Roman Gadzhiev Leads as More Than 300 Players Combine on Day 2 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event
After four starting flights over three days and nine levels, 305 players will pack into the poker room at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino today when Day 2 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event begins at noon local time.
Leading the way by a significant margin is Roman Gadzhiev, who takes a massive stack of 821,000 into Day 2, more than 200,000 ahead than his closest challenger. Gadzhiev's lead is impressive, but there are plenty of notables sprinkled throughout the field still with a chance at claiming the title.
Ran Koller (558,500), Recep Aydemir (554,500), and Maxime Chilaud (522,000) are all in the top 10 heading into the day. Just outside are Toni Kaukua (504,000), Jack Sinclair (469,500), and Koray Korkmaz, who's already finished runner-up in the Warmup event at this series and is poised for another deep run with a stack of 407,000.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Gadzhiev | 821,000 | 328 |
| 2 | Walid Bou Habib | 595,000 | 238 |
| 3 | Vitalii Pankov | 585,000 | 234 |
| 4 | Denis Kapustin | 577,500 | 231 |
| 5 | Ali Moein | 559,000 | 224 |
| 6 | Ran Koller | 558,500 | 223 |
| 7 | Andrei Kaigorodtcev | 558,500 | 223 |
| 8 | Recep Aydemir | 554,500 | 222 |
| 9 | Boris Smuskevicius | 538,000 | 215 |
| 10 | Maxime Chilaud | 522,000 | 209 |
Other notables further down the leaderboard include Eduard Barsegian (398,500), Alexandru Papazian (332,000), Ran Ilani (325,000), and Philippe Souki (290,500).
A total of 611 entries have played the tournament over the first four starting flights, already blowing past the $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Late registration and unlimited reentries are still available for the first four hours of today's play, at the end of Level 13 which should come around 5 p.m. local time, so the field should grow substantially larger by the time the prize pool is announced.
Play will pick up on Level 10, with blinds at 1,000-2,500 and a 2,500 big blind ante. The schedule calls for another nine hour-long levels today.
Today the players will find out what they are playing for as they inch their way toward the money. It will be a packed room here in North Cyprus, and PokerNews will be following the action the entire way and providing live updates.