Paul Runcan got his last 405,000 into the middle from early position with Samir Moukawem being the player trying to bust him.
Paul Runcan: J♥J♦
Samir Moukawem: A♦Q♣
Runcan needed to hold with pocket jacks to remain seated in the tournament. However, the runout of Q♥3♠8♣4♣3♥ gave Moukawen the winner with a pair of queens on the flop, sending Runcan out the door.
The inaugural Merit Millions Event drew an impressive 212 entries, creating a massive prize pool of $1,950,000. Only the top nine players will earn a share, with the minimum cash being $35,400, while the champion will walk away with an whopping $1,000,000.
Johnny Lodden raised under the gun to 80,000 and Alp Akin called from the cutoff. Vedat Yilmaz squeezed to 265,000 from the big blind and only Akin called to see a flop.
Yilmaz continued with a bet of 350,000 on the J♠4♠6♥ flop and was met with a min-raise to 700,000 from Akin. Yilmaz folded his cards, and Akin won the pot.
Giorgiy Skhuluhiya raised to 80,000 from early posistion with Ian Bradley calling from the hijack and Konstantin Voronin defending his big blind.
When the dealer spread out the 10♠8♠3♣ flop, Voronin led out for 175,000. Skhuluhiya called, but Bradley folded.
The 3♠ landed on the turn and Voronin bet again, this time for 475,000. Skhuluhiya quickly called.
Upon seeing the 8♦ drop on the river, Voronin led out once more, firing 1,450,000 into the middle. Skhuluhiya went deep into the tank, thinking for a few a minutes. Eventually, Skhuluhiya folded his hand and surrendered the pot to Voronin.
With some players at the table making blind raises under the gun, Albert Daher raised to 60,000 from the first position. Vedat Yilmaz called from the button, and then Semen Sorkin shoved all in for around 500,000 from the small blind. Not to be outdone, Fahredin Mustafov also moved all in for about 350,000 from the big blind. Daher called from his blind raise position, and Yilmaz called for his 650,000. The cards were turned over, with Daher having the opportunity to bust three players.
Daher had pocket queens after blind-raising, but needed to dodge most of the deck to secure the pot. The flop came down 8♦5♠10♣, giving Yilmaz and Mustafov a straight draw. The turn was the 2♥, keeping things unchanged, but the river brought the 6♣, giving Yilmaz the nut straight and securing the win with the worst starting hand.
Mustafov and Sorkin were eliminated, while Yilmaz more than tripled up with his straight.
The Mediterranean Poker Party (MPP) returns to the Merit Royal Diamond Casino and Spa from May 3, bringing with it more than $9 million in guaranteed prize pools, including a monster-sized $5,300 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed MPP Main Event.
The 2025 edition of the MPP runs from May 3 through May 13 and wastes no time in exploding into action with the first of several seven-figure guaranteed events. Players will flock in droves to enter the $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em PokerOK Mystery Bounty event, which spans May 3-5.
While the Mystery Bounty edges toward crowning its champion, a $2,200 buy-in, $2,000,000 guaranteed NLHE Luxon Pay Grand Final shuffles up and deals. This tournament runs May 5-9 and should see a massive turnout. Last year, Bulgaria's Boris Kolev outlasted 1,564 opponents and banked an impressive $437,000, a prize second in size only to the first of Kolev's two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet victories.
The biggest 2025 MPP tournament, at least in terms of prize money, is the $5,300 NLHE MPP Main Event and its $5 million guarantee. Other events include the $10,400 Onyx High Roller, which Jovan Kenjic won in 2024 for $365,000, the $1,100 EAPT Cyprus Main Event, the $1,100 NLHE 6-Max Turbo Bounty, and the $10,400 Onyx 6-Max High Roller.
