$5,300 High Roller
Day 1 Completed
2025 Merit Poker Western Series
$5,300 High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2025 Merit Poker Western Series
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$800,400
Entries
174
Level
30
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
95
Players Left
69
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Day 1 of the $5,300 High Roller that boasted a $500,000 guaranteed prizepool unfolded today at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, during the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series. A star-studed field of 95 entries took to the baize, battling through eight 40-minute levels of play. By the end of the day, 69 players managed to survive, earning themselves a spot on Day 2.
Leading the pack is Mircea Flutur from Romania, who amassed an impressive 522,500 chips. Flutur was the only player to break the half-million chip barrier, positioning himself as the clear frontrunner heading into tomorrow. With a stack of this size, Flutur has given himself an excellent opportunity to not only reach the money but also make a deep run as the tournament progresses.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mircea Flutur | Romania | 522,500 | 348 |
| 2 | Bogdan Jontulovic | Serbia | 367,000 | 245 |
| 3 | Marcin Dziubdziela | Poland | 351,500 | 234 |
| 4 | Nemo Israel | France | 333,000 | 222 |
| 5 | Maxime Chilaud | France | 321,500 | 214 |
| 6 | Edgard Raffoul | Lebanon | 311,500 | 208 |
| 7 | Jianfeng Sun | China | 306,000 | 204 |
| 8 | Paul Runcan | Romania | 296,500 | 198 |
| 9 | Andrey Pateychuk | Russia | 296,500 | 198 |
| 10 | Motokatsu Uhara | Japan | 281,500 | 188 |
The closest rival to Flutur is Bogdan Jontulovic from Serbia, who will bring 367,000 chips into Day 2. Marcin Dziubdziela rounds out the podium positions with a stack of 351,500. Much of Dziubdziela’s stack was amassed in the final levels of the day when he managed to win two significant pots against Jianfeng Sun in near back-to-back hands, neither of which went to showdown.
Despite those losses, Sun still sits comfortably in seventh place on the leaderboard with 306,000 chips. Sun got off to a flying start earlier in the day after scoring a dramatic double knockout. His set of queens boated up on the river to defeat the overpair of Sakis Adrianopoulos and the flopped nuts of Nichan Khorchidian. This massive pot propelled Sun up the leaderboard, where he remained steady through the remainder of the evening.
Paul Runcan occupies the eighth position with a stack of 296,500. Runcan is riding a wave of confidence after securing his career-best score of $951,143 just last month, and he’ll be eager to add another deep run to his impressive resume. Sharing the same stack as Runcan is seasoned professional Andrey Pateychuk, who takes the ninth spot on the leaderboard.
Japan’s Motokatsu Uhara rounds out the top ten with 281,500 chips. Uhara’s journey to Day 2 came on his second bullet after he suffered an early elimination when his two pair ran into the higher two pair of Lachezar Petkov. Despite the setback, Uhara has bounced back strongly and is now well-positioned heading into tomorrow’s play.
Some other familiar faces who will be back to the felt tomorrow include Dmitry Gromov (270,500), Sachin Joshi (234,500), Tom Verbruggen (207,000), Edward Quinn (149,500), the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series $5,300 High Roller champion Jakub Michalak (146,000), Paul Newey (130,000), Michel Molenaar (116,000), and three-time bracelet winner Timur Margolin (78,000).
Day 2 will start at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 18, and registration remains open until the end of Level 12. Play begins at Level 9, where blinds will be 1,000/1,500, with a 1,500-blind ante. The plan for tomorrow will be announced shortly after the day starts.
$5,300 High Roller Remaining Schedule
| Date | Day | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 18 | Day 2 | 8 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| January 19 | Day 3 | 4 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| January 20 | Day 4 | 1 p.m. | 40 minutes |
Be sure to tune into PokerNews as Day 2 gets underway to see who can build their stack and progress toward the business end of the tournament.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
522,500
522,500
|
522,500 |
|
||
|
367,000
367,000
|
367,000 |
|
351,500
11,500
|
11,500 |
|
333,000
333,000
|
333,000 |
|
321,500
221,500
|
221,500 |
|
311,500
211,500
|
211,500 |
|
306,000
76,000
|
76,000 |
|
296,500
66,500
|
66,500 |
|
||
|
296,500
63,500
|
63,500 |
|
281,500
281,500
|
281,500 |
|
276,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
270,500
60,500
|
60,500 |
|
|
||
|
259,000
199,000
|
199,000 |
|
234,500
174,500
|
174,500 |
|
229,500
229,500
|
229,500 |
|
224,000
224,000
|
224,000 |
|
220,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
213,500
28,500
|
28,500 |
|
211,000
111,000
|
111,000 |
|
209,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
207,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
|
207,000
207,000
|
207,000 |
|
180,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
178,500
68,500
|
68,500 |
|
176,000
176,000
|
176,000 |
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Play has finished for Day 1 of the $5,300 High Roller with 69 players managing to make it through to Day 2 tomorrow. Stay tuned for a full list of chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
The floor staff announced there will be 4 more hands before the remaining players bag up their chips and return for Day 2 tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Jianfeng Sun had defended from the big blind to a raise from Marcin Dziubdziela on the button. The two players saw the dealer fan out a flop of 7♠10♦2♠. Sun checked and then called a bet of 4,000 from Dziubdziela.
The 3♥ on the turn checked through for the 3♣ to land on the river. Sun led out for 8,500 and was met by a raise to 33,000 from Dziubdziela. Sun thought it over briefly before electing to let go of his hand and forfeit another pot to Dziubdziela.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
340,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
230,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Marcin Dziubdziela raised to 3,500 from the hijack before Jianfeng Sun three-bet to 8,500 from the button. When it folded back to Dziubdziela, he called.
Dziubdziela checked to Sun on the J♥Q♥5♦ flop, and Sun bet 5,500. Dziubdziela check-raised to 17,500 and Sun quickly called.
The 6♥ dropped on the turn and Dziubdziela continued with a bet of 21,000. Sun called again.
When the 2♦ appeared on the river, Dziubdziela fired out 85,000 and Sun snap-folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
300,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
|
280,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/1,500
Ante: 1,500
Level 7
: Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
360,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
320,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
|
|
210,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
185,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
160,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
140,000
54,000
|
54,000 |
|
130,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
125,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
105,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
85,000
85,000
|
85,000 |
|
80,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
80,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
Level 7
: Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante
Heads-up on a flop of J♦8♠3♣ where Ihar Soika bet 4,500 from the cutoff and Uri Reichenstein called on the button.
The turn came the 7♦ and Soika continued with a bet of 14,000. Reichenstein thought it over briefly before making the call.
The 10♠ dropped on the river and Soika fired one last bet of 12,000 with roughly 65,000 behind. Reichenstein raised to put Soika all in, and Soika folded after a few moments, surrendering he pot to Reichenstein.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
260,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
65,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
