$5,300 High Roller | 2024 Merit Poker Western Series

01-20-2024 17:34 UTC+2

Paul Amsellem Eliminated in 17th Place ($8,950)

Ryan Lashmar

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Roman Gadzhiev opened to 50,000 from the hijack only for Maksim Shornikau to three-bet to 150,000 from the small blind. Paul Amsellem moved all in for 196,000 from the big blind. Gadzhiev took a couple minutes before deciding to fold. Shornikau then made the call to put Amsellem at risk.

Paul Amsellem: 10♥10♠
Maksim Shornikau: 5♠5♥

Shornikau drilled a set on the 4♠5♠9♠ flop and remained ahead when the rest of the board ran out A♦6♥ to take down a decent pot while Amsellem's run came to an end in 17th place.

The tournament has now briefly been paused to prepare for a two table redraw.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	2,300,000 300,000	300,000
Roman Gadzhiev	524,000 153,000	153,000
Paul Amsellem	Busted

Tags: Maksim Shornikau Paul Amsellem Roman Gadzhiev

01-20-2024 17:24 UTC+2

Maroun Jazzar Eliminated in 18th Place ($8,950)

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Maksim Shornikau opened to 50,000 from the hijack and Maroun Jazzar moved all in for his last 218,000 from the small blind. Shornikau made the call to put Jazzar at risk.

Maroun Jazzar: A♠K♦
Maksim Shornikau: K♣Q♦

The board ran out Q♠10♥5♠2♦8♦. Shornikau's pair of queens were good at showdown and Jazzar made his exit from the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	2,000,000 200,000	200,000
Maroun Jazzar	Busted

Tags: Maksim Shornikau Maroun Jazzar

Level: 21

Blinds: 10,000/25,000

Ante: 25,000

01-20-2024 17:05 UTC+2

Marius Kudzmanas Eliminated in 19th Place ($7,800)

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Bogdan Munteanu moved all in for 368,000 from the cutoff and Marius Kudzmanas called off for his last 200,000 to put himself at risk.

Marius Kudzmanas: K♦J♣
Bogdan Munteanu: A♦J♦

The board ran out K♣10♦3♦3♥A♣. Kudzmanas had pulled ahead on the flop with a king despite being dominated but the ace on the river sealed his fate and he was sent to the rail in 19th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bogdan Munteanu	653,000
Marius Kudzmanas	Busted

Tags: Bogdan Munteanu Marius Kudzmanas

01-20-2024 16:45 UTC+2

Ceyhan Tezcan Eliminated in 20th Place ($7,800)

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Maksim Shornikau opened to 40,000 from the hijack and Ceyhan Tezcan three-bet to 80,000 from the button. Shornikau moved all in, covering Tezcan who started the hand with 188,000. Tezcan made the call and was at risk.

Ceyhan Tezcan: J♦J♥
Maksim Shornikau: K♣J♣

The board ran out 6♣2♣A♣7♠K♥. Tezcan made the nut-flush on the turn to send Tezcan to the rail and collect the last of his chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	1,800,000 480,000	480,000
Ceyhan Tezcan	Busted

Tags: Ceyhan Tezcan Maksim Shornikau

01-20-2024 16:38 UTC+2

Tot Knocks Out Mustafov on Stone Bubble

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Fahredin Mustafov moved all in for 262,000 from the button and Aleksandar Tot called with a covering stack from the small blind to put Mustafov at risk.

Fahredin Mustafov: 7♣6♣
Aleksandar Tot: A♣6♦

Tot had his opponent dominated with a bigger six and remained ahead on the 5♦J♦Q♠5♣2♣ runout to send Mustafov to the rail on the stone bubble and take down a nice pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandar Tot	633,000 242,000	242,000
Fahredin Mustafov	Busted

Tags: Aleksandar Tot Fahredin Mustafov

01-20-2024 16:36 UTC+2

Kirichenko Gets Some Back

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Justus Held opened to 40,000 from the hijack and Aleksandr Kirichenko called from the cutoff.

The flop came A♣Q♣3♥. Held fired a 35,000 continuation bet and Kirichenko made the call.

Held slowed down with a check on the 8♥ turn and Kirichenko bet 115,000 which was enough to force a fold from his opponent.

Despite the minor setback, Held has been doing an excellent job leveraging his stack on the bubble and is currently the only player above 3,000,000 chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Justus Held	3,050,000 1,215,000	1,215,000
Aleksandr Kirichenko	1,145,000 50,000	50,000

Tags: Aleksandr Kirichenko Justus Held

01-20-2024 16:30 UTC+2

Nikitin Applies Bubble Pressure

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Milos Skrbic opened to 45,000 from the button and Anatoly Nikitin called from the big blind.

The flop came 6♠5♥4♣ and Nikitin check-called a 40,000 continuation but from Skrbic.

On the 3♠ turn Nikitin lead out with a 125,000 bet which was called by Skrbic.

Nikitin fired another barrel for 200,000 on the 10♣ turn and this time Skrbic opted to muck.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anatoly Nikitin	1,410,000 745,000	745,000
Milos Skrbic	530,000 -235,000	-235,000

Tags: Anatoly Nikitin Milos Skrbic

01-20-2024 16:15 UTC+2

Chisu Falls to Skrbic

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Ryan Lashmar

Level 20 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Danut Chisu moved all in from the button for 316,000 and was called by Milos Skrbic in the small blind who covered.

Danut Chisu: A♣4♦
Milos Skrbic: K♦Q♦

The board ran out Q♣4♠6♠7♥10♥. Skrbic's pair of queens was good at showdown and he took down a decent pot while sending Chisu to the rail just two spots away from making the money.

The tournament staff have now announced the start of hand for hand play.

Day 1 chip leader John Doe was also recently eliminated.