2024 Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series

$2,200 Warm Up
Day: 4
Event Info

2024 Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
63
Prize
$179,650
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$920,000
Entries
463
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Players Info - Day 4
Entries
14
Players Left
1

Dawid Smolka Captures First Merit Poker Trophy and $179,650 in Gatsby Gala Series $2,200 Warm Up

Level 35 : Blinds 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
Dawid Smolka
Dawid Smolka

Dawid Smolka made his first Merit Poker final table in the spring of 2022, finishing seventh in the 2022 Retro Series $10,500 High Roller for $31,100. Over the next two years, Smolka established himself as one of the most consistent players in Merit Poker events, making four more final tables in Cyprus, including two third-place finishes. However, a victory had eluded him—until today. Smolka triumphed in the 2024 Gatsby Gala Series $2,200 Warm-Up at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, overcoming start-of-day chip leader Daniele Grasso heads-up to claim his first Merit Poker title and the top prize of $179,650.

Smolka had a dominant performance from the moment cards were in the air, starting the day second in chips and entering the final table with the chip lead. Smolka only lost the chip lead for a few hands after the final table began, nearly going wire-to-wire en route to his victory.

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCoutnryPrize
1Dawid SmolkaPoland$179,650
2Daniele GrassoItaly$125,500
3Hadi KhordbinIran$80,300
4Bogdan MunteanuRomania$60,300
5Georges ChehadeLebanon$45,150
6Ruslan BakhtievRussia$36,200
7Sandra CotescuRomania$30,150
8Ziad MenhemLebanon$24,100
9Viktor IarilovRussia$18,050

Action of the Day

The day began with 14 players from a total field of 463 entrants. Victor Fryda began the day as one of the shorter stacks and was eliminated in one of the first hands of the day after losing a flip with ace-queen to VIktor Iarilov's pocket tens. Fellow start-of-day short stack Sandra Cotescu had a much better start, cracking Zhen Chen's pocket kings in the opening level. Chen couldn't recover and was out next in 13th, followed by Florian Guimond in 12th.

Smolka also found himself in trouble in the first level when he got involved in a colossal preflop confrontation against Julien Rouquet. Smolka held ace-queen and was up against Rouquet's ace-king in a pot worth nearly double the average stack at the time. Smolka would have been left with under five big blinds had he lost, but a miracle queen on the flop sent the pot in his direction while Rouquet was knocked out in brutal fashion. Rouquet was followed by Pouya Ranjehdel, who was eliminated in tenth place, making way for the nine-handed final table.

Bogdan Munteanu
Bogdan Munteanu

Bogdan Munteanu, who won this same event two years ago at the Merit Poker Vintage Series, got off to a hot start at the final table after being on the right side of a sickening cooler against Iarilov, who got his chips in good with pocket aces against Munteanu's ace-king. A Broadway straight on the river gave Munteanu the pot while Iarilov became the first to fall at the final table. Iarilov was followed out the door by Ziad Menhem and Cotescu in eight and seventh place respectively, both of whom were eliminated by Smolka who was beginning to pull away from the rest of the field.

Following Ruslan Bakhtiev's elimination in sixth place, the pace of play slowed down considerably. With both Georges Chehade and Grasso nursing short stacks at this point, the other three players tightened up considerably with the hopes of laddering up. Grasso quickly doubled up through Smolka to keep himself in contention, while Munteanu began slowly trending downwards. Chehade became the next to fall nearly two hours after Bakhtiev's elimination, getting his last eight big blinds in with eight-five suited and failing to catch up to Grasso's ace-ten. Munteanu was next to go almost immediately after, getting it in with pocket sevens only for Smolka to flop a full house with queen-jack.

Hadi Khordbin began the day as the shortest stack but very quickly found himself near the top of the counts after picking up aces and nearly tripling up. Khordbin was near the top of the counts for much of the day following that hand, entering the table just behind Smolka for the chip lead. His run finally came to an end in third place after falling to Grasso, with Smolka holding close to a 2:1 chip advantage over him going into heads-up play.

Daniele Grasso
Daniele Grasso

The heads-up duel between Smolka and Grasso was brief, with Grasso quickly being whittled down by Smolka over a series of small pots that saw Smolka extend his lead. In the final hand of the night, Smolka flopped a straight and called two bets from Grasso on the flop and turn. When Grasso checked the river Smolka put him to the test for his tournament life. Grasso called off with second pair only to see the bad news while Smolka took down the final pot of the night, the trophy and the top prize of $179,650.

That concludes the PokerNews coverage for this event but be sure to stay tuned to our continuing coverage of the $5,300 Gatsby Gala Series High Roller as well as the $3,300 Main Event which is set to begin on November 25.

Tags: Bogdan MunteanuDaniele GrassoDawid SmolkaFlorian GuimondGeorges ChehadeHadi KhordbinJulien RouquetPouya RanjehdelRuslan BakhtievSandra CotescuVictor FrydaVIktor IarilovZhen ChenZiad Menhem

Daniele Grasso Eliminated in 2nd Place ($125,500)

Level 35 : Blinds 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
Daniele Grasso
Daniele Grasso

Dawid Smolka opened to 1,250,000 from the butto nand Daniele Grasso defended from the big blind.

The flop came 754. Grasso led out with a 1,300,000 bet that Smolka called.

Grasso continued for 2,800,000 on the J turn and was again called by Smolka.

On the K river Grasso checked and Smolka moved all in with a covering stack. Grasso, who had just under 9,000,000 behind, made the call, showing J8 for second pair. Smolka had flopped a straight with 63 to score the final elimination of the night and take home the title and top prize of $179,650.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
46,300,000
13,000,000
13,000,000
Profile photo of Daniele Grasso it
Daniele Grasso
Busted
Day 3 Chip Leader

Tags: Daniele GrassoDawid Smolka

Hadi Khordbin Eliminated in 3rd Place ($80,300)

Level 35 : 250,000/500,000, 500,000 ante
Hadi Khordbin
Hadi Khordbin

Hadi Khordbin shoved for 4,100,000 from the button and was looked up by Daniele Grasso who covered him from the big blind.

Hadi Khordbin: Q3 All in
Daniele Grasso: A4

The board ran out 491022 giving Grasso two pair to send Khordbin to the rail in third place.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
27,000,000
500,000
500,000
Profile photo of Daniele Grasso it
Daniele Grasso
16,300,000
1,800,000
1,800,000
Day 3 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
Busted

Tags: Daniele GrassoHadi Khordbin

Bogdan Munteanu Eliminated in 4th Place ($60,300)

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Bogdan Munteanu
Bogdan Munteanu

Bogdan Munteanu shoved from the small blind for around 3,500,000 and Dawid Smolka called from the big blind with a covering stack to put him at risk.

Bogdan Munteanu: 77 All in
Dawid Smolka: QJ

Smolka made a full house on the QQJ flop leaving Munteanu drawing only to running quad sevens. Munteanu was drawing dead on the turn when the rest of the board ran out 99 and he was sent to the rail.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
19,200,000
4,000,000
4,000,000
Profile photo of Bogdan Munteanu ro
Bogdan Munteanu
Busted

Tags: Bogdan MunteanuDawid Smolka

Georges Chehade Eliminated in 5th Place ($45,150)

Level 34 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Georges Chehade
Georges Chehade

Georges Chehade shoved for 3,275,000 from the button and was looked up by Daniele Grasso who had him covered in the small blind.

Georges Chehade: 85 All in
Daniele Grasso: A10

Grasso was a small favorite with ace-ten while Chehade had two live cards. The AQK86 runout gave Grasso top pair to win the pot while Chehade's deep run came to an end in fifth place.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Daniele Grasso it
Daniele Grasso
15,700,000
4,700,000
4,700,000
Day 3 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
15,200,000
-1,000,000
-1,000,000
Profile photo of Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
11,700,000
-800,000
-800,000
Profile photo of Bogdan Munteanu ro
Bogdan Munteanu
3,550,000
2,275,000
2,275,000
Profile photo of Georges Chehade lb
Georges Chehade
Busted

Tags: Daniele GrassoGeorges Chehade

Ruslan Bakhtiev Eliminated in 6th Place ($36,200)

Level 32 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Ruslan Bakhtiev
Ruslan Bakhtiev

Ruslan Bakhtiev shoved for 1,375,000 from the small blind and Hadi Khordbin called from the big blind with a covering stack to put Bakhtiev at risk.

Ruslan Bakhtiev: 106 All in
Hadi Khordbin: K9

Neither player connected with the 5382Q runout. Khordbin was good at showdown with king-high to take the pot while Bakhtiev was sent to the rail in sixth place.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
8,125,000
1,025,000
1,025,000
Profile photo of Ruslan Bakhtiev ru
Ruslan Bakhtiev
Busted

Tags: Hadi KhordbinRuslan Bakhtiev

Sandra Cotescu Eliminated in 7th Place ($30,150)

Level 32 : Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Sandra Cotescu
Sandra Cotescu

Sandra Cotescu shoved for 1,150,000 from under the gun and Dawid Smolka re-shoved from the button, covering all other players at the table. The blinds got out of the way leaving Cotescu at risk against the chip leader.

Sandra Cotescu: KK All in
Dawid Smolka: A3

Cotescu was well ahead with pocket kings but Smolka spiked his ace on the A2J23 runout to eliminate Cotescu and extend his lead over the rest of the field.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
18,500,000
4,400,000
4,400,000
Profile photo of Sandra Cotescu ro
Sandra Cotescu
Busted

Tags: Dawid SmolkaSandra Cotescu

Ziad Menhem Eliminated in 8th Place ($24,100)

Level 31 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Ziad Menhem
Ziad Menhem

Hadi Khordbin opened to 400,000 and Ziad Menhem three-bet shoved for 2,100,000 from the cutoff. Dawid Smolka re-shoved from the small blind, covering both players, and Khordbin quickly folded.

Ziad Menhem: 88 All in
Dawid Smolka: AK

Smolka made top pair on the K36 flop leaving Menhem drawing to two outs. No eights materialized when the rest of the board ran out 7A and Menhem became the second player to fall at the final table.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
14,500,000
3,700,000
3,700,000
Profile photo of Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
7,400,000
-1,775,000
-1,775,000
Profile photo of Ziad Menhem lb
Ziad Menhem
Busted

Tags: Dawid SmolkaHadi KhordbinZiad Menhem

Viktor Iarilov Eliminated in 9th Place ($18,050)

Level 31 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Viktor Larilov
Viktor Larilov

Hadi Khordbin opened from early position, Bogdan Munteanu shoved from middle position for around 3,500,000, Viktor Iarilov called off from the cutoff for around 3,000,000 and Khordbin got out of the way.

Viktor Iarilov: AA All in
Bogdan Munteanu: AK

The board ran out 3J810Q giving Munteanu a straight to send Iarilov to the rail in brutal fashion.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
7,500,000
-1,675,000
-1,675,000
Profile photo of Bogdan Munteanu ro
Bogdan Munteanu
6,400,000
2,900,000
2,900,000
Profile photo of Viktor Iarilov ru
Viktor Iarilov
Busted

Tags: Bogdan MunteanuViktor Iarilov

Pouya Ranjehdel Eliminated in 10th Place ($13,155)

Level 31 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Pouya Ranjehdel
Pouya Ranjehdel

Pouya Ranjehdel shoved from the hijack for 650,000 and was called by Georges Chehade who had him covered from the hijack.

Pouya Ranjehdel: AK All in
Georges Chehade: 55

Chehade made a set on the 5J3 flop meaning Ranjehdel would need to make a running straight to extend his tournament life. He picked up a gutshot on the 4 turn but the K river was a brick and Ranjehdel was sent to the rail on the final table bubble.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Georges Chehade lb
Georges Chehade
8,250,000
1,850,000
1,850,000
Profile photo of Pouya Ranjehdel ir
Pouya Ranjehdel
Busted

Tags: Georges ChehadePouya Ranjehdel