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

01-19-2025 20:27 UTC+2

Roman Stoika Eliminated in 18th Place ($10,000)

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Tim Baker

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

Roman Stoika shoved under the gun for 275,000 and Gaspare Sposato called to try and bust him.

Roman Stoika: K♣J♦ All in
Gaspare Sposato: K♥Q♥

Stoika was in trouble and needed some help for the dealer to stay alive. The board ran out K♦3♦6♠A♦5♣, giving both players a pair of kings, but Sposato's queen-kicker played and he won the pot, sending Stoika to the rail in eighteenth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gaspare Sposato	1,100,000 50,000	50,000
Roman Stoika	Busted

Tags: Gaspare Sposato Roman Stoika

01-19-2025 20:31 UTC+2

Suat Egilli Eliminated in 17th Place ($10,000)

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Tim Baker

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

Suat Egilli opened to 60,000 under the gun with Aliaksandr Hirs defending out of the big blind.

Hirs checked when the dealer fanned out the 4♠7♥2♠ flop and Egilli immediately shoved for roughly 350,000. Hirs looked back at his cards before making the call.

Suat Egilli: J♠9♠ All in
Aliaksandr Hirs: 7♦5♦

Egilli had two overacards and a flush draw but was behind to the top pair of Hirs. The 10♦ turn gave Egilli a few more outs with a gunshot, but the 5♣ river didn't help him as Hirs improved to two pair, sending Egilli to the cashier's desk.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aliaksandr Hirs	1,350,000 675,000	675,000
Suat Egilli	Busted

Tags: Aliaksandr Hirs Suat Egilli

01-19-2025 20:37 UTC+2

Mustafa Biz Eliminated in 16th Place ($10,000)

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Kai Cocklin

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

Mustafa Biz shoved for 410,000 from early position and Dmitry Gromov put him at risk from the small blind.

Mustafa Biz: A♠3♠ All in
Dmitry Gromov: A♣A♦

Biz was in a world of pain and needed a miracle after the 8♣8♥5♥ flop. No such miracle was in sight as the 5♦ turn meant Biz was drawing dead, with an inconsequential Q♣ dropping on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Gromov	1,500,000 100,000	100,000

Mustafa Biz	Busted

Tags: Dmitry Gromov Mustafa Biz

01-19-2025 20:43 UTC+2

Chilaud Wins a Huge Flip vs Jontulovic

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Tim Baker

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

Dmitry Gromov raised to 60,000 from early position and Bogdan Jontulovic three-bet to 180,000 from the cutoff. Maxime Chilaud four-bet shoved out of the small blind for 930,000, which got Gromov to fold, but Jontulovic called with the covering stack.

Maxime Chilaud: 10♦10♠ All in
Bogdan Jontulovic: A♥K♦

It was a huge flip that if Jontulovic could win, would move him up to a stack of almost three million. However, the 10♥Q♠K♠ flop put Chilaud in the lead with a set of tens. The rest of the board ran out Q♦9♠ to give Chilaud a boat, earning him the double-up at the expense of Jontulovic.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maxime Chilaud	1,950,000 950,000	950,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	1,860,000 610,000	610,000
Dmitry Gromov	1,350,000 150,000	150,000

Tags: Bogdan Jontulovic Dmitry Gromov Maxime Chilaud

01-19-2025 20:46 UTC+2

Sailboats Keep Joshi Afloat

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Kai Cocklin

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

Sachin Joshi made it 330,000 and left himself just 5,000 behind. The action folded to Aliaksandr Hirs in the big blind, who called and almost turned his cards over thinking Joshi was all-in. However, the dealer pointed out that Joshi still had chips behind.

On the 6♦2♣Q♠ flop, Hirs bet 5,000, and Joshi called.

Sachin Joshi: 4♠4♥ All in
Aliaksandr Hirs: A♥7♥

Joshi had survived the flop with his pocket pair and managed to double up as the 8♠5♥ runout kept his Sailboats afloat.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aliaksandr Hirs	950,000 400,000	400,000
Sachin Joshi	750,000 300,000	300,000

Tags: Aliaksandr Hirs Sachin Joshi

01-19-2025 20:46 UTC+2

Dinner Break

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Tim Baker

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

The remaining players are now on a 40-minute dinner break and will return at 9:25 p.m.

Level: 23

Blinds: 20,000/40,000

Ante: 40,000

01-19-2025 21:23 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Maher Achour	2,450,000 750,000	750,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	1,950,000 90,000	90,000
Maxime Chilaud	1,800,000 150,000	150,000
Dmitry Gromov	1,325,000 25,000	25,000

Ludovic Uzan	1,200,000 150,000	150,000
Lyudmil Ivanov	1,125,000 75,000	75,000

Gaspare Sposato	1,125,000 25,000	25,000
Aliaksandr Hirs	980,000 30,000	30,000
Mehmet Demirkol	980,000 30,000	30,000
Sergei Varnaev	900,000 100,000	100,000
Xin Tang	800,000 200,000	200,000
Hala Karam	725,000 225,000	225,000
Sachin Joshi	690,000 60,000	60,000
Ozgur Arda	500,000 500,000	500,000
Paul Runcan	180,000 695,000	695,000

01-19-2025 21:29 UTC+2

Paul Runcan Eliminated in 15th Place ($11,500)

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Paul Runcan shoved for 180,000 from the cutoff and Sergei Varnaev made the call from the big blind to put him at risk.

Paul Runcan: K♥8♦ All in
Sergei Varnaev: 10♣8♣

Runcan had Varnaev dominated and looked likely to double-up. The flop of A♣K♣6♠ put Runcan in the lead with a pair of kings but did give Varnaev a flush draw. The 9♣ turn gave Varnaev the flush and left Runcan drawing dead as the 4♦ came on the river and Runcan was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergei Varnaev	1,200,000 300,000	300,000
Paul Runcan	Busted

Tags: Paul Runcan Sergei Varnaev

01-19-2025 21:42 UTC+2

Gaspare Sposato Elimianted in 14th Place ($11,000)

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Hala Karam raised to 80,000 from early position and Sergei Varnaev three-bet to 225,000 from late position. Gaspare Sposato four-bet out of the blinds to 865,000. Karam folded, but Varnaev shoved to put Sposato all in. Sposato called for his remaining 250,000.

Gaspare Sposato: K♥K♦ All in
Sergei Varnaev: A♣A♦

Varnaev was on the right end of a cooler and looked likely to eliminate Sposato. The runout of Q♣7♥9♣10♣10♠ kept Varnaev ahead the entire with pocket aces and Sposato was out in fourteenth.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergei Varnaev	2,350,000 1,150,000	1,150,000
Hala Karam	600,000 125,000	125,000
Gaspare Sposato	Busted

Tags: Gaspare Sposato Hala Karam Sergei Varnaev