2023 Merit Poker Western Series

$3,300 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2023 Merit Poker Western Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
$372,800
Event Info
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$2,089,320
Entries
757
Level Info
Level
38
Blinds
500,000 / 1,000,000
Ante
1,000,000
Players Info - Day 1b
Entries
200
Players Left
92

M'Hiri Holds Heaps After Day 1b of the Merit Main Event

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Chakib M'Hiri
Chakib M'Hiri

Day 1b Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event has reached its end as it saw about 158 entries play down to around 95 players in nine levels of play here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino.

Ending the night as one of the largest stacks was Chakib M'Hiri of Tunisia who finished with 627,000. His big stack was made aware of in the later part of the day and he would build from there, at one point having well over 700,000 before losing a flip to a shorter stack in one of the final few hands but still emerging as the likely largest stack.

Just behind him at the end of play was Aleksandar Jakovljevic of Romania (607,000) who held a big stack for much of the day.

Fresh off of a third-place finish in The Warm-Up event, Paul Browne continued that momentum with a great start to the day as he more than doubled his stack within the first level. He would continue to build as the night wore on and ended the night with 528,000.

Top 10 Chip Counts Day 1b

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Chakib M'HiriTunisia627,000
2Alexander JakovljevicRomania607,000
3Paul BrowneUnited Kingdom528,000
4Anatloiy ShetynRussia515,000
5Michel AtallahLebanon440,000
6Valeriy PakBelarus438,500
7Idin SedghinasabUnited States424,000
8Denis MatafonovRussia419,000
9Naji AbdoLebanon380,000
10Fadi El-HanyLebanon367,000

Several faces familiar to the North Cyprus poker scene were able to bag decent stacks and advance on to Day 2. They include; Belarusian Valeriy Pak (438,500), Gabi Livshitz (338,500) and his compatriot Uri Reichenstein (252,000).

About 60% of the players advanced to Day 2 where they will return to action on Monday January 23rd at 12 p.m. noon local time. They will join the 109 survivors of Day 1a and the ones who survive Days 1c and 1d tomorrow.

PokerNews will continue coverage of the Main Event tomorrow at 12 noon.

Tags: Aleksandar JakovljevicChakib M'HiriCrystal Cove HotelGabi LivshitzGreat StartPaul BrowneUri ReichensteinValeriy Pak