Chilaud Back on Top, Barsegian Chasing Third Final Table as 19 Remain After Day 3 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event
After ten hour-long levels, one money bubble bursting, and dozens of long walks to the payout desk, Day 3 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event ended the same way it began: Maxime Chilaud being the one pacing the field.
Chilaud, who began the day as chip leader, ensured he finished it that way when he busted Uri Reichenstein in a more than 6,000,000-chip pot, calling with jacks on the turn as Reichenstein couldn’t hit his flush draw on the river. Chilaud also flopped a set to bust Alisa Sibgatova in 27th place on his way to bagging 10,475,000.
Behind him is Fausto Tantillo, who went on a late flurry of eliminations to finish with 8,950,000. But the man writing an incredible story here by the shores of the Mediterranean in North Cyprus is Eduard Barsegian. Barsegian hit a flush to eliminate Oleg Tsoy in 25th place, then picked up queens to take out Andrew Gray in 22nd. Barsegian ended up in fourth place with 6,280,000 as he looks to make his third straight final table at the festival following two fifth-place finishes in the Warmup and High Roller.
Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxime Chilaud | 10,475,000 | 87 |
| 2 | Fausto Tantillo | 8,950,000 | 75 |
| 3 | Simeon Spasov | 7,540,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Eduard Barsegian | 6,280,000 | 52 |
| 5 | Walter Treccarichi | 5,740,000 | 48 |
| 6 | Michael Magalashvili | 3,855,000 | 32 |
| 7 | Boris Smuskevicius | 3,735,000 | 31 |
| 8 | Denis Kapustin | 3,615,000 | 30 |
| 9 | Yuksel Savsa | 3,295,000 | 27 |
| 10 | Maroun Jazzar | 3,050,000 | 25 |
| 11 | Atanas Pavlov | 3,025,000 | 25 |
| 12 | Roman Kolotiuk | 2,280,000 | 19 |
| 13 | Azamat Tulepbergenov | 2,250,000 | 19 |
| 14 | Nariman Yaghmai | 2,150,000 | 18 |
| 15 | Andrei Kaigorodtcev | 2,130,000 | 18 |
| 16 | Davut Aydemir | 2,095,000 | 17 |
| 17 | Yossi Eluz | 2,050,000 | 17 |
| 18 | Joseph Mouwad | 1,925,000 | 16 |
| 19 | Navid Samavati | 1,760,000 | 15 |
Simeon Spasov (7,540,000) and Walter Treccarichi (5,740,000) round out the top five on the chip count leaderboard among the 19 players who will play for the title tomorrow. Further down the list are Michael Magalashvili (3,855,000), who built up his own incredible chip lead at one point during the day, Denis Kapustin (3,615,000), and Atanas Pavlov (3,025,000). Having an Aydemir this deep in a Merit Poker event is nothing new, but it’s usually Recep making the run to the final table. This time, it’s his son Davut who’s following in his father’s footsteps as he bagged up 2,095,000 on Day 3.
Day 3 began with 142 players remaining, with the first order of business getting to the money bubble. Koray Korkmaz, Day 1b chip leader Vitalii Pankov, and Alexandru Papazian would all fall short of the money before Saar Wilf was knocked out in the unenviable position of bubble boy. From there, Boris Angelov (83rd), Day 1 chip leader Roman Gadzhiev (70th), Philippe Souki (68th), Warmup champion Arie Kliper (59th), Jack Sinclair (43rd), and former UFC fighter Terence Etim (36th) would make the long, slow walk to collect their money.
Play resumes tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time and continue until a champion is crowned. Blinds will pick up on Level 29 at 60,000-120,000 with a 120,000 big blind ante. The feature table action will be streamed on a delay on Merit Poker’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
The poker world descended on this glittering seaside paradise 11 days ago for the start of the festival. There is just one more day to go until a new player gets to take home the Merit Poker trophy and $376,800 top prize. PokerNews will be bringing you all the action from tomorrow’s play right until the moment the trophy is hoisted in the air.
, sending Drokin to the rail just before the end of the day.
. The 
turn and 
river changed nothing and an understandably frustrated Gromov threw his cards into the middle as he made his exit.
to bring his tournament to a close in 22nd place.
to send him to the payout desk in 24th place.
and the called off the rest of his stack when Barsegian moved all in. 
river to send Vismanis to the rail in 26th place.
