$3,300 Main Event | 2023 Merit Poker Retro Series

08-17-2023 17:15 UTC+2

Double Up For Atallah

Maxime Taldir

Level 33 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

Action was caught when Michel Atallah and Darko Svesko flipped their cards, with Atallah being at risk with 2,550,000 chips.

Michel Atallah: 5♥4♥
Darko Svesko: A♦K♠

Both players hit a pair on the flop A♦6♣5♦, but Svesko took the lead. The 10♥ landed on the turn, before the 4♦ on the river that gave two pairs to Atallah, who doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michel Atallah	5,725,000 -2,675,000	-2,675,000
Darko Svesko	5,000,000 -2,800,000	-2,800,000

Tags: Michel Atallah Darko Svesko

08-17-2023 16:55 UTC+2

George-Mircea Tomescu Eliminated In 14th Place ($34,430)

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Maxime Taldir

Level 33 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante

After losing a big pot against Thomas Eychenne, George-Mircea Tomescu had only two blinds left when he moved all in on the very next hand.

Ara Melkisetian and Mousa Barakat let him see the flop A♦5♦5♥. But when Melkisetian bet, Barakat folded.

George-Mircea Tomescu: K♠8♣
Ara Melkisetian: 9♣9♠

Tomescu stood up when he flipped his cards, and left after the turn 7♠ and the river 5♣. He finished 14th for $34,430.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ara Melkisetian	12,000,000
Thomas Eychenne	9,400,000 575,000	575,000
George-Mircea Tomescu	Busted

Tags: Ara Melkisetian Mousa Barakat Thomas Eychenne George-Mircea Tomescu

Level: 33

Blinds: 125,000/250,000

Ante: 250,000

08-17-2023 16:43 UTC+2

Florian Guimond Eliminated In 15th Place ($34,430)

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Maxime Taldir

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

On the secondary table, everybody folded to Ara Melkisetian in the small blind, who limped. In the big blind, Florian Guimond raised to 600,000. But Melkisetian decided to reraise all in for 7,000,000 chips. Guimond called quickly.

Florian Guimond: A♥Q♦
Ara Melkisetian: A♠4♠

On the flop K♠2♦3♠ and the turn 3♦, Guimond had the perfect spot to double up. But the terrible 4♥ landed on the river to give a pair to Melkisetian. Slightly covered, Florian Guimond was eliminated on this bad beat in 15th place for $34,430.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ara Melkisetian	12,000,000 5,700,000	5,700,000
Florian Guimond	Busted

Tags: Ara Melkisetian Florian Guimond

08-17-2023 16:30 UTC+2

Another Pot For Ilani

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Maxime Taldir

Level 32 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

From the cutoff, Ran Ilani opened to 400,000. He was only called once, by Ruslan Volkov in the big blind.

On 3♦K♠5♥, Ilani bet a single blind of 200,000, and he was called once again. Then the 10♣ came on the turn, and Ilani fired a second barrel of 600,000. But this time, Volkov decided to raise to 1,600,000. Ilani eventually called.

The river was the 8♥, where Volkov checked. Ilani took this opportunity to bet 1,950,000, almost all his chips. Not very happy, Volkov threw his A♣9♦ in the muck. Ilani had top pair with K♦J♦.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ruslan Volkov	13,600,000 -750,000	-750,000
Ran Ilani	6,700,000 2,400,000	2,400,000

Tags: Ran Ilani Ruslan Volkov

08-17-2023 16:15 UTC+2

Ilani Folds On The River

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Maxime Taldir

Level 32 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

After David Hu raised to 400,000 from the hijack, Ran Ilani defended his big blind to find 2♦3♠3♦ on the flop.

Ilani check-called a continuation bet of 200,000, then checked again on the turn 7♣. Hu checked back, and the J♠ landed on the river.

Hu added 1,000,000 chips to the pot on this last street. Ilani used a time bank to think about his decision, but eventually folded A♠4♠ for a missed straight draw.

The screen revealed that it was a good fold because Hu had A♦J♥ for a pair hit on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Hu	17,800,000 400,000	400,000
Ran Ilani	4,300,000 -1,275,000	-1,275,000

Tags: David Hu Ran Ilani

08-17-2023 15:58 UTC+2

Mekan Yusupov Eliminated In 16th Place ($29,700)

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Maxime Taldir

Level 32 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

In a blind versus blind situation, Mekan Yusupov moved all in from the small blind for approximately 2,500,000 chips. Seated on his left, Mousa Barakat looked at his cards and called.

Mekan Yusupov: Kx7x
Mousa Barakat: A♣K♥

The situation didn't change after the board Q♣2♠5♦J♠8♠, and Mekan Yusupov was the first player eliminated from the last two tables. He wins $29,700.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mousa Barakat	11,000,000 7,100,000	7,100,000
Mekan Yusupov	Busted

Tags: Mekan Yusupov Mousa Barakat

08-17-2023 15:43 UTC+2

Last Two Tables

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Maxime Taldir

Level 32 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

TABLE	SEAT	PLAYER	COUNTRY	CHIP COUNT	BLINDS
1	1	Mekan Yusupov	Turkey	3,075,000	15
1	2	Mousa Barakat	Brazil	3,900,000	20
1	3	Michel Atallah	Lebanon	8,400,000	42
1	4	Nenad Dukic	Serbia	8,700,000	44
1	5	Darko Svesko	Serbia	7,800,000	39
1	6	Ara Melkisetian	Lebanon	6,300,000	32
1	7	Florian Guimond	France	4,700,000	24
1	8	Thomas Eychenne	France	8,825,000	44

2	1	George-Mircea Tomescu	Romania	4,800,000	24
2	2	Rudolf Domin	Russia	7,950,000	40
2	3	Yossi Eluz	Israel	3,000,000	15
2	4	Ran Ilani	Israel	5,575,000	28
2	5	Oleg Netaliev	Russia	14,125,000	71
2	6	Dominik Panka	Poland	2,400,000	12
2	7	Ruslan Volkov	Ukraine	14,350,000	72
2	8	David Hu	Netherlands	17,400,000	87

Player	Chips	Progress
David Hu	17,400,000 1,900,000	1,900,000
Ruslan Volkov	14,350,000 2,100,000	2,100,000
Oleg Netaliev	14,125,000 -475,000	-475,000
Thomas Eychenne	8,825,000
Nenad Dukic	8,700,000 -2,250,000	-2,250,000
Michel Atallah	8,400,000 5,800,000	5,800,000
Rudolf Domin	7,950,000 650,000	650,000
Darko Svesko	7,800,000 -250,000	-250,000
Ara Melkisetian	6,300,000 1,525,000	1,525,000
Ran Ilani	5,575,000 -1,625,000	-1,625,000
George-Mircea Tomescu	4,800,000 400,000	400,000
Florian Guimond	4,700,000 -550,000	-550,000

Mousa Barakat	3,900,000 -5,500,000	-5,500,000
Mekan Yusupov	3,075,000 500,000	500,000
Yossi Eluz	3,000,000 -1,000,000	-1,000,000
Dominik Panka	2,400,000 -500,000	-500,000

08-17-2023 15:32 UTC+2

Karo Nuri Eliminated In 17th Place ($29,700)

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Maxime Taldir

Level 32 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Thomas Eychenne raised from the hijack to 400,000. On the button, Karo Nuri three-bet all in for 3,325,000, and Eychenne called.

Karo Nuri: Q♦J♣
Thomas Eychenne: Q♥Q♠

Nuri needed a straight for example to double up. He had a straight draw after the flop 7♣10♦4♣ and the turn 8♦. However, the 7♠ on the river didn’t change anything, and he was eliminated in 17th place for $29,700.

Immediately after his elimination, the clock was paused to bring together the 16 remaining players at two tables.