From Last to First: Ermanno Di Nicola Bags the Chip Lead on Day 1b of the $2,200 Warm Up
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.