Paul Runcan opened the action with a raise to 600,000. Vlad Darie flat-called on the button, after which Dzmitry Budai three-bet to 21,000.
Not enough for Runcan, who clicked it back to 52,000. Daire quickly got out of the way before Budai slid in a five-bet to 130,000, after which Runcan jammed in slightly less than a starting stack.
Budai snapped him off, and the cards were tabled.
Paul Runcan: A♣Q♠
Dzmitry Budai: K♠K♦
Runcan needed an ace to survive after the daring jam. The 2♣5♠4♠ flop gave him some extra outs, but the 10♦ turn and 9♥ river bricked off to send him to an early exit instead.
Dzmitry Budai opened to 5,000 in the hijack, being met with a three-bet to 18,000 by Vladislav Dubanov on the button. Budai then made it 51,000 to go, which Dubanov called.
Budai fired a bet of 26,000 on the 9♣3♦2♥ flop, which Dubanov quickly called. The 3♣ turn was a tougher decision for Dubanov, who spent one time bank before folding to Budai's bet of 85,000.
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The highest buy-in of the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party is set to commence at 2 p.m. local time today at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. The $10,400 Onyx High Roller boasts a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000, providing players with deep pockets a final opportunity for a big six-figure score.
Last year, Serbia's Jovan Kenjic took down the top prize of $365,000 in a field of 159 entries, which is still his largest cash to date. While Kenjic has not been spotted in Cyprus yet this time, 2024's runner-up Aleksandr Kirichenko has. Time will tell if he will hop in this year, looking to improve on his $250,000 score. Other players who might be eyeing back-to-back final tables include Michel Molenaar, Nikita Kalinin, and Dmitry Zakharov.
2024 $10,400 Mediterranean Poker Party High Roller Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Jovan Kenjic
Serbia
$365,000
2
Aleksandr Kirichenko
Russian Federation
$250,000
3
Marcin Dziubdziela
Poland
$165,000
4
Michel Molenaar
Netherlands
$122,000
5
Nikita Kalinin
Russian Federation
$95,000
6
Anvar Muratov
Russian Federation
$75,000
7
Dmitry Zakharov
Russian Federation
$58,000
8
Stoyan Madanzhiev
Bulgaria
$45,000
9
Ehsan Amiri
Australia
$34,400
Aleksandr Kirichenko
The $10,400 High Roller has a starting stack of 400,000 chips, equaling 200 big blinds when play begins. All levels in this two-day event will be 40 minutes long, with 12 being played on Day 1. Registering late is possible until the end of Level 10, around 10:10 p.m. local time. During this period, unlimited reentries can be fired by those who fall early.
Breaks are scheduled after every three levels, with a 60-minute dinner break set to happen after Level 9, around 8:30 p.m. The full Day 1 structure is listed below.
$10,400 Onyx High Roller Day 1 Structure
Level
Length (Minutes)
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
1
40
1,000
2,000
2,000
2
40
2,000
3,000
3,000
3
40
2,000
4,000
4,000
Break
15
4
40
2,000
5,000
5,000
5
40
3,000
6,000
6,000
6
40
4,000
8,000
8,000
Break
15
7
40
5,000
10,000
10,000
8
40
6,000
12,000
12,000
9
40
10,000
15,000
15,000
Dinner Break
60
10
40
10,000
20,000
20,000
11
40
10,000
25,000
25,000
12
40
15,000
30,000
30,000
PokerNews will be on the floor from the very first hand until the survivors bag up, so stay tuned to not miss any of the High Roller action here in Cyprus.
