It was a stellar start to the $2,200 La Notte Degli Assi here at the luxurious Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, where the opening flight saw 237 entries take their shot at the $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool.
After nine levels of play, Samir Nacer bagged 703,500 chips to set the pace for the 87 players that survived Day 1a.
A fresh group of contenders will take to the felt today at the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series, as the second of four opening flights begins at 12 p.m. local time.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|
| 1 | Samir Nacer | France | 703,500 | 281 |
| 2 | Navid Samavati | Iran | 682,500 | 273 |
| 3 | Ermanno Pacini | Italy | 676,500 | 271 |
| 4 | Guillermo Cifuentes | Poland | 586,000 | 234 |
| 5 | Gurcan Gungoren | Turkey | 567,000 | 227 |
| 6 | Ahmet Akyun | Turkey | 536,000 | 214 |
| 7 | Danut Chisu | Romania | 495,000 | 198 |
| 8 | Yilu Yuan | China | 476,500 | 191 |
| 9 | Kemal Aslan | Turkey | 458,500 | 183 |
| 10 | Miroslav Rizov | Bulgaria | 452,000 | 181 |
Players will sit down with a starting stack of 100,000 chips, and Day 1b begins with blinds of 200/500 and a 500 big blind ante. Just like Day 1a, the schedule consists of nine levels, each lasting 60 minutes with 15-minute breaks after every two hours of play.
The event features unlimited reentries in all flights, with late registration available until the close of Level 14 on Day 2. After today, the last pair of flights will take place on Wednesday, July 31.
Day 1c features 40-minute levels, while the turbo Day 1d flight includes 25-minute levels. All surviving players will then join together for Day 2 on Thursday, August 1.
$2,200 La Notte Degli Assi Remaining Schedule
| Date | Day | Time |
|---|
| Tue. July 30 | Day 1b | 12:00 p.m. |
| Wed. July 31 | Day 1c | 12:00 p.m. |
| Wed. July 31 | Day 1d | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thu. August 1 | Day 2 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Fri. August 2 | Day 3 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Sat. August 3 | Day 4 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Sun. August 4 | Final Day | 12:00 p.m. |
The main event is already underway, and the PokerNews live reporting team is on the scene to provide full coverage of the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series.
