The 2025 Merit Poker Western Series commenced at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, eliciting gasps of wonder from players worldwide. High-stakes tournaments, such as the much-anticipated $2,200 Warm-Up with its impressive $1 million guarantee, will be the highlight of this elevated event.

Key details of the $2,200 warm-up

One of the more prominent tournaments of the series, the $2,200 Warm-Up, attracts both poker enthusiasts and professionals alike. With a buy-in of $2,200, the event offers players an opportunity to warm up before the main event and potentially earn some decent money. There will be several starting flights in the tournament, with late registration available until the end of Level 15, giving players ample opportunity to join in.

Day 1b highlights

Day 1b saw 230 entries, with 118 advancing to the next stage. Combined with Day 1a, the total is 285, with two flights remaining. Luke Marsh (pictured above) stood out on Day 1b, leading the winners’ lineup with a substantial chip stack of 971,500. Marsh achieved this with a significant hand against Xin Yuan. After a rare six-bet preflop, Marsh’s pocket aces held firm against Yuan’s Big Slick, securing him a near million-chip pot and solidifying his lead.

Ashraf Akeh, who took an early lead, and Edward Quinn, who rounded out the top three, were among the players who made significant impacts. Akeh rounded out the top three stacks with 575,000, with Soraya Estrada (440,000), Dmitry Gromov (420,500), Sergei Varnaev (405,000), and Paul Runcan (400,500) all making it into the top ten.

Top 10 chip counts for day 1b

Place	Player	Country	Chip Count
1	Luke Marsh	United Kingdom	971,500
2	Ashraf Akeh	Canada	718,500
3	Edward Quinn	United Kingdom	575,000
4	Soraya Estrada	Spain	440,000
5	Danut Chisu	France	430,000
6	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	420,500
7	Tulica Iani	Romania	414,500
8	Sergei Varnaev	Russia	405,000
9	Paul Runcan	Romania	400,500
10	Nicolas Hasbani	Lebanon	365,500

Day 1a recap of Merit Poker Western Series

Day 1a had 55 entries, with Kazakhstan’s Azamat Tulepbergenov leading the pack with 637,000 chips by the end of the day. Tulepbergenov’s strategic play, including a well-timed straight against Panayiotis Vassiliou, helped him secure the top spot.

Tulepbergenov made an impressive start in the opening level, where he turned a gutshot straight draw with king-ten into a big win, getting all the chips in against Panayiotis Vassiliou, who had flopped a bottom set. Tulepbergenov didn’t stop there; he also eliminated Paul Newey and Nichan Khorchidian in later levels, finishing the day with the largest stack.

Kazakhstan dominated the top of the leaderboard, with Adlan Vikayev finishing the day with 472,000 chips. Vikayev knocked out his fellow Kazakh player Askar Bekbayev during Level 5 and then won a crucial hand when his ace-king hit a pair on the river against Fredrico Senno’s pocket jacks. From there, Vikayev cruised to the end of the day, setting himself up well for Day 2.

Arian Kashani once again showcased his talent for competition, ending with 421,500 chips. Recently, a UKIPT Nottingham Main Event winner, he demonstrated the same steadiness and strategic play that had previously brought him success. His unwavering and calculated approach to his table plays and chip stack gave him steady growth into the second flight, completing the 10×40-minute levels. Given his past successes, Kashani is a player to watch as this tournament progresses.

Others worthy of mention who advanced are Robbie Schiffbauer, who bagged 340,000 chips, Andrey Golubev with 310,500 chips, Danielle Noja with 251,500, Tom Verbruggen with 230,500, Grigorii Rodin with 186,000, and Ran Ilani with 127,000.

Structure of Merit Poker Western Series

Although Day 1c and Day 1d have traditionally been played to host slightly different blind structures that support different player strategies, Day 1c has seen play since 9:00 pm and has 25-minute blind levels, while Day 1d, the last of the starting flights, will begin this morning at 10:00 am with shorter blind levels of 15 minutes.

Remaining schedule

Date	Day	Time	Blind Levels
January 15	Day 1c	9:00 pm	25 minutes
January 16	Day 1d	10:00 am	15 minutes
January 16	Day 2	12:30 pm	40 minutes
January 17	Day 3	12:00 pm	40 minutes
January 18	Day 4	12:00 pm	40 minutes

Players from several different countries came down to attend the event, which showed how globally appealing the Merit Poker Western Series truly is. A cocktail of rising talents and veterans comes to a night filled with surprises never before experienced in a betting event.

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