$2,200 IPO Master Day 2 | 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series

07-30-2025 14:10 UTC+2

LeBlond Spikes to a Set to Send Abdo Home

Tim Baker

Level 14 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

OIeg Svintsov raised to 7,000 from early position with Benjamin LeBlond calling from the small blind. Naji Abdo bumped it up to 28,500 from the big blind, which was called by both of his opponents.

LeBlond knuckled the action over to Abdo on the 8♦4♣6♣ flop, and Abdo overbet jammed for around 150,000. Svintsov tank-folded before LeBlond snap-called with the covering stack.

Naji Abdo: K♠K♥ All in
Benjamin LeBlond: 4♠4♦

LeBlond flopped a set, and Abdo needed a Cowboy on the turn or river to survive. The 5♥ turn and 9♠ river didn't improve Abdo, and LeBlond won the pot with a set of fours.

Player	Chips	Progress
Benjamin LeBlond	700,000 486,000	486,000
Oleg Svintsov	200,000 7,500	7,500
Naji Abdo	Busted

Tags: Benjamin LeBlond Naji Abdo

07-30-2025 14:24 UTC+2

Biz Finds Aces at the Right Time

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Tim Baker

Level 14 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

After some preflop raises back and forth, Mustafa Biz and Adem Agoudjil got all of their chips into the middle with Biz being the player at risk for around 153,000.

Mustafa Biz: A♦A♠ All in
Adem Agoudjil: A♥K♥

Agoudjil was up against the preflop nuts of Biz and needed a lot of help from the dealer to win the pot. A clean runout of 2♠3♠J♣6♦3♥ left Agoudjil drawing dead by the turn, and around half of his stack headed over to Biz.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mustafa Biz	215,000 44,000	44,000
Adem Agoudjil	170,000 90,000	90,000

Tags: Adem Agoudjil Mustafa Biz

07-30-2025 14:39 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 14 : Blinds 1,500/3,500, 3,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Fadi Nakhoul	950,000 50,000	50,000
Aren Bezhanyan	945,000 120,000	120,000
Roman Kolotiuk	810,000 10,000	10,000

Hassan Nashar	630,000 530,000	530,000

Damir Zhugralin	500,000 221,000	221,000
Michael Iakovlev	490,000 50,000	50,000

Soraya Estrada	480,000 10,000	10,000
Xiaosheng Zheng	450,000 330,000	330,000
Felipe Ketzer	440,000 30,000	30,000
Alexandros Kolonias	400,000 248,500	248,500

Uri Reichenstein	240,000 160,500	160,500
Roman Stoika	220,000 58,500	58,500
Alisa Sibgatova	190,000 57,500	57,500
Bogdan Jontulovic	150,000 57,000	57,000
Grzegorz Kozieja	125,000 115,000	115,000
Maksim Shornikau	100,000 100,000	100,000
Elie Farah	90,000 211,000	211,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	75,000 14,000	14,000
Andrei Spataru	70,000 30,000	30,000

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 4,000

07-30-2025 14:48 UTC+2

Shornikau Puts Arkhipenkov in the Blender

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

With roughly 40,000 in the pot already, Maksim Shornikau fired out a bet of 17,000 from the small blind on a flop of 7♥K♥J♥. Anton Arkhipenkov called from the cutoff and the headed to the turn.

Shornikau didn't slow down on the A♣ turn, as he tossed out a bet of 55,000. Arkhipenkov went into the tank for quite some time and was visibly distressed. In the end, he chose to fold and surrender the pot to Shornikau. Arkhipenkov tossed in his 'rabbit card', which meant the dealer showed that the river would have been the 8♦.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maksim Shornikau	270,000 170,000	170,000
Anton Arkhipenkov	180,000 47,000	47,000

Tags: Anton Arkhipenkov Maksim Shornikau

07-30-2025 15:02 UTC+2

Nashar Wins a Small One

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

When it folded to Hassan Nashar, he raised to 10,000 from the button and only the big blind player called.

The 7♠9♦4♣ flop checked through to see the 3♠ appear on the turn. The big blind checked again, but Nasahr threw out a bet of 15,000. Nashar's opponent called.

Another round of checks came after the 2♠ river and the big blind player revealed A♥2♣ for a pair of deuces. Nashar had that beat with Q♥7♥ for a pair of sevens, and the pot was sent to him.

Player	Chips	Progress
Hassan Nashar	520,000 110,000	110,000

Tags: Hassan Nashar

07-30-2025 15:14 UTC+2

Merheb Rivers a Higher Set to Bust Moldovan

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

After an open from under the gun to 12,000, Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan jammed from the next seat for 67,000. Andress Merheb cold-called from the hijack, forcing the rest of the table to fold.

Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan: 9♦9♣ All in
Andress Merheb: 10♥10♠

Moldovan was behind to the pocket tens of Merheb, and he needed to find a nine from the dealer to stay alive. The dealer provided that nine as she fanned out the flop of 9♥5♠7♦. The 5♥ turn meant only a ten on the river would send Moldovan to the rail. The brutal 10♣ fell on the river to give Merheb a higher set, and Moldovan headed for the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andress Merheb	370,000 185,000	185,000
Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan	Busted

Tags: Andress Merheb Ionut-Alexandru Moldovan

07-30-2025 15:17 UTC+2

Break Time; Last Chance to Register

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Players are now on a 20-minute break. At the conclusion of this break, late registration will officially close.

Level: 16

Blinds: 2,000/5,000

Ante: 5,000

07-30-2025 15:38 UTC+2

Flashback: Boris Kolev Dominates 2025 Merit Millions Final Table

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Back in April, the inaugural $10,400 Merit Millions Event saw Boris Kolev rising above a talented field of 212 entries to become the first-ever champion. Held inside the stunning Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, the unique event ended with Kolev capturing the coveted title and the massive $1,000,000 guaranteed top prize.

Kolev, who began the final table third in chips, put on a clinical display to systematically dismantle his opponents on the way to victory. In doing so, he became the first player in Merit Poker history to walk away with a seven-figure payday. The Bulgarian pro made quick work of Mehdi Chaoui in a brief heads-up battle to seal the title and etch his name in the record books.

2025 Merit Million Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Boris Kolev	Bulgaria	$1,000,000
2	Mehdi Chaoui	Morocco	$300,000
3	Romans Lihacovs	Latvia	$200,000
4	Aleksandr Kirichenko	Russian Federation	$140,000
5	Rafael Aslanli	Turkey	$100,000
6	Maksim Shornikau	Belarus	$75,000
7	Andrey Pateychuk	Russian Federation	$55,000
8	Ali Al-Kubasi	Iraq	$45,000
9	Alexandr Lakhov	Russia	$35,400

Read the Full Recap Here