$5,300 High Roller Day 3 | 2025 Merit Poker Western Series

01-19-2025 19:19 UTC+2

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Paul Runcan	Romania	875,000	35
1	2	Roman Stoika	Russia	330,000	13
1	3	Aliaksandr Hirs	Belarus	675,000	27
1	4	Suat Egilli	Turkey	275,000	11
1	5	Mustafa Biz	Turkey	1,100,000	44
1	6	Gaspare Sposato	Italy	725,000	29
1	7	Sachin Joshi	United Kingdom	450,000	18
1	8	Ihar Soika	Belarus	250,000	10

2	1	Xin Tang	China	600,000	24
2	2	Gregoire Auzoux	France	775,000	31
2	3	Mehmet Demirkol	Turkey	950,000	38
2	4	Bogdan Jontulovic	Serbia	1,250,000	50
2	5	Ramazan Akyel	United Kingdom	300,000	12
2	6	Edward Quinn	Jersey	1,200,000	48
2	7	Maxime Chilaud	France	300,000	12
2	8	Maher Achour	Tunisia	800,000	32

3	1	Hala Karam	Lebanon	500,000	20
3	2	Ozgur Arda	Turkey	1,200,000	48
3	3	Lyudmil Ivanov	Bulgaria	850,000	34
3	4	Nemo Israel	France	480,000	19
3	5	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	905,000	36
3	6	Ludovic Uzan	France	1,350,000	54
3	7	Mircea Flutur	Romania	700,000	28
3	8	Sergei Varnaev	Russia	300,000	12

Player	Chips	Progress
Ludovic Uzan	1,350,000 100,000	100,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	1,250,000 200,000	200,000
Edward Quinn	1,200,000 100,000	100,000
Ozgur Arda	1,200,000 50,000	50,000
Mustafa Biz	1,100,000 300,000	300,000
Mehmet Demirkol	950,000 500,000	500,000
Dmitry Gromov	905,000 365,000	365,000

Paul Runcan	875,000 155,000	155,000
Lyudmil Ivanov	850,000 150,000	150,000

Maher Achour	800,000 100,000	100,000
Gregoire Auzoux	775,000 625,000	625,000

Gaspare Sposato	725,000 50,000	50,000
Mircea Flutur	700,000 20,000	20,000

Aliaksandr Hirs	675,000 5,000	5,000
Xin Tang	600,000 110,000	110,000
Hala Karam	500,000 250,000	250,000
Nemo Israel	480,000 400,000	400,000
Sachin Joshi	450,000 170,000	170,000
Roman Stoika	330,000 5,000	5,000
Ramazan Akyel	300,000 90,000	90,000
Maxime Chilaud	300,000 100,000	100,000
Sergei Varnaev	300,000 234,000	234,000
Suat Egilli	275,000 370,000	370,000
Ihar Soika	250,000 25,000	25,000

Player	Chips	Progress
Lyudmil Ivanov	1,050,000 200,000	200,000

Ozgur Arda	1,000,000 200,000	200,000

Varnaev Doubles With Big Slick

Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

On the direct bubble, Mircea Flutur raised to 50,000 and Sergei Varnaev three-bet to 200,000 with 150,000 behind. When it got back to Flutur he did a bit of inventory before he four-bet shoved to put Varnaev all in. Varnaev called.

Sergei Varnaev: A♣K♠ All in
Mircea Flutur: 8♦8♣

Varnaev had direct bubbled the Warm Up earlier this series, and if he couldn't find some help with his Big Slick, he would have earned his second title of bubble boy in a week.

However, the 3♣K♥5♦ flop put him firmly in the lead with top pair. The 2♣ turn and Q♦ river didn't help Flutur and around half of hist stack was sent over to Varnaev.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergei Varnaev	800,000 500,000	500,000
Mircea Flutur	305,000 395,000	395,000

Tags: Mircea Flutur Sergei Varnaev

01-19-2025 19:51 UTC+2

Auzoux Bubbles the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller

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Tim Baker

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Gregoire Auzoux raised to 50,000 under the gun and Maher Achour three-bet the small blind to 200,000. Auzoux instantly shoved for 705,000 and Achour snap-called.

Gregoire Auzoux: 10♠10♥ All in
Maher Achour: K♣K♦

Achour had just one big blind more than Auzoux and if his Cowboys could hold up, he would eliminate the overnight chip leader and send the remaining players into the money.

The flop of A♥2♥2♠ didn't change anything and Achour was still ahead with his pocket kings. The A♠ turn meant only a ten on the river would keep the tournament on the bubble. The river was the J♦ and the remaining players had all made the money.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maher Achour	1,500,000 700,000	700,000
Gregoire Auzoux	Busted

Tags: Gregoire Auzoux Maher Achour

01-19-2025 20:00 UTC+2

Edward Quinn Eliminated in 23rd Place ($9,000)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Edward Quinn raised from under the gun to 50,000 and Xin Tang three-bet to 140,000 on the button. Bogdan Jontulovic then made a four-bet to 230,000 out of the big blind, and Quinn shoved for 1,135,000. Tang quickly folded, and after some deliberation, Jontulovic called with a slighty covering stack.

Edward Quinn: A♠K♠ All in
Bogdan Jontulovic: Q♣Q♠

It was a huge flip between two of the top stacks in the tournament, and Quinn took a huge leap towards doubling up on the J♥A♥A♦ flop as he made trips. However, Jontulovic binked a full house on the Q♦ turn, which meant Quinn was again behind and needing help on the river.

Unfortunately for Quinn, the 7♠ river wasn't what he needed, and he was the first player heading to the payout desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bogdan Jontulovic	2,800,000 1,550,000	1,550,000
Xin Tang	325,000 275,000	275,000
Edward Quinn	Busted

Tags: Bogdan Jontulovic Edward Quinn Xin Tang

Level: 22

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 30,000

01-19-2025 20:08 UTC+2

Ihar Soika Eliminated in 22nd Place ($9,000)

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Tim Baker

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Ihar Soika got the last of his chips in the middle preflop with Gaspare Sposato making the call to try and bust him.

Ihar Soika: Ax10x All in
Gaspare Sposato: A♦5♦

Soika looked poised to earn the much-needed double-up if he could fade a five or some diamonds.

The flop of A♣5♠J♠ was terrible for Soika as Sposato flopped two pair to take the lead. The K♠ turn offered Soika with a lot more outs to stay alive. However, the 8♣ on the river wasn't one of them and Soika was sent to the cashier's desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gaspare Sposato	1,050,000 325,000	325,000
Ihar Soika	Busted

Tags: Gaspare Sposato Ihar Soika

01-19-2025 20:13 UTC+2

Mircea Flutur Eliminated in 21st Place ($9,000)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

On a board of 6♠7♥J♣5♣A♠, Mircea Flutur had his chips in the middle with KxQx, but was unable to beat the hand of Dmitry Gromov, who had turned a straight with 9♦8♦.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	1,400,000 495,000	495,000

Mircea Flutur	Busted

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Mircea Flutur

01-19-2025 20:17 UTC+2

Nemo Israel Eliminated in 20th Place ($9,000)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Nemo Israel had his stack of round 300,000 in the middle preflop, and was put at risk by Maxime Chilaud on his direct left.

Nemo Israel: K♦10♦ All in
Maxime Chilaud: K♥J♥

Israel was in a tough spot and it didn't get any better on the J♦A♥5♥ flop as Chilaud paired his jack and picked up a flush draw. It was all over on the 6♥ turn as Chilaud made his flush, with the meaningless K♣ dropping on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maxime Chilaud	1,000,000 700,000	700,000
Nemo Israel	Busted

Tags: Maxime Chilaud Nemo Israel

01-19-2025 20:20 UTC+2

Ramazan Akyel Eliminated in 19th Place ($9,000)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 22 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Bogdan Jontulovic raised to 60,000 from under the gun and Ramazan Akyel shoved for his short stack of 140,000 from the next seat. Maher Achour then four-bet to 220,000 from the button, which got Jontulovic to fold.

Ramazan Akyel: A♥7♥ All in
Maher Achour: A♣Q♣

Akyel was well behind, but did flop a flush draw on the 3♥J♠9♥ flop. However, neither the 5♠ turn nor 9♦ river could save him from elimination, and he was out in 19th.