2024 Merit Poker Western Series

$5,300 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info

2024 Merit Poker Western Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q5
Prize
$177,500
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$703,800
Entries
153
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
121
Players Left
30

$5,300 High Roller

Day 2 Started

Start of Day Chip Counts (full)

Player Chips Progress
John Doe
John Doe
403,000
403,000
403,000
Day 1 Chip Leader
Vladimir Troyanovskiy ru
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
402,000
Joseph Sabe lb
Joseph Sabe
338,500
Ihar Soika by
Ihar Soika
320,500
Aleksandr Kirichenko ru
Aleksandr Kirichenko
318,000
10,000
10,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
Kemal Aslan tr
Kemal Aslan
287,000
287,000
287,000
Shuang Luo cn
Shuang Luo
265,000
Maciej Komorowski pl
Maciej Komorowski
264,000
264,000
264,000
Roman Gadzhiev ru
Roman Gadzhiev
263,000
59,000
59,000
Fausto Tantillo it
Fausto Tantillo
245,500
500
500
Roman Hrabec cz
Roman Hrabec
230,500
WSOP 1X Winner
Ali Zebarjad au
Ali Zebarjad
218,500
218,500
218,500
Dawid Smolka pl
Dawid Smolka
216,000
216,000
216,000
Milos Skrbic rs
Milos Skrbic
212,000
112,000
112,000
John Basta eg
John Basta
209,000
109,000
109,000
Maksim Shornikau by
Maksim Shornikau
203,500
203,500
203,500
Qiang Xu cn
Qiang Xu
200,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Marius Kudzmanas lt
Marius Kudzmanas
198,500
198,500
198,500
WSOP 1X Winner
Yingrui Ge cn
Yingrui Ge
198,000
198,000
198,000
Vitalii Pankov ru
Vitalii Pankov
196,500
96,500
96,500
Mikhail Semin ru
Mikhail Semin
189,000
189,000
189,000
Marcin Dziubdziela pl
Marcin Dziubdziela
179,500
179,500
179,500
Bartlomiej Swieboda pl
Bartlomiej Swieboda
170,500
170,500
170,500
Ceyhan Tezcan tr
Ceyhan Tezcan
159,000
44,800
44,800
Andrey Pateychuk ru
Andrey Pateychuk
152,000
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner

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Troyanovskiy, Hrabec and Pateychuk Still in Contention on Day 2 of Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller

Andrey Pateychuk
Andrey Pateychuk

The action continues here at the 2023 Merit Poker Western Series at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino with Day 2 of the $5,300 High Roller. The event got off to a great start yesterday, attracting a total of 91 entrants to surpass it's $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. That number is set to increase as late registration and unlimited reentries will be available for the first four levels of play today.

Anonymous player John Doe bagged the overall chip lead for Day 1, finishing the evening with 403,000 worth 269 big blinds. The leader is most closely followed by Russia's Vladimir Troyanovskiy (402,000) and Lebanon's Joseph Sabe (338,500). Troyanovskiy in particular will be a force to be reckoned with as the Russian pro has just over $8,000,000 in career tournament earnings from results spanning the last two decades.

$5,300 High Roller Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1John DoeN/A403,000269
2Vladimir TroyanovskiyRussian Federation402,000268
3Joseph SabeLebanon338,500226
4Ihar SoikaBelarus320,500214
5Aleksandr KirichenkoRussian Federation318,000212
6Kemal AslanTurkey287,000191
7Shuang LuoChina265,000177
8Maciej KomorowskiPoland264,000176
9Roman GadzhievRussian Federation263,000175
10Fausto TantilloItaly245,500164
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
Vladimir Troyanovskiy

Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Ihar Soika (320,500), Aleksandr Kirichenko (318,000), Roman Hrabec (230,500), Qiang Xu (200,000), Marius Kudzmanas (198,500), Andrey Pateychuk (152,000), and Dmitry Gromov (82,500). Pateychuk and Hrabec in particular are still riding the momentum off of a very succesful year in 2023, with Pateychuk finishing 17th at the 2023 WSOP main event for $430,200 and Hrabec scoring four six-figure cashes in 2023 for just under $1,500,000 from those four cashes alone.

Some notable players who busted before the end of Day 1 include Giorgiy Skhulukhiya, who won the last Merit Poker High Roller event at the Gangster Series this past October for $149,200 and Dmitry Yurasov, who won the Main Event at that same series for $295,500. Both players will have the option to fire a second bullet during the first four levels of play today.

Day 2 of the high roller is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. local time and play ten 40-minute levels or until the money is reached. The blinds will start at 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action for this event until a winner is crowned tomorrow, January 20.

Tags: Aleksandr KirichenkoAndrey PateychukDmitry GromovDmitry YurasovFausto TantilloGiorgiy SkhulukhiyaIhar SoikaJoseph SabeKemal AslanMaciej KomorowskiMarius KudzmanasQiang XuRoman GadzhievRoman HrabecShuang LuoVladimir Troyanovskiy

Level: 9

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

Held Gets Tricky

Level 9 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Justus Held limped in from under the gun and bogdan-Andrei Munteanu limped behind from the hijack. Azamat Tulepbergenov then raised to 4,500 from the cutoff and action folded back to Held, who three-bet to 18,000. Both opponents got out of the way and Held took down a nice pot without having to see a flop.

Maxime Chilaud recently sat down at this table.

Player Chips Progress
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu ro
Bogdan-Andrei Munteanu
118,000
Justus Held de
Justus Held
116,000
35,500
35,500
Maxime Chilaud fr
Maxime Chilaud
100,000
Azamat Tulepbergenov kz
Azamat Tulepbergenov
95,000

Tags: Azamat TulepbergenovJustus Held

Mutlu Takes from Doe

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Start of day chip leader John Doe opened to 3,000 from early position and Vedat Mutlu called from middle position.

The flop came K?8?5? and Doe check-called a 6,000 bet from Mutlu.

Doe checked again on the 7? turn and folded to a 16,000 bet from his opponent.

Player Chips Progress
John Doe
John Doe
365,000
-38,000
-38,000
Day 1 Chip Leader
Vedat Mutlu tr
Vedat Mutlu
110,500
110,500
110,500

Tags: John DoeVedat Mutlu

Level: 10

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

Zukowicz Catches a Bluff

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Monika Zukowicz
Monika Zukowicz

Feng Qu opened from middle position and Monika Zukowicz called from the hijack.

Both players checked the Q?10?4? flop leading to the 2? on the turn. Qu bet 4,000, Zukowicz check-raised to to 10,500 and Qu made the call.

The 3? river completed the potential backdoor flush draw and Qu bet 32,000. Zukowicz thought for roughly 45 seconds before making the call.

Qu could only show A?9? for a pure bluff while Zukowicz tabled 2?2? for bottom set to take down a sizable pot.

Giorgiy Skhulukhiya also recently sat down at this table and is off to a good start on his second bullet, having already doubled up from his starting stack.

Player Chips Progress
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya ge
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya
232,000
232,000
232,000
Monika Zukowicz pl
Monika Zukowicz
147,000
68,500
68,500
Feng Qu cn
Feng Qu
64,000
64,000
64,000

Tags: Feng QuMonika Zukowicz

Zebarjad Calls Down Troyanovskiy

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Vladimir Troyanovskiy opened to 4,500 from the button and Ali Zebarjad defended from the big blind.

The flop came A?J?10? and Zebarjad check-called a 5,000 continuation bet from Troyanovskiy.

Zebarjad check-called another bet from Troyanovskiy on the 5? turn, this time for 15,000.

Both players checked the 6? river. Zebarjad tabled 10?7? for just third pair and Troyanovskiy's hand hit the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Vladimir Troyanovskiy ru
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
337,500
-64,500
-64,500
Ali Zebarjad au
Ali Zebarjad
223,000
4,500
4,500

Tags: Ali ZebarjadVladimir Troyanovskiy