On a completed board of 
, a blue T-5,000 chip was in front of Julien Trad and Muharrem Atsiz then raised to 20,800. Trad was in the tank for a while and eventually called. Atsiz shrugged and flipped over the 
which Trad had beat with 
for jacks and nines.
The button has been drawing to seat two and the cards are now in the air with 28 registered players spread across five tables.
Level: 1
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 600
The preparations for Day 1a of the Warm Up are underway with around 20 players already registered. At the same time, there is also a live satellite taking place with the likes of Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy and Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in contention. In a few minutes, the Warm Up will also kick off to officially start the live poker festivities at Merit once more.
Live poker has returned to Europe and yet another well-known operator is testing the waters. The partypoker LIVE tour returns after a break of more than one and a half years and heads to the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel Casino & Spa in Girne, North Cyprus.
Well-known for its teamed live poker festivals, Merit has regularly attracted decent field sizes for the mid-stakes and High Roller circuits. Just recently, the Super High Roller Bowl Europe took place at Merit and some of the biggest names of the international poker circuit battled for millions in prize money. Some of them may very well be back because the MILLIONS North Cyprus includes a $10,500 High Roller and $25,500 Super High Roller.
The festival however kicks off on Thursday, September 16 with the $2,200 Warm Up for which the PokerNews live reporting team will provide updates from start to finish. There are four starting days in total and Day 1a gets underway at noon local time. The participants receive 100,000 in chips and the first level will kick off at blinds of 300-600 with a big blind ante of 600.
All four Day 1 will feature a starting stack of 60 minutes and the first two flights offer a level duration of 60 minutes each, whereas the two turbo heats after Day 1b and prior to Day 2 have a reduced duration of 30 minutes each. Then tournament will offer re-entries throughout the late registration period, which lasts until the start of level 13.
It is the first of many highlight events during the festival and the PokerNews team will be there from start to finish.
MILLIONS North Cyprus $2,200 Warm-Up
Day 1a Started
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