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

01-23-2025 16:30 UTC+2

Puczylowski Bluffs Into Jalba

Kai Cocklin

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Eusebiu Jalba opened from the hijack to 7,000 and Marcin Puczylowski made a three-bet of 31,000 out of the small blind. When it got back to Jalba, he called.

They both saw a flop of 10♥J♥6♦ where Puczylowski made a big continuation-bet of 51,000. Jalba took some time, counted out his stack, then made the call.

A 5♥ on the turn was checked by both players to the board-pairing 5♠ river, where Puczylowski grabbed a bunch of white chips, worth 25,000 each, and fired out 125,000. Jalba went back to his stack and started counting, then after around a minute, he tossed in the call.

Puczylowski immediately showed K♦Q♦ for a busted open-ender, and Jalba flipped A♦J♣ for a pair of jacks to scoop the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eusebiu Jalba	800,000 210,000	210,000
Marcin Puczylowski	150,000 135,000	135,000

Tags: Eusebiu Jalba Marcin Puczylowski

01-23-2025 16:42 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Anton Danilov	850,000 695,500	695,500
Zhen Chen	800,000 200,000	200,000

Lyudmil Ivanov	650,000 50,000	50,000
Ran Ilani	550,000 365,000	365,000
Nichan Khorchidian	550,000
Dawid Smolka	500,000 175,000	175,000
Luke Marsh	400,000 25,000	25,000
Dan Borlan	350,000 243,000	243,000
Andrey Pateychuk	330,000 70,000	70,000

Halil Tasyurek	325,000 55,000	55,000
Michel Molenaar	250,000 186,500	186,500
Tom Verbruggen	150,000 40,000	40,000

01-23-2025 16:45 UTC+2

Amiri Runs Into Dumitru's Bullets

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Tim Baker

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Ehsan Amiri opened with a raise to 8,000 from middle position and Cristinel Dumitru three-bet to 25,000 from the cutoff. Amiri put in the call.

The flop came down 3♦10♥K♦ and Amiri check-called a bet of 20,000 from Dumitru.

When the 4♥ landed on the turn, Amiri shoved for Dumitru's remaining 56,000. Dumitru looked back at his cards then made the call to put himself at risk.

Cristinel Dumitru: A♥A♣ All in
Ehsan Amiri: K♠J♦

Dumitru was ahead with his pocket aces, and just had to fade Amiri's two pair outs on the river. A clean 6♠ appeared on the river and Dumitru doubled up through Amiri.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ehsan Amiri	620,000 239,000	239,000

Cristinel Dumitru	215,000 215,000	215,000

Tags: Cristinel Dumitru Ehsan Amiri

01-23-2025 16:45 UTC+2

Schiffbauer Stays Alive

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Kai Cocklin

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Robbie Schiffbauer had his short stack of around 43,000 in the middle and was put at risk by Timur Margolin.

Robbie Schiffbauer: A♠Q♠ All in
Timur Margolin: A♥K♣

Schiffbauer was on the ropes, but found a queen on the 8♥8♣Q♥ flop to take the lead. Nothing changed on either the 2♦ turn or 9♣ river, which meant Schiffbauer stayed alive.

Player	Chips	Progress
Timur Margolin	200,000 162,000	162,000

Robbie Schiffbauer	90,000

Tags: Robbie Schiffbauer Timur Margolin

Level: 14

Blinds: 2,000/3,500

Ante: 3,500

01-23-2025 16:49 UTC+2

Late Registration Closes After This Level

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

Level 14 has just begun, marking the final opportunity for players to register before registration officially closes.

So far, the tournament has attracted 739 entries, with 236 players still vying for their spot in the field.

01-23-2025 16:58 UTC+2

Murtazin Stays Alive With a Set of Queens

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Tim Baker

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

The player on the button min-raised to 7,000 and Ilnur Murtazin three-bet shoved out of the small blind for 69,000. After the big blind folded, Murtazin's opponent made the call.

Ilnur Murtazin: Q♥Q♦ All in
Button: 8♣8♦

Murtazin was in great shape to double up back to over the starting stack with his pocket queens. The flop came down Q♠9♥7♥ to put Murtazin in the lead with a set of queens. The 10♦ turn did give his opponent a straight draw, but the A♦ on the river was safe for Murtazin and he doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ilnur Murtazin	150,000 45,000	45,000

Tags: Ilnur Murtazin

01-23-2025 16:59 UTC+2

More Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Xiaosheng Zheng	1,100,000
Konstantin Kvashin	300,000 25,000	25,000
Adrian State	290,000 185,000	185,000
Traian Stanciu	190,000 16,500	16,500
Nemo Koering	180,000 30,000	30,000
Ryan Mandara	175,000 35,000	35,000

Sachin Joshi	50,000
Sandra Cotescu	45,000 142,500	142,500

01-23-2025 17:03 UTC+2

Welcome to Club PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

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01-23-2025 17:12 UTC+2

Stoika Starts to Chip Up

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Tim Baker

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

There was a raise to 7,000 from under the gun before Roman Stoika three-bet to 19,000 from the next position. Konstantin Kvashin cold-called from the button, but the initial raiser folded.

The flop fell 3♦5♥2♦ and Stoika fired a continuation-bet of 8,000. Kvashin decided to call.

The two players checked the 5♦ turn to see the 7♦ land on the river. Stoika put out a bet of 58,000 and this time, Kvashin quickly folded.