by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Nov 7, 2023 | Updated on Nov 7, 2023
Summary:
- The festival features multiple events with a combined guarantee of $4m
- The main attraction is the $3,300 Main Event which offers $1.5m in guarantees
- Other key events include the $5,300 High Roller and $3,300 Mystery Bounty which both offer a $300K guarantee
There’s a huge poker event taking place in Northern Cyprus in the next two weeks, courtesy of live tournament series organizer, Merit Poker.
The “Merit Poker Gangster Series” runs from November 22 – December 3 at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel-Casino in the Kyrenia District, awarding a massive $4 million guarantee.
Merit Poker Gangster Series – Main Highlights
The festival features over a dozen events, each offering a guarantee. Major action begins right on the opening day with the $2,200 NL Warm Up, which comes with $700,000 in guarantees, among the biggest on the schedule. Players may enter via four Day 1 flights taking place from November 22 to 24. The winner will be crowned on December 26.
Another key event on the schedule is the $5,300 NL High Roller 8-Handed which kicks off on November 26. The tournament comes with $300,000 in guaranteed prize pool which is expected to be crushed given the popularity of high roller tournaments in Northern Cyprus. Final action is scheduled for November 28.
Also part of the line-up is the $3,300 buy-in, $300K GTD NL Mystery Bounty (Dec. 2-3), as well as two events with a $100,000 guarantee – the $1,650 NL Bounty (Nov. 27) and the $1,100 Mix-Max (Nov. 29- Dec. 1).
Main Event Features $1.5M Guarantee
The Merit Poker Gangster Series is headlined by the Main Event which has a buy-in of $3,300 and offers $1,500,000 in guaranteed prize money. The tournament kicks off with one of its four starting flights on November 28, with a champion to be declared on December 3.
The last series under the Gangster brand hosted by Merit Poker took place in 2018 and featured a $5,000 buy-in, $2 million-guaranteed Main Event. The tournament, which attracted 457 entries, was taken down by Russia’s Andrey Pateychuk following a four-way deal. The poker pro walked away with $280,643 in top prize for that victory.
The upcoming Gangster Series is expected to attract familiar names, including Seref Dursun, who usually competes in poker tournaments held at Merit Crystal Cove. Of note, the Turkish poker pro won 118 of his total live cashes at events hosted by the hotel-casino.
Merit Poker regulars Orhan Ates, Michel Habib, Dmitry Gromov and Makram Saber are also expected to be in attendance.
