Live poker boomed in 2022 and is showing no signs of letting up following the new year. The Return: A Borgata Championship Event has just wrapped up in Atlantic City, USA after a successful festival while the GGPoker UK Poker Championships, 888poker LIVE Madrid, WSOPC Marrakech, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and PokerStars Players Championship all kickoff before the calendar closes on January.

Also getting underway this month is the Merit Poker Western Series, which runs from January 16-27 and promises $3 million in guarantees across its event schedule.

The festival is hosted at the beautiful Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa, North Cyprus, and is headlined by a huge $1.5 GTD Main Event, which comes with a $3,300 buy-in.

Series Highlights

• $2,200 NL Warm Up (January 16-20)
• $3,300 NL Main Event (January 20-25)
• $5,300 NL High Roller (January 25-27)
• $1,100 & $2,200 NL Mystery Bounty (January 24-26 & January 26-27)

Excluding satellite tournaments, 17 events are scheduled across the series with the aforementioned Main Event being the festival’s high note. Other multi-flight notable events include the $2,200 NL Warm Up , $5,300 NL High Roller as well as the $1,100 and $2,200 NL Mystery Bounty tournaments.

The Warm Up has the second-highest guarantee of the series and promises to pay out no less than $500,000. The Warm Up, as well as other tournaments, will also award several tickets to the Merit Poker Classic Main Event, which plays out in May 2023.

Don’t Miss a Hand of Action with PokerNews

The PokerNews live reporting team will also be at the Merit Poker Western Series, providing live updates for several of the festival’s key events.

There will be around-the-clock coverage for the Warm Up, the Main Event, and the High Roller which can all be accessed from our Live Reporting Hub.

Be sure to check out the event schedule below as well as all the satellites that are running throughout the series.

Merit Poker Western Series Event Schedule

DATE	TIME (EET)	BUY‐IN	EVENT	GUARANTEE
Jan 16	12:00 p.m.	$2,200	NL Warm Up Day 1A	$500,000 + 9 Tickets*
Jan 16	5:30 p.m.	$550	NL Turbo Bounty $200 K.O.	$20,000
Jan 17	12:00 p.m.	$2,200	NL Warm Up Day 1B	$500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 17	9:00 p.m.	$660	NL Hyper Turbo Deep Stack	$20,000
Jan 17	9:30 p.m.	$2,200	NL Warm Up Day 1C	$500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 18	10:00 a.m.	$2,200	NL Warm Up Day 1D Turbo	$500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 18	12:30 p.m.	$2,200	NL Warm Up Day 2	$500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 19	12:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Warm Up Day 3	$500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 19	1:00 p.m.	$1,100	PL Omaha Bounty 8‐Handed $500 K.O.	$40,000
Jan 19	5:00 p.m.	$1,100	NL Seniors Event (50+ y.o.)	$30,000
Jan 20	12:00 p.m.	$3,300	NL Main Event Day 1A	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 20	1:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Warm Up Final Day	$500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 20	5:30 p.m.	$440	NL Hyper Turbo Deep Stack	$15,000
Jan 21	12:00 p.m.	$3,300	NL Main Event Day 1B	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 21	5:30 p.m.	$440	NL Win The Button $200 K.O.	$15,000
Jan 22	12:00 p.m.	$3,300	NL Main Event Day 1C	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 22	2:00 p.m.	$1,100	PL Omaha Bounty 8‐Handed $500 K.O.	$40,000
Jan 22	6:00 p.m.	$550	💣 PLO Bomb Pot 7‐Handed	$20,000
Jan 22	7:00 p.m.	$3,300	NL Main Event Day 1D Turbo	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 22	9:00 p.m.	$880	NL Bounty $400 K.O.	$40,000
Jan 23	12:00 p.m.	$3,300	NL Main Event Day 2	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 23	10:00 p.m.	$1,100	NL Mix‐Max 8‐Max Day 1	$80,000
Jan 24	12:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Main Event Day 3	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 24	1:00 p.m.	$1,100	NL Mix‐Max 7‐Max Day 2	$80,000
Jan 24	5:00 p.m.	$1,100	NL Mystery Bounty ($600 Mystery Bounty ) Day 1A	$100,000
Jan 25	12:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Mix‐Max 6‐Max Final day	$80,000
Jan 25	12:00 p.m.	$1,100	NL Mystery Bounty ($600 Mystery Bounty ) Day 1B	$100,000
Jan 25	1:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Main Event Final Day	$1,500,000 + 9 Tickets
Jan 25	8:00 p.m.	$5,300	NL High Roller Event 8‐Max Day 1	$250,000 + 5 Tickets
Jan 26	12:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Mystery Bounty ($600 Mystery Bounty ) Final Day	$100,000
Jan 26	12:30 p.m.	$2,200	NL Mystery Bounty ($1.000 Mystery Bounty ) Day 1A	$150,000 + 5 Tickets
Jan 26	8:00 p.m.	$5,300	NL High Roller Event 8‐Max Day 2	$250,000 + 5 Tickets
Jan 26	9:00 p.m.	$2,200	NL Mystery Bounty ($1.000 Mystery Bounty ) Day 1B	$150,000 + 5 Tickets
Jan 27	12:00 p.m.	Closed	NL Mystery Bounty ($1.000 Mystery Bounty ) Final Day	$150,000 + 5 Tickets
Jan 27	1:00 p.m.	$550	NL Deep Stack Bounty 6‐Max $300 K.O.	$20,000
Jan 27	6:00 p.m.	Closed	NL High Roller Event 8‐Max Final Day	$250,000 + 5 Tickets
Jan 27	7:00 p.m.	$440	NL Turbo Deep Stack Bounty 6‐Max $200 K.O.	$15,000

_{* tickets are for Day 1A of the Merit Poker Classic Main Event (May 2023)}

Merit Poker Western Series Satellite Schedule

DATE	TIME (EET)	BUY‐IN	EVENT	GUARANTEE
Jan 16	11:00 a.m.	$249	NL Qualifier to WUp Day 1A win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats
Jan 16	9:30 p.m.	$385	NL Satellite to Warm Up Day 1B	10 Seats
Jan 17	11:00 a.m.	$249	NL Qualifier to WUp Day 1B win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats
Jan 17	5:30 p.m.	$249	NL Qualifier to WUp Day 1C win your seat at 100K chips	4 Seats
Jan 18	10:00 p.m.	$550	NL Satellite To ME Day 1A	30 Seats
Jan 19	9:30 p.m.	$550	NL Satellite to ME Day 1A	20 Seats
Jan 20	11:00 a.m.	$373	NL Qualifier to ME Day 1A win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats
Jan 20	10:00 p.m.	$550	NL Satellite To ME Day 1B	20 Seats
Jan 21	11:00 a.m.	$373	NL Qualifier to ME Day 1B win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats
Jan 21	10:00 p.m.	$550	NL Satellite To ME Day 1C	15 Seats
Jan 22	11:00 a.m.	$373	NL Qualifier to ME Day 1C win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats
Jan 22	5:30 p.m.	$373	NL Qualifier to ME Day 1D win your seat at 100K chips	7 Seats
Jan 24	9:30 p.m.	$770	NL Super Satellite To HR Day 1	5 Seats
Jan 25	3:00 p.m.	$605	NL Qualifier to HR Day 1 win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats
Jan 25	9:00 p.m.	$385	NL Satellite to Mystery Bounty Day 1A	5 Seats
Jan 26	4:00 p.m.	$605	NL Qualifier to HR Day 2 win your seat at 100K chips	3 Seats

Editor & Live Reporter

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.