$3,300 Main Event Day 2 | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-23-2025 13:52 UTC+3

Auzoux's Kings Crack Estrada's Aces as Hamarash Busts in Opening Level of Day 2

Kai Cocklin

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Karzan Hamarash opened from under the gun to 5,500 and Gregoire Auzoux three-bet from the cutoff to 15,500. Soraya Estrada was on the button and four-bet to 33,000. Hamarash then five-bet shoved for around 200,000, Auzoux shoved 110,000, and Estrada called to put both players at risk!

Gregoire Auzoux: K♣K♠ All in
Karzan Hamarash: 8♥8♣ All in
Soraya Estrada: A♦A♥

Estrada had her opponents crushed and was a clean runout away from a monster stack in the opening level of Day 2. However, the 10♥7♣K♥ flop had other ideas as Auzoux spiked a set of kings to take the lead.

A J♣ on the turn did give Estrada a few more outs as any queen would complete Broadway and see her snatch back the pot. Despite those extra outs, Estrada couldn't connect with the river as the 6♠ rolled off, which meant Auzoux tripled up.

The stacks between Estrada and Hamarash were counted down and the latter's 90,000 was slightly covered, which meant he was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gregoire Auzoux	335,000 335,000	335,000
Soraya Estrada	200,000 31,500	31,500
Karzan Hamarash	Busted

Tags: Gregoire Auzoux Karzan Hamarash Soraya Estrada

01-23-2025 13:20 UTC+3

Puczylowski Makes Arda Fold With Broadway On Board

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Kai Cocklin

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Marcin Puczylowski raised from the cutoff to 5,500 and Can Miral called on the button. Ozgur Arda also called from the big blind.

The flop came down K♣10♦Q♣ where Arda checked and Puczylowski fired out a continuation-bet of 7,000. Miral folded, but Arda called.

When the A♦ landed on the river, Arda elected to lead out for a bet of 12,000, which Puczylowski called.

A J♦ on the river put Broadway on board and brought in the backdoor flush draw, and Arda started out with a check. After some time, Puczylowski grabbed a stack of white chips and threw them into the middle, which gave Arda a decision for his stack of around 140,000. Arda didn't need much time to think as he immediately folded, and Puczylowski took down the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Marcin Puczylowski	400,000 43,500	43,500
Can Miral	210,000 10,000	10,000
Ozgur Arda	140,000 24,500	24,500

Tags: Can Miral Marcin Puczylowski Ozgur Arda

01-23-2025 11:22 UTC+3

Day 2 of $3,300 Main Event Kicks Off at Noon

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Tim Baker

The stage is set for Day 2 of the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event, where the surviving players from all four starting flights will combine for the first time. After an exciting three days of action at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, where the field size is attempting to break last year's record of 757. Just 251 players advanced to battle it out for their share of the $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Leading the pack for Day 2 is Ehsan Amiri from Australia, who bagged an incredible 902,500 chips on a record-breaking Day 1b, and is far ahead of his closest rival. Second in chips is Dmitry Gromov, with 706,500 chips and Edward Quinn, who has 685,000 to play with rounds out the podium positions in third.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Place	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Ehsan Amiri	Australia	902,500	361
2	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	706,500	283
3	Edward Quinn	Jersey	685,000	274
4	Bogdan Munteanu	Romania	663,500	265
5	Philip Joyce	United Kingdom	660,000	264
6	Ali Fkih	Tunisia	595,000	238
7	Joseph Houayek	Lebanon	579,000	232
8	Stanislau Charvinski	Belarus	573,500	229
9	Antoine Vranken	Netherlands	557,000	223
10	Kamil Sokol	Poland	540,000	216

Some other notable players who will take their seats at the tables for Day 2 include Day 1c chip leader Bogdan Munteanu (663,500), bracelet winners Antoine Vranken (557,000), Boris Kolev (493,500), Menikos Panagiotou (476,500), Timur Margolin (362,000), Fabio Peluso (328,500) and Darius Neagoe (264,400).

Cards get in the air at noon local time. Blinds start at 1,000/2,500 with a big blind ante of 2,500 and will be 60-minutes in duration from now until the end of the tournament. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 14, offering players a final chance to join the action before the prize pool and payouts are finalized. The schedule for the day will announced shortly after play starts, but the main goal for everyone will be to navigate their way through to Day 3 tomorrow, January 24.