$3,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series

$3,300 Main Event

Day 1a Completed

03-28-2023 21:26 UTC+2

Roman Gadzhiev, Ali Moein Dominate Day 1a of the Merit Poker Carmen Series $3,300 Main Event

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

There’s something about Day 1s that brings out the best of Ali Moein.

Just five days ago, Moein cruised through his opening flight of the Warmup event here at the Merit Poker Carmen Series, building up a commanding chip lead and riding that momentum to a 54th-place finish. Today, on Day 1a of the $3,300 Main Event, he busted one player with ace-queen over nines, then took out former chip leader Mounir Habib with two eights. He ended up with yet another impressive stack of 559,000.

But Moein isn’t the tournament chip leader after the opening flight. He wasn’t even the top stack at his table. Sitting to his immediate left was Roman Gadzhiev, who won a more than 300,000-chip pot off Moein in the last level by cracking pocket kings with the nut flush. Gadzhiev, who finished 23rd in the Warmup, bagged up 821,000, far and away the top stack at the end of the day as he’s well positioned for another deep run here at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus.

Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Roman Gadzhiev	821,000	328
2	Denis Kapustin	577,500	231
3	Ali Moein	559,000	224
4	Recep Aydemir	554,500	222
5	Boris Smuskevicius	538,000	215
6	Anatoly Korochenskiy	485,000	194
7	Aleksandr Ivanov	480,000	192
8	Jack Sinclair	469,500	188
9	Mehmet Erceylan	461,000	184
10	Eli Saad	432,000	173

A total of 232 entries bought into Day 1a and played nine hour-long levels. Just 106 players remain who will return to play for Day 2 on March 31. Recep Aydemir spent the day sharing a table with Ara Melkisetian and constantly dueled with his tablemate. Aydemir finished with 554,500, while Melkisetian also made it through the day with 250,000.

Boris Smuskevicius knocked out David Hu when he hit a full house on the river on his way to bagging up 538,000; Hu reentered and did much better on his second bullet, finishing with 289,500. Jack Sinclair (469,500), Warmup runner-up Koray Korkmaz (407,000), Daniel Rezaei (405,000), and Mikhail Zamyatin (337,500), another Warmup finalist, also enjoyed fruitful days on the felt.

Those who weren’t as lucky to survive the day included Warmup fourth-place finisher Julien Loire, Toni Kaukua, and Merit Poker Western Series Main Event champion Orthodoxos Orthodoxou. They’ll have to try again on a later flight if they want to get their hands on the prestigious Merit Poker trophy.

Day 1b begins tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time, where a crop of new and reentering players will take their shot at making it through to Day 2. PokerNews will be following all the action, so stay tuned tomorrow for another action-filled day here in North Cyprus.

Tags: Ali Moein Ara Melkisetian Boris Smuskevicius Daniel Rezaei David Hu Jack Sinclair Julien Loire Koray Korkmaz Mikhail Zamyatin Mounir Habib Orthodoxos Orthodoxou Recep Aydemir Roman Gadzhiev Toni Kaukua

03-28-2023 20:43 UTC+2

End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Roman Gadzhiev	821,000 61,000	61,000
Denis Kapustin	577,500 327,500	327,500
Ali Moein	559,000 159,000	159,000
Recep Aydemir	554,500 234,500	234,500
Boris Smuskevicius	538,000 58,000	58,000
Anatoly Korochenskiy	485,000 235,000	235,000
Aleksandr Ivanov	480,000
Jack Sinclair	469,500 9,500	9,500

Mehmet Erceylan	461,000 311,000	311,000
Eli Saad	432,000 112,000	112,000
Koray Korkmaz	407,000 227,000	227,000
Daniel Rezaei	405,500 -4,500	-4,500
Mekan Yusupov	373,000
Georgio Azar	369,500 209,500	209,500
Anil Yildiz	359,000 99,000	99,000
Rajendara Dhar	351,000
Joseph Khneisser	350,500
Mikhail Zamyatin	337,500 87,500	87,500
Artem Kazantsev	336,000 276,000	276,000
Fausto Tantillo	334,500
Julian Selinger	319,000 79,000	79,000
Michael Uguccioni	316,000 246,000	246,000
Rytis Strigunas	307,000
Michel Atallah	301,000
Timur Mukhamedaminov	293,000

Read full

03-28-2023 20:29 UTC+2

Three More Hands

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Tournament officials have announced that players will see three more hands before bagging for the night.

03-28-2023 20:28 UTC+2

Gadzhiev Takes Big Chunk Off Moein

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Fellow big stacks Roman Gadzhiev and Ali Moein just tangled in a massive pot that saw Gadzhiev approach 800,000 chips with only a few minutes left in the day.

On a board of , Gadzhiev bet 30,000 from the small blind and Moein called on the button.

The river came the and Gadzhiev fired out another 125,000. Moein quickly called as Gadzhiev turned over for the turned flush.

Moein slammed down on the table and watched as the pile of chips and the tournament chip lead went over to his immediate left.

Player	Chips	Progress
Roman Gadzhiev	760,000 150,000	150,000
Ali Moein	400,000 -120,000	-120,000

Tags: Ali Moein Roman Gadzhiev

03-28-2023 20:23 UTC+2

Big Stacks Approaching the End

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Roman Gadzhiev	610,000 280,000	280,000
Ali Moein	520,000 100,000	100,000
Boris Smuskevicius	480,000 20,000	20,000
Jack Sinclair	460,000 100,000	100,000

Eli Saad	320,000

03-28-2023 20:17 UTC+2

Aydemir vs. Melkisetian, Part Three

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Recep Aydemir raised to 5,000 as action folded to Ara Melkisetian in the cutoff, who three-bet to 17,000. The big blind called as action went back on Aydemir.

"Maybe my turn this time," he told Melkisetian.

"Maybe this time. Maybe next time," Melkisetian responded as Aydemir finally called.

The flop came and Melkisetian continued for 25,000, enough to get rid of the big blind. Aydemir, though, called to the turn.

Both players checked and Aydemir led out for around 30,000 on the river. Melkisetian snap-folded.

Aydemir showed for a bluff. "I tell you, don't make me angry," he said.

"Every time you bluff I have nothing to call you. If I have one pair I call you. That's how good you're running," Melkisetian replied.

Player	Chips	Progress
Recep Aydemir	320,000 90,000	90,000
Ara Melkisetian	180,000 60,000	60,000

Tags: Ara Melkisetian Recep Aydemir

03-28-2023 20:05 UTC+2

Hallay KO's Etim in the Final Round

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Terence Etim was down to his last 10,000 and moved all in from middle position. Yiannis Liperis called from the cutoff before Axel Hallay reraised to 25,000 on the button. Liperis folded.

Terence Etim:
Axel Hallay:

"I gave you protection," Hallay said heading to the flop, which had something for both players. Etim made two pair, but Hallay now had a flush draw.

The on the turn was safe for Etim, but Hallay spiked the on the river to complete his flush and knock out the former UFC fighter in the last level of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yiannis Liperis	230,000 155,000	155,000
Axel Hallay	75,000
Terence Etim	Busted

Tags: Axel Hallay Terence Etim Yiannis Liperis

03-28-2023 19:59 UTC+2

Vurucu Runs Into Karpavicius' Aces

David Salituro

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Daniel Myers raised to 5,000 from under the gun as action folded around to Ifran Vurucu on the button, who moved all in for 38,000. Gierdrius Karpavicius in the big blind tanked for a moment before reshoving, and Myers got out of the way.

Ifran Vurucu:
Gierdrius Karpavicius:

The flop gave Vurucu a pair of threes, but Karpavicius also picked up a flush draw. "It's okay, that's a good flop," Vurucu's tablemates tried to reassure him.