The penultimate day of the 2024 Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series has concluded here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus. Only nine players remain in the $3,300 Main Event, with Nichan Khorchidian leading the charge going into the final table after bagging a massive stack of 12,075,000 chips.
Khorchidian finds himself in familiar territory with this being his second Merit Poker Main Event final table that he has made this year. This past January, he came just shy of winning the 2024 Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event, ultimately placing second to Mohamed Mokrani for $252,500, a finish Khorchidian will seek to top with a victory in this event.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dmitry Gromov | Russia | 5,500,000 | 28 |
| 2 | Adrian State | Romania | 6,400,000 | 32 |
| 3 | Bogdan Jontulovic | Serbia | 9,300,000 | 47 |
| 4 | Anton Wigg | Sweden | 9,225,000 | 46 |
| 5 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | 1,275,000 | 6 |
| 6 | Nichan Khorchidian | Lebanon | 12,075,000 | 60 |
| 7 | Andrey Pateychuk | Russia | 3,200,000 | 16 |
| 8 | Naji Tannoury | Lebanon | 5,700,000 | 29 |
| 9 | Vedat Yilmaz | Turkey | 8,625,000 | 43 |
Khorchidian is most closely followed by Serbia's Bogdan Jontulovic, who finished with 9,300,000. Jontulovic finds himself in a dream spot going into tomorrow's final table, with even a ninth place finish surpassing his previous career-best score of $19,500. Jontulovic started the day in the middle of the pack and was facing elimination with just fourteen players remaining, holding pocket tens against Vedat Yilmaz' pocket jacks. A ten on the flop gave him a miracle double and he never looked back from there, constantly putting his opponents on decisions for their tournament life while sending both Roman Gadzhiev and Ruslan Bakhtiev to the rail en route to bagging the second-largest stack.
EPT Champion Anton Wigg rounds out the final three with 9,225,000. With a career spanning nearly 20 years and over $5,000,000 in career tournament earnings to his name, Wigg will be a force to reckoned with going into tomorrow's final table. He was one of the more active players today and got involved in a plethora of all-in confrontations, with him both doubling up several players while also sending several others to the rail. He found himself near the top of the counts after holding with pocket tens against Evagoras Evagorou's pocket eights and was able to ride that momentum to the end of the night, bagging the third-largest stack.
The top three will have their work cut out for them as several more big names find themselves at the final table. Perhaps no player at the final table is more familiar with success at Merit Poker events than Dmitry Gromov. The Russian pro and WPT champion has nine wins and no less than 40 final table appearances in Merit Poker events in his career, spanning back to his first Merit Poker win in 2013. Meanwhile, Andrey Pateychuk has already won a Merit Poker Main Event in 2018 and will be looking for a second Main Event title heading into tomorrow's final table.
Others still in contention include Vedat Yilmaz (8,625,000), Adrian State (6,400,000), Naji Tannoury (5,700,000) and Felipe Ketzer (1,275,000). Ketzer was left short-stacked in one of the last hands of the night after losing a flip to Tannoury. This will be Ketzer's third final table appearance at a Merit Poker Main Event this year, with him taking third in the Western Series Main Event this past January before finishing runner up in the Carmen Series Main Event in March.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $307,700 |
| 2 | $211,400 |
| 3 | $142,470 |
| 4 | $102,570 |
| 5 | $76,930 |
| 6 | $61,640 |
| 7 | $51,300 |
| 8 | $40,930 |
| 9 | $30,770 |
The final nine players have all locked up at least $30,770 but all eyes will be on the trophy and top prize of $307,700. Action will pick up at 1:00 p.m. local time with just under 60 minutes left on Level 32, featuring blinds at 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 big blind ante.
Stay tuned to Pokernews as we bring you all the action tomorrow from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned at the end of the night.
