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

01-23-2025 19:01 UTC+2

Karam on the Wrong End of Cooler

Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Hala Karam has exited the tournament after getting all her 200,000 chips into the middle preflop against Mikalai Vaskaboinikau.

Hala Karam: AxKx All in
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau: AxAx

It was a very unfortunate cooler for Karam, and she wasn't able to find any luck from the poker gods as the flop came down Ax7x2x to give Vaskaboinikau top set, and she was left drawing dead. The rest of the board was inconsequential, which meant Karam was sent home while Vaskaboinikau moved up to over half a million chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau	600,000 266,500	266,500
Hala Karam	Busted

Tags: Hala Karam Mikalai Vaskaboinikau

Level: 16

Blinds: 2,000/5,000

Ante: 5,000

01-23-2025 19:15 UTC+2

Ehsan Amiri

675,000 475,000

Table 25Seat 6

01-23-2025 19:17 UTC+2

Khorchidian Moves Up to Over a Million

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Nichan Khorchidian raised to 10,000 from early position with Maksim Shornikau calling on the button and Evren Coskun defending out of the big blind.

The action checked to Khorchidian on the 4♥8♦6♦ flop, and he bet out for 15,000. Shornikau folded, but Coskun shoved for roughly 40,000. Khorchidian called to put him at risk.

Nichan Khorchidian: A♦7♦ All in
Evren Coskun: 8♣3♣

Coskun had top pair, but Khorchidian had a lot of outs to win the pot, and bust him. The turn was the A♣ which put Khorchidian in the lead, and he improved to trips on the A♠ river. Khorchidian pulled in the pot and Coskun busted,

Player	Chips	Progress
Nichan Khorchidian	1,000,000 210,000	210,000
Maksim Shornikau	300,000 60,000	60,000
Evren Coskun	Busted

Tags: Evren Coskun Maksim Shornikau Nichan Khorchidian

01-23-2025 19:25 UTC+2

Start Using PokerNews Emojis Today! 😍

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

PokerNews has been bringing you live reporting from the biggest poker tournaments for over 17 years, and it's time for a brand new addition to the live update product with the launch of PokerNews emojis.

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01-23-2025 19:26 UTC+2

Guilbert's Reads Are on Point in the Main Event

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

The action was picked up on a flop of A♦5♦5♣. A player in the big blind checked, and Johan Guilbert put out a bet of 5,000 from middle position. The big blind player check-raised to 15,000, which caused Guilbert to think about it briefly before eventually making the call.

The two players checked the 9♣ turn and the J♥ river. The big blind player flipped over a busted flush draw with 7♦4♦, and Guilbert took down the pot with 3♥3♠ for an underpair to the board.

Player	Chips	Progress
Johan Guilbert	650,000 220,000	220,000

Tags: Johan Guilbert

01-23-2025 19:39 UTC+2

Hirs Puts Auzoux in the Blender

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Heads-up on a flop of 6♦3♣10♥. Aliaksandr Hirs checked from the big blind and faced a bet of 8,000 by Gregoire Auzoux from middle position. Hirs check-raised to 22,000, which Auzoux quickly called.

Hirs bet 26,000 upon seeing the K♥ land on the turn, and Auzoux quickly called again.

The 5♥ dropped on the river and Hirs fired out a bet of 125,000, for just over the size of the pot. Auzoux thought a lot longer on his decision here, but eventually, he decided to fold his hand and give up the pot to Hirs.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gregoire Auzoux	470,000 135,000	135,000
Aliaksandr Hirs	270,000 190,000	190,000

Tags: Aliaksandr Hirs Gregoire Auzoux

01-23-2025 19:50 UTC+2

Shornikau Finds a Three-Outer to Bust Gunes

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Caner Gunes had his stack of around 250,000 in the middle from the button and was put at risk by Maksim Shornikau from middle position.

Caner Gunes: K♦K♥ All in
Maksim Shornikau: A♦K♣

Gunes was way in front with his pocket kings and they maintained their lead through the J♥8♣9♦ flop. However, Gunes was left with just a singular out when the A♣ dropped on the turn as Shornikau improved to top pair. Only the case king on the river could save Gunes, but instead the 3♦ rolled off, which meant he was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	550,000 250,000	250,000
Caner Gunes	Busted

Tags: Caner Gunes Maksim Shornikau

01-23-2025 19:52 UTC+2

Shornikau Check-Raises Koering

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Nemo Koering raised to 10,000 from the cutoff with only Maksim Shornikau defending out of the big blind.

The flop fell a monotone Q♠J♠3♠ and Shornikau check-called a bet of 7,000 from Koering.

Shornikau checked again upon seeing the 6♥ hit the turn. Koering fired a second barrel of 30,000 and was met by a check-raise to 90,000 from Shornikau. Koering didn't take long to toss his cards into the muck and Shornikau won the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	700,000 150,000	150,000
Nemo Koering	230,000

Tags: Maksim Shornikau Nemo Koering

01-23-2025 19:55 UTC+2

Joyce Moving Up the Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Philip Joyce is moving up the counts nicely and has around 800,000 after just taking down a pot.

Philipp Wood raised from under the gun to 10,000 and Nicolae Paunescu called in the hijack. Joyce called in the cutoff, and the big blind also called.

They four saw a flop of 6♦K♥4♥, which checked to Joyce, who fired out 18,000. One by one, all of his opponents folded, and Joyce took down the pot.