Milos Miskovic Takes the Top Spot After Day 2 of $2,200 IPO Master
Day 2 of the $2,200 IPO Master at the 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series has wrapped up at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, with 123 players advancing to Day 3. Across four opening flights, the event drew 730 total entries, creating a $1,343,200 prize pool. When the dust settles, the eventual champion will claim the top prize of $225,000 and the trophy.
After another ten grueling 40-minute levels, it was Milos Miskovic of Serbia who bagged the biggest stack with 1,885,000 chips. Just a few big blinds behind is the start of day chip leader Roman Kolotiuk, who finished Day 2 with a stack of 1,820,000. Rounding out the podium positions is Alexey Savenkov, who brings 1,475,000 into the penultimate day of this four-day affair.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milos Miskovic | Serbia | 1,885,000 | 126 |
| 2 | Roman Kolotiuk | Russia | 1,820,000 | 121 |
| 3 | Alexey Savenkov | Russia | 1,475,000 | 98 |
| 4 | Gerard Carbo Santamaria | Spain | 1,380,000 | 92 |
| 5 | Pedro Ingles | Spain | 1,355,000 | 90 |
| 6 | Ege Guven | Turkey | 1,335,000 | 89 |
| 7 | Renato Minicuci | France | 1,280,000 | 85 |
| 8 | Afshin Afsharorumieh | Iran | 1,150,000 | 77 |
| 9 | Hassan Nashar | Guinea-Bissau | 1,140,000 | 76 |
| 10 | Ali Moein | Iran | 1,100,000 | 73 |
Another familiar face returning for Day 3 with an above-average stack is Aren Bezhanyan, who bagged up 850,000 chips. He scored an early double-up after squeezing from the blinds against Konstantin Voronin, then bet the flop, check-raised the turn, and jammed the river with top pair. Voronin called with just a pair of eights, giving Bezhanyan a key boost in momentum early on.
A few more notables who will be returning to the baize for Day 3 include Hassan Nashar (1,140,000), Dawid Smolka (855,000), Georgios Tsouloftas (845,000), and Dragos-Florin Anton (780,000) after he spiked a three-outer to send a player to the rail near the end of the day. Some more bagging up a stack today were Maxime Chilaud (745,000), Joseph Sabe (625,000), two-time gold bracelet winner Timur Margolin (453,000), and Damir Zhugralin (280,000).
Day 3 begins Thursday, July 31, at noon local time. The blinds are scheduled to increase to 60 minutes in duration, and players will return to blinds of 10,000/15,000 with a big blind ante of 15,000. The first hurdle for players tomorrow will be to navigate the money bubble and secure themselves at least a minimum payout of $3,750 for their efforts.
Payouts
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates as we follow this event to its conclusion. A winner will be crowned on Saturday, August 1.