Thursday, October 17, 2019 4:12 AM Local Time
Merzhvinskii Takes Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event Day 1a Chip Lead; Ha, Deeb, Campbell, Ferguson, Blom All Make Day 2
The first of three starting days of Event #3: 1,350 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold'em has come to a hectic end at the start of Level 17 with 39 minutes and 56 seconds left in the level. There 174 entries collected which included 42 reentries and at the end of the day, there were 34 players left even though they only had to play down to 35.
With four people all-in and another monster pot, the last few minutes of the night were ones to remember. Aleksandr Merzhvinskii claimed the chip lead by taking almost all of Arturs Scerbaks' chips when he had flopped a set of fours. Thanks to that hand, Merzhvinskii bagged 1,255,000 in chips. He is followed by Thai Ha who was the only other player to bag over a million in chips. Ha eliminated Yi Ye in the last hand of the night when Ye tried to bluff him and Ha had made the right call with two pair.
Thai Ha
Bracelet winners Chris Ferguson, Shaun Deeb, Robert Campbell, and Julien Martini have all made it through to Day 2 but aren't in the money yet as the tournament organization had decided to play down to 20% of the field instead of 15% to shorten the day. Other notable players to find a bag for Day 2 include Viktor Blom, Paulius Vaitiekunas, Sebastian Pauli, Aaron Duczak, Aaron Duczak, Pierre Neuville, and Fabian Gumz.
Not everyone was lucky enough though, Allen Kessler lost all his chips when he tried to bluff Vaitiekunas, Anthony Zinno lost his chips to Jean-Rene Fontaine who unfortunately for him couldn't keep a hold on them himself. Ismael Bojang couldn't find a good birthday present for himself by bagging when he failed to win his all-in against Bartlomiej Staszczak.
But they all have a few more shots to try and battle it out for their share of the €551,750 guaranteed prize pool which includes five WSOPE Main Event tickets worth €10,350 each. Day 1b on Thursday, October 17, or Day 1c, October 18, gives them another chance to make Day 2. Both of those days will follow the same structure as Day 1a with 40-minute levels, a 15-minute break after every three levels, a 60-minute dinner break after Level 9, and 12 levels of late registration or one reentry possibility.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be there to let you know who else will make it through the two other starting days so make sure to keep following the updates throughout the event.
Thursday, October 17, 2019 3:32 AM Local Time
End-of-Day Chip Counts
| Aleksandr Merzhvinskii | 1,255,000 | 0  |
| Thai Ha | 1,035,000 | 0 |
| Alain Crettenand | 797,000 | 0 |
| Moritz Koelsch | 795,000 | 0 |
| Stanislaw Miadzel | 784,000 | 0 |
| Chris Ferguson | 763,000 | 0 |
| Bartlomiej Staszczak | 756,000 | 0 |
| Viktor Blom | 739,000 | 0 |
| Shaun Deeb | 736,000 | 0 |
| Ming Hong Teoh | 727,000 | 0 |
| Sebastian Berres | 701,000 | 0 |
| Tarik Ozdemir | 627,000 | 0 |
| Ondrej Lon | 610,000 | 0 |
| Ken Beckers | 591,000 | 0 |
| Paulius Vaitiekunas | 580,000 | 0 |
| Mykhailo Sezonenko | 560,000 | 0 |
| Steven Jones | 473,000 | 0 |
| Sebastian Pauli | 453,000 | 0 |
| Jan Joergensen | 403,000 | 0 |
| Thierry Chanson | 353,000 | 0 |
| Robert Campbell | 351,000 | 0 |
| Jeffrey Cormier | 349,000 | 0 |
| Josef Huber | 315,000 | 0 |
| Jakob Madsen | 309,000 | 0 |
| Ingo Paulus | 304,000 | 0 |
| Aaron Duczak | 301,000 | 0 |
| Adi Rajkovic | 287,000 | 0 |
| Julien Martini | 280,000 | 0 |
| Pierre Neuville | 254,000 | 0 |
| Damian Siewert | 247,000 | 0 |
| Fabian Gumz | 241,000 | 0 |
| Aleksandar Nanchev | 173,000 | 0 |
| Arturs Scerbaks | 165,000 | 0 |
| Hakan Varol | 128,000 | 0 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 3:15 AM Local Time
Play Ended
The full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
Thursday, October 17, 2019 3:09 AM Local Time
Two Bust in Last Hand of the Night in an All-In Bonanza
In what proved to be the last hand of the night, there were four all-ins and calls on four out of the five tables.
First, there was a three-way all-in with Georgy Philippovich at risk with the shortest stack of around 69,000, then Jakob Madsen with 123,000 as Robert Campbell had them both covered.
Georgy Philippovich:
Jakob Madsen:
Robert Campbell:
The board ran out for Madsen to hold to lay claim to Philippovich's stack and double through Campbell.
Then Jeffrey Cormier was all-in from the big blind for 145,000 when the board read and was called by Ming Hong Teoh in the middle position. Cormier held for the flush draw and Teoh had called with for two pair. The river completed the board with the to give Cormier the flush and double up.
On Aleksandr Merzhvinskii's table, the board read and Arturs Scerbaks had checked in the middle position. Merzhvinskii bet 250,000 on the button and Scerbaks called after tanking for a while to then muck as Merzhvinskii had for the set of fours.
Over on Thai Ha's table, the board read , Ha had checked his small blind with a substantial pot in the middle already. Yi Ye shoved for 286,000 from the hijack. Ha was contemplating his options while the rest of the players at the other tables had already started bagging up. After a while, Ha called. Ye flicked over the line and got up from his chair, Ha quickly turned over for two pair, nines and fours to scoop the pot while Ye walked away.
| Aleksandr Merzhvinskii | 1,255,000 | 915,000  |
| Thai Ha | 1,035,000 | 315,000 |
| Ming Hong Teoh | 727,000 | -134,000 |
| Robert Campbell | 351,000 | -119,000 |
| Jeffrey Cormier | 349,000 | 19,000 |
| Jakob Madsen | 309,000 | 221,000 |
| Arturs Scerbaks | 165,000 | -287,000 |
| Georgy Philippovich | 0 | -244,000 |
| Yi Ye | 0 | -200,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:55 AM Local Time
Level 17 started
Level: 17
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 12,000
Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:45 AM Local Time
Gumz More Than Doubles
Jeffrey Cormier raised to 25,000 from under the gun and was called by Julien Martini on the button and Fabian Gumz in the big blind.
The flop came and Gumz shoved for 78,000 which only Cormier called.
Fabian Gumz:
Jeffrey Cormier:
The turn was the to give Gumz the flush and secure the double-up for him. The on the river was just a formality to complete the board.
| Fabian Gumz | 241,000 | 116,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:35 AM Local Time
One Left to Bust
The board read with around 130,000 in the middle.
Robert Campbell checked in the small blind and Jakob Madsen shoved for 288,000 from under the gun. Campbell contemplated for a while and then made the call for the 170,000 he had behind.
Robert Campbell:
Jakob Madsen:
The river completed the board with the for Campbell to hold and double up.
| Robert Campbell | 470,000 | 280,000 |
| Jakob Madsen | 88,000 | -350,000 |
| Oleg Pavlyuchuk | 0 | |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:26 AM Local Time
Teoh Finds a Double-Up
Ming Hong Teoh was all-in from the hijack and at risk against Pierre Neuville in the big blind with the action before unknown but Teoh was covered by Neuville for his 423,000.
Ming Hong Teoh:
Pierre Neuville:
The board ran out for Teoh to hold to double up.
| Ming Hong Teoh | 861,000 | 361,000 |
| Pierre Neuville | 474,000 | -246,000 |
| Kristoffer Rasmussen | 0 | -100,000 |
| Elmo Tumaliuan | 0 | -82,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:15 AM Local Time
Vaitiekunas Shoves on Berres
Paulius Vaitiekunas raised to 20,000 from the hijack and Sebastian Berres defended his big blind.
The flop came , Berres check-called the 20,000 continuation-bet of Vaitiekunas.
The turn was the , Berres now check-called the 65,000 bet of Vaitiekunas.
The river completed the board with the , Berres checked for the last time. Vaitiekunas shoved and Berres asked for a count. The dealer confirmed Vaitiekunas had 288,000 left. Berres dived into the tank and after a while, the clock was called on him. The floor came over to give Berres 30 seconds. After she started counting down from five, he opted to fold.
| Mykhailo Sezonenko | 727,000 | 727,000 |
| Viktor Blom | 624,000 | 524,000 |
| Ondrej Lon | 585,000 | -18,000 |
| Paulius Vaitiekunas | 513,000 | 68,000 |
| Sebastian Berres | 416,000 | 416,000 |
| Adi Rajkovic | 312,000 | 189,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:04 AM Local Time
Level 16 started
Level: 16
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 10,000
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:50 AM Local Time
Probable Last Break of The Day
The 39 remaining players have been sent for another 15-minute break. As the field needs to go down to 35 players, only 4 more players need to be eliminated before the day will end.
| Aliaksei Ivanou | 0 | -275,000 |
| Herbert Reissnecker | 0 | -495,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:45 AM Local Time
Deeb vs Nanchev
Shaun Deeb raised to 16,000 from the middle position and Aleksandar Nanchev was sitting in the big blind.
"Fuck you," Nanchev said before defending after they had some back and forth ribbing already. "We can't let him,"
"Just a warning, I am going to show you a bluff," Deeb said before the was dealt on the flop.
Nanchev who seemed a bit inebriated sighed: "It's so different playing with the pros!" before snap-check-calling the 13,000 continuation-bet of Deeb.
They both checked through the on the turn to the on the river.
"You just pray that you have the best hand!" before barreling a bet of 114,000 into the pot.
Deeb quickly folded.
"Pleasure to play with you," was one of the things Nanchev said before going on into a conversation with mainly himself and standing up.
| Shaun Deeb | 670,000 | 355,000 |
| Jan Joergensen | 580,000 | 485,000 |
| Aleksandar Nanchev | 390,000 | 390,000 |
| Aleksandr Merzhvinskii | 340,000 | 104,000 |
| Thierry Chanson | 307,000 | -205,000 |
| Aliaksei Ivanou | 275,000 | 125,000 |
| Elmo Tumaliuan | 82,000 | -18,000 |
| Jean-Rene Fontaine | 0 | -460,000 |
| Ismail Kalkan | 0 | -295,000 |
| Johan Espholm | 0 | 0 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:28 AM Local Time
One for Kalkan
Julien Martini raised to 18,000 from the cutoff and Ismail Kalkan defended his big blind.
The flop came , Kalkan snap-called the 31,000 continuation-bet of Martini after checking first.
They then both checked through both the on the turn and the on the river for Kalkan to scoop the pot with .
| Pierre Neuville | 720,000 | 671,000 |
| Ming Hong Teoh | 500,000 | 178,000 |
| Josef Huber | 317,000 | -73,000 |
| Ismail Kalkan | 295,000 | 87,000 |
| Julien Martini | 152,000 | 52,000 |
| Fabian Gumz | 125,000 | 53,500 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:22 AM Local Time
Philippovich Doubles Through Staszczak
Bartlomiej Staszczak had Georgy Philioppovich covered from the cutoff with the latter in the small blind when they were heads-up.
Georgy Philippovich:
Bartlomiej Staszczak:
The board ran out for Philippovich to double up to 244,000.
| Bartlomiej Staszczak | 796,000 | -111,000 |
| Georgy Philippovich | 244,000 | |
| Matthew Webb | 0 | |
| Gasam Alaaldin | 0 | -470,000 |
| Vadzim Lipauka | 0 | -100,000 |
| Paul Theobald | 0 | |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:14 AM Local Time
More Eliminations
| Andrea Ricci | 0 | -450,000 |
| Predrag Bukovec | 0 | -209,000 |
| Christophe Panetti | 0 | |
| Marcin Jaworski | 0 | |
| Giuliano Bendinelli | 0 | -104,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:09 AM Local Time
Level 15 started
Level: 15
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000
Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:05 AM Local Time
Zinno Eliminated by Fontaine
Jean-Rene Fontaine and Anthony Zinno were heads-up in a hijack versus cutoff situation. Zinno was at risk as he was covered by Fontaine.
Anthony Zinno:
Jean-Rene Fontaine:
The board ran out to not bring any help to Zinno as he was sent to the rail.
| Jean-Rene Fontaine | 460,000 | 240,000 |
| Christopher Putz | 0 | -90,000 |
| Anthony Zinno | 0 | -100,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 12:58 AM Local Time
Madsen Gets the Folds
Robert Campbell raised to 13,000 from the early position. Stanislaw Miadzel called in the middle position and Jakob Madsen looked at both of their stacks before three-betting to 48,000. Action folded back to Campbell who folded but Miadzel called.
The flop came , Miadzel snap-check-folded when Madsen bet 27,000.
| Jakob Madsen | 438,000 | 338,000 |
| Stanislaw Miadzel | 227,000 | 127,000 |
| Robert Campbell | 190,000 | -11,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 12:49 AM Local Time
Latest Eliminations
| Roland Israelashvili | 0 | -135,000 |
| Dennis Martin | 0 | |
| Martin Preiss | 0 | -300,000 |
| Dragos Trofimov | 0 | -100,000 |
| Dzmitry Urbanovich | 0 | -100,000 |
| Amit Goldin | 0 | -15,000 |
| Eli Elezra | 0 | -110,000 |
| Stefan Raschbauer | 0 | -174,500 |
| Phillip Hui | 0 | -156,500 |
| Louis Helm | 0 | -56,000 |
Thursday, October 17, 2019 12:45 AM Local Time
Lon Leaves Goldin Short
Most of Amit Goldin's stack was being sent to Ondrej Lon on his right wth still exposed for Lon on the board. While Lon now has over 600,000, Goldin is left with a mere 15,000.
| Ondrej Lon | 603,000 | 468,000 |
| Amit Goldin | 15,000 | -345,000 |