Day 1b Completed
Live Highlights
Day 1b Completed
Papazian Takes Day 1b Chip Lead; Romero, Margolin, Hallaert, Riess All Make Day 2

After eight levels of 60 minutes each, Day 1b of the $5,300 Main Event at the Merit Poker Classic has come to an end. As expected, the second of five starting flights was busier than the first with 161 entries (132 uniques with 29 reentries) coming in throughout the day and 80 of them making it through to Day 2 which will take place on Thursday, May 9. At the top of the chip counts at the end of the day is Romania’s Alexandru Papazian with 727,900 in chips.
Following Papazian on the podium are [Removed:61] (617,700) and Aleksandr Chernikov (510,400). Other notable players to make it through include James Romero (406,700), Duff Charette (384,300), Timur Margolin (364,500), Kenny Hallaert (323,900), Uri Reichenstein (285,000), Ryan Riess (240,000), Vladimir Troyanovskiy (217,000), and many more.
The partypoker team members were represented by Dzmitry Urbanovich, Josip Simunic, Ludovic Geilich, and Kristen Bicknell. Urbanovich was the only one to not make it through out of the four players but will have enough chances to make it through as there are three more starting flights and the registration and reentry period will remain open for the first four levels of Day 2 till approximately 5:30 PM local time on Thursday May 9.
The PokerNews live reporting team will on the floor to bring you all the Day 1c action from the first bet until the final chip has been bagged here in the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
2019 Merit Poker Classic $5,300 Main Event Schedule
Day | Date | Starting Time | Late Reg | Entries | Survivors | Further Information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1a | Monday May 6th | 12:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 93 | 43 | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
1b | Tuesday May 7th | 12:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 161 | 80 | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
1c | Wednesday May 8th | 12:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
1d | Wednesday May 8th | 21:30 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 8 Levels of 30 minutes |
1e | Thursday May 9th | 10:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 8 Levels of 20 minutes |
2 | Thursday May 9th | 13:30 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | - | - | Play 6 Levels of 75 minutes |
3 | Friday May 10th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | TBD |
4 | Saturday May 11th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | TBD |
5 | Sunday May 12th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | Play down to a winner |
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
The full chip counts will be posted as soon as PokerNews receives them. A recap of today is to follow.
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727,900 | 207,900 | |||
|
617,700 | 617,700 | |||
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510,400 | 10,400 | |||
|
491,000 | -33,000 | |||
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416,500 | 416,500 | |||
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406,700 | 190,700 | |||
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388,800 | -1,200 | |||
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384,300 | 134,300 | |||
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371,300 | 19,300 | |||
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365,600 | 365,600 | |||
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364,500 | 22,500 | |||
|
349,700 | -198,300 | |||
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323,900 | 158,900 | |||
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299,200 | 299,200 | |||
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285,000 | 20,000 | |||
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284,300 | 284,300 | |||
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267,400 | 167,400 | |||
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261,800 | 168,800 | |||
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259,700 | 259,700 | |||
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258,400 | 258,400 | |||
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251,000 | 71,000 | |||
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250,300 | 150,300 | |||
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248,000 | 133,500 | |||
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240,000 | -3,000 | |||
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234,100 | 234,100 |
Four More Hands
The tournament clock has been stopped and four more hands need to be played before the players can bag their chips for Day 2.
Some More Photos of Today
Photos by Mickey May/partypoker LIVE
























Some Chip Counts
![]() |
520,000 | 141,000 | |||
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500,000 | 80,000 | |||
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342,000 | 82,000 | |||
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250,000 | 102,000 | |||
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243,000 | 48,000 | |||
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212,000 | -103,500 | |||
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180,000 | ||||
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180,000 | 70,000 | |||
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135,000 | 94,000 | |||
|
111,000 | 31,000 | |||
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110,000 | 13,000 | |||
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75,000 | ||||
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57,000 | -83,000 |
More Photos of Today
Photos by Mickey May/partypoker LIVE




















partypoker Pros Clash

partypoker Team Online Josip Simunic raised to 5,000 from the cutoff and was called by fellow partypoker team member Ludovic Geilich, in the big blind.
They both checked through the flop to the
on the turn. Geilich now bet 19,500 and Simunic called.
The river completed the board with the and now Geilich shoved. Simunic tanked, going through the options, but opted to fold in the end.
![]() |
170,000 | -70,000 | |||
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154,700 | 154,700 |
- Level:
- 8
- Blinds:
- 1,000/2,000
- Ante:
- 2,000
More Photos
Photos by Mickey May/partypoker LIVE



















