2024 Merit Poker Western Series

$3,300 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2024 Merit Poker Western Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
99
Prize
$342,500
Event Info
Buy-in
$3,300
Prize Pool
$1,854,720
Entries
672
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
200,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
384
Players Left
130

Pankov Bests Gromov With Queen-High

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Heads-up on a flop of 3?10?4?, Dmitry Gromov bet 10,000 from early position and Vitalii Pankov called on the button.

The turn was the 9? and Gromov checked. Pankov then bet 26,000 and Gromov called.

The 10? fell on the river and Gromov again checked. Pankov checked back and Gromov showed 6?5? for a missed straight draw. Pankov had Q?J? for his own busted straight but took the pot with his queen-high.

Player Chips Progress
Vitalii Pankov ru
Vitalii Pankov
340,000
110,000
110,000
Dmitry Gromov ru
Dmitry Gromov
220,000
60,000
60,000
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Dmitry GromovVitalii Pankov

Lin Gets Paid on Massive River Bet

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Helmut Phung raised to 7,500 on the button before Jianwei Lin three-bet to 23,000 in the big blind. Phung called and they saw a flop of 9?5?8?.

Lin continued for 16,500 and Phung called. The turn was the J? and Lin bet another 45,000. Phung again called and the 8? fell on the river.

Lin then bet 125,000 and Phung spent several minutes in the tank before tossing in a chip to signify a call. Lin turned over J?J? for a set and Phung mucked.

This table, which also includes start-of-day chip leader Samy Barka, Monika Zukowicz, and Stanislav Tishkevich, had spent the early part of the day on the main feature stage before moving back into the main tournament area at the break.

Player Chips Progress
Jianwei Lin cn
Jianwei Lin
850,000
231,000
231,000
Vladimir Malyarchuk kz
Vladimir Malyarchuk
750,000
420,500
420,500
Samy Barka fr
Samy Barka
300,000
-483,000
-483,000
Day 1A Chip Leader
Stanislav Tishkevich pt
Stanislav Tishkevich
290,000
131,000
131,000
Monika Zukowicz pl
Monika Zukowicz
220,000
-41,500
-41,500
Helmut Phung de
Helmut Phung
100,000
-188,000
-188,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Helmut PhungJianwei Lin

Khordbin Fires Two Barrels

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Hadi Khordbin opened to 7,000 from under the gun and received a call from Ihar Soika in the cutoff before a player in the small blind three-bet to 21,000. Khordbin made the call while Soika got out of the way.

The flop came 9?7?2?. The small blind made a continuation bet of 21,000 that was called by Khordbin.

The small blind checked on the 3? turn and Khordbin bet 20,000. The small blind made the call.

Khordbin bet again for 70,000 when checked to on the 9? turn and this time it was enough to force a fold from his opponent.

Player Chips Progress
Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
335,000
114,500
114,500
Ihar Soika by
Ihar Soika
204,000
-211,000
-211,000

Tags: Hadi KhordbinIhar Soika

Updated Chip Counts

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Dmitry Yurasov ru
Dmitry Yurasov
770,000
-15,500
-15,500
WSOP 2X Winner
Yassin Mahmoud jo
Yassin Mahmoud
650,000
650,000
650,000
Wael Sarkis lb
Wael Sarkis
600,000
66,500
66,500
Robert Heidorn de
Robert Heidorn
570,000
302,000
302,000
Hadi Khordbin ir
Hadi Khordbin
350,000
15,000
15,000
Maxime Chilaud fr
Maxime Chilaud
320,000
29,000
29,000
David Hu nl
David Hu
300,000
184,000
184,000
Toni Kaukua fi
Toni Kaukua
260,000
174,000
174,000
Adrian State ro
Adrian State
250,000
100,000
100,000
Nils Pudel de
Nils Pudel
250,000
188,000
188,000
Antoine Hasbani lb
Antoine Hasbani
240,000
33,500
33,500
Candido Cappiello it
Candido Cappiello
220,000
-256,500
-256,500
Samuel Dray fr
Samuel Dray
200,000
20,000
20,000
Andrew Hedley gb
Andrew Hedley
180,000
-100,000
-100,000
Ramez Haddad lb
Ramez Haddad
150,000
-37,500
-37,500
Christophe Panetti ch
Christophe Panetti
150,000
-40,000
-40,000
Vincent Meli fr
Vincent Meli
140,000
-107,000
-107,000

Mustafov Saved From a Cooler on the River

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Heads-up on a board of J?8?J?7?, Daniel Henriques bet 25,000 from the button before Fahredin Mustafov raised to 60,000 in the hijack.

Henriques called and the 7? fell on the river. Mustafov then bet 140,000 and Henriques snap-called.

Henriques showed K?J? for a full house, while Mustafov had the same full house with J?9? as he survived with a chop on the river.

Player Chips Progress
Daniel Henriques pt
Daniel Henriques
470,000
30,000
30,000
Fahredin Mustafov bg
Fahredin Mustafov
370,000
20,000
20,000

Tags: Daniel HenriquesFahredin Mustafov

Bleau Feeling Blue After Busting to Zebarjad

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante
Iulian Andrei Bleau
Iulian Andrei Bleau

Maroun Jazzar raised to 8,500 in the hijack and Iulian Andrei Bleau called in the cutoff. Ali Zebarjad then three-bet to 30,000 in the big blind and only Bleau called.

The flop came J?8?10? and Zebarjad checked. Bleau then bet 21,000 and Zebarjad called.

Zebarjad led out for 75,000 on the 7? turn and Bleau called to see the 6? river. Zebarjad then announced he was all in.

Bleau tanked for a minute before committing the rest of his 220,000. "Straight," Zebarjad said, turning over 9?9?. Bleau flashed Q?Q? as he headed off for the exit.

"That's a good story," Zebarjad said with a smile as he raked in the massive pot.

This table also includes big stacks Nazar Buhaiov and Audere, as well as Xixiang Luo.

Player Chips Progress
Ali Zebarjad au
Ali Zebarjad
700,000
428,500
428,500
Nazar Buhaiov ua
Nazar Buhaiov
600,000
233,500
233,500
Audere
Audere
550,000
50,000
50,000
Maroun Jazzar lb
Maroun Jazzar
500,000
-20,000
-20,000
Xixiang Luo cn
Xixiang Luo
300,000
267,500
267,500
WSOP 2X Winner
Iulian Andrei Bleau ro
Iulian Andrei Bleau
Busted

Tags: Ali ZebarjadIulian Andrei Bleau

Achour Cracks Dziubdziela's Queens

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante
Marcin Dziubdziela
Marcin Dziubdziela

Marcin Dziubdziela was in the hijack and had three-bet a previous open to 26,000 only for Maher Achour to four-bet to 80,000 from the small blind. All other players got out of the way before Dziubdziela moved all in for 227,000.

Achour thought about the decision for about 90 seconds before calling with a covering stack to put Dziubdziela at risk.

Marcin Dziubdziela: Q?Q?
Maher Achour: 9?9?

Achour made middle set on the 10?9?5? flop leaving Dziubdziela drawing to just two outs. The 3? turn and 2? river changed nothing for either player and Dziubdziela hit the rail while Achour dragged in a pot worth nearly 150 big blinds.

Player Chips Progress
Maher Achour tn
Maher Achour
721,000
214,500
214,500
Marcin Dziubdziela pl
Marcin Dziubdziela
Busted

Tags: Maher AchourMarcin Dziubdziela

Hu Shows Hasbani the Nuts

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante
David Hu
David Hu

Heads-up on a flop of Q?A?9?, David Hu bet 18,000 from the cutoff and Antoine Hasbani called in early position.

Both players checked the A? turn before Hasbani led out for 18,000 on the K? river.

Hu then raised to 95,000 and Hasbani called. Hu showed A?K? for a full house and Hasbani mucked.

Player Chips Progress
David Hu nl
David Hu
500,000
200,000
200,000
Ryan Plant gb
Ryan Plant
450,000
135,000
135,000
Nuri Hadioglu tr
Nuri Hadioglu
380,000
46,000
46,000
Baurzhan Akimov kz
Baurzhan Akimov
250,000
68,500
68,500
Antoine Hasbani lb
Antoine Hasbani
180,000
-60,000
-60,000

Tags: Antoine HasbaniDavid Hu

Level: 14

Blinds: 2,000/3,500

Ante: 3,500

Barka Leaves Tishkevich Short after Brutal Turn

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante
Samy Barka
Samy Barka

Monika Zukowicz opened to 7,000 from early position and Stanislav Tishkevich three-bet to 21,000 from middle position. Samy Barka called in late position and Zukowicz got out of the way.

Tishkevich fired an 18,000 continuation bet on the A?8?6? flop that was called by Barka.

On the 9? turn Tishkevich checked and Barka bet 100,000 into the 90,000 pot. Tishkevich moved all in for roughly 225,000 and Barka, who was slightly covered, made the call.

Samy Barka: 9?9?
Stanislav Tishkevich: A?K?

Tishkevich had flopped top pair but Barka had turned a set of nines leaving Tishkevich drawing dead. The 10? river was a formality after which Barka scored a full double up through Tishkevich who was left with under ten big blinds.

Player Chips Progress
Samy Barka fr
Samy Barka
473,000
173,000
173,000
Day 1A Chip Leader
Monika Zukowicz pl
Monika Zukowicz
217,000
-3,000
-3,000
Stanislav Tishkevich pt
Stanislav Tishkevich
29,000
-261,000
-261,000

Tags: Monika ZukowiczSamy BarkaStanislav Tishkevich