Ludovic Geilich Guns for Glory After Climbing to the Top of Day 3 Counts
Day 3 of the $3,300 Main Event at the 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series has wrapped up, and just 60 players remain in contention for the title and the $401,000 top prize. After eight grueling one-hour levels inside the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, the field was carved down from 213 hopefuls to a tightly packed group, all chasing poker glory at the biggest Carmen Series Main Event in history.
Topping the chip counts at the close of play is Ludovic Geilich, who bagged a commanding 3,955,000—one of just four players to end with over three million. The fiery Scotsman is no stranger to deep runs in big fields and will return tomorrow as the man to catch. With the pressure mounting and the pay jumps getting serious, the stage is now set for a dramatic Day 4 as the race to the final table begins.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ludovic Geilich | Scotland | 3,955,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Dawid Smolka | Poland | 3,500,000 | 88 |
| 3 | Akin Tuna | Turkey | 3,200,000 | 80 |
| 4 | Soraya Estrada | Spain | 3,200,000 | 80 |
| 5 | Nenad Dukic | Serbia | 2,600,000 | 65 |
| 6 | Bassel Alanaz | Lebanon | 2,540,000 | 64 |
| 7 | Nichan Khorchidian | Lebanon | 2,515,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Gurcan Gungoren | Turkey | 2,510,000 | 63 |
| 9 | Ghassan Bitar | Lebanon | 2,460,000 | 62 |
| 10 | Andrei Konopelko | Belarus | 2,410,000 | 60 |
Geilich, who sits second on Scotland’s all-time money list with nearly $4,000,000 in live tournament earnings, started Day 3 inside the top ten and quickly climbed even higher as the field thinned. A steady stream of chips kept sliding his way, with one massive pot in particular sending his stack soaring.
In a pivotal clash with Razvan Sabau, Geilich found himself facing a huge shove on the turn om a paired board. After tanking for some time, the Scotsman made the call with pocket queens—only to see Sabau table a wild nine-high bluff with a gutshot. The queens held through the river, vaulting Geilich over the two-million chip mark and giving him the momentum he’d ride all the way to the end of the day.
Dawid Smolka is chasing history in Cyprus as he sets his sights on becoming the first-ever player to win all three major Merit Poker titles. The Polish crusher already claimed the Warm Up crown at the Gatsby Gala in November and added a High Roller trophy to his collection earlier in this series. Now, with a stack of 3,500,000 heading into Day 4, Smolka is in prime position to complete the trifecta. It would be an extraordinary achievement—and one that’s firmly within reach if he keeps up his current form.
When the 213 players returned for Day 3, their first objective was simple—make the money. With 119 spots paid and a min-cash worth $4,545, everyone had their eyes on locking up a piece of the massive $2,431,560 prize pool. But what’s usually a tense, drawn-out bubble burst inched by hand-for-hand play ended in anticlimactic fashion, as the bubble popped before hand-for-hand could even begin. In a surprising twist, it was none other than start-of-day chip leader Georgios Tsouloftas who fell just short, going from a dominant position to the last player eliminated without a payout.
A player who not only made the money but flourished deep into the day was Soraya Estrada, who bagged a healthy stack of 3,200,000 to close out Day 3. Estrada was involved in several high-pressure spots throughout the day and scored a crucial double-up with pocket aces against the ace-king of Andrija Cvetkovic in Level 19. . Though she was a tad fortunate to find a chop in a pot against Andrei Konopelko, she finished strong and will be a threat come Day 4.
Some other notables to make it through the day were Nenad Dukic (2,600,000), Nichan Khorchidian (2,515,000), Andrey Pateychuk (2,055,000), Gilles Simon (1,650,000), Dmitrii Kopyl (1,255,000), and short-stacked Zhen Chen (280,000).
Blinds resume tomorrow at Level 25 (20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante) and the plan is to play until the final table is reached. The average stack is 1,468,000—which is around 37 big blinds.
All 60 remaining players have locked up at least $8,690, but with the top prize of $401,000 still up for grabs, the real battle is just beginning. As the payouts grow steeper with each elimination, every decision on Day 4 will carry massive weight as the road to the final table begins to take shape.
Remaining Payouts
Day 4 kicks off at 12:00 p.m. local time—stay locked in with PokerNews for all the action, as the final 60 players return to chase the $401,000 top prize and a place in Carmen Series history.