A miraculous double knockout helped catapult Fausto Tantillo to the top of the chip counts on Day 2 and put him in a position for a repeat run at the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event.
The Italian pro, who made the final table of this event last year, went runner-runner for a full house to crack Tony Aziz's flopped set of kings in a three-way all in that helped him finish with 1,158,000 to end the day. He’s joined near the top by Kacper Pyzara (1,024,000), Denis Vlasov (950,000), Uladzimir Zhyharau (839,000), and Kemal Aslan (833,000), who rivered quads in a massive pot earlier in the day.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 1,158,000 | 193 |
| 2 | Adria Diaz | Spain | 1,102,000 | 184 |
| 3 | Kacper Pyzara | Poland | 1,024,000 | 171 |
| 4 | Adrian State | Romania | 935,000 | 156 |
| 5 | Alisa Sibgatova | Russia | 898,000 | 150 |
| 6 | Razvan Sabau | Romania | 845,000 | 141 |
| 7 | Uladzimir Zhyharau | Belarus | 839,000 | 140 |
| 8 | Kemal Aslan | Turkey | 833,000 | 139 |
| 9 | Rashad Iskandarov | Azerbaijan | 815,000 | 136 |
| 10 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 807,000 | 135 |
Alisa Sibgatova, the start-of-day chip leader, kept up her good run and ended Day 2 with 898,000. Other notable big stacks include Andrey Pateychuk (802,000), Boris Kolev (462,000), Felipe Ketzer (462,000), and Bart Lybaert (359,000), while Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (247,000), Andrea Dato (182,000), and Benjamin Hamnett (112,000) are further down the leaderboard.
Among the players who failed to survive the day include defending champion Maxime Chilaud and Dmitrii Kuzin, the Day 1a chip leader who began Day 2 in second place on the leaderboard.
Day 2 began with 241 players from the 502 who entered the four opening flights returning to play at noon local time. They were joined by 162 new arrivals until late registration closed, creating a total field of 664 and building a prize pool of $1,832,640. Just 172 remain and will begin Day 3 at noon to play down to the money bubble. Just 80 players will guarantee themselves a payday, with the champion earning $338,500.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action leading up to the money and past the bubble tomorrow as the field continues to whittle down toward the final table and the eventual crowning of a new champion.
