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

Jan 25, 2025

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

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.

Tags: Andrey Litvinov Tamazi Skhirtladze Umberto Ruggeri

Jan 25, 2025

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.

Tags: Can Miral Renars Skanis Umberto Ruggeri

Jan 25, 2025

Litvinov Doubles Up

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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.

Tags: Andrey Litvinov Umberto Ruggeri

Jan 25, 2025

Hassanin Hashim Eliminated in 23rd Place ($16,020)

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Tim Baker

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

Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan raised from middle position to 175,000, and Hassanin Hashim shoved for 555,000 from the hijack. After getting a count from the dealer Moldovan called to put Hashim at risk.

Hassanin Hashim: A♠K♥ All in
Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan: Q♠J♣

Hashim was ahead with Big Slick, but Moldovan had two live cards he could hit to send him to the rail. The board ran out Q♥6♣3♦6♠7♥ to give Moldovan the winner with a pair of queens on the flop, sending Hashim to the payout desk in twenty-third place.

Tags: Hassanin Hashim Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan

Jan 25, 2025

Nils Pudel Eliminated in 24th Place ($16,020)

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Kai Cocklin

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

The action folded around to Nils Pudel in the small blind, who shoved for around 700,000. Tamazi Skhirtladze was in the big blind and called.

Nils Pudel: A♥5♠ All in
Tamazi Skhirtladze: J♣J♠

Pudel needed to find his overcard, but didn't manage to do it as the Q♥8♣K♥9♦7♦ runout meant he was out in 24th.

Tags: Tamazi Skhirtladze Nils Pudel

Jan 25, 2025

Skarparis Shoves Into Three Players

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Kai Cocklin

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

Dmitry Gromov raised from under the gun and Tamer Kamel called from middle position. Georgios Skarparis called in the small blind, and Xiaosheng Zheng also came along from the big blind.

All four checked the 3♦7♥8♣ flop to the J♥ turn, where the blinds checked and Gromov fired out 160,000. All three players called.

When the 4♥ landed on the river, Skarparis shoved for around 1,300,000, and everybody else quickly folded.

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Georgios Skarparis Tamer Kamel Xiaosheng Zheng

Jan 25, 2025

Three Table Redraw

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Tim Baker

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

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Muhtar Taysi	Turkey	2,600,000	33
1	2	Cagdas Ersoy	Turkey	700,000	9
1	3	Can Miral	Turkey	2,000,000	25
1	4	Andrey Litvinov	Russia	500,000	6
1	5	Nils Pudel	Austria	750,000	9
1	6	Tamazi Skhirtladze	Georgia	4,500,000	56
1	7	Renars Skanis	Latvia	6,300,000	79
1	8	Umberto Ruggeri	Italy	3,400,000	43

2	1	Edward Quinn	United Kingdom	4,000,000	50
2	2	Alexander Sokolovsky	Serbia	1,100,000	14
2	3	Adrian State	Romania	4,400,000	55
2	4	Mihai Niste	Romania	6,500,000	81
2	5	Ryan Mandara	United Kingdom	2,400,000	30
2	6	Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan	Romania	7,400,000	93
2	7	Hassanin Hashim	Iraq	550,000	7
2	8	Hassan Sey	Finland	1,300,000	16

3	1	Mario Colavita	Italy	2,400,000	30
3	2	Ahmad Abdelhadi	Canada	1,900,000	24
3	3	Rashad Iskandarov	Azerbaijan	2,500,000	31
3	4	Georgios Skarparis	Cyprus	1,900,000	24
3	5	Xiaosheng Zheng	China	4,800,000	60
3	6	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	6,200,000	78
3	7	Pedro Munitis	Israel	3,500,000	44
3	8	Tamer Kamel	United Kingdom	5,000,000	63

Jan 25, 2025

Skhirtladze Eliminates Guilbert

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Tim Baker

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

Tamazi Skhirtladze raised to 175,000 from the hijack and Johan Guilbert shoved for 900,000 from the button. After getting a count from the dealer, Skhirtladze called.

Johan Guilbert: A♣Q♠ All in
Tamazi Skhirtladze: K♠Q♦

Guilbert was in a great spot to double up if he could fade a king. However, the flop of 7♣K♥10♠ put Skhirtladze in the lead with a pair of kings. The rest of the board ran out 4♣Q♣ and Guilbert was sent to the rail in twenty-fifth place.

Tags: Johan Guilbert Tamazi Skhirtladze

Jan 25, 2025

Guilbert Bluffs Into the Chip Leader

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Kai Cocklin

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

Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan raised to 175,000 from the cutoff and Tamazi Skhirtladze called on the button. Renars Skanis in the small blind and Johan Guilbert in the big blind also came along.

The four saw a flop of Q♠J♠7♠, which checked around to the Q♥ turn, which also checked through.

When the 7♣ dropped on the river, Skanis checked and Guilbert bet 700,000. Moldovan thought for a while before he called, then both Skhirtladze and Skanis quickly folded.

Guilbert showed 8♦6♥ for a bluff, and Moldovan showed a full house with 10♦7♦ to scoop the pot.

Tags: Tamazi Skhirtladze Renars Skanis Johan Guilbert Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan

Jan 25, 2025

State Barrels Every Street Against Skarparis

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Tim Baker

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

Adrian State raised to 160,000 under the gun and Georgios Skarparis defended from the big blind.

The flop came down 3♠J♣4♠ and Skarparis check-called a bet of 180,000 from State.

The 8♦ fell on the turn and Skarparis check-called another bet from State, this time for 800,000.

After Skarparis checked the 10♠ river, State shoved for Skarparis' remaining 1,800,000. Skarparis thought about the decision for around a minute before he slid his cards into the muck, forfeiting the pot to State.

Tags: Adrian State Georgios Skarparis