Play has finished for Day 1 of the $5,300 High Roller with 96 players managing to make it through to Day 2 tomorrow. Stay tuned for a full list of chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
On a flop of 6?2?7?, Navid Samavati bet 16,000 from the hijack and Iurii Grigorev called on the button. The two players saw the 4? land on the turn and Samavati checked. Grigorev bet 22,000, and was met by a raise to 48,000 from Samavati. Grigorev quickly called.
The 6? dropped on the river and after doing a bit of inventory, Samavati checked. Grigorev was happy to check behind and Samavati flipped up A?J? for ace-high. Grigorev showed a pair of tens with 10?10? and the pot was sent to him.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
310,000
165,000
|
165,000 |
|
100,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
The floor staff announced there will be 4 more hands before the remaining players bag up their chips and return for Day 2 tomorrow at 6 p.m.
Mario Colavita raised from early position to 3,000 with Samuel Ju calling from the small blind, and the big blind player also calling.
Three ways to a flop of 10?9?6? where the action checked around to see the 9? land on the turn. Ju took the betting lead by firing out 6,500. The big folded, but Colavita stuck around with a call.
When the 7? came on the river, Ju took a few moments, before putting out a big bet of roughly 75,000. Colavita instantly folded, and Ju pulled in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
250,000 | |
|
200,000 |
Tobias Peters raised from the cutoff to 3,000 and Zhen Chen defended his big blind.
Chen check-called a bet of 3,500 from Peters on the 8?3?2? flop.
The turn came the 4? and Chen led out this time for 7,000. Peters called and both players saw the A? land on the river. Chen fired out 31,000 and Peters quickly called.
Chen just had a pair of treys with 6?3?, which wasn't enough to beat the Q?Q? for a flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
270,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
|
||
|
50,000
85,000
|
85,000 |
Back in January, the $3,300 Main Event of the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series saw Umberto Ruggeri crowned the champion after overcoming a record-breaking field of 791 inside the stunning Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino.
The Italian player battled through countless emotional highs and challenging moments to claim the coveted trophy after cutting an undisclosed deal with Mihai Niste and Muhtar Taysi when three players remained.
Ruggeri expressed his joy after the victory, stating, "I’m very enthusiastic, and I think I played very well in key spots." The final table was not without its difficulties, as Ruggeri acknowledged, "It was very hard. A single moment can change everything, but in the end, it all went very well."
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Umberto Ruggeri | Italy | $377,500 |
| 2 | Mihai Niste | Romania | $251,000 |
| 3 | Muhtar Taysi | Turkey | $180,300 |
| 4 | Mario Colavita | Italy | $130,200 |
| 5 | Xiaosheng Zheng | China | $94,600 |
| 6 | Alexander Sokolovsky | Serbia | $75,900 |
| 7 | Ryan Mandara | United Kingdom | $63,200 |
| 8 | Renars Skanis | Latvia | $50,500 |
| 9 | Edward Quinn | Jersey | $37,950 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 1,000/1,500
Ante: 1,500
Tymofii Savkin opened to 3,000 from the cutoff, with Johnny Lodden calling on the button before Lyudmil Ivanov squeezed to 14,000 out of the big blind. Savkin called, but Lodden folded.
Heads-up to a flop of A?4?5? where Ivanov put out a small continuation-bet of 7,600. This was enough for Savkin to lay down his hand, and Ivanov pulled in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
140,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
135,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
120,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
On a flop of 6?8?2? and with roughly 25,000 in the middle, Paul Lagan checked from middle position and Edward Quinn bet 10,000 out of the cutoff. Lagan took a few moments before making the call.
Lagan checked again when the 7? got delivered on the turn. Quinn continued to barrel, firing 22,000 into the middle. Quinn's bet was enough to force Lagan to lay his hand down, forfeiting the pot to Quinn.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
260,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
140,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Luka Bojovic had raised from the cutoff and Zhen Chen three-bet to 10,000 from the button. Eimantas Adomavicius then four-bet from the big blind to 18,200. Bojovic folded, but Chen put in the call to see a flop.
Adomavicius put out a continuation-bet of 9,400 on the A?J?8? flop, and after thinking for a few moments, Chen called.
The two players were both happy to check the K? turn and K? river. Adomavicius turned over a pair of nines with 9?9? and lost the pot to Chen's Q?Q? for a pair of queens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
175,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
135,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
90,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
