$3,300 Main Event
Day 3 Started
2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series
$3,300 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$1,562,160
Entries
566
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
96
Players Left
21
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | 1 | Alper Kerim | 629,000 | 63 |
| 1 | 2 | Ahmed Slimen | 851,000 | 85 |
| 1 | 3 | Nils Pudel | 998,000 | 100 |
| 1 | 4 | Antoine Hasbani | 541,000 | 54 |
| 1 | 5 | Mustafa Biz | 528,000 | 53 |
| 1 | 6 | Christos Leantzis | 1,284,000 | 128 |
| 1 | 7 | Mohamad El Siblani | 410,000 | 41 |
| 1 | 8 | Naji Abdo | 206,000 | 21 |
| 1 | 9 | Frederic Popot | 768,000 | 77 |
| 2 | 1 | Lois Dufouleur | 639,000 | 64 |
| 2 | 2 | Dmitry Gromov | 1,092,000 | 109 |
| 2 | 3 | Hakan Karabalcik | 519,000 | 52 |
| 2 | 4 | Andreas Mavrikioy | 334,000 | 33 |
| 2 | 5 | Jun Yang | 217,000 | 22 |
| 2 | 6 | Guiyang Wang | 334,000 | 33 |
| 2 | 7 | Abdullah Akbarpoor | 781,000 | 78 |
| 2 | 8 | Dmitry Yurasov | 500,000 | 50 |
| 2 | 9 | Baris Caliskan | 280,000 | 28 |
| 3 | 1 | Cengiz Seker | 366,000 | 37 |
| 3 | 2 | Mehmet Samsa | 290,000 | 29 |
| 3 | 3 | Can Miral | 775,000 | 78 |
| 3 | 4 | Mantas Bagocius | 767,000 | 77 |
| 3 | 5 | Michel Habib | 439,000 | 44 |
| 3 | 6 | Walid Bou Habib | 483,000 | 48 |
| 3 | 7 | Ghassan Khalil | 316,000 | 32 |
| 3 | 8 | Erdal Gulseven | 345,000 | 35 |
| 3 | 9 | Nikolay Losev | 475,000 | 48 |
| 4 | 1 | Damir Gabdullin | 764,000 | 76 |
| 4 | 2 | Baurzhan Akimov | 400,000 | 40 |
| 4 | 3 | Jenya Gavrilovich | 315,000 | 32 |
| 4 | 4 | Parahat Nurmuhammedov | 1,065,000 | 107 |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Smith (UK) | 1,535,000 | 154 |
| 4 | 6 | Nikolay Fal | 592,000 | 59 |
| 4 | 7 | Adem Marjanovic | 368,000 | 37 |
| 4 | 8 | Maksim Shornikau | 267,000 | 27 |
| 4 | 9 | Edgard Raffoul | 288,000 | 29 |
| 5 | 1 | Motokatsu Uhara | 296,000 | 30 |
| 5 | 2 | Safi Haidar | 433,000 | 43 |
| 5 | 3 | Maher Achour | 262,000 | 26 |
| 5 | 4 | Justin Steinbrenner | 240,000 | 24 |
| 5 | 5 | Selahaddin Bedir | 732,000 | 73 |
| 5 | 6 | Mekan Yusupov | 900,000 | 90 |
| 5 | 7 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | 1,269,000 | 127 |
| 5 | 8 | Bassel Moussa | 397,000 | 40 |
| 5 | 9 | Daniel Henriques | 454,000 | 45 |
| 6 | 1 | Engin Sezerer | 401,000 | 40 |
| 6 | 2 | Sinead Priestley | 552,000 | 55 |
| 6 | 3 | Volodymyr Drokin | 670,000 | 67 |
| 6 | 4 | Adrian State | 562,000 | 56 |
| 6 | 5 | Halil Tasyurek | 510,000 | 51 |
| 6 | 6 | Jakub Michalak | 567,000 | 57 |
| 6 | 7 | Leonid Sidelkovskiy | 370,000 | 37 |
| 6 | 8 | Tomasz Szczerbinski | 235,000 | 24 |
| 6 | 9 | Adi Rajkovic | 529,000 | 53 |
| 7 | 1 | Anatoly Korochenskiy | 630,000 | 63 |
| 7 | 2 | Chakib M'Hiri | 830,000 | 83 |
| 7 | 3 | Aleksandr Pak | 378,000 | 38 |
| 7 | 4 | Simas Karaliunas | 1,300,000 | 130 |
| 7 | 5 | Hadi Khordbin | 480,000 | 48 |
| 7 | 6 | Pascal Hartman | 553,000 | 55 |
| 7 | 7 | Hadi Khadra | 1,224,000 | 122 |
| 7 | 8 | Georgio Azar | 236,000 | 24 |
| 7 | 9 | Ege Guven | 519,000 | 52 |
| 8 | 1 | Shuang Luo | 1,014,000 | 101 |
| 8 | 2 | Alexey Popov | 1,301,000 | 130 |
| 8 | 3 | Ivan Govorov | 243,000 | 24 |
| 8 | 4 | Nuno Correia | 528,000 | 53 |
| 8 | 5 | Zhao Cheng | 263,000 | 26 |
| 8 | 6 | Victor Yugay | 998,000 | 100 |
| 8 | 7 | Maksim Skripkin | 312,000 | 31 |
| 8 | 8 | Ali Soleimanian | 86,000 | 9 |
| 8 | 9 | Alain Hajj | 366,000 | 37 |
| 9 | 1 | Guoliang Wei | 348,000 | 35 |
| 9 | 2 | Florian Guimond | 86,000 | 9 |
| 9 | 3 | Toby Joyce | 851,000 | 85 |
| 9 | 4 | Marian Cantea | 172,000 | 17 |
| 9 | 5 | Alisa Sibgatova | 331,000 | 33 |
| 9 | 6 | Sebastian Ferreira | 618,000 | 62 |
| 9 | 7 | Aleksei Petrov | 1,678,000 | 168 |
| 9 | 8 | Iurii Saiapin | 630,000 | 63 |
| 10 | 1 | Nikolay Tyurin | 315,000 | 32 |
| 10 | 2 | Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu | 619,000 | 62 |
| 10 | 3 | Razvan Sabau | 1,209,000 | 121 |
| 10 | 4 | John One | 1,095,000 | 110 |
| 10 | 5 | Oleg Netaliev | 798,000 | 80 |
| 10 | 6 | Fabian Quoss | 660,000 | 66 |
| 10 | 7 | Maximilian Wieser | 963,000 | 96 |
| 10 | 8 | Iraklis Manikaros | 904,000 | 90 |
| 11 | 1 | Robert Heidorn | 600,000 | 60 |
| 11 | 2 | Issam Tannouri | 327,000 | 33 |
| 11 | 3 | Yunsheng Sun | 856,000 | 86 |
| 11 | 4 | Elias Abou Saleh | 103,000 | 10 |
| 11 | 5 | Bulut Celik | 261,000 | 26 |
| 11 | 6 | Romain Retiere | 703,000 | 70 |
| 11 | 7 | Ihar Soika | 925,000 | 93 |
| 11 | 8 | Antoine Labaky | 202,000 | 20 |
The penultimate day is upon us in the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series $3,300 Main Event here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Day 1a chip leader Aleksei Petrov both started Day 2 and finished Day 2 with the largest stack in the room and will have 1,678,000 chips going into Day 3 today, a stack worth 168 big blinds. Petrov is most closely followed by the United Kingdom's Mark Smith (1,535,000) and Russia's Alexey Popov (1,301,000).
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksei Petrov | Russian Federation | 1,678,000 | 168 |
| 2 | Mark Smith | United Kingdom | 1,535,000 | 154 |
| 3 | Alexey Popov | Russian Federation | 1,301,000 | 130 |
| 4 | Simas Karaliunas | Lithuania | 1,300,000 | 130 |
| 5 | Christos Leantzis | Cyprus | 1,284,000 | 128 |
| 6 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Belarus | 1,269,000 | 127 |
| 7 | Hadi Khadra | Lebanon | 1,224,000 | 122 |
| 8 | Razvan Sabau | Romania | 1,209,000 | 121 |
| 9 | John One | Unknown | 1,095,000 | 110 |
| 10 | Dmitry Gromov | Russian Federation | 1,092,000 | 109 |
Day 2 of the Main Event started with 195 survivors across the four Day 1 starting flights. Five more levels of late registration were available to start the day which attracted a further 119 entrants, bringing the total field size to 566 and generating a total prize pool of $1,562,160.
Some notable players to advance to Day 3 include anonymous player and Day 1c chip leader "John One" (1,095,000), World Poker Tour champion Dmitry Gromov (1,092,000), Day 1b chip leader Shuang Luo (1,014,000), Victor Yugay (998,000), Yunsheng Sun (856,000), Oleg Netaliev (798,000), Selahaddin Bedir (732,000), Halil Tasyurek (510,000), two-time braclet winner Dmitry Yurasov (500,000) and Guoliang Wei (348,000).
Day 3 of the Main Event will start at 12:00 p.m. local time and play ten hour-long levels. The money bubble will burst today with the top 71 finishers being guaranteed at least a min-cash of $4,840 but all eyes will be on the title and top prize of $295,500. The blinds will start at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the updates for this event from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned tomorrow, December 3 on the final day.
Level: 19
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 10,000
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Cards are in the air for Day 3 of the $3,300 Main Event
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Toby Joyce opened in middle position to 20,000 before the action folded all the way to Guo Liang Wei in the big blind who defended.
The 9♠5♦Q♥ flop landed and the action checked to Joyce who continued for 17,000. Wei Called.
The K♦ hit the turn and it was checked over to Joyce again. He sat in the tank for a moment and then sized up with a bet of 70,000.
Wei called again and the 7♥ river hit the felt and it was checked to Joyce for the last time. After about a full minute in the tank he emptied the clip and moved all in.
Wei thought it over for a bit but eventually he found a fold and Joyce scooped to gain some serious momentum to start the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
980,000
129,000
|
129,000 |
|
240,000
-108,000
|
-108,000 |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Aleksei Petrov had opened from the hijack before Florian Guimond moved all in from the small blind for 66,000. Petrov called with a covering stack to put Guimond at risk.
Florian Guimond: J♦J♣
Aleksei Petrov: K♥7♥
The board ran out J♠6♠Q♠9♣2♠. Guimond's set of jacks were good at showdown and he secured a full double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,590,000
-88,000
|
-88,000 |
|
||
|
157,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
After a series of preflop raises, Ghassan Khalil found himself all in for roughly 290,000 against Can Miral who covered.
Can Miral: Q♣Q♦
Ghassan Khalil: 10♦10♥
The board ran out Q♠4♣J♠A♦K♥. Miral had flopped a set but Khalil rivered the straight to secure a full double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
630,000
314,000
|
314,000 |
|
605,000
-170,000
|
-170,000 |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Yunsheng Sun opened in middle position to 22,000 and got called in one spot when Romain Retiere defended his big blind.
The 9♠4♥2♠ flop checked through to a J♦ turn and Retiere opted to lead for 30,000. Sun called.
The 3♣ landed on the river and action slowed back down and checked through.
Retiere tabled A♣7♦ and after a moment of examination, Sun mucked. Ace-high was good enough to scoop for Retiere.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
720,000
-136,000
|
-136,000 |
|
325,000
-378,000
|
-378,000 |
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Ivan Govorov opened to 22,000 from middle position and Nuno Correia three-bet to 60,000 from the hijack. Govorov made the call.
The flop came K♥Q♣5♦ and Govorov check-called a 32,000 continuation bet from Correia.
Govorov checked again on the J♦ turn and Correia bet 80,000. Govorov moved all in for 450,000 and Correia snap-called with a covering stack.
Ivan Govorov: J♠J♣
Nuno Correia: K♦Q♦
Govorov was ahead with a set of jacks but Correia had several outs with his two pair and flush draw. Correia drilled the flush on the 10♦ river to send Govorov to the rail and take down a sizable early pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,425,000
897,000
|
897,000 |
|
Busted |