$2,200 NL Warmup
Day 2 Completed
2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$2,200 NL Warmup
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
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
Players Left
126
Triple Knockout Has Alexandru Cinca Near the Leaders on Day 2 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $2,200 Warmup
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Alexandru Cinca did his best to bring the field that much closer to the money near the end of Day 2 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $2,200 Warmup.
With three players already all in, Cinca looked down at ace-king and called to put all three players at risk. He spiked an ace on the turn to beat three pocket pairs, reducing the field by three and rocketing his chip count up to 1,267,000 at the end of the night.
Cinca is looking up at Rabih Saad and Ran Ilani on the leaderboard. Ilani cracked kings to bust a player early in the day on his way to bagging up 1,366,000. Saad, though, is the man everyone will be chasing tomorrow. He began the day in the top 10 of the leaderboard and never stopped accumulating chips, ending the day with 1,738,000.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rabih Saad | 1,738,000 | 174 |
| 2 | Ran Ilani | 1,366,000 | 137 |
| 3 | Fahredin Mustafov | 1,360,000 | 136 |
| 4 | Petr Skripka | 1,284,000 | 128 |
| 5 | Alexandru Cinca | 1,267,000 | 127 |
| 6 | Eduard Barsegian | 1,170,000 | 117 |
| 7 | Michael Uguccioni | 1,110,000 | 111 |
| 8 | Aliaksandr Hirs | 1,087,000 | 109 |
| 9 | Ali Moein | 1,031,000 | 103 |
| 10 | Saman Nakhjavani | 1,022,000 | 102 |
Aliaksandr Hirs (1,087,000), Day 1 chip leader Ali Moein (1,031,000), and Saman Nakhjavani (1,022,000) are also part of the million-chip club heading into Day 3. Other notables still in the mix include Gabi Livshitz (875,000), Recep Aydemir (577,000), and Yulian Bogdanov (573,000). [Removed:422], who was the first player to cross 1,000,000 chips earlier in the day, slid down the leaderboard as the day progressed and finished with 690,000.
Some players who saw their tournament come to an end on Day 2 include Maxime Chilaud, Jack Sinclair, and the always talkative Wael Sarkis.
Day 2 saw the field swell to 611 total entries by the time late registration closed at 5 p.m. local time. The $1,124,240 prize pool far exceeded the $700,000 guarantee, with the champion walking away with $206,800. The top 71 finishers will guarantee themselves at least $3,400. The day concluded with 126 players remaining, so more than 50 will head to the rail tomorrow with nothing.
The tournament resumes tomorrow at noon as players work their way toward the money bubble. Once it bursts, it’s on to the final table. PokerNews will be following all the action as players chase the title and top prize.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,738,000 | 218,000 |
|
1,366,000 | 946,000 |
|
1,360,000 | 1,090,000 |
|
1,284,000 | 644,000 |
|
1,267,000 | 67,000 |
|
1,170,000 | 730,000 |
|
1,100,000 | 250,000 |
|
1,087,000 | 307,000 |
|
1,031,000 | 281,000 |
|
1,022,000 | 122,000 |
|
994,000 | 244,000 |
|
991,000 | |
|
970,000 | 290,000 |
|
966,000 | 46,000 |
|
930,000 | 460,000 |
|
920,000 | 560,000 |
|
920,000 | 320,000 |
|
900,000 | 370,000 |
|
890,000 | 540,000 |
|
875,000 | 235,000 |
|
854,000 | 747,000 |
|
793,000 | 509,500 |
|
720,000 | 600,000 |
|
715,000 | 315,000 |
|
695,000 | 404,000 |
Aydemir Making Money in the Tournament
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
As Recep Aydemir was bagging up his chips for Day 3, he related how he's already made some money in this tournament.
"When I came here I had 200 and he had 800," Aydemir said about his now departed table nemesis Wael Sarkis.
"He said if I bust before him I would give him $1,000. And he busts before me, he gives me $1,000." Sarkis handed the $1,000 to Aydemir before making his exit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
577,000 | 397,000 |
|
Busted |
Three More Hands
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Tournament officials have announced that play will end at the conclusion of this level instead of the originally planned nine levels.
Players will see three more hands before bagging up for the night.
Michalak Shoves, Soyirgaz Going Backward
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
[Removed:422] bet 13,000 from under the gun on a board of 
before Jakub Michalak, in the big blind, raised to 41,000.
Soyirgaz then reraised to 123,000. Michalak responded by moving all in for around 350,000, and Soyirgaz snap-folded. Since being the first player in the tournament to amass 1,000,000 chips, Soyirgaz has now lost more than half of his stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
580,000 | 552,000 |
|
|
540,000 | -160,000 |
Triple Knock Out at Table #6
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
"Seat open," the dealer at Table #6 announced as Alexandru Cinca was raking in a massive pile of chips.
"Three seats open," Cinca said. According to Cinca, Deividas Daubaris and Mehmet Erceylan went all in with short stacks before Eldaras Rafijevas shoved for 216,000. Cinca woke up with 
and called with the covering stack to put all three players at risk.
Daubaris and Erceylan had 
and 
, while Rafijevas showed 
. Cinca had and spiked an ace on the 
board to knock out all three players.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,200,000 | 420,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Gadzhiev Shows Down Aces
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Roman Gadzhiev bet 21,000 on a flop of and Stepan Kiba called on the button.
The turn came the 
and Gadzhiev, in early position, fired out another 42,000. Kiba quickly called as the 
fell on the river.
Gadzhiev now took his time before checking. Kiba quickly checked back and Gadzhiev opened up 
. Kiba let out a laugh before mucking.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
920,000 | 120,000 |
|
420,000 | -100,000 |
Duta Sends Soyirgaz Into the Tank
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
With around 100,000 in the pot on a flop of 
, Florian Duta bet 45,000 from the small blind and [Removed:422] called in the cutoff.
The turn came the and Duta fired out another 85,000. Soyirgaz grabbed a tower of his chips and began shuffling them as he went into the tank for nearly two minutes.
Soyirgaz eventually restacked his chips and slid his cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000 | -420,000 |
|
540,000 | 380,000 |
Sarkis Playing Blind
Level 16
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
"Sixteen blind," Wael Sarkis said before the cards had been dealt, raising from under the gun to 16,000.
Recep Aydemir, next to act, gave it some thought. "I'll call you without looking. Go ahead," Sarkis told him as Aydemir decided to fold.
Action folded around to Koray Korkmaz on the button who called as the rest of the table got out of the way. The flop came 
and Korkmaz bet 25,000.
"Sixty," Sarkis said, raising to 60,000. Korkmaz called, then called another bet of 75,000 on the turn.
The river came the and both players checked. Korkmaz showed 
for top pair.
"You win," Sarkis said, showing the 
and tossing it into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
620,000 | 150,000 |
|
|
240,000 | -440,000 |