$3,500 Merit Poker Cup | 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party

Sep 22, 2026

Svesko Starts to Lose Grip After doubling-Up Two Shorter Stacks

Chris Bean

Level 25 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Ekrem Sanioglu raised to 400,000 from early position. Darko Svesko announced all in to put Sanioglu at risk. The French-Turk made the call.

Ekrem Sanioglu: J♦J♣
Darko Svesko: 5♥5♦

A rare mis-step by Sevesko, who has been crushing all who came before him earlier in the day. A clean board of K♦Q♥3♦8♦9♥ gave Sanioglu the double-up.

The very next hand Svesko shoved from the small blind and was called by Vyacheslav Kardash in the big blind for 1,875,000.

Vyacheslav Kardash: A♠9♦
Darko Svesko: 8♥6♣

Kardash was delighted to double his stack after the board of 9♥6♠3♦Q♠5♥. But are the wheels starting to fall off for Svesko?

Tags: Darko Svesko Ekrem Sanioglu Vyacheslav Kardash

Level: 25

Blinds: 100,000/200,000

Ante: 200,000

Sep 22, 2026

Smuskevicius Turns Screw on Shorties

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Chris Bean

Level 24 : Blinds 80,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Joseph Mouawad bet 300,000 from early position and was called by Vyacheslav Kardash in the cutoff.

Boris Smuskevicius raised it to 1,500,000. Mouawad used two time bank cards before making the fold, Kardash got rid of his hand a little bit quicker. Smuskevicius flashed a pocket pair of queens and dragged in the pot

Tags: Boris Smuskevicius Joseph Mouawad Vyacheslav Kardash

Sep 22, 2026

Viktor Iarilov Eliminated in 9th Place - $22,520

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Chris Bean

Level 24 : Blinds 80,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Joseph Mouawad bet 450,000 from early position. Viktor Iarilov in middle position threw a hail Mary, crossed his heart and moved all in for 895,000. The 2007 EPT London Champion made the call.

Viktor Iarilov: A♠J♦
Joseph Mouawad: A♥7♣

Iarilov was ahead, but Mouawad spiked a seven on the flop and improved to trips by the river on the board of K♣8♣7♠9♦7♦. A disappointed Iarilov got an embrace from his wife, after being the first casualty at the final table.

Tags: Joseph Mouawad Viktor Iarilov

Level: 24

Blinds: 80,000/150,000

Ante: 150,000

Sep 22, 2026

Kardash Initiative Takes Pot

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Chris Bean

Level 23 : Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante

Ekrem Sanioglu bet 280,000 from early position and was called by Vyacheslav Kardash in the big blind.

The flop came 10♥8♦3♦ and Sanioglu bet 200,000 and was called by Kardash. The 8♥ paired the board on the turn and Kardash donk-bet 500,000. Sanioglu took another look at his cards before throwing them into the muck

Tags: Ekrem Sanioglu Vyacheslav Kardash

Sep 22, 2026

Shuffle Up and Deal!

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Chris Bean

Level 23 : Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante

We are back underway with the final table of the Merit Poker Cup.

From now on the clock will be paused and the players will play 16 hands per level until completion.

Sep 22, 2026

Final Table Re-draw (full)

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Chris Bean

Level 23 : Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante

Seat	Player	Country	Chips	Big Blinds
1	Boris Smuskevicius	Lithuania	6,935,000	58
2	Ekrem Sanioglu	France	3,035,000	25
3	Aleksanras Rusinovas	Lithuania	3,650,000	30
4	Joseph Mouawad	Lebanon	1,890,000	16
5	Viktor Iarilov	Russia	1,185,000	10
6	Mehmet Dalkilic	Turkey	7,350,000	61
7	Espen Sandvik	Norway	2,780,000	23
8	Darko Svesko	Serbia	13,340,000	111
9	Vyacheslav Kardash	Russia	2,270,000	19

Read full

Tags: Aleksanras Rusinovas Boris Smuskevicius Darko Svesko Ekrem Sanioglu Espen Sandvik Joseph Mouawad Mehmet Dalkilic Viktor Iarilov Vyacheslav Kardash

Sep 22, 2026

Dinner Break

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Chris Bean

Level 23 : Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante

We have reached the final table and the players have gone on a dinner break.

Play will resume at 7.45 p.m. local time. Table draw and chip counts are to follow!

Sep 22, 2026

Chenxu Zhang Eliminated in 10th Place - $19,200

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Chris Bean

Level 23 : Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante

Chenxu Zhang was virtually all in for 1,100,000 from the hijack, but had 25,000 left behind. They were called by in the small blind

The flop was K♣7♥2♣ and Dalkilic threw in a 25,000 chip to commit Zhang. She used up two time bank cards in the hope someone busted on the other table to no avail and threw in her last chip.

Chenxu Zhang: 10♥10♣ All in
Mehmet Dalkilic: K♦Q♦