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

01-24-2025 13:33 UTC+2

Kolev Busts the Main Event

Tim Baker

Level 19 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Mehmet Demirkol raised to 22,000 from early position and Boris Kolev shoved for 120,000 from the button. Mario Fata jammed over the top for 245,000, and after a bit of tanking, Demirkol folded his cards.

Boris Kolev: 8♦8♠ All in
Mario Fata: A♥J♠

Kolev found himself in a flip with two eights. Kolev stayed ahead on the 2♦K♦4♥3♥ flop and turn, but the J♣ fell on the river to give Fata the winner with a pair of jacks, sending Kolev out of the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mehmet Demirkol	520,000 166,000	166,000
Mario Fata	400,000 136,000	136,000
Boris Kolev	Busted

Tags: Boris Kolev Mario Fata Mehmet Demirkol

01-24-2025 13:33 UTC+2

Chen Attempts a Bluff, Aksu Doubles Up

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Kai Cocklin

Level 19 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Osman Aksu opened the cutoff to 20,000 and Zhen Chen three-bet from the button to 55,000. When it got back to Aksu, he dropped in the call.

They saw a flop of J♦6♦10♠ where Aksu check-called a bet of 40,000 from Chen to the J♥ turn, which went check-check.

An 8♦ landed on the river and Aksu quickly led out with a bet of 75,000. Chen, composed as always, took his time before he shoved, which put Aksu to the test for his remaining 325,000. Aksu didn't need to think for too long before he shrugged his shoulders, grabbed his chips, and shoved them into the pot.

Chen then revealed he had a bluff with A♥Q♠. and Aksu's nut flush holding A♦Q♦ was good for the pot and a double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Chen	1,000,000 500,000	500,000

Osman Aksu	1,000,000 577,000	577,000

Tags: Osman Aksu Zhen Chen

01-24-2025 13:18 UTC+2

Meir Sends Genc to the Rail

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Tim Baker

Level 19 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Oren Meir min-raised from middle position with Nils Pudel calling on the button before Musa Genc squeezed all in for roughly 120,000 out of the big blind. Meir shoved over the top for around 280,000 which caused Pudel to let go of his hand.

Musa Genc: A♦Q♠ All in
Oren Meir: 10♥10♣

Genc needed to win the flip to have a chance of making money in the Main Event. The flop of 7♠K♠J♠ offered a lot of outs to Genc as he picked up flush and straight draws. However, the rest of the board ran out 2♥3♥ and Meir's tens held up, sending Genc to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nils Pudel	420,000 136,000	136,000
Oren Meir	390,000 175,000	175,000
Musa Genc	Busted

Tags: Musa Genc Nils Pudel Oren Meir

01-24-2025 13:12 UTC+2

Chilaud and Roelofsen Start Well

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Kai Cocklin

Level 19 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Both Maxime Chilaud and Koen Roelofsen have had great starts to the day and increased their stacks by some margin.

Not long ago the two clashed where Chilaud opened from middle position to 20,000 and Roelofsen three-bet to 60,000 in the cutoff. When it got back to Chilaud, he four-bet to 135,000, and Roelofsen quickly folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Koen Roelofsen	750,000 230,000	230,000
Maxime Chilaud	600,000 329,000	329,000

Tags: Koen Roelofsen Maxime Chilaud

Level: 19

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 10,000

01-24-2025 13:06 UTC+2

Karam's Value Bet Gets Paid

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Tim Baker

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Ramzi Karam raised to 16,000 from early position with only Soraya Estrada calling out of the big blind.

The two players checked the 8♥4♦6♠ flop to see the 9♦ land on the turn. Estrade checked, and Karam bet 30,000. Estrada slid in the call.

Estrada checked for the last time when the 2♥ hit the river. Karam bet 50,000 and after a few moments, Estrada called. Karam flipped over J♣9♣ for a pair of nines on the turn. It was good to take down the pot as Estrada mucked her cards

Player	Chips	Progress
Soraya Estrada	550,000 53,000	53,000
Ramzi Karam	280,000 13,000	13,000

Tags: Soraya Estrada Ramzi Karam

01-24-2025 13:03 UTC+2

Kashani Punished For Correct Call

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Kai Cocklin

Level 19 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Arian Kashani recalled a hand where he raised to 18,000 from the button and Luke Marsh defended from the big blind.

They went to a flop of K♥3♦7♦ where Marsh check-called a bet of 14,000 from Kashani.

A 4♣ dropped on the turn and after Marsh checked, Kashani bet 62,000. Marsh then check-shoved for 208,000, which sent Kashani into the tank. After several minutes of thinking, Kashani stuck in the call.

Luke Marsh: Q♦10♦ All in
Arian Kashani: A♣6♦

Kashani's gut instinct was on point and he needed to fade just one card to scoop the pot and eliminate Marsh. However, the poker gods were not on Kashani's side as his correct call was punished when the 4♦ landed on the river, which completed Marsh's flush.

Several hands later, Kashani lost a flip with ace-king against pocket eights for a pot worth around 300,000, and now sits with 375,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Luke Marsh	500,000 275,000	275,000
Arian Kashani	375,000 339,000	339,000

Tags: Arian Kashani Luke Marsh

01-24-2025 13:02 UTC+2

Some of the Top Stacks

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Kai Cocklin

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nichan Khorchidian	1,950,000 801,000	801,000
Zhen Chen	1,500,000 219,000	219,000

Anton Danilov	1,500,000 170,000	170,000
Dawid Smolka	1,400,000 400,000	400,000
Renars Skanis	1,350,000 100,000	100,000

Ibrahim Ghasan	1,250,000 250,000	250,000
Philip Joyce	900,000 32,000	32,000

01-24-2025 12:54 UTC+2

Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack by PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

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01-24-2025 12:47 UTC+2

Jalba's Main Event Run Ends

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Kai Cocklin

Level 18 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

The action folded around to Eusebiu Jalba in the small blind, who shoved his remaining stack of around 60,000 into the pot. Simeon Spasov called in the big blind.

Eusebiu Jalba: J♣9♦ All in
Simeon Spasov: K♣10♥

Jalba's bad start to the day got even worse as the runout of 10♦5♥9♥3♣2♦ sent him to the rail in the opening level.