$3,300 Main Event Day 3 | 2024 Merit Poker Western Series

01-24-2024 22:59 UTC+2

Di Nicola Hits an Ace to Send Out Hedley

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David Salituro

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Andrew Hedley moved all in for 640,000 in the big blind and Ermanno Di Nicola called on the button.

Andrew Hedley: K♠Q♠
Ermanno Di Nicola: A♦5♦

Hedley made a pair on the K♣A♠10♥ flop, but Di Nicola hit top pair and held on through the 6♠5♣ turn and river to send Hedley to the rail.

The final 27 players are now drawing for seats at the last three tables.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ermanno Di Nicola	3,800,000 785,000	785,000

Andrew Hedley	Busted

Tags: Andrew Hedley Ermanno Di Nicola

01-24-2024 23:23 UTC+2

Three Table Redraw (full)

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

With the three table redraw, PokerNews will be reporting on a 30-minute delay to stay in sync with the Merit Poker stream that can be found on their YouTube channel.

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Michel Habib	Lebanon	1,800,000	36
1	2	Nichan Khorchidian	Lebanon	2,300,000	46
1	3	Bassel Moussa	Lebanon	1,500,000	30
1	4	Christophe Panetti	Switzerland	1,500,000	30
1	5	Felipe Ketzer	Brazil	4,400,000	88
1	6	Antoine Hasbani	Lebanon	1,900,000	38
1	7	Andreas Christoforou	Cyprus	4,200,000	84
1	8	Azamat Tulepbergenov	Kazakhstan	1,800,000	36
1	9	Vedat Yilmaz	Turkey	2,200,000	44

2	1	Damir Zhugralin	Kazakhstan	5,150,000	103
2	2	Ara Melkisetian	Lebanon	1,300,000	26
2	3	Mustafa Ercan	Turkey	3,300,000	66
2	4	Nariman Yaghmai	Iran	950,000	19
2	5	Clement Bonnant	France	1,550,000	31
2	6	Ihar Soika	Russia	1,900,000	38
2	7	Giuliano Boellis	Italy	2,950,000	59
2	8	Wael Sarkis	Lebanon	3,800,000	76
2	9	Samy Barka	France	3,700,000	74

3	1	Amir Touma	Lebanon	540,000	108
3	2	Fabio Peluso	Italy	1,550,000	31
3	3	Aleksandr Kirichenko	Russia	1,450,000	29
3	4	Ryan Plant	United Kingdom	215,000	4
3	5	Victor Fryda	France	2,005,000	40
3	6	Roman Hrabec	Czech Republic	1,418,000	28
3	7	Hadi Khordbin	Iran	1,365,000	27.3
3	8	Mohamed Mokrani	France	3,800,000	76
3	9	Ermanno Di Nicola	Italy	4,250,000	85

Player	Chips	Progress
Damir Zhugralin	5,150,000 1,350,000	1,350,000
Felipe Ketzer	4,400,000 -200,000	-200,000
Ermanno Di Nicola	4,250,000 450,000	450,000

Andreas Christoforou	4,200,000 200,000	200,000
Wael Sarkis	3,800,000 -500,000	-500,000
Mohamed Mokrani	3,800,000 100,000	100,000
Samy Barka	3,700,000 2,910,000	2,910,000

Mustafa Ercan	3,300,000 -150,000	-150,000
Giuliano Boellis	2,950,000 975,000	975,000

Nichan Khorchidian	2,300,000 350,000	350,000
Vedat Yilmaz	2,200,000 1,100,000	1,100,000

Victor Fryda	2,005,000 605,000	605,000
Antoine Hasbani	1,900,000 -300,000	-300,000
Ihar Soika	1,900,000 -600,000	-600,000
Michel Habib	1,800,000 800,000	800,000
Azamat Tulepbergenov	1,800,000
Clement Bonnant	1,550,000 918,000	918,000
Fabio Peluso	1,550,000 75,000	75,000

Bassel Moussa	1,500,000 -135,000	-135,000
Christophe Panetti	1,500,000 740,000	740,000
Aleksandr Kirichenko	1,450,000 -330,000	-330,000
Roman Hrabec	1,418,000 318,000	318,000

Hadi Khordbin	1,365,000 35,000	35,000
Ara Melkisetian	1,300,000 -250,000	-250,000
Nariman Yaghmai	950,000 20,000	20,000

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01-24-2024 23:45 UTC+2

Ryan Plant Eliminated in 27th Place ($10,570)

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David Salituro

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Ryan Plant arrived at the feature table with only 215,000 and immediately found himself all in against Mohamed Mokrani.

Ryan Plant: A♣6♦
Mohamed Mokrani: A♠8♦

Plant was dominated and found no improvement on the 9♥2♥7♥10♣5♣ board and was sent to the rail in 27th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mohamed Mokrani	4,000,000 200,000	200,000
Ryan Plant	Busted

Tags: Mohamed Mokrani Ryan Plant

01-24-2024 23:49 UTC+2

Panetti Gets Paid by Khorchidian

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David Salituro

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Nichan Khorchidian bet 75,000 from the button on a flop of 10♦8♠8♥ and Christophe Panetti called in the big blind.

Both players checked the 2♦ turn. The river was the K♠ and Panetti led out for 200,000.

Khorchidian called, then mucked when Panetti showed K♦10♥ for two pair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nichan Khorchidian	2,000,000 -300,000	-300,000
Christophe Panetti	1,900,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Christophe Panetti Nichan Khorchidian

01-24-2024 23:55 UTC+2

Di Nicola Picks Off a Bluff From Fryda

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David Salituro

Level 26 : Blinds 20,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Ermanno Di Nicola raised to 150,000 in early position and Victor Fryda called on the button.

The flop came 10♦K♥5♠ and Di Nicola continued for 90,000. Fryda called.

Di Nicola checked the 7♦ turn and Fryda bet 275,000. Di Nicola called and the 9♣ fell on the river.

He checked again and Fryda bet 660,000 this time. Di Nicola tanked for a moment before calling with K♣4♣ for top pair and Fryda mucked A♦2♦ for a missed flush draw.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ermanno Di Nicola	5,500,000 1,250,000	1,250,000

Victor Fryda	825,000 -1,180,000	-1,180,000

Tags: Ermanno Di Nicola Victor Fryda

Level: 27

Blinds: 30,000/60,000

Ante: 60,000

01-25-2024 00:03 UTC+2

Two Streets of Value for Boellis

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

With two players seeing a board of K♠Q♥8♣ and roughly 330,000 in the middle, Samy Barka checked from the big blind and called a 90,000 bet from Giuliano Boellis on the button.

Barka check-called another bet from Boellis on the 5♥ turn, this time for 375,000.

Both players checked the 7♣ river. Barka had Q♣9♣ for second pair but Boellis turned over Q♠8♦ for two pair to take the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Giuliano Boellis	3,650,000 700,000	700,000

Samy Barka	3,425,000 -275,000	-275,000

Tags: Giuliano Boellis Samy Barka

01-25-2024 00:07 UTC+2

Tulepbergenov Shows Christoforou Kings

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David Salituro

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Heads-up on a flop of 5♦4♦10♥, Andreas Christoforou bet 150,000 from the hijack and Azamat Tulepbergenov called in the cutoff.

The turn was the Q♦ and Christoforou bet another 250,000. Tulepbergenov again called and the 3♦ fell on the river.

Both players quickly checked and Christoforou showed A♥5♠ for a pair of fives. Tulepbergenov, though, turned over K♠K♥ and took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andreas Christoforou	3,900,000 -300,000	-300,000
Azamat Tulepbergenov	2,200,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Andreas Christoforou Azamat Tulepbergenov

01-25-2024 00:10 UTC+2

Fabio Peluso Eliminated in 26th Place ($12,050)

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David Salituro

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Hadi Khordbin raised to 125,000 in the hijack as Mohamed Mokrani in the cutoff and big blind Fabio Peluso came along.

The flop came 6♠4♣2♦ and Khordbin bet 175,000. Mokrani called, but Peluso moved all in for 925,000. Khordbin quickly folded, but Mokrani tanked for around 30 seconds before calling.

Fabio Peluso: 2♠2♥
Mohamed Mokrani: 7♦7♣

Peluso was ahead with a set of deuces against Mokrani's overpair, but Mokrani spiked the 7♥ on the turn to make a higher set. The river was the 9♣ and Peluso was eliminated in 26th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mohamed Mokrani	6,000,000 2,000,000	2,000,000
Hadi Khordbin	1,500,000 135,000	135,000
Fabio Peluso	Busted

Tags: Fabio Peluso Hadi Khordbin Mohamed Mokrani

01-25-2024 00:20 UTC+2

Bonnant Accused of Slowrolling to a Double

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David Salituro

Level 27 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Samy Barka raised to 120,000 in early position before Clement Bonnant three-bet to 925,000 on the button, leaving around 100,000 behind. Barka called.

The flop came 6♠A♥7♠ and Barka put Bonnant all in. He tanked for a minute before committing his last chips.

Clement Bonnant: A♠K♠
Samy Barka: A♣Q♦

"What are you slowrolling for," Wael Sarkis said as Bonnant showed top pair and the nut flush draw. The board ran out 5♥9♠ and Bonnant completed his flush to double up.

"Very bad. You get that flop and you're worried about pay jumps," Sarkis added.