$2,200 Warm Up
Jour 1bc terminé
$2,200 Warm Up
Jour 1bc terminé
Ermanno Di Nicola’s experience through the first two days of the Merit Poker Western Series couldn’t have been any different.
Di Nicola was the first player eliminated in the opening flight of the $2,200 Warm Up yesterday as he ended up going through multiple entries without bagging chips. Today on Day 1b, he not only made it through the day but finished as chip leader over the 68 surviving players.
Di Nicola built up a big stack over the day and aggressively used it to accumulate even more chips, picking off bluffs from Justus Held and applying pressure to fellow big stack Behrouz Ghaedi in two sizeable pots. The recent WSOP bracelet winner ended up with 937,500, just trailing the million-chip stack that Peng Yang bagged up yesterday.
Aleksandar Tot (827,500), Antoine Hasbani (559,500), Jalal Jafari (455,000), and Vitalii Pankov (419,500) also ended Day 1b as big stacks. Gang Zhao, part of the sizeable Chinese contingent that has already made their mark on the tournament, found aces against Aylar Lie’s kings near the end of the night to finish with 413,000.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ermanno Di Nicola | Italy | 937,500 | 375 |
2 | Aleksandar Tot | Montenegro | 827,500 | 331 |
3 | Antoine Hasbani | Lebanon | 559,500 | 224 |
4 | Qusai Albakeer | n/a | 549,500 | 220 |
5 | Ramez Haddad | Lebanon | 521,000 | 208 |
6 | Sergey Bortsov | Israel | 456,500 | 183 |
7 | Jalal Jafari | Turkey | 455,000 | 182 |
8 | Andre Mehreb | Lebanon | 440,000 | 176 |
9 | Vitalii Pankov | Russia | 419,500 | 168 |
10 | Gang Zhao | China | 413,000 | 165 |
Others to book their ticket for Day 2 include Adrian State (290,500), Ara Melkisetian (207,000), Thomas Eychenne (203,000), Felipe Ketzer (192,000), and Andrey Pateychuk (190,500). Cheng Zhao, coming off a final-table run at EPT Prague last month, ended up with 116,000, while Lie finished with 83,500 after suffering that late cooler.
A total of 162 entries came out for Day 1b, building a field of 277 through two starting flights. Just 115 will return for Day 2. There is also a Day 1c flight that begins at 9:30 p.m. with 25-minute levels, and a Day 1d flight tomorrow at 10 a.m. with 15-minute levels. Survivors will combine for Day 2 at 12:30 p.m. local time. Late registration remains open through the end of Level 12 on Day 2, with players allowed unlimited reentries.
PokerNews will also return tomorrow for Day 2 as the field begins the march towards the money. Stay tuned for live updates throughout the remainder of the festival here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
Day 1c attracted a further 45 entries, with 31 players advancing to Day 2.
Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
---|---|---|
John Doe S |
330,000
330,000
|
330,000 |
|
||
Fabio Peluso |
267,000
267,000
|
267,000 |
|
||
John Doe F
|
267,000
267,000
|
267,000 |
Emin Cetiner
|
266,000
266,000
|
266,000 |
Berc Sindiroglu |
245,500
245,500
|
245,500 |
Liviu Toderita
|
203,500
203,500
|
203,500 |
Bulut Celik |
199,500
199,500
|
199,500 |
Bora Kurtulus |
193,500
193,500
|
193,500 |
Andreas Tomazou |
192,000
192,000
|
192,000 |
Kacper Pyzara |
180,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
Andreas Mavrikioy |
171,000
171,000
|
171,000 |
Amir Sonsino |
169,000
169,000
|
169,000 |
Zeki Karali |
162,000
162,000
|
162,000 |
Can Sahin
|
157,500
157,500
|
157,500 |
Yingrui Ge |
156,500
156,500
|
156,500 |
Mustafa Sancak |
149,000
149,000
|
149,000 |
Parahat Nurmuhammedov |
134,000
134,000
|
134,000 |
Ihar Soika |
129,000
129,000
|
129,000 |
Safi Haidar
|
113,500
113,500
|
113,500 |
George Panagides |
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Ibrahim Cetiner
|
96,500
96,500
|
96,500 |
Vytautas Milbutas |
88,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
Aziz Efe |
84,500
84,500
|
84,500 |
Nikos Lampropoulos |
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Iannis-Claudiu Haralambie
|
78,000
78,000
|
78,000 |
Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
---|---|---|
Ermanno Di Nicola |
937,500
77,500
|
77,500 |
|
||
Aleksandar Tot |
827,500
-22,500
|
-22,500 |
Antoine Hasbani |
559,500
79,500
|
79,500 |
Qusai Albakeer |
549,500
199,500
|
199,500 |
Ramez Haddad |
521,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
Sergey Bortsov | 456,500 | |
Jalal Jafari
|
455,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
Andre Mehreb | 440,000 | |
Vitalii Pankov |
419,500
119,500
|
119,500 |
Gang Zhao |
413,000
83,000
|
83,000 |
Mazen Halabi |
413,000
183,000
|
183,000 |
Jose Nehme | 383,500 | |
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya |
359,000
119,000
|
119,000 |
Behrouz Ghaedi
|
350,500
-49,500
|
-49,500 |
Ceyhan Tezcan | 346,500 | |
Dogan Gungor
|
344,000
274,000
|
274,000 |
Osman Ihlamur |
329,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
Maher Achour |
318,500
-31,500
|
-31,500 |
Andress Merheb |
314,500
234,500
|
234,500 |
Michel Habib |
300,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
Ildar Tashliyev | 292,000 | |
Adrian State |
290,500
270,500
|
270,500 |
Razvan Sabau |
286,500
146,500
|
146,500 |
Caner Gunes | 276,500 | |
Stelios Orphanides |
263,500
83,500
|
83,500 |
Day 1b has ended with 69 players remaining.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Tournament officials announced that players will see three more. hands before bagging up for the night.
The clock currently shows 71 players remaining out of 162 total entries.
Gang Zhao got his last 164,500 in the middle before the flop from early position and was up against Aylar Lie in middle position.
Gang Zhao: A♦A♣
Aylar Lie: K♠K♣
Lie had run into the ultimate cooler and found no miracles on the 3♥10♦9♣7♦4♦ as she handed over a significant portion of her stack at the end of the night.
Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
---|---|---|
Gang Zhao |
330,000
330,000
|
330,000 |
Aylar Lie |
90,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Three-handed on a flop of 10♥6♣3♣, Jose Nehme bet 25,000 from under the gun before Osman Ihlamur moved all in for 158,000 in middle position. Andrei Daniliuk stuck in his last 94,000 in the hijack and Nehme asked for a count of both opponents before eventually folding.
Andrei Daniliuk: K♦K♠
Osman Ihlamur: 3♠3♦
Ihlamur had flopped a set to leave Daniliuk at risk of having his kings cracked. The board ran out Q♠4♣ and Daniliuk was eliminated shortly before the end of the night.
Aleksandar Tot and Antoine Hasbani are also at this table with two of the biggest stacks in the room.
Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
---|---|---|
Aleksandar Tot |
850,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
Antoine Hasbani |
480,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
Jose Nehme |
320,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
Osman Ihlamur |
300,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
Andrei Daniliuk | Eliminé |
Ermanno Di Nicola and Behrouz Ghaedi went heads-up to a flop of 5♠Q♣8♦ where Di Nicola bet 7,500 from the cutoff.
Ghaedi called under the gun and the K♣ fell on the turn. Di Nicola then bet 17,000 and Ghaedi again called.
The river was the 4♥ and Di Nicola fired out 46,000. Ghaedi quickly folded and Di Nicola took the pot to add to his already-massive stack.
Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
---|---|---|
Ermanno Di Nicola |
860,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
||
Behrouz Ghaedi
|
400,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
Toni Kaukua put in a raise of 38,500 from the small blind and Maher Achour called in the cutoff.
The flop came 10♠J♠6♠ and Kaukua continued for 20,000. Achour called and the 9♣ fell on the turn.
Kaukua then bet another 40,000 and Achour moved all in. Kaukua, with around 130,000 remaining, quickly folded.
Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
---|---|---|
Maher Achour | 350,000 | |
Toni Kaukua |
130,000
35,000
|
35,000 |