A player in middle position limped in and Ermanno Di Nicola raised to 11,000 from the button. Monika Zukowicz then three-bet to 27,000 from the big blind, forcing the limper out of the pot while Di Nicola made the call.
The flop came Q♦9♠3♦ and Zukowicz fired a 17,000 continuation bet. Di Nicola made the call.
Both players then checked the J♦ turn leading to the 6♥ river. Zukowicz thought for roughly one minute before betting 65,000. Di Nicola also took a minute to consider his options before deciding to fold and Zukowicz took down a nice pot without showdown.
With two players seeing a board of 3♦6♦J♥10♥ and roughly 10,000 in the pot, Felipe Ketzer checked from the big blind and called a 6,000 bet from Abdullah Akbarpoor in middle position.
Akbarpoor bet again for 16,000 when checked to on the 9♠ river and this time it was enough to force a fold from Ketzer.
After nine levels the action has reached a conclusion for Day 1c of the Main Event. Today's flight attracted a total of 131 entrants of which 64 players advanced to Day 2.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the night's action that will be up shortly.
The third starting flight has come to a close in the 2023 Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus. Several big names managed to find a bag at the end of this flight, including ACR team pro Monika Zukowicz, Brazilian crusher Felipe Ketzer and bracelet winner Guoliang Wei. They are chasing an anonymous player who bagged the overall chip lead for Day 1c.
Day 1c attracted 131 entrants, bringing the total number of entrants across the first three starting flights to 491. Of those 131 entrants, 65 players were able to find a bag and advance to Day 2 after nine 40-minute levels of play. Despite a deep structure featuring starting stacks worth 200 big blinds, the players wasted no time trying to accumulate chips. Ali El-Siblani got off to a good start today after making a full house in the early levels and getting paid off. He would later win a colossal three-way all in to soar up the chip counts in another highlight midway through the day before eventually finishing the night with the fourth-largest stack.
Lebanon's Amine Karami established himself as an early chip leader after winning a huge flip and would ride that momentum all the way to the end of the night, finishing with one of the biggest stacks of the evening at 392,000.
$3,300 Main Event Day 1c Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
John Doe S
N/A
538,500
215
2
Siarhei Chudapal
Belarus
405,500
162
3
Amine Karami
Lebanon
392,000
157
4
Ali El-Siblani
Lebanon
372,000
149
5
Gianfranco Iaculli
Italy
342,500
137
6
Thomas Eychenne
France
334,500
134
7
Nuri Hadioglu
Turkey
334,000
134
8
Hassanin Hashim
New Zealand
330,000
132
9
Giuliano Boellis
Italy
317,000
127
10
Mihai Tusnea
Romania
317,000
127
Guoliang Wei
Ketzer and Wei were seated together for the majority of the day at what was perhaps the toughest table in the room. The two crushers would tangle a few times throughout the evening, most notably when Ketzer flopped two pair and scored a full double up through Wei who held both a pair and a flush draw. Both players managed to find a bag by the end of the evening; Ketzer finished with 197,000 while Wei ended with 146,500. Wei has already made deep runs in both of the other two major events from this series. He finished 12th in the $2,200 Warm Up for $12,060 and then made the final table of the $5,300 High Roller where he finished in eighth place for $23,400. Only time will tell if a third deep run is in the cards for Wei during this series.
Chudapal began to separate himself from the rest of the field in the later levels of the evening, at one point extracting value with two pair in a big pot that saw him become the largest stack in the room at the time. He would end the night as the second-largest stack, finishing with 405,000. Meanwhile, Zukowicz was under the radar for most of the day until taking down a three-bet pot against Di Nicola in one of the last hands of the evening. She would end the night with 237,000, just slightly under 100 big blinds going into Day 2.
Monika Zukowicz
There is one more starting flight this evening that is already underway, featuring 25-minute levels. Afterwards, the field will combine for Day 2 tomorrow, January 23. As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event until a winner is crowned on the final day taking place January 25.
