$3,300 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$3,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$2,111,400
Entries
765
Level
36
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Entries
232
Players Left
106
Roman Gadzhiev, Ali Moein Dominate Day 1a of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
There’s something about Day 1s that brings out the best of Ali Moein.
Just five days ago, Moein cruised through his opening flight of the Warmup event here at the Merit Poker Carmen Series, building up a commanding chip lead and riding that momentum to a 54th-place finish. Today, on Day 1a of the $3,300 Main Event, he busted one player with ace-queen over nines, then took out former chip leader Mounir Habib with two eights. He ended up with yet another impressive stack of 559,000.
But Moein isn’t the tournament chip leader after the opening flight. He wasn’t even the top stack at his table. Sitting to his immediate left was Roman Gadzhiev, who won a more than 300,000-chip pot off Moein in the last level by cracking pocket kings with the nut flush. Gadzhiev, who finished 23rd in the Warmup, bagged up 821,000, far and away the top stack at the end of the day as he’s well positioned for another deep run here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Gadzhiev | 821,000 | 328 |
| 2 | Denis Kapustin | 577,500 | 231 |
| 3 | Ali Moein | 559,000 | 224 |
| 4 | Recep Aydemir | 554,500 | 222 |
| 5 | Boris Smuskevicius | 538,000 | 215 |
| 6 | Anatoly Korochenskiy | 485,000 | 194 |
| 7 | Aleksandr Ivanov | 480,000 | 192 |
| 8 | Jack Sinclair | 469,500 | 188 |
| 9 | Mehmet Erceylan | 461,000 | 184 |
| 10 | Eli Saad | 432,000 | 173 |
A total of 232 entries bought into Day 1a and played nine hour-long levels. Just 106 players remain who will return to play for Day 2 on March 31. Recep Aydemir spent the day sharing a table with Ara Melkisetian and constantly dueled with his tablemate. Aydemir finished with 554,500, while Melkisetian also made it through the day with 250,000.
Boris Smuskevicius knocked out David Hu when he hit a full house on the river on his way to bagging up 538,000; Hu reentered and did much better on his second bullet, finishing with 289,500. Jack Sinclair (469,500), Warmup runner-up Koray Korkmaz (407,000), Daniel Rezaei (405,000), and Mikhail Zamyatin (337,500), another Warmup finalist, also enjoyed fruitful days on the felt.
Those who weren’t as lucky to survive the day included Warmup fourth-place finisher Julien Loire, Toni Kaukua, and Merit Poker Western Series Main Event champion Orthodoxos Orthodoxou. They’ll have to try again on a later flight if they want to get their hands on the prestigious Merit Poker trophy.
Day 1b begins tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time, where a crop of new and reentering players will take their shot at making it through to Day 2. PokerNews will be following all the action, so stay tuned tomorrow for another action-filled day here in North Cyprus.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
821,000 | 61,000 |
|
577,500 | 327,500 |
|
559,000 | 159,000 |
|
554,500 | 234,500 |
|
538,000 | 58,000 |
|
485,000 | 235,000 |
|
480,000 | |
|
469,500 | 9,500 |
|
461,000 | 311,000 |
|
432,000 | 112,000 |
|
407,000 | 227,000 |
|
405,500 | -4,500 |
|
373,000 | |
|
369,500 | 209,500 |
|
|
359,000 | 99,000 |
|
351,000 | |
|
|
350,500 | |
|
337,500 | 87,500 |
|
336,000 | 276,000 |
|
334,500 | |
|
319,000 | 79,000 |
|
316,000 | 246,000 |
|
307,000 | |
|
301,000 | |
|
293,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Tournament officials have announced that players will see three more hands before bagging for the night.
Gadzhiev Takes Big Chunk Off Moein
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Fellow big stacks Roman Gadzhiev and Ali Moein just tangled in a massive pot that saw Gadzhiev approach 800,000 chips with only a few minutes left in the day.
On a board of 
, Gadzhiev bet 30,000 from the small blind and Moein called on the button.
The river came the 
and Gadzhiev fired out another 125,000. Moein quickly called as Gadzhiev turned over 
for the turned flush.
Moein slammed down 
on the table and watched as the pile of chips and the tournament chip lead went over to his immediate left.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
760,000 | 150,000 |
|
|
400,000 | -120,000 |
Big Stacks Approaching the End
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
610,000 | 280,000 |
|
|
520,000 | 100,000 |
|
|
480,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
460,000 | 100,000 |
|
|
320,000 |
Aydemir vs. Melkisetian, Part Three
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Recep Aydemir raised to 5,000 as action folded to Ara Melkisetian in the cutoff, who three-bet to 17,000. The big blind called as action went back on Aydemir.
"Maybe my turn this time," he told Melkisetian.
"Maybe this time. Maybe next time," Melkisetian responded as Aydemir finally called.
The flop came 
and Melkisetian continued for 25,000, enough to get rid of the big blind. Aydemir, though, called to the 
turn.
Both players checked and Aydemir led out for around 30,000 on the 
river. Melkisetian snap-folded.
Aydemir showed 
for a bluff. "I tell you, don't make me angry," he said.
"Every time you bluff I have nothing to call you. If I have one pair I call you. That's how good you're running," Melkisetian replied.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
320,000 | 90,000 |
|
180,000 | 60,000 |
Hallay KO's Etim in the Final Round
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Terence Etim was down to his last 10,000 and moved all in from middle position. Yiannis Liperis called from the cutoff before Axel Hallay reraised to 25,000 on the button. Liperis folded.
Terence Etim: 
Axel Hallay: 
"I gave you protection," Hallay said heading to the 
flop, which had something for both players. Etim made two pair, but Hallay now had a flush draw.
The 
on the turn was safe for Etim, but Hallay spiked the on the river to complete his flush and knock out the former UFC fighter in the last level of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
230,000 | 155,000 |
|
75,000 | |
|
Busted |
Vurucu Runs Into Karpavicius' Aces
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Daniel Myers raised to 5,000 from under the gun as action folded around to Ifran Vurucu on the button, who moved all in for 38,000. Gierdrius Karpavicius in the big blind tanked for a moment before reshoving, and Myers got out of the way.
Ifran Vurucu: 
Gierdrius Karpavicius: 
The 
flop gave Vurucu a pair of threes, but Karpavicius also picked up a flush draw. "It's okay, that's a good flop," Vurucu's tablemates tried to reassure him.
The on the turn, though, left him drawing dead and the meaningless river was the .
"The table is getting worse, guys," tablemate Aleksei Istomin said after Vurucu had made his way to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
100,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 9
Blinds: 1,000/2,500
Ante: 2,500