Level: 13
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series
$5,300 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info
Top
Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 12
: Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The players are now on a 30-minute dinner break and will return at 21:30. At the end of this break late registration will officially close.
Level 12
: Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Arriving at the table to see a healthy pot already had been built. Aleksandr Kirichenko was all-in and there was still action on the side between Hassan Nashar and Georgios Tsouloftas. The board showed 3?3?3?2? and Nashar bet 30,000 from the cutoff. Georgios Tsouloftas called from the button.
When the 2? appeared on the river, Nashar put out a bet of 75,000 and said "I have a full house!", much to the amusement of the rest of the table since there was already a full house on the board.
Tsouloftas was less amused after he called the bet, as Nashar to turn over J?3? for a flopped quads. Tsouloftas mucked, and Kirichenko showed AxQx as he headed to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
350,000
350,000
|
350,000 |
|
330,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 12
: Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Alisa Sibgatova shoved her stack of 30,000 into the middle from under the gun. The rest of the table folded all the way around to Andrey Pateychuk in the big blind, who took a quick peek at his cards and then instantly called.
Alisa Sibgatova: A?J? 
Andrey Pateychuk: A?K?
Sibgatove needed to find a jack or some spades if she was to survive. The flop of 6?6?3? offered up so chop options, and the 10? turn gave a few more. Sibgatova began to get out of her chair until the J? dropped on the river to give her the winner with a pair of jacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
150,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
|
65,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
Level 12
: Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Aleksandr Chernikov raised to 6,000 from early position and Sergei Varnaev three-bet to 24,000 on the button. Chernikov four-bet ripped it for roughly 110,000 and Varnaev called.
Sergei Varnaev: A?K?
Aleksandr Chernikov: A?Q?
Chernikov had slightly more chips than Varnaev, so Varnaev was the player at risk. Chernikov couldn't find the queen he needed to send Varnaev to the rail as the board ran out J?8?5?5?A?. Varnaev doubled up, and Chernikov was left with crumbs.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
210,000
124,000
|
124,000 |
|
12,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
Level: 12
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 3,000
Level 11
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
On a flop of 3?A?2?, Safi Haidar bet 8,000 from the small blind and was met by a raise to 22,000 from Jenya Gavrilovich out of the big blind. Haidar thought for a few moments before making the call.
The turn came the K? and Haidar check-called a bet of 13,000 from Gavrilovich.
When the Q? landed on the river Haidar shoved for 53,000 and Gavrilovich quickly called.
Safi Haidar: 9?8?
Jenya Gavrilovich: A?5?
Haidar had the winner with the rivered flush, earning him the double-up, while leaving Gavrilovich on fumes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
160,000
64,500
|
64,500 |
|
10,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
Level 11
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Three players saw the flop of 5?7?K? come down. Andrey Pateychuk and Alisa Sibgatova checked from the blinds and Tarmo Tammel bet 3,500 from the cutoff. Pateychuk called from the small blind, but Sibgatova folded.
The 10? turn got checked through to see the J? land on the river. Pateychuk led out now for 7,000 and Tammel quickly let go of his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
190,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
120,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
50,000
93,000
|
93,000 |
Level 11
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
From late positions, Samuel Ju and Johnny Lodden just got all of their chips into the middle preflop, with Ju being the player at risk.
Samuel Ju: A?A?
Johnny Lodden: J?J?
Ju had the current nuts and was likely to earn the double-up at the expense of Lodden. There was no help for Lodden on the K?Q?2?2?8? runout and almost half of his stack was sent over to Ju.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
240,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
140,000
149,500
|
149,500 |
Level 11
: Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
With more than 220 entries already, the 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series High Roller has already set a new record for the largest High Roller field in Merit Poker history. The previous benchmark was 187 entries from the 2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series, which awarded $204,700 to the champion.
With late registration still open for another two hours, the prize pool and top prize are set to climb even higher.
| Event | Entries | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 Carmen Series | 187 | $204,700 |
| 2025 Western Series | 174 | $200,000 |
| 2024 Western Series | 153 | $177,500 |
| 2023 Western Series | 147 | $170,000 |
| 2024 Carmen Series | 145 | $174,500 |
| 2023 Gangster Series | 121 | $149,200 |
| 2024 Gatsby Series | 103 | $132,300 |
