The curtain has fallen on Day 1c of the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus.
Lebanon's Rachid El-Hachem finished with the biggest stack of the third starting flight, ending with 588,500, worth just over 235 big blinds heading into Day 2. El-Hachem is most closely followed by Poland's Maciej Komorowski and Switzerland's Sardor Shagulyamov.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rabih El-Hachem | Lebanon | 588,500 | 235 |
| 2 | Maciej Komorowski | Poland | 521,000 | 208 |
| 3 | Sardor Shagulyamov | Switzerland | 350,000 | 140 |
| 4 | Ali El-Siblani | Lebanon | 341,000 | 136 |
| 5 | Pavel Shchitnikov | Russian Federation | 327,000 | 131 |
| 6 | Bassel Moussa | Lebanon | 323,000 | 129 |
| 7 | Georges Hanna | Lebanon | 321,500 | 129 |
| 8 | Daniel Henriques | Portugal | 316,500 | 127 |
| 9 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | 314,000 | 126 |
| 10 | Dmitry Gromov | Russian Federation | 312,000 | 125 |
Day 1c Highlights
The third of four starting flights attracted 123 entrants, bringing the total field size so far to 474. Of those 123 entrants, 68 players were able to find a bag at the end of the night and advance to tomorrow's Day 2 after nine 40-minute levels of play.
Bassel Moussa got off to a hot start today after taking down a five-bet pot in the third Level. Moussa would ride that momentum all the way to the end of the night where he would finish with a top-ten chip stack.
Defending champion Maxime Chilaud had a rough start to the day. By Level 6 he was in for two bullets and short-stacked. Chilaud would make an admirable comeback after doubling up with a straight and would ultimately finish the night in the middle of the pack with 151,500.
Ali El-Siblani established himself as one of the top stacks in the room after getting max value with top set late in the evening. From that point El-Siblani never looked back and would finish the night with the fourth-largest stack.
Other notables to advance to Day 2 from today's starting flight include Aylar Lie (208,500), Bart Lybaert (205,000), Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (161,000) and WPT champions Dmitry Gromov (312,000) and Benjamin Hamnett (128,500). Gromov advancing with a top-ten stack is particularly notable as he was the runner up in the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series Main Event this past December for $217,500. The Russian pro will be a force to be reckoned with on Day 2 as he seeks to surpass that finish with a victory in this event.
Some players who played in Day 1c but were not fortunate enough to advance to Day 2 include Bakhos Joumaa, Frederico Senno and Mustafa Ercan.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event until a winner is crowned on March 26.
