Only 16 players remain in what started out as a 453-entrant field in the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $2,200 Warm Up here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, with all of them eyeing the title and top prize of $167,500.
Yunsheng Sun dominated the second half of Day 3 to claim the chip lead going into Day 4 with 5,970,000 chips, but he is closely followed by Bakhos Joumaa (5,050,000) and Ankit Ahuja (4,400,000) with all three players being in a prime position to make a run at the title today.
Further down the leaderboard are Day 2 chip leader Andrei Daniliuk (1,935,000) and Day 1b chip leader Dmitry Yurasov (1,850,000).
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yunsheng Sun | China | 5,970,000 | 60 |
| 2 | Bakhos Joumaa | Lebanon | 5,050,000 | 51 |
| 3 | Ankit Ahuja | India | 4,400,000 | 44 |
| 4 | Hadi Khadra | Lebanon | 3,395,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Ivan Govorov | Russia | 3,005,000 | 30 |
| 6 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 2,875,000 | 29 |
| 7 | Tugce Hursoz | Turkey | 2,640,000 | 26 |
| 8 | Martynas Vitkauskas | Lithuania | 2,500,000 | 25 |
| 9 | Bernard Boutboul | France | 2,300,000 | 23 |
| 10 | Feyzullah Karaarslan | Turkey | 2,050,000 | 21 |
Day 4 will commence tomorrow, November 26 at 1:00 p.m. local time, beginning at Level 27, with blinds at 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante. The day will culminate with one player taking home the title and lion's share of the $833,520 prize pool. The feature table will be streamed on Merit Poker's Youtube and Telegram Channels on a 60-minute delay.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs from the moment cards are in the air tomorrow until a champion is crowned.