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

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 4,000

Big Slick Goes Down in Flames for Achour

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Maher Achour opened to 8,000 from early position and Day 1d chip leader Vedat Yilmaz called from the hijack. Naji Azar moved all in for 166,000 and Achour made the call with a covering stack. Vedat Yilmaz then called off with his stack of 89,500 and was also at risk.

Vedat Yilmaz: 10?9?
Naji Tannoury: A?Q?
Maher Achour: A?K?

Achour seemed poised to score the double knockout with the best hand preflop but the Q?3?J? flop gave Azar the lead with a pair of queens while Yilmaz had both a flush and a straight draw. The 2? turn changed nothing but the 7? river gave Yilmaz the flush and he scored a full triple up while Azar took the side pot. Achour, who had started with the best hand and ended with the worst one, took a small hit to his stack but is still over double the average stack at this time.

Player Chips Progress
Maher Achour tn
Maher Achour
703,000
-184,000
-184,000
Vedat Yilmaz tr
Vedat Yilmaz
276,500
-143,500
-143,500
Day 1D Chip Leader
Naji Tannoury lb
Naji Tannoury
151,000
-59,000
-59,000

Tags: Maher AchourNaji AzarVedat Yilmaz

Arakelian Puts a Small Dent in Skhulukhiya's Stack

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Giorgiy Skhulukhiya came back from break flirting with the 1,000,000 chip milestone until tangling with Artem Arakelian.

Skhulukhiya had a raise of 33,000 in front of him from the big blind before Arakelian moved all in for 139,000 in the cutoff. Skhulukhiya called to put Arakelian at risk.

Artem Arakelian: 10?10?
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya: A?Q?

The flop brought 6?10?5? and Arakelian hit top set to take a big lead. The board ran out A?7? and Skhulukhiya handed over the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya ge
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya
900,000
-153,000
-153,000
Artem Arakelian ge
Artem Arakelian
280,000
189,000
189,000

Tags: Artem ArakelianGiorgiy Skhulukhiya

Hrabec Has a Better Two Pair

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Heads-up on a flop of K?5?Q?, Roman Hrabec bet 15,000 from the button and Simone Andrian called in the small blind.

Both players checked the J? turn and the 2? fell on the river. Andrian then bet 40,000 and Hrabec snap-called.

Andrian showed Q?J? for two pair, but Hrabec had K?5? for kings and fives as he took the pot off the Warm Up champion.

Player Chips Progress
Roman Hrabec cz
Roman Hrabec
620,000
-110,000
-110,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Simone Andrian it
Simone Andrian
150,000
50,000
50,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Roman HrabecSimone Andrian

Barka Gets Thin Value

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Samy Barka opened to 10,000 from the hijack and Shuang Luo defended from the big blind.

The flop came K?7?6? and Luo check-called a 9,000 continuation bet from Barka.

Luo check-called another bet from Barka on the Q? turn, this time for 20,000.

Both players checked the K? river. Luo turned over A?J? for ace-high while Barka tabled 10?7? for just second pair on the flop to take the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Samy Barka fr
Samy Barka
625,000
152,000
152,000
Day 1A Chip Leader
Shuang Luo cn
Shuang Luo
230,000
180,000
180,000

Tags: Samy BarkaShuang Luo

Di Nicola Shows Down Trips to Double Off Chilaud

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Maxime Chilaud raised to 8,000 in early position and was called by Yassin Mahmoud in middle position, as well as Ermanno Di Nicola and Joseph Mouawad from the blinds.

The flop came 4?J?Q? and Chilaud continued for 12,000. Only Mahmoud and Di Nicola called as the 4? fell on the turn.

Chilaud then bet 50,000 and Mahmoud took about two minutes before calling. Di Nicola took even longer until he emerged with a raise to 121,000. Chilaud quickly called, while Mahmoud got out of the way.

The river was the 5? and Di Nicola moved all in for 196,000. It was Chilaud's turn to tank as the past Merit Poker champion took several minutes until calling.

Di Nicola turned over 8?4? for trip fours and Chilaud tossed A?Q? into the muck as Di Nicola took down the massive pot.

At the same table, Xiang Lian has built up a stack of around 1,000,000.

Player Chips Progress
Xiang Lian cn
Xiang Lian
1,000,000
504,000
504,000
Ermanno Di Nicola it
Ermanno Di Nicola
800,000
583,000
583,000
Day 3 Chip Leader
WSOP 1X Winner
Koray Korkmaz tr
Koray Korkmaz
400,000
364,500
364,500
Yassin Mahmoud jo
Yassin Mahmoud
350,000
-300,000
-300,000
Maxime Chilaud fr
Maxime Chilaud
260,000
-60,000
-60,000
Joseph Mouawad lb
Joseph Mouawad
60,000
-134,500
-134,500
EPT 1X Winner

Tags: Ermanno Di NicolaJoseph MouawadMaxime ChilaudXiang LianYassin Mahmoud

He Knocks Down Eychenne With Miracle Double

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Junjie He was all in for his last 128,000 from the cutoff and up against Thomas Eychenne in early position.

Junjie He: 9?9?
Thomas Eychenne: Q?Q?

He was at risk and crushed by Eychenne's queens as the flop came 6?3?A?. The turn, though, was the 9? and He spiked a set to take the lead.

The A? river improved He to a full house and he doubled up, leaving Eychenne on a short stack.

Player Chips Progress
Junjie He cn
Junjie He
260,000
260,000
260,000
Thomas Eychenne fr
Thomas Eychenne
60,000
-222,000
-222,000

Tags: Junjie HeThomas Eychenne

Korliakov Accumulating Chips

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Nan Zhu opened to 9,000 from early position and received a call from Nan Zhu in middle position before Mohamad El Siblani three-bet to 33,000 from the button. Both opponents made the call.

The flop came 10?9?3? and the action checked around to El Siblani who bet 35,000. Zhu folded and Korliakov put in a check-raise to 80,000 which was enough to get a fold out of El Siblani.

Player Chips Progress
Ilia Korliakov ru
Ilia Korliakov
820,000
399,000
399,000
Nan Zhu cn
Nan Zhu
617,000
184,000
184,000
Mohamad El Siblani lb
Mohamad El Siblani
317,000
51,500
51,500

Tags: Mohamad El SiblaniNan Zhu

Doebs Spikes the Turn to Finish Off Chilaud

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Maxime Chilaud was moved to a new table shortly after taking the big hit against Ermanno Di Nicola and quickly got his last 240,000 in the middle from the cutoff. John Doebs called in the small blind to put him at risk.

Maxime Chilaud: Q?Q?
John Doebs: A?K?

It was a classic flip as the flop came J?10?10?, keeping Chilaud in the lead but giving Doebs a flush draw. He completed the flush on the 2? turn and smacked the table in celebration.

Chilaud needed to fill up on the river to stay alive but missed the 6? as he was sent off to the rail. Tablemate Amir Sonsino then took a photo of Doebs holding up his cards before he collected the pot.

"He had one out," Sonsino said.

"Three. A ten," Doebs pointed out.

Player Chips Progress
John Doebs tr
John Doebs
950,000
300,000
300,000
Maxime Chilaud fr
Maxime Chilaud
Busted

Tags: John DoebsMaxime Chilaud

Updated Chip Counts

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Michel Habib lb
Michel Habib
975,000
66,000
66,000
Traian Stanciu ro
Traian Stanciu
850,000
719,000
719,000
Gang Zhao cn
Gang Zhao
830,000
610,000
610,000
David Hu nl
David Hu
820,000
320,000
320,000
Gianfranco Iaculli it
Gianfranco Iaculli
760,000
200,000
200,000
Ryan Plant gb
Ryan Plant
750,000
300,000
300,000
Fabio Peluso it
Fabio Peluso
720,000
-30,000
-30,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
WSOP 1X Winner
Qiang Xu cn
Qiang Xu
630,000
410,000
410,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Aleksandr Kirichenko ru
Aleksandr Kirichenko
620,000
570,000
570,000
Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
540,000
320,000
320,000
Mihai Tusnea ro
Mihai Tusnea
520,000
203,000
203,000
Tarmo Tammel ee
Tarmo Tammel
480,000
230,000
230,000
Anatoly Korochenskiy ru
Anatoly Korochenskiy
460,000
190,000
190,000
Daniel Henriques pt
Daniel Henriques
330,000
-140,000
-140,000
Michael Brown gb
Michael Brown
330,000
110,000
110,000
Andreas Christoforou cy
Andreas Christoforou
320,000
Tomer Lahav il
Tomer Lahav
300,000
-80,000
-80,000
Amir Sonsino il
Amir Sonsino
300,000
165,000
165,000
Feng Qu cn
Feng Qu
280,000
-36,000
-36,000
Vladimir Troyanovskiy ru
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
200,000
200,000
200,000