$2,200 IPO Master Day 3 | 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series

07-31-2025 15:55 UTC+2

Missing the Top 50

Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexandr Poberejnii	Busted
Mustafa Biz	Busted
Abdullah Al-Shanti	Busted
Jose Roman	Busted
Simone Demasi	Busted
Sergey Fedyaev	Busted
Yilu Yuan	Busted
Ran Ilani	Busted
Abdou Antoun	Busted
Boris Smuskevicius	Busted
Michael Iakovlev	Busted

Baltazar Five	Busted
Samuel Dray	Busted
Osman Ihlamur	Busted
Dumitru-Adrian Pora	Busted

07-31-2025 16:03 UTC+2

Khalil Doubles Through Chauskin

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Xiaosheng Zheng opened the hijack to 105,000 and Natan Chauskin three-bet the cutoff to 300,000. Ghassan Khalil was in the big blind and four-bet shoved 785,000, which got a quick fold out of Zheng. Chauskin was shaking his head at the situation he found himself in, but did put in the call to put Khalil at risk.

Ghassan Khalil: 5♠5♥ All in
Natan Chauskin: A♠Q♦

It was a flip, and one that went Khalil's way as he doubled up on the 7♠J♣3♣2♣5♦ river after rivering a set.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ghassan Khalil	1,800,000 900,000	900,000
Xiaosheng Zheng	1,650,000 750,000	750,000
Natan Chauskin	1,150,000 250,000	250,000

Tags: Ghassan Khalil Natan Chauskin Xiaosheng Zheng

07-31-2025 16:17 UTC+2

Two Birds, One Stone For Zheng

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Mohamed El-Wely opened to 125,000 from under the gun and Roman Kolotiuk shoved 360,000 from the cutoff. Xiaosheng Zheng then moved all in for just over 1,500,000 from the button, and Natan Chauskin called off his stack of 1,200,000 from the small blind. El-Wely, with all the action in front of him, folded K♥10♥.

Roman Kolotiuk: A♦K♣ All in
Natan Chauskin: J♦J♠ All in
Xiaosheng Zheng: A♠Q♦

Zheng had the chance to eliminate two players, and was the favorite to do so after he paired his queen on the Q♣3♣8♥ flop. A 2♦ on the turn left Kolotiuk and Chauskin with one shot at survival, but they couldn't find it as the 10♦ hit the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Xiaosheng Zheng	3,000,000 1,350,000	1,350,000
Mohamed El-Wely	2,500,000 200,000	200,000
Roman Kolotiuk	Busted

Natan Chauskin	Busted

Tags: Mohamed El-Wely Natan Chauskin Roman Kolotiuk Xiaosheng Zheng

07-31-2025 16:26 UTC+2

Flashback: Boris Kolev Dominates 2025 Merit Millions Final Table

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 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

07-31-2025 16:30 UTC+2

Aras Falls to Estrada

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Soraya Estrada opened the cutoff to 100,000 and Semih Aras shoved the small blind for around 450,000. When it got back to Estrada, she thought for a while before putting in the call.

Semih Aras: A♠2♥ All in
Soraya Estrada: J♦10♦

Aras was ahead, but certainly didn't like seeing the holding of Estrada, especially when the flop came J♠4♠9♣. No ace arrived for Aras on the K♥8♥ runout, and he was sent to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Soraya Estrada	2,400,000 1,500,000	1,500,000
Semih Aras	Busted

Tags: Semih Aras Soraya Estrada

07-31-2025 16:38 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Afshin Afsharorumieh	4,700,000 3,550,000	3,550,000
Mohamed El-Wely	2,400,000 100,000	100,000
Dragos-Florin Anton	2,300,000 250,000	250,000
Benjamin LeBlond	2,100,000 100,000	100,000
Leonid Orman	2,000,000 450,000	450,000
Cedric Schwaederle	1,600,000 1,150,000	1,150,000
Jingxuan Zhu	1,500,000 710,000	710,000
Hassanin Hashim	1,300,000 250,000	250,000
Danielle Noja	1,050,000 550,000	550,000
Dawid Smolka	710,000 890,000	890,000
Maxime Chilaud	600,000 850,000	850,000
Fang Zhang	500,000 110,000	110,000

07-31-2025 16:43 UTC+2

Agoudjil Flops a Set to Crack Voronin's Cowboys

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Kai Cocklin

Level 25 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Adem Agoudjil just won a huge pot to eliminate Konstantin Voronin and surge up the counts.

The hand was recalled where it was learned that Agoudjil made it 100,000 from middle position and Voronin three-bet to 250,000 out of the big blind. Agoudjil called.

The flop came Qx3x2x and Voronin continued for 150,000, which Agoudjil called to the 9x turn. Again Voronin bet, this time for 375,000, and Agoudjil once again called.

A 6x fell on the river and Voronin shoved 550,000, which was met with a quick call by Agoudjil.

Voronin flipped KxKx, but that was no good as Agoudjil flopped a set holding 3x3x.

Player	Chips	Progress
Adem Agoudjil	5,200,000 1,500,000	1,500,000
Konstantin Voronin	Busted

Tags: Adem Agoudjil Konstantin Voronin

Level: 26

Blinds: 30,000/60,000

Ante: 60,000

07-31-2025 16:54 UTC+2

Recent Eliminations

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Dawid Smolka	Busted
Gor Musinyan	Busted
Semih Aras	Busted
Konstantin Voronin	Busted

Milos Miskovic	Busted

Natan Chauskin	Busted
Roman Kolotiuk	Busted

Cosmas Zantis	Busted
Andrei Kozin	Busted
Christos Leantzis	Busted
Mazen Halabi	Busted
Maciej Toma	Busted

07-31-2025 17:02 UTC+2

Agoudjil Check-Raises Crespi

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Kai Cocklin

Level 26 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Joan Crespi raised the cutoff to 125,000 and got called by Adem Agoudjil in the small blind & Khalil Chami in the big blind.

They went to a flop of 10♦K♣3♣, where the action checked to Crespi, who bet 125,000. Agoudjil then raised to 350,000, and that was enough to earn the pot as both Chami and Crespi folded.

It was no harm done, though, for Crespi as he has around 7,200,000 in front of him.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joan Crespi	7,200,000 2,100,000	2,100,000
Adem Agoudjil	5,500,000 300,000	300,000
Xiaosheng Zheng	3,800,000 800,000	800,000
Danielle Noja	1,200,000 150,000	150,000
Khalil Chami	1,100,000 500,000	500,000

Tags: Adem Agoudjil Joan Crespi Khalil Chami