$3,300 Main Event Day 4 | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-25-2025 15:13 UTC+2

Litvinov Doubles Up

Kai Cocklin

Level 28 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Short-stacked Andrey Litvinov made it 320,000 to go from early position, leaving himself 45,000 behind. Umberto Ruggeri was on the button and called.

They saw a flop of 7♠2♣Q♥ where Litvinov checked, then Ruggeri bet 80,000. Litvinov used four of his five time banks, then eventually called.

Andrey Litvinov: A♥9♠ All in
Umberto Ruggeri: A♣6♦

Litvinov was perhaps surprised to see he was in the lead, and his hand held up as the 10♠J♠ runout meant his nine-kicker played.

Player	Chips	Progress
Umberto Ruggeri	4,200,000 800,000	800,000
Andrey Litvinov	950,000 450,000	450,000

Tags: Andrey Litvinov Umberto Ruggeri

01-25-2025 15:19 UTC+2

Ruggeri Gets Paid With the Nuts

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Tim Baker

Level 28 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Renars Skanis raised to 160,000 from the hijack with Umberto Ruggeri calling from the cutoff and Can Miral defending his big blind.

The action checked to Skanis on the Q♠8♠6♥ flop and he bet 200,000. Ruggeri called, but Miral folded.

The 4♠ dropped on the turn and Skanis opted to check. Ruggeri bet 400,000 and Skanis called.

Skanis checked again on the A♦ river and Ruggeri fired out a bet of 1,250,000. Skanis thought for a few moments before making the call.

Ruggeri flipped over the nuts with A♠J♠ and Skanis mucked his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Umberto Ruggeri	6,500,000 2,300,000	2,300,000
Renars Skanis	5,400,000 900,000	900,000

Can Miral	1,600,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Can Miral Renars Skanis Umberto Ruggeri

01-25-2025 15:26 UTC+2

Andrey Litvinov Eliminated in 22nd Place ($16,020)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 28 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Tamazi Skhirtladze opened from under the gun to 160,000 and Umberto Ruggeri three-bet from the hijack to 490,000. Andrey Litvinov, who had just doubled up, was in the big blind and shoved for around 1,000,000. Skhirtladze folded, but Ruggeri snap-called.

Andrey Litvinov: J♦J♣ All in
Umberto Ruggeri: K♠K♥

Ruggeri's hot run had continued and he was on the brink of eliminating a player from the field. A flop of 2♠9♦2♣ didn't offer much help to Litvinov, and neither did the 9♠ turn. The 4♣ landed on the river, which meant Litvinov was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Umberto Ruggeri	7,800,000 1,300,000	1,300,000
Tamazi Skhirtladze	5,000,000 300,000	300,000
Andrey Litvinov	Busted

Tags: Andrey Litvinov Tamazi Skhirtladze Umberto Ruggeri

01-25-2025 15:27 UTC+2

Miral Rivers a Flush to Double Through Abdelhadi

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Tim Baker

Level 28 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Can Miral raised the button to 160,000 and Ahmad Abdelhadi shoved for roughly 2,200,000 from the small blind. After the big blind folded, Miral called for his remaining 1,300,000.

Can Miral: A♣Q♣ All in
Ahmad Abdelhadi: A♦K♦

Miral was in trouble and needed a queen or some clubs to keep his dreams in the Main Event alive.

The flop came down K♣J♣7♦ to give Abdelhadi top pair and Miral a royal flush draw. The 8♥ turn didn't change anything, but the 3♣ landed on the river to give Miral the winner with the nut flush, earning him a double up through Abdelhadi.

Player	Chips	Progress
Can Miral	3,100,000 1,500,000	1,500,000
Ahmad Abdelhadi	700,000 1,200,000	1,200,000

Tags: Ahmad Abdelhadi Can Miral

01-25-2025 15:33 UTC+2

Iskandarov Left Short By Kamel

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Tim Baker

Level 28 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Tamer Kamel raised from the button to 160,000 and Rashad Iskandarov defended out of the big blind.

The flop came down A♠J♦9♦ and the action checked to Kamel. He bet 100,000 and was met by a check-raise to 300,000 from Iskandarov. Kamel called.

Iskandarov checked when the 8♦ landed on the turn and Kamel put out a bet of 200,000. Iskandarov called.

The 4♦ hit the river and Iskandarov checked again. Kamel bet again for 200,000 and Iskandarov reluctantly called.

Kamel flipped over the nut flush with A♦K♦ and Iskandarov mucked his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tamer Kamel	3,900,000 1,200,000	1,200,000
Rashad Iskandarov	400,000 2,100,000	2,100,000

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Rashad Iskandarov Tamer Kamel

Level: 29

Blinds: 50,000/100,000

Ante: 100,000

01-25-2025 15:44 UTC+2

Rashad Iskandarov Eliminated in 21st Place ($17,985)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante

After just losing most of his, Iskandarov was left with just 400,000 and got them all into the middle against Dmitry Gromov on a ten-high board with Kx10x, running into pocket tens of Gromov, meaning he was out of the tournament in 21st.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	6,300,000 400,000	400,000

Rashad Iskandarov	Busted

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Rashad Iskandarov

01-25-2025 15:49 UTC+2

Ahmad Abdelhadi Eliminated in 20th Place ($17,985)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante

Ahmad Abdelhadi made it 600,000 to go from under the gun, and left himself with around 50,000 behind. Renars Skanis called from the hijack, then Cagdas Ersoy shoved for 1,520,000 from the big blind. Abdelhadi put in his last chips, and Skanis snap-called to put two players at risk.

Ahmad Abdelhadi: A♠7♠ All in
Cagdas Ersoy: A♣Q♠ All in
Renars Skanis: A♦K♦

Skanis was in a great position to send two players to the rail in one hand, but needed to fade a lot of outs after the 10♥2♠8♠ flop gave Abdelhadi a flush draw. The J♥ turn gave everybody a straight draw, and the 9♥ river gave both Abdelhadi and Ersoy a straight. However, Ersoy had the higher straight and the bigger stack, which meant Abdelhadi was out in 20th.

Ersoy was down to just one big blind yesterday, and now has around 4,000,000!

Player	Chips	Progress
Cagdas Ersoy	4,000,000 3,300,000	3,300,000
Renars Skanis	3,400,000 2,000,000	2,000,000

Ahmad Abdelhadi	Busted

Tags: Ahmad Abdelhadi Cagdas Ersoy Renars Skanis

01-25-2025 16:00 UTC+2

Adrian State Eliminated in 19th Place ($17,985)

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Tim Baker

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante

Edward Quinn opened to 200,000 from the cutoff with only Adrian State calling from the small blind.

State checked the K♣J♣4♥ flop and Quinn put out a continuation-bet of 250,000. State check-raised to 625,000, and after burning through one of his time bank cards, Quinn put in the call.

The turn came the Q♥ and State shoved for roughly 2,300,000. Quinn thought about it for a few moments and then made the call with slightly more chips than State.

Adrian State: A♥5♥ All in
Edward Quinn: K♥J♠

Quinn was ahead right now with two pair, kings and jacks, but State had picked up straight and flush draws on the turn. The river came the J♥, which improved State to the flush while also giving Quinn a full house. Quinn virtually doubled up and State was sent to the cashier's desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Edward Quinn	7,000,000 3,000,000	3,000,000

Adrian State	Busted

Tags: Adrian State Edward Quinn

01-25-2025 16:09 UTC+2

Taysi Gets the Better of Skhirtladze Twice

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Kai Cocklin

Level 29 : Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante

Muhtar Taysi and Tamazi Skhirtladze clashed in two pots that really changed the dynamic of their tournaments.

First, there was a raise from the Taysi from under the gun and Skhirtladze called on the button. Umberto Ruggeri also called from the big blind.

On the 8♥8♦5♣ flop, Ruggeri checked and Taysi fired 200,000. Only Skhirtladze called.

When the 3♠ dropped on the turn,Taysi shoved for 1,375,000, and after some thinking, Skhirtladze called.

Muhtar Taysi: J♣J♦ All in
Tamazi Skhirtladze: J♠5♠

Taysi was well ahead with his jacks and just needed to fade a five on the river to stay alive. He did just that when the 8♣ peeled off, which saw him double up.

Not long after, Taysi raised the cutoff to 200,000 and Skhirtladze called in the big blind.

On the 5♠9♣2♦ flop, Skhirtladze checked, Taysi bet 300,000, Skhirtladze raised to 900,000, and Taysi called.

A Q♥ landed on the turn and Skhirtladze slowed down with a check, then folded when Taysi shoved.

Player	Chips	Progress
Muhtar Taysi	4,700,000 2,100,000	2,100,000
Tamazi Skhirtladze	1,400,000 3,600,000	3,600,000

Tags: Muhtar Taysi Tamazi Skhirtladze Umberto Ruggeri