$5,300 High Roller | 2024 Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series

2 hours 13 minutes ago

Sibgatova's River Bet Gets Returned Uncalled

Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

With around 40,000 chips already in the middle on a board of Q♥J♥3♥6♠, Alisa Sibgatova checked it over to Candido Cappiello, who knuckled back to see the 8♥ drop on the river. Sibgatova put out a bet of 11,000, which was enough to get the job done as Cappielo folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Candido Cappiello	190,000 -10,000	-10,000
Alisa Sibgatova	110,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Candido Cappiello

2 hours 13 minutes ago

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Shcherbakov	260,000 25,000	25,000
Felipe Ketzer	240,000 135,000	135,000
Ryan Mandara	220,000
Candido Cappiello	200,000 10,000	10,000
Mehmet Demirkol	170,000 40,000	40,000
Andrei Spataru	160,000 -20,000	-20,000
Antoine Talvard	125,000
Nemo Koering	125,000 5,000	5,000
Alisa Sibgatova	100,000 -5,000	-5,000
Dumitru Pora	50,000 -50,000	-50,000
Aylar Lie	45,000 -15,000	-15,000
Simone Andrian	40,000

2 hours 23 minutes ago

Kirichenko Three-Bet Shoves Flop

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Uladzimir Zhyharau raised the hijack and Aleksandr Kirichenko three-bet the cutoff to 7,500. When the action got back to Zhyharau, he called.

They went to a flop of 10♥2♥8♠ where Zhyharau checked and Kirichenko announced a bet of 7,000. Zhyharau then raised to 17,000, and Kirichenko quickly shoved for almost 50,000. Zhyharau folded at lightning speed.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandr Kirichenko	80,000 -60,000	-60,000
Uladzimir Zhyharau	75,000 -75,000	-75,000

Tags: Aleksandr Kirichenko Uladzimir Zhyharau

2 hours 33 minutes ago

Chaoui Makes the Right Call

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Kai Cocklin

Level 7 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

On a full board of 7♣7♦K♠10♠2♠, there were around 40,000 chips in the pot when Mehdi Chaoui checked it over to Cheng Zhao, who shoved the river. Chaoui had around 65,000 behind and was thinking about how to proceed, but according to his tablemates, he was taking too long to do so as one of them called the clock.

The floor came over and started to give the countdown, then Chaoui said to his opponent, "Will you show me if I fold?". Zhao remained motionless and with just a few seconds to go until his hand would be declared dead, Chaoui called.

"Good call," said Zhao, who then rolled over 8♠6♦ for a bluff. Chaoui flipped J♣J♦ to claim the pot, but still wasn't too impressed the clock was called on him.

"Do you think it's ok to call the clock one minute after I got the count?" he asked.

Either way, Chaoui is the new owner of a lot of chips and has around 170,000 to work with in the penultimate level of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mehdi Chaoui	170,000 95,000	95,000
Cheng Zhao	80,000 -110,000	-110,000

Tags: Cheng Zhao Mehdi Chaoui

Level: 7

Blinds: 800/1,500

Ante: 1,500

2 hours 46 minutes ago

Peluso Finds the River to Survive

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Walid Bou Habib and Fabio Peluso both had similar stacks of around 55,000 and got them into the middle preflop with the latter needing a lot of help.

Fabio Peluso: K♥J♥ All in
Walid Bou Habib: Q♣Q♥

Habib was on track for a double-up and was still well in the lead after the 9♣3♥A♠ flop. A 10♦ on the turn did give Peluso some extra out as any queen would complete Broadway, however it was the K♠ river that earned him a double-up as he made a pair of kings, prompting Habib to launch his cards back to the dealer.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fabio Peluso	110,000 110,000	110,000

Walid Bou Habib	3,000 -122,000	-122,000

Tags: Fabio Peluso Walid Bou Habib

2 hours 57 minutes ago

Ketzer Bets Small, Spataru Jams Big

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

There were already around 50,000 chips in the middle of the table on a board of 4♥6♦4♠10♠ when Andrei Spataru checked the turn and Felipe Ketzer fired a small bet of 6,500.

Spataru responded with a shove for over 100,000, which put Ketzer to the test for his stack of a similar amount. After thinking it over for a while, Ketzer elected to fold, and relinquished the pot to Spataru.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrei Spataru	180,000 60,000	60,000
Felipe Ketzer	105,000 -10,000	-10,000

Tags: Andrei Spataru Felipe Ketzer

3 hours 4 minutes ago

Talvard Min-Raises River Against Sibgatova

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

On a double-paired board of 7♦3♦7♠3♥ with around 8,000 chips in the pot, all three of Alisa Sibgatova, Simone Andrian, and Antoine Talvard checked to see the 9♦ drop in the river. Sibgatova was first to act from the small blind and fired out 3,500, which got Andrian to fold in the big blind position.

When it got to Talvard, he put in a min-raise to 7,000, which Sibgatova called after a short time.

Talvard then flipped over the Cowboys with K♦K♥, and Sibgatova mucked her cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Antoine Talvard	125,000 20,000	20,000
Alisa Sibgatova	105,000 -5,000	-5,000
Simone Andrian	40,000 -5,000	-5,000

Tags: Alisa Sibgatova Antoine Talvard Simone Andrian

3 hours 14 minutes ago

Selected Chip Counts at the Break

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Kai Cocklin

Level 6 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Shcherbakov	235,000 10,000	10,000
Ryan Mandara	220,000 30,000	30,000
Cheng Zhao	190,000 -10,000	-10,000
Candido Cappiello	190,000 90,000	90,000
Zhewen Hu	150,000 150,000	150,000
Joris Ruijs	140,000 95,000	95,000
Mehmet Demirkol	130,000 20,000	20,000
Atilla Saracoglu	120,000 20,000	20,000
Felipe Ketzer	115,000 10,000	10,000
Antonio Alfaia	110,000 10,000	10,000
Bulut Celik	100,000 20,000	20,000
Nikolay Fal	80,000 80,000	80,000

Mehdi Chaoui	75,000 -5,000	-5,000

Level: 6

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 1,200