Tom Verbruggen opened the cutoff to 4,500 with the player on the button calling and Graydon Kowal defending out of the big blind.
The flop came down A♣2♠3♦, which saw a check from Kowal. Verbruggen fired a continuation-bet of 6,000 and only Kowal called.
The K♣ turn checked through for the A♥ to land on the river. Kowal now took the betting lead and put out a bet of 8,000. Verbruggen raised to 20,000 and Kowal snap-folded his cards.
Tom Verbruggen opened to 5,000 from early position and Graydon Kowal called from the cutoff. Eusebiu Jalba squeezed to 25,500 from the small blind before Verbruggen four-bet to 56,000. Kowal folded, but Jalba five-bet shoved to put Verbruggen all in for 168,500 total. Verbruggen called.
Tom Verbruggen: K♠K♥
Eusebiu Jalba: Q♦Q♥
Verbruggen found himself in a dream spot with pocket kings that, if he won, would see him become one of the biggest stacks in the room.
The window card was a devastating Q♣, but fortunately for Verbruggen, it was followed by the K♦4♠ to complete the flop. Jalba had middle set, but Verbruggen had top set. The rest of the board ran out clean for Verbruggen as it came 10♦6♣, and Verbruggens set of kings earned him the double up.
The action was picked up with the board reading 5♥2♣10♠3♣4♣. Justin Steinbrenner was first to act and checked from middle position. Florian Duta was sat next to Steinbrenner in the hijack and bet enough to put Steinbrenner all in. The bet was for Steinbrenner's remaining 90,000 and after pondering over the decision for quite a while, Steinbrenner called.
Duta turned over a backdoor jack-high flush with J♣10♣, which was good enough to eliminate Steinbrenner, as Steinbrenner turned over 10♥10♦ for a flopped set of tens.
On the very last hand of the day, the action was picked up on a board of K♦5♦J♣2♥. Bogdan Munteanu checked from the big blind and a player seated under-the-gun bet 30,000. Munteanu called.
The board-pairing K♥ hit the river and Munteanu checked. The under-the-gun player immediately shoved for 120,000. Munteanu went deep into the tank, and after doing a bit of inventory, flicked in the call.
Under-the-gun: A♥10♦
Bogdan Munteanu: 5♥4♣
The under-the-gun player was caught bluffing with just a busted straight draw. Munteanu had called with just a pair of fives and eliminated his opponent. After the chips were counted, this pot made Munteanu the chip leader at the end of Day 1c.
The second-to-last starting flight of the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series $3,300 Main Event wrapped up at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. Day 1c drew a total of 175 entries, increasing the overall field to 575 so far. At the conclusion of the night, 86 players successfully bagged up chips and secured their spot in Day 2.
After nine 40-minute levels, Bogdan Munteanu of Romania emerged as the chip leader, amassing an impressive stack of 663,500 to carry into Day 2. He was the only player from today's flight to exceed the 600,000-chip milestone. Close behind, Tunisia's Ali Fkih secured second place with 595,000 chips, while Ihar Narushevich rounded out the top three with a solid stack of 516,000.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Bogdan Munteanu
Romania
663,500
2
Ali Fkih
Tunisia
595,000
3
Ihar Narushevich
Belarus
516,000
4
Florian Duta
Romania
510,000
5
Timur Margolin
Israel
362,000
6
Tom Verbruggen
Netherlands
351,000
7
Xiaosheng Zheng
China
343,000
8
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau
Belarus
333,500
9
Bandar Alireza
United Kingdom
330,000
10
Grigoli Liklikadze
Georgia
315,500
Munteanu catapulted to the top of the chip counts on the very last hand of the day. While the rest of his table was bagging up their chips, he found himself deep in the tank on the river, facing an all-in from his opponent. Eventually, Munteanu made the call — and what an incredible call it was. His opponent flipped over a busted straight draw, while Munteanu's had just a pair of fives which earned him the Day 1c chip lead.
Timur Margolin
Other notables to make it through to Day 2 include three-time bracelet winner TImur Margolin (362,000), Bogdan Jontulovic (307,000), this series $5,300 High Roller championSergei Varnaev (302,500), Maxime Chilaud (292,000), Jianfeng Sun (191,500), Dean Hutchinson (156,000), Uri Reichenstein (155,000), and two-time bracelet winner Simeon Spasov (96,000).
The final starting flight is already underway, with the turbo Day 1d having started at 7:00 p.m. After that, the fields will combine for Day 2 tomorrow, January 23, at noon local time. Late registration will remain open until Level 14, and a winner will be crowned on the fifth and final day, taking place January 26.
Remaining Schedule
Date
Day
Time
Blind Levels
January 22
Day 1d
7:00 p.m.
25 minutes
January 23
Day 2
12:00 p.m.
60 minutes
January 24
Day 3
12:00 p.m.
60 minutes
January 25
Day 4
12:00 p.m.
60 minutes
January 26
Day 5
1:00 p.m.
60 minutes
As always, stay tuned to Pokernews as we bring you all the action for the remainder of the 2025 Western Poker Series.
