Who Will Make the Money in the Merit Poker Classic?
Day 3 of the Merit Poker Classic $5,300 Main Event is here and 149 players will be returning to the tables at noon local time to battle it out against each other to reach the money stages. Seventy-one players will cash for at least $9,270 and the winner will walk away on Sunday, May 12, with $565,157 and the trophy. There were 649 entries collected over the five starting flights and the first four levels of Day 2 which created a total prize pool of $2,990,267 and all remaining players will have their sights sets on claiming their share of it.
Currently Sergey Baburin is sitting at the top of the chip counts with 1,573,000 in chips which is almost 200 big blinds when the cards go in the air again. He’s sharing the table with Anatoly Suvorov, Tobias Duthweiler, Steven van Zadelhoff, Maria Lampropulos, Vanush Mnatsakyan, Milad Oghabian, Tarek Yassine, and Dmitry Gromov.
Placed second in the chip counts is an anonymous player who is now called ”John Two” who bagged 1,299,000 at the end of Day 2. He’s on the same table as players like the Day 1c chip leader Anton Morgenstern, Jeff Hakim, and Lachezar Petkov. Third on the podium to start the day is Cyprus’ own Andreas Christoforou who placed 1,175,000 in a bag. He’s starting the day with players like Georgios Sotiropoulos, Aristeidis Moschonas, Oliver Ruesing, and Andrey Pateychuk who won the last Main Event here which carried a $5,300 price tag.
When players return, they will play Level 15 which features a small blind of 4,000, big blind of 8,000, and a big blind ante of 8,000. Six levels of 75 minutes each are scheduled with a 10-minute break after every two levels.
Day 3 Structure
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | BB Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 75 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 16 | 75 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Break | 10 | |||
| 17 | 75 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 18 | 75 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 |
| Break | 10 | |||
| 19 | 75 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 20 | 75 | 12,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Follow all the updates by the PokerNews live reporting team to see who will be able to go to the payout desk to collect a cash and who will make it through to Day 4.
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 | 202 | 96 | Play 8 Levels of 60 minutes |
| 1d | Wednesday May 8th | 21:30 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 35 | 19 | Play 8 Levels of 30 minutes |
| 1e | Thursday May 9th | 10:00 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 17 | 11 | Play 8 Levels of 20 minutes |
| 2 | Thursday May 9th | 13:30 | Thursday May 9, ~19:00 | 508 | 249 | Play 6 Levels of 75 minutes |
| 3 | Friday May 10th | 12:00 | Closed | 649 | 149 | Play 6 Levels of 75 minutes |
| 4 | Saturday May 11th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | TBD |
| 5 | Sunday May 12th | 12:00 | Closed | - | - | Play down to a winner |