$3,300 Main Event Day 1b | 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series

03-22-2024 10:12 UTC+2

Welcome to Day 1b of Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event

Ryan Lashmar

Day 1b of the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino is set to kick off today at noon local time. Russia's Dmitrii Kuzin leads the way from the first starting flight, finishing Day 1a with an impressive 647,500 chips. A new group of contenders will try to replicate that success in today's Day 1b flight.

Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Dmitrii Kuzin	Russian Federation	647,500	259
2	Fausto Tantillo	Italy	602,000	241
3	Jovan Kenjic	Serbia	547,500	219
4	George Tomescu	Romania	514,000	206
5	Uladzimir Zhyharau	Belarus	507,500	203
6	Florian Guimond	France	448,500	179
7	Kacper Pyzara	Poland	444,000	178
8	Simone Andrian	Italy	436,500	175
9	Daniel Kyosev	Bulgaria	417,000	167
10	Maximilian Silz	Germany	405,500	162

Other notables who survived yesterday's Day 1a flight include Simone Andrian (436,500), Milos Skrbic (404,000), Vladimir Bozinovic (388,000), Andrea Dato (276,000), Felipe Ketzer (164,500) and Victor Yugay (125,000).

Day 1b will feature the same structure as yesterday's Day 1a. Players will start with 100,000 chips and play nine 60-minute levels. There will be a break after every two levels. Unlimited reentries and late registration will be available until the end of Level 14 on Day 2.

Those who bag and tag at the end of the night will join the survivors from yesterday's flight in advancing to Day 2 on March 24. Before that, there will be two more starting flights, with Day 1c beginning at noon local time on March 23 and a turbo Day 1d set to begin at 7:00 p.m. the same day.

Day 1a attracted a total of 186 entrants vying to take home the title and lion's share of the $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. That number is expected to grow substantially starting today, with three more starting flights left to go. 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 on March 26.

Tags: Andrea Dato Daniel Kyosev Dmitrii Kuzin Fausto Tantillo Felipe Ketzer Florian Guimond George Tomescu Jovan Kenjic Kacper Pyzara Maximilian Silz Milos Skrbic Simone Andrian Uladzimir Zhyharau Victor Yugay Vladimir Bozinovic

03-22-2024 12:35 UTC+2

Hot Start for Tot after Brutal Cooler

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 1 : 200/500, 500 ante

Darius Samual had raised from the hijack versus an early position limper and received a call from a late position player before Aleksandar Tot three-bet from the small blind. Samuel made the call while the other two players got out of the way.

Samual called a small continuation bet from Tot on the Q♦10♣7♦ flop creating a pot of 47,000 heading into the Q♥ turn. Tot checked, Samual bet 20,000 and Tot called.

On the 2♠ river Tot checked again and Samual bet 27,200, leaving a single white T-25,000 chip behind. Tot moved all in with a covering stack and Samual made the call.

Samuel showed A♥A♦ for aces up but Tot turned over Q♠Q♣ for quad queens to score the early knockout and a full double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandar Tot	201,000 101,000	101,000
Darius Samual	Busted

Tags: Aleksandar Tot Darius Samual

03-22-2024 16:11 UTC+2

Miral Soars with Rockets

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Can Miral opened to 2,200 from the hijack only for Mustafa Biz to three-bet to 6,500 from the cutoff. Aleksandar Tot called from the button before Eddy Khoury put in a four-bet to 30,500 from the small blind. Miral and Tot called while Biz got out of the way.

The flop came 3♣3♦4♦ and Khoury moved all in for 31,000. Miral called with a covering stack while Tot opted to fold.

Eddy Khoury: 5♦5♠ All in
Can Miral: A♣A♥

Miral was in excellent shape with the bigger overpair and remained ahead on the J♠ turn and 7♥ river to scoop a colossal pot while Khoury made his exit from the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Can Miral	290,000 290,000	290,000
Mustafa Biz	268,000 268,000	268,000
Aleksandar Tot	177,000 -24,000	-24,000
Eddy Khoury	Busted

Tags: Aleksandar Tot Can Miral Eddy Khoury Mustafa Biz

03-22-2024 17:58 UTC+2

Peluso Fights Back from the Brink

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 6 : Blinds 700/1,500, 1,500 ante

Yiannakis Papapetrou opened to 3,000 from middle position and Fabio Peluso moved all in for 23,200 from the hijack. Boris Tabiyev called from the button with a covering stack and Papapetrou got out of the way.

Fabio Peluso: J♦J♣ All in
Boris Tabiyev: A♥K♦

Tabiyev was drawing dead by the turn on the J♠3♥5♥3♦7♠ runout. Peluso's full house was good at showdown and he scored a full double up.

Just a couple hands later, in another preflop confrontation, Peluso found himself all in and at risk for 53,100 and was up against Miad Shakiba who covered.

Fabio Peluso: A♦K♣ All in
Miad Shakiba: A♣Q♣

Peluso was in great shape with the bigger ace and remained ahead on the 5♥4♥7♥2♥10♦ runout to score a second full double, effectively quadrupling his stack from what it was at just a few hands prior.

Player	Chips	Progress
Boris Tabiyev	143,000 43,000	43,000
Fabio Peluso	110,500 10,500	10,500

Yiannakis Papapetrou	104,000 -5,000	-5,000
Miad Shakiba	38,000 -85,000	-85,000

Tags: Boris Tabiyev Fabio Peluso Miad Shakiba Yiannakis Papapetrou

03-22-2024 20:03 UTC+2

Sabau Cracks Miral's Set

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

With two players seeing a final board of 3♠10♣7♣8♠9♣ and roughly 85,000 in the middle, Razvan Sabau moved all in for 71,000 and received a call from Can Miral who covered.

Miral tabled 8♣8♥ for a set of eights but Sabau turned over A♥6♠ for a ten-high straight to take down a sizable pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Can Miral	277,000 -51,500	-51,500
Razvan Sabau	230,000 230,000	230,000

Tags: Can Miral Razvan Sabau

03-22-2024 20:27 UTC+2

Three Streets of Value for Sibgatova

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Sergey Bortsov opened to 4,000 from under the gun and received calls from Alisa Sibgatova in early position, Vadim Volkhonskiy in middle position and a player in the hijack.

The flop came K♥10♣5♥. Bortsov checked, Sibgatova bet 10,000, Volkhonskiy called and the other two players got out of the way.

Sibgatova bet again on the 2♣ turn, this time for 15,000. Once again Volkhonskiy made the call.

On the 4♠ river Sibgatova sized down with a bet of 5,000. Volkhonskiy called. Sibgatova tabled K♦10♠ for top two pair which was good enough to take down a healthy pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alisa Sibgatova	402,000 106,000	106,000

Sergey Bortsov	330,000 102,000	102,000
Vadim Volkhonskiy	145,000 145,000	145,000

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Sergey Bortsov Vadim Volkhonskiy

03-22-2024 21:17 UTC+2

Gabdullin and Baranski Play a Classic Flip

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

In a preflop confrontation Damir Gabdullin was all in from the small blind for 158,500 and was up against Sergey Baranski on the button who held a covering stack.

Damir Gabdullin: Q♦Q♣ All in
Sergey Baranski: A♦K♦

Baranski took the lead with top pair on the K♥9♣3♠ flop leaving Gabdullin drawing to just two outs. The 6♦ turn changed nothing but the Q♥ river gave Gabdullin a set to score a massive double up at Baranski's expense.

Player	Chips	Progress
Damir Gabdullin	323,000 93,000	93,000
Sergey Baranski	181,000 -247,000	-247,000

Tags: Damir Gabdullin Sergey Baranski

03-22-2024 21:29 UTC+2

Bortsov Gets All of It

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

With two players seeing a final board of 2♦K♥9♥4♣K♣ and roughly 150,000 already in the middle, Antoine Hasbani moved all in from early position for roughly 90,000 and was quickly called by Sergey Bortsov from the next seat over who had a covering stack.

Bortsov tabled K♠9♠ for kings full of nines to take down one of the biggest pots of the tournament so far while Hasbani made his exit from the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergey Bortsov	475,000 145,000	145,000
Antoine Hasbani	Busted

Tags: Antoine Hasbani Sergey Bortsov

03-22-2024 21:39 UTC+2

Pateychuk Flushes Out Dinler

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

In a preflop confrontation Dogan Dinler was all in for 111,000 from the button and up against Andrey Pateychuk who had a covering stack in the small blind.

Dogan Dinler: Q♣Q♥ All in
Andrey Pateychuk: K♣10♣

Dinler was ahead with the premium pocket pair but the 6♣2♠4♣ flop gave Pateychuk plenty of outs in the form of a flush draw and live king. The 3♦ turn brought some further outs to chop the pot and the 7♣ river brought the flush in for Pateychuk who took down a sizable pot while Dinler was sent to the rail late in the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Pateychuk	275,000 148,000	148,000

Dogan Dinler	Busted

Tags: Andrey Pateychuk Dogan Dinler

03-23-2024 02:45 UTC+2

Alisa Sibgatova Dominates Day 1b of Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Day 1b of the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event has come to a close here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Alisa Sibgatova finished the night with the largest stack across both of the first two starting flights, ending with 661,000. That stack will be worth just over 264 big blinds going into Day 2. She is most closely followed by Aleksandar Tot (559,000) and Mihai Tusnea (487,000). Sibgatova has just over $90,000 in career tournament earnings with her best cash of €23,210 ($26,078) coming from a deep run in the 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event.

Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Alisa Sibgatova	Russian Federation	661,000	264
2	Aleksandar Tot	Montenegro	559,000	224
3	Mihai Tusnea	Romania	487,000	195
4	Ruslan Bakhtiev	Russian Federation	454,000	182
5	Naji Tanuri	Lebanon	440,500	176
6	Edgard Raffoul	Lebanon	438,000	175
7	Sergey Bortsov	Israel	429,500	172
8	Umutcan Ipekoglu	Turkey	425,000	170
9	Jenya Gavrilovich	Belarus	364,500	146
10	Adrian State	Romania	358,500	143

Day 1b Highlights

Day 1b attracted a total of 166 entrants to bring the total field size from the first two starting flights to 351. Of those 166 entrants, 74 players were able to find a bag at the end of the night and advance to Day 2 after nine hour-long levels of play. Despite the deep structure of this event, featuring 60-minute levels and a starting stack worth 200 big blinds, the action was fast and furious from the start. Tot set the pace in the first level of the day after being on the right side of a brutal cooler that saw pocket aces cracked by quad queens. Tot would experience many ups and downs from that point on but would ultimately finish the night with the second-largest stack in the room.

Can Miral found himself among the chip leaders midway through the day after getting the maximum with pocket aces, but his momentum would come to a crashing halt later in the night after Razvan Sabau cracked his set of eights.

Sibgatova was under the radar for most of the day before rapidly accumulating chips in the last two levels. In one of the final hands of the night she would river a full house to crack Sari Haddad's turned straight and by that point she easily had the largest chip stack in the room.

Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Andrey Pateychuk (304,000), Fabio Peluso (146,000), Halil Tasyurek (52,500) and Aylar Lie (32,500). Peluso in particular had a tough start to the day, finding himself short-stacked early on. Later he would make an admirable comeback, doubling up twice in the span of just a few hands to preserve his tournament life and ultimately advance to Day 2.