$5,300 High Roller Day 2 | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-18-2025 22:45 UTC+2

Marsh Fires an Overbet

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Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Sachin Joshi raised from the button and Luke Marsh defended out of the big blind.

They went heads-up to a flop of A♠2♦7♠ and Marsh check-called a bet of 4,500 from Joshi.

The 7♣ fell on the turn and Marsh led out for 7,000. Joshi carved out the call.

When the 2♥ came on the river, Marsh fired an overbet of 70,000. Joshi pondered for about a minute before eventually folding and surrendering the pot over to Marsh.

Player	Chips	Progress
Luke Marsh	320,000 173,500	173,500
Sachin Joshi	165,000 120,000	120,000

Tags: Luke Marsh Sachin Joshi

01-18-2025 22:36 UTC+2

Sokolovsky Takes From Chernikov

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Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Alexander Sokolovsky raised to 6,500 from early position before Atilla Saracoglu three-bet to 14,000 from the cutoff. Aleksandr Chernikov cold called out of the big blind, but Sokolovsky four-bet to 50,000. Saracoglu folded, and Chernikov called.

The flop came down 2♠A♠10♦ and Chernikov checked to Sokolovsky. Sokolovsky fired a continuation-bet of 30,000 and Chernikov snap-folded his hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexander Sokolovsky	400,000 130,000	130,000
Atilla Saracoglu	270,000 10,000	10,000
Aleksandr Chernikov	140,000 52,000	52,000

Tags: Aleksandr Chernikov Alexander Sokolovsky Atilla Saracoglu

01-18-2025 22:22 UTC+2

Last Year's Winner in the Field

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Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Last year, Maksim Shornikau won this very tournament for a career-high score of $177,500. He has been spotted in the field for Day 2 today and has already built his stack up to 200,000 which puts him in a good position to make another deep run.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	200,000

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Ante: 3,000

01-18-2025 22:16 UTC+2

Jontulovic Gains Some Momentum

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Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Heads-up to the turn with the board showing 5♣9♦J♦6♦. Bogdan Jontulovic was first to act from the big blind and chose to put out a bet of 15,500. His opponent, in the cutoff thought for a few moments before making the call.

The two players saw the 7♥ land on the river and Jontulovic bet again, this time for 11,000. The cutoff player thought it over for quite some time before he eventually, opted to fold his cards and forfeit the pot to Jontulovic.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bogdan Jontulovic	500,000 170,000	170,000

Tags: Bogdan Jontulovic

01-18-2025 22:03 UTC+2

Israel Continues to Chip Up

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Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Florian Duta defended his big blind to an early position raise from Nemo Israel. The two players saw a flop of J♦10♣3♣ come out and Duta check-called a bet of 7,500 from Israel.

The 4♣ turn got checked through for the 9♣ to hit the river, bringing in the fourth club on board. Duta put out a min-bet of 2,500 and Israel reluctantly called.

Duta showed second pair with A♥10♥, which couldn't beat the J♠9♠ of Israel for top pair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nemo Israel	370,000 60,000	60,000
Florian Duta	160,000 90,000	90,000

Tags: Florian Duta Nemo Israel

01-18-2025 21:51 UTC+2

Soika Takes From Runcan

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Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Paul Runcan raised to 5,000 from the jack and Ihar Soika three-bet to 22,000 out of the big blind. Runcan called to a flop.

Soika put out a continuation-bet of 22,500 on the 2♦2♥3♣ flop and Runcan called.

The turn came the 4♥ and Soika fired a bet of 38,000. Runcan didn't take long to fold and Soika dragged in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ihar Soika	190,000 190,000	190,000
Paul Runcan	185,000 111,500	111,500

Tags: Ihar Soika Paul Runcan

01-18-2025 21:38 UTC+2

Some Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Mircea Flutur	825,000 395,000	395,000

Andrey Pateychuk	380,000 83,500	83,500

Motokatsu Uhara	370,000 88,500	88,500
Bogdan Jontulovic	330,000 37,000	37,000
Ludovic Uzan	320,000 100,000	100,000
Nemo Israel	310,000 23,000	23,000
Nikolay Ponomarev	300,000 143,500	143,500
Marcin Dziubdziela	290,000 61,500	61,500
Sachin Joshi	285,000 50,500	50,500
Mihai Niste	280,000 50,500	50,500
Mario Colavita	270,000 91,500	91,500
Hala Karam	265,000 177,000	177,000
Gaspare Sposato	260,000 95,500	95,500
Atilla Saracoglu	260,000 46,500	46,500
Suat Egilli	225,000 80,000	80,000
Jianfeng Sun	210,000 96,000	96,000
Tom Verbruggen	200,000 7,000	7,000

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/2,500

Ante: 2,500

01-18-2025 21:35 UTC+2

Add PokerNews to Your Mobile Home Screen

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Tim Baker

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

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