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$2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final
Day 1cd Completed
2025 Mediterranean Poker Party
$2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final
Day: 1cd
Event Info
2025 Mediterranean Poker Party
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1cd
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$2,787,840
Total Entries
1,452
Level
36
Blinds
2,000,000 / 4,000,000
Ante
4,000,000
Entries
724
Players Left
131
Players Left 1 / 1,452
Filter
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Day 1c of the $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final took place today as part of the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party at the Merit Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, with 450 entrants vying for a spot on Day 2. After nearly ten hours of grueling poker, 77 players managed to survive the day’s grind, securing their place among those returning to the tables tomorrow.
Ukraine’s Tymofii Savkin emerged as the chip leader with an impressive stack of 3,415,000. Close behind him in second place is Bassel Moussa with 3,065,000, while Lithuania’s Boris Smuskevicius rounds out the podium positions with 2,940,000 chips. Smuskevicius built most of his stack in one of the final hands of the night, where his ace-king suited cracked his opponent’s pocket aces after getting all-in preflop.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tymofii Savkin | Ukraine | 3,415,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Bassel Moussa | Lebanon | 3,065,000 | 77 |
| 3 | Boris Smuskevicius | Lithuania | 2,940,000 | 74 |
| 4 | Juan Corral | Morocco | 2,830,000 | 71 |
| 5 | Mihai Niste | Romania | 2,690,000 | 67 |
| 6 | Evgenii Ushakov | Russia | 2,375,000 | 59 |
| 7 | Alessio Isaia | Italy | 2,285,000 | 57 |
| 8 | Vladislav Dubanov | Russia | 2,225,000 | 56 |
| 9 | Mekan Yusupov | Turkey | 2,180,000 | 55 |
| 10 | Issam Tannouri | France | 2,160,000 | 54 |
Also bringing a big stack into tomorrow’s proceedings is Romania’s Mihai Niste, who accumulated 2,690,000 chips. Niste was active during the last few levels of the day, first barreling over two streets before shoving his stack in on the river, causing his opponent to tank-fold. Then, in the penultimate level of the day, Niste was gifted a double-up when Jalal Jafari shoved twice the size of the pot right into Niste’s set of aces.
Other notables who survived the day’s action include Alessio Isaia (2,285,000), Roman Stoika (2,035,000), Dmitriy Kopyl (1,110,000), Andrey Pateychuk (1,045,000), the Mystery Bounty Champion Alex Goulder (935,000), Adrian State (605,000), and world champion Espen Jorstad with a short stack of 255,000.
With three flights now complete, the total field stands at 1,178 entries. Currently, the turbo flight, Day 1d, is in progress, offering players one last chance to bag a stack for the $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final. Day 2 kicks off tomorrow at noon, where all remaining players will come together to continue their quest for the title.
Remaining Schedule
| Day | Date | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1d | May 7 | 8:00 p.m. | 20 minutes |
| Day 2 | May 8 | 12:00 p.m. | 40 minutes (5 levels) + 50 minutes (5 levels) |
| Day 3 | May 9 | 12:00 p.m. | 50/45/40/35/30/30/25 minutes¹ |
¹Final table levels decrease as players are eliminated: 8 players = 50 min, 7 = 45 min, 6 = 40 min, 5 = 35 min, 4 = 30 min, 3 = 30 min, 2 = 25 min.
Stay tuned right here to PokerNews, as we bring you all the action on Day 2 as players looking to survive past the money bubble.
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
The remaining 80 players have bagged up their chips and will return tomorrow at noon for Day 2. Stay tuned for chip counts and a full recap of the day's action.
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
A completed board of 9♣A♥9♣2♣5♥ was in the middle in a pot between Juan Corral under the gun and Kevin Houghton in middle postion, along with a massive pot of 1,500,000.
Corral then jammed all in, covering the 625,000 chips of Houghton and sending him into the tank. After spending all his time banks, Houghton eventually found a fold, seeing the large pile of chips being sent to Corral.
One hand later, Raoul Kanme opened to 60,000 in the cutoff. Aren Bezhanyan then committed his stack of 395,000 from the small blind, which Corral four-bet to 740,000 in the big blind, enough to put Kanme all-in.
Kanme weighed his options for a bit before getting out of the way, leaving the other two players to show down.
Aren Bezhanyan: K♥9♣ 
Juan Corral: A♦Q♥
Bezhanyan took the lead on the 9♠6♣5♦ flop, but Corral retaliated on the Q♦ turn, making the higher pair. The 5♣ river upgraded both players to two pair, with Corral's queens and fives taking the pot and eliminating his opponent.
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
All dealers have been instructed to deal four more hands before Day 1c wraps up.
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Aren Bezhanyan shoved his 300,000 into the middle from early position and Kevin Houghton made the call to try and bust him.
Aren Bezhanyan: A♥3♥
Kevin Houghton : Q♣Q♦
Bezhanyan was looking for some hearts or an ace to have a chance of bagging up at the end of this level. The dealer burned a card then put out the flop of A♣4♣9♦, catapulting Bezhanyan into the lead with top pair. The rest of the board came A♠7♠ and Bezhanyan doubled at the expense of Houghton.
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Omar Diez put in his final 235,000 from early position. Julian Meinhardt made the call a few seats over, and the players showed down heads-up.
Omar Diez: J♣9♣
Julian Meinhardt: Q♠Q♣
Diez stood no chance on the K♥6♣3♠4♠7♥ runout, being knocked out by Meinhardt's ladies.
