The Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller Kicks Off at 8:00 p.m.
The 2023 Merit Poker Western Series continues here at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino this evening with the highest buy-in event of the series. The $5,300 High Roller is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. local time with a healthy guaranteed prize pool of $300,000.
The Western Series has already been a major success so far, with the $2,200 Warm Up attracting a field of 446 entrants to generate a prize pool of $830,640, surpassing the $800,000 guarantee. The Warm Up is set to play down to a winner tomorrow, January 19, and will be streamed on Merit Poker's YouTube Channel.
This event features a nearly identical structure to the $5,300 High Roller from the Merit Poker Gangster Series this past October, which was won by Giorgiy Skhulukhiya. Skhulukhiya outlasted a field of 121 players, last defeating Aleksandr Kirichenko heads up to claim the title and top prize of $149,200.
2023 Gangster Series $5,300 High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | $149,200 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Kirichenko | Russia | $104,500 |
| 3 | Dawid Smolka | Poland | $67,200 |
| 4 | Guoliang Wei | China | $49,750 |
| 5 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | $37,300 |
| 6 | Clement Bonnant | France | $29,850 |
| 7 | Liwei Sun | China | $24,800 |
| 8 | Huseyin Akgul | Turkey | $19,850 |
| 9 | Leonid Sidelkovskiy | Russia | $14,900 |
Day 1 will feature 8-handed tables, play eight 40-minute levels and end at approximately 2:00 a.m. local time. There will be a 20-minute break after every three levels and unlimited reentries and late registration will be open until the end of Level 12, midway through tomorrow's Day 2. As the late registration period coincides with the last two days of the $2,200 Warm Up, a number of notable players may choose to join this event should they bust from the Warm Up. Some notables currently deep in the Warm Up who may choose to do so include Simone Andrian, Ermanno Di Nicola, Guoliang Wei and Andrea Dato.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned on January 20.