Earlier in the Merit Poker Western Series festival, Fabio Peluso stood on the rail cheering on Simone Andrian on his way to winning the Warm Up event. On Day 1b of the $3,300 Main Event, Peluso made a statement that he intends to follow in his countryman’s footsteps.
Peluso ended the night as chip leader over 77 surviving players with 657,000. His biggest win over the day was when he eliminated Ali El-Siblani with a set of threes against a pair of aces.
Daniel Henriques waited until nearly the very end of the day before challenging Peluso for the top spot on the leaderboard. On one of the last hands, Henriques earned a massive double up when he snapped off Yingrui Ge with two pair on his way to bagging up 633,000.
Wael Sarkis (533,500), Maher Achour (506,500), Razvan Sabau (483,000), and Maroun Jazzar (457,000) also finished Day 1b as top stacks. Michael Brown earned the first knockout of the day when he busted Baris Topuz with aces over kings and rode that momentum to a stack of 421,000. Nikolay Fal (402,500), Andrea Dato (314,500), Milos Skrbic (275,500), and Shuang Luo (160,000) also survived the day.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio Peluso | Italy | 657,000 | 263 |
| 2 | Daniel Henriques | Portugal | 633,000 | 253 |
| 3 | Audere | n/a | 534,500 | 214 |
| 4 | Wael Sarkis | Lebanon | 533,500 | 213 |
| 5 | Maher Achour | Tunisia | 506,500 | 203 |
| 6 | Razvan Sabau | Romania | 483,000 | 193 |
| 7 | Maroun Jazzar | Lebanon | 457,000 | 183 |
| 8 | Mikhail Semin | Russia | 431,500 | 173 |
| 9 | Michael Brown | United Kingdom | 421,000 | 168 |
| 10 | Nikolay Fal | Russia | 402,500 | 161 |
Notables who failed to survive the day included Andrian, Ermanno Di Nicola, Nina Krasilnikova, and Guoliang Wei. They'll have to try again on another flight if they hope to win the title.
A total of 174 entries crowded the poker room at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino over the course of nine hour-long levels. That brought the field through the first two opening flights up to 362, with 148 already booking their ticket for Day 2. There are still two more starting flights to go, Day 1c tomorrow at noon local time with 40-minute levels and a turbo Day 1d flight at 7 p.m. with 25-minute levels. Everyone left then combines for Day 2 on January 23 at noon.
The field is already well on its way to smashing the $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 14 on Day 2, so there is still plenty of opportunity for new players and those seeking a second chance to hop in.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow providing live coverage of Day 1c and continue until a champion is crowned later this week in North Cyprus.