2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series

$2,200 NL Warmup
Day: 3
Event Info

2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k4
Prize
$206,800
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$1,124,240
Entries
611
Level Info
Level
38
Blinds
600,000 / 1,200,000
Ante
1,200,000
Players Info - Day 3
Entries
126
Players Left
21

Koray Korkmaz Ends Day 3 With a Bang to Snag the Chip Lead in the Merit Poker Carmen Series $2,200 Warmup

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Koray Korkmaz
Koray Korkmaz

Koray Korkmaz began Day 3 of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $2,200 Warmup needing a three-outer on the river to stay in the tournament. He ended it by winning a massive pot with another lucky river and taking the tournament chip lead into tomorrow's final day.

Korkmaz busted Kubanychbek Abakirov on the second-last hand of the night, rivering the nut flush to beat Abakirov's top pair as Korkmaz ended with 7,050,000. The Merit Poker regular, who has 34 cashes in events here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, needed a miracle just to get this far. He was all in and down to his last card in the first level of Day 3 but spiked a king to double up. Korkmaz continued his rise up the leaderboard by winning a 3,400,000-chip coin flip with queens against Viktor Ustimov��s ace-king.

Korkmaz leads the 21 remaining players out of a starting field of 611 that still have a chance at capturing the $206,800 top prize and prestigious Merit Poker trophy. Eduard Barsegian (5,080,000), Dmitry Gromov (4,900,000), and Julien Loire (4,610,000) are his closest challengers, while Nicolas Chouity, with nearly $4 million in live tournament earnings, is in sixth place with 3,800,000.

Ustimov (3,100,000), Ran Ilani (2,655,000), Recep Aydemir (1,795,000), and Arie Kliper (1,500,000) will also be back on the tournament��s final day as they play down to a champion tomorrow.

Day 3 Chip Counts

RankPlayerChip CountBig Blinds
1Koray Korkmaz7,050,00071
2Eduard Barsegian5,080,00051
3Dmitry Gromov4,900,00049
4Julien Loire4,610,00046
5Boris Angelov4,550,00046
6Nicolas Chouity3,800,00038
7Basel Khabbazeh3,440,00034
8Damir Zhugralin3,400,00034
9Viktor Ustimov3,100,00031
10Mikhail Zamyatin3,005,00030
11Michael Uguccioni2,865,00029
12Cenk Nigbolu2,755,00028
13Ran Ilani2,655,00027
14Recep Aydemir1,795,00018
15Petr Skripka1,570,00016
16Arie Kliper1,500,00015
17Gurcan Gungoren1,275,00013
18Luc Bindel1,270,00013
19Maksim Skripkin935,0009
20Saman Nakhjavani920,0009
21Jakub Michalak825,0008

Day 3 began with 126 players remaining, and the first order of business was to reach the money. Only 71 players would walk away with something for three days of play, and Yulian Bogdanov, Toni Kaukua, Michele Guerrini, and defending champion Selahaddin Bedir all fell short of making the money.

Gabi Livshitz (70th), Philippe Souki (51st), and Uri Reichenstein (45th) all busted shortly after the bubble burst. Ali Moein, who built up a massive chip lead on Day 1 of the tournament, managed to ride that stack to a 54th-place finish. Rabih Saad, the start-of-day chip leader, lasted until Korkmaz busted him in 25th place after both players flopped sets, Saad with nines and Korkmaz holding aces.

The 21 survivors will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time. Blinds will pick up in Level 27, at 50,000-100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. The feature and final tables will be streamed on a delay on Merit Poker��s YouTube and Facebook channels.

Just 21 remain. By the end of tomorrow, there will be only one, and PokerNews will follow the action the entire way until a champion is crowned here in North Cyprus.

Tags: Arie KliperBasel KhabbazehBoris AngelovCenk NigboluDamir ZhugralinDmitry GromovEduard BarsegianGurcan GungorenJakub MichalakJulien LoireKoray KorkmazLuc BindelMaksim SkripkinMichael UguccioniMikhail ZamyatinNicolas ChouityPetr SkripkaRan IlaniRecep AydemirSaman NakhjavaniViktor Ustimov