The Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino in North Cyprus is once again the backdrop for one of the most luxurious and competitive poker festivals on the calendar.
The 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series runs from July 27 through August 8 and features more than $5.5 million in guaranteed prize money. With its unique blend of high-stakes poker and Mediterranean elegance, Dolce Vita is a celebration of the "good life" in every sense of the phrase.
Three Major Events Headline Series
This summer’s schedule includes a full slate of events for players of all levels, but three tournaments in particular will be under the spotlight as PokerNews provides live coverage throughout the series.
The $2,200 IPO Master runs from July 28 to August 1 with a $1,000,000 guarantee. The $5,300 High Roller takes center stage from July 31 to August 2, offering another shot at a massive score with $750,000 guaranteed.
And of course, the festival concludes with its flagship tournament — the $3,300 La Notte Degli Assi Main Event — taking place August 2 to 8 with a massive $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
La Notte Degli Assi has quickly become one of the most anticipated tournaments in the Merit Poker lineup, and last year’s edition delivered a final table that lived up to the name. The 2024 Main Event featured a $2,200 buy-in and drew 1,133 entries. The story of the tournament was an Israeli player known only as “Dashinka,” an online grinder with just one recorded live cash before the event. Despite being surrounded by a final table stacked with Italian talent, Dashinka rose to the occasion and claimed the title and $355,000 top prize.
After taking the chip lead early on Day 2, he maintained control through the latter stages of the tournament and eliminated multiple opponents at the final table, including Ermanno Pacini, Simone Andrian, and Fausto Tantillo. In a dominant performance that culminated in a first-hand knockout of Pacini heads-up, Dashinka capped off what was truly a breakout live result.
Speaking to PokerNews after the win, Dashinka credited his online experience and his ability to read opponents over cards. “I just choose my spots and choose the opponents to play with at the final table. I think I played the people and not the cards,” he said.
This year’s La Notte Degli Assi raises the stakes with a higher buy-in and an even larger guarantee, setting the stage for another memorable showdown at one of poker’s most picturesque venues. With live coverage from PokerNews, fans around the world will once again be able to follow every key hand and final table drama from the Merit Poker room.
$2,200 La Notte Degli Assi Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (USD)
1
Dashinka
Israel
$355,000
2
Ermanno Pacini
Italy
$240,000
3
Raffaele Castro
Italy
$160,000
4
Simone Andrian
Italy
$115,000
5
Fausto Tantillo
Italy
$90,000
6
Fouad Toujani
France
$72,000
7
Denis Stoma
Belarus
$57,700
8
Kirill Burtin
Russia
$45,000
9
Mohamad El-Sayed
Lebanon
$34,450
Full Schedule
Date
Buy-in
Event
Guarantee
27-Jul-25
Free
NL Freeroll to Qualifier R/A $30
30 Seats
27-Jul-25
$360
NL Qualifier to IPO M Day 1A seat@70K chips
10 Seats
Mon, Jul 28
$360
NL Qualifier to IPO M Day 1A seat@70K chips
3 Seats
Mon, Jul 28
$2,200
NL IPO Master Day 1A
$1,000,000
Mon, Jul 28
$660
NL Hyper Turbo Deep Stack
$25,000
Mon, Jul 28
$360
NL Qualifier to IPO M Day 1B seat@50K chips
10 Seats
Tue, Jul 29
$360
NL Qualifier to IPO M Day 1B seat@70K chips
3 Seats
Tue, Jul 29
$2,200
NL IPO Master Day 1B
$1,000,000
Tue, Jul 29
$360
NL Qualifier to IPO M Day 1C seat@50K chips
5 Seats
Tue, Jul 29
$2,800
NL Turbo Bounty $400 K.O.
$40,000
Wed, Jul 30
$2,200
NL IPO Master Day 1C
$1,000,000
Wed, Jul 30
$2,200
NL IPO Master Day 1D Turbo
$1,000,000
Wed, Jul 30
—
NL IPO Master Day 2
$1,000,000
Wed, Jul 30
$1,100
NL Qualifier to HR Day 1 seat@50K chips
5 Seats
Wed, Jul 30
$660
NL Turbo Deep Stack
$50,000
Thu, Jul 31
$1,650
NL Bounty $500 K.O.
$100,000
Thu, Jul 31
$1,100
NL Qualifier to HR Day 1 seat@50K chips
5 Seats
Thu, Jul 31
$5,300
NL High Roller Event Day 1
$750,000
Thu, Jul 31
$755
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1A seat@50K chips
10 Seats
Fri, Aug 1
$1,100
NL Hold’em 6-Handed
$100,000
Fri, Aug 1
$1,100
NL Qualifier to HR Day 2 seat@50K chips
3 Seats
Fri, Aug 1
$5,300
NL High Roller Event Day 2
$750,000
Fri, Aug 1
$755
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1A seat@50K chips
10 Seats
Sat, Aug 2
$630
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1A seat@60K chips
3 Seats
Sat, Aug 2
$5,300
NL High Roller Event Final Day
$750,000
Sat, Aug 2
$1,100
NL Texas Split 7-Handed
$20,000
Sat, Aug 2
$755
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1B seat@50K chips
10 Seats
Sun, Aug 3
$630
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1B seat@60K chips
3 Seats
Sun, Aug 3
$3,300
NL La Notte Degli Assi Day 1B
$2,000,000
Sun, Aug 3
$755
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1C seat@50K chips
10 Seats
03-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Women's Championship
$10,000
03-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Mix-Max 9-Handed Day 1
$150,000
04-Aug-25
$630
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1C seat@60K chips
3 Seats
04-Aug-25
$3,300
NL La Notte Degli Assi Day 1C
$2,000,000
04-Aug-25
$1,100
PLO 5 Card $500 K.O.
$100,000
04-Aug-25
$755
NL Qualifier to LNDA Day 1D seat@50K chips
5 Seats
04-Aug-25
$3,300
NL La Notte Degli Assi Day 1D Turbo
$2,000,000
04-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Mix-Max 7-Handed Day 2
$150,000
05-Aug-25
$3,300
NL La Notte Degli Assi Day 2
$2,000,000
05-Aug-25
$1,100
Double Board PLO Bomb Pot 5 Card
$50,000
05-Aug-25
—
NL Mix-Max 6-Handed Final Day
$150,000
06-Aug-25
$755
NL Qualifier to Joker MB Day 1A seat@50K chips
5 Seats
06-Aug-25
$3,300
NL La Notte Degli Assi Day 3
$2,000,000
06-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Joker Mystery Bounty ($1.5M MB) 7-Handed Day 1A
$500,000
06-Aug-25
$755
NL Qualifier to Joker MB Day 1B seat@50K chips
5 Seats
06-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Joker Mystery Bounty ($1.5M MB) 7-Handed Day 1B
$500,000
06-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Hold’em Re-buy & Add-on
$30,000
07-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Joker Mystery Bounty ($1.5M MB) 7-Handed Day 1C
$500,000
07-Aug-25
$3,300
NL La Notte Degli Assi Day 4
$2,000,000
07-Aug-25
$1,650
NL Bounty $500 K.O.
$50,000
07-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Seniors Event (50+) y.o.
$30,000
07-Aug-25
$1,100
NL Joker Mystery Bounty ($1.5M MB) 7-Handed Final Day
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 has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
