$2,200 NL Warmup
Day 1bcd Completed
2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$2,200 NL Warmup
Day: 1bcd
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1bcd
2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$1,124,240
Entries
611
Level
38
Blinds
600,000 / 1,200,000
Ante
1,200,000
Entries
249
Players Left
123
Ali Moein Dominates Day 1b of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $2,200 Warmup
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
During the last break of the night, Ali Moein approached accomplished pro Uri Reichenstein seeking some tips for navigating his way through the tournament. Reichenstein told him to just concentrate on making the best decisions on every hand, blocking out what is going on around the room and what other players are doing.
Moein took that advice to heart, as he steamrolled his way into building a monstrous chip stack at the end of Day 1b of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $2,200 Warmup. Moein finished with 758,000, more than 200,000 what the Day 1a chip leader bagged up. Moein did his biggest damage in a hand against Bakhos Joumaa on the final level, when he snap-called all in with trip jacks to win a massive pot.
Right behind him is Gabi Livshitz, who enjoyed a dream start to his series. Livshitz won the $500 Turbo Bounty event last night, the first day of the festival, then continued that momentum in the Warmup today. He cracked Halil Baybars’ pocket queens with a rivered straight early in the day and kept building his stack from there, ending up with 664,000.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Moein | 758,000 | 303 |
| 2 | Gabi Livshitz | 664,000 | 266 |
| 3 | Philippe Souki | 504,000 | 202 |
| 4 | Eduard Barsegian | 498,000 | 199 |
| 5 | Rabih Saad | 493,000 | 196 |
| 6 | Roman Gadzhiev | 484,500 | 194 |
| 7 | Koray Korkmaz | 441,000 | 176 |
| 8 | Wael Sarkis | 427,500 | 171 |
| 9 | Charbel Salloum | 414,000 | 166 |
| 10 | Martynas Mockevicius | 406,500 | 163 |
A group of players who are no strangers to making it through big fields also had a fruitful day on the felt. Philippe Souki, a 2022 WSOP finalist, bagged up 504,000, while Thomas Eychenne, who won nearly $1 million in the Bahamas last month, finished with 351,500. Reichenstein also made it through the day with 368,000.
Those who weren’t quite as fortunate to make it through to Day 2 include Merit Poker regular Gabriel Akiki, Merit Poker Western Series Main Event champion Orthodoxos Orthodoxou, and Dawid Kuliberda, who busted three times over three levels. They’ll still have plenty of chances of making it deep in this event, as there are two starting flights to come, a turbo Day 1c tonight and a turbo Day 1d tomorrow morning. Late registration is also open until the end of Level 12.
A field of 249 players gathered in the poker room at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus, nearly double the amount from the first starting flight. Only 123 survived the day, and they’ll join the 62 players who bagged up on Day 1a for the start of Day 2 tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time.
Stay tuned as PokerNews will be there to provide all the action for the remainder of the festival.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
758,000 | 238,000 |
|
664,000 | 164,000 |
|
504,000 | 64,000 |
|
498,000 | 38,000 |
|
493,000 | 493,000 |
|
484,500 | 164,500 |
|
441,000 | 171,000 |
|
427,500 | 427,500 |
|
414,000 | 144,000 |
|
406,500 | 311,500 |
|
|
397,000 | 397,000 |
|
381,000 | 381,000 |
|
371,000 | 241,000 |
|
|
368,000 | 38,000 |
|
368,000 | 48,000 |
|
351,500 | 76,500 |
|
350,000 | 350,000 |
|
344,000 | 24,000 |
|
|
340,000 | 340,000 |
|
333,000 | 98,000 |
|
323,000 | 213,000 |
|
319,000 | 59,000 |
|
305,500 | 225,500 |
|
300,000 | 150,000 |
|
|
299,000 | 299,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Tournament officials announced that action will last three more hands before players bag up their chips on Day 1b.
Ercan Finds a Late Double Off Henriques
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Daniel Henriques bet 5,000 on a flop of 
and was called by Mustafa Ercan in the big blind.
The turn came the 
and Ercan checked over to Henriques, who bet another 16,000. Ercan came back with a raise to 41,000 and Henriques took a peek at Ercan's remaining stack before he called.
Ercan slowed down and checked the 
river before Henriques raised enough to put him all in. Ercan snap-called for around 130,000 and showed 
for two pair. Henriques turned over 
for a busted straight draw as he handed over most of his stack on one of the final hands of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 190,000 |
|
20,000 | -235,000 |
Other Big Stacks Near the End of the Night
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
500,000 | 80,000 |
|
|
460,000 | 180,000 |
|
|
440,000 | 90,000 |
|
|
320,000 | 270,000 |
|
|
270,000 | -50,000 |
|
250,000 | 90,000 |
Moein Snaps Off Joumaa to Take Chip Lead
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Ali Moein was in the big blind and tossed out a bet of 15,000 on the 
flop. Bakhos Joumaa in the cutoff then raised to 75,000 and Moein tanked for about a minute before calling.
The turn came the 
and Moein checked over to Joumaa, who shoved all in for 170,000. Moein nearly beat him into the pot and turned over 
for trip jacks. Joumaa had 
and needed to hit an ace on the river, but missed the 
as Moein raked in the massive pot to eclipse 500,000 and take the chip lead late on Day 1b.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
520,000 | 220,000 |
|
Busted |
Souki Climbing Up
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Philippe Souki and Adrian State went heads-up to the turn on a board of 
when Souki, in the big blind, bet 8,500. State called to see the river.
Souki continued betting, this time for 18,000. State took a last look at his cards before sending them into the muck as Souki dragged in the pot to add to his ever-increasing stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
350,000 | 255,000 |
|
210,000 | 210,000 |
Ozbek in a Giving Mood
Level 8
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Fawzi Bou Karam moved all in for 29,500 from early position and Gokhan Ozbek called in the cutoff.
Fawzi Bou Karam: 
Gokhan Ozbek: 
Bou Karam jumped ahead on the 
flop with a pair of aces and stayed in front as the board ran out .
"I'm doubling up the entire table," Ozbek said.
"I could use 30,000," tablemate Mihai Niste said.
"I'm greedy. I'll take a full double up," another tablemate added.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
235,000 | -65,000 |
|
|
65,000 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/2,500
Ante: 2,500