Benjamin Nicault Bags Day 1c Chip Lead on Largest Flight of Merit Poker Cup
Day 1c of the €880 Merit Poker Cup has come to an end inside the Merit Royal Splendid Casino in Budva as part of the Merit Poker Montenegro Championship, drawing a field of 123 entries, the largest starting flight so far. After a full day of poker, just 18 players survived the cut, each locking up a cash and a seat into Day 2.
With Day 1c in the books, the tournament now stands at 340 total entries across three starting flights, with 50 players already advancing through to Day 2. That number is set to increase further with the fourth and final turbo flight, Day 1d, still in progress
France's Benjamin Nicault topped the counts at the end of the day, bagging a stack of 523,000 and is the only player from today to have breached the half-a-million chip mark. Andrei Daniliuk, with 453,000, is placed in second position, while Bojan Zivanovic rounded out the top three with 351,000.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Nicault | France | 523,000 | 65 |
| 2 | Andrei Daniliuk | Russia | 453,000 | 57 |
| 3 | Bojan Zivanovic | Serbia | 351,000 | 44 |
| 4 | Genrik Alekian | Ukraine | 343,000 | 43 |
| 5 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 325,000 | 41 |
| 6 | Nikolay Fal | Russia | 312,000 | 39 |
| 7 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 241,000 | 30 |
| 8 | Danilo Stanisic | Czechia | 164,000 | 21 |
| 9 | Toni Ravnak | Serbia | 159,000 | 20 |
| 10 | Ohad Gelerenter | United Kingdom | 156,000 | 20 |
Nicault maintained a healthy stack throughout the day and turned up the aggression as the bubble approached, raising at almost every chance he got. Although he doubled up Nikolay Fal on the direct bubble when his ace-six fell to Fal’s ace-king, Nicault quickly recovered those chips by continuing to apply pressure to his tablemates, looking to squeeze into the money. Non-stop raises and bets allowed him to surge back to the top of the counts by the time bags were collected.
Russia’s Daniliuk was aided by a fortunate runout late in the day that helped propel his stack into the top ten. Daniliuk raised and then called it off from the small blind with king-jack, finding himself dominated by Hakan Varol’s pocket kings. The flop left Daniliuk needing running cards, and he found them when a spade fell on both the turn and river to complete a backdoor four-flush, sending the pot his way and leaving Varol with nothing but a bad beat story.
As the tournament reached the direct bubble, it initially appeared that it would burst quickly, but a series of doubles for the shortest stacks changed that. After close to two full levels of hand-for-hand play, Shai Arbel became the final player to fall short of the money. Arbel got his chips in holding ace-queen against the pocket tens of Zivanovic, and a clean runout for Zivanovic ended Arbel's run, while the surviving 18 all had secured a min-cash and a seat in Day 2.
Some other notables to bag and tag on Day 1c included Norway’s Jon Kyte (325,000), Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (241,000), Toni Ravnak (159,000), Antoine Hasbani (104,000), Giulio Gallo (51,000), and Alain Hajj, who finished with just 27,000, good for fewer than four big blinds by the end of the day.
All remaining players from the four starting flights will combine for the first time at 12:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, January 17, when Day 2 of the €880 Merit Poker Cup gets underway. Blind levels will increase to 60 minutes in length, and before cards are in the air, the official prize pool and payout structure will be announced, with the full schedule for the day to be confirmed shortly once play begins.
PokerNews will be on the floor throughout Day 2, bringing you full chip counts, key hands, and all the action as the field combines inside the Merit Royal Splendid Casino in Budva.