendered the pot to Uhara.

Player	Chips	Progress
Motokatsu Uhara	170,000 170,000	170,000
Xiaosheng Zheng	110,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Motokatsu Uhara Xiaosheng Zheng

01-22-2025 16:22 UTC+2

Break Time

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Tim Baker

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

The remaining players are now on their last 15-minute break of the day.

Level: 7

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-22-2025 16:38 UTC+2

Some Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

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

Player	Chips	Progress
Jak Ferman	580,000 50,000	50,000
Ihar Narushevich	480,000
Eusebiu Jalba	320,000 320,000	320,000
Danut Chisu	310,000 125,000	125,000
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu	300,000 300,000	300,000
Razvan Sabau	280,000 50,000	50,000
Mikhail Zavoloka	280,000 90,000	90,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	270,000 270,000	270,000
Georgios Skarparis	260,000 260,000	260,000

Sergei Varnaev	260,000 160,000	160,000
Maher Achour	210,000 115,000	115,000
Murat Hansen	200,000 200,000	200,000
Aleksandr Gaidukov	200,000 200,000	200,000
Ghassan Yared	200,000 200,000	200,000
Maxime Chilaud	190,000 25,000	25,000
Mario Colavita	180,000 100,000	100,000
Azamat Tulepbergenov	160,000 160,000	160,000