Third Starting Flight of the Massive Merit Poker Western Series Main Event Begins at 12 p.m.
Players will get another chance at becoming the Merit Poker Western Series champion when Day 1c of the $3,300 Main Event begins at noon local time.
A total of 415 entries have gathered inside the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus through the first two starting flights, with 198 players already securing their spot into Day 2. Tunisia's Chakim M'Hiri is the current chip leader with 627,000, followed by Aleksandar Jakovljevic at 607,000.
Timur Margolin (429,000), La Sengphet (325,000), Gabi Livshitz (338,500), and Maxime Chilaud (314,500) have also made it through to Day 2 already with big stacks. British pros Ryan Mandara and Paul Browne, coming off a final table run in the $2,200 Warm Up, are back at it for another deep run, Mandara finishing Day 1 with 265,000 and Browne with 258,000.
Day 1a and 1b Top 10 chip counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chakim M'Hiri | Tunisia | 627,000 | 251 |
| 2 | Aleksandar Jakovljevic | Romania | 607,000 | 243 |
| 3 | Salavat Shafigullin | Russia | 511,000 | 204 |
| 4 | Anatoly Shteyn | Russia | 505,000 | 202 |
| 5 | Mohamad El-Sayed | Lebanon | 496,000 | 198 |
| 6 | Osman Atmaca | Turkey | 495,000 | 198 |
| 7 | Koray Korkmaz | Turkey | 475,000 | 190 |
| 8 | Eduard Bagrov | Armenia | 467,000 | 187 |
| 9 | Sergei Sokharev | Russia | 459,000 | 184 |
| 10 | Michel Atallah | Lebanon | 440,000 | 176 |
Those who take their shot at joining this list on Day 1c will playnine 40-minute levels, down from 60 minutes on the first two starting flights. There is a 10-minute break every three levels. Late registration is open until the end of Level 13 on Day 2, so there will be plenty of chances for the already-sizeable field to grow substantially larger. A turbo Day 1d flight is also taking place at 7 p.m. local time tonight.
PokerNews will be following all the action as this seaside resort along the shores of the Mediterranean is again filled up with players hoping they are the ones to walk away with the largest share of the $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool.