Jakub Michalak Takes Chip Lead After Day 2 of Record-Breaking $5,300 High Roller
The penultimate day of the $5,300 High Roller at the 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series saw the record books rewritten, as once late registration officially closed, the field stood at 318 entries. That makes this the largest High Roller ever held at a Merit Poker event. The massive turnout created a $1,462,800 prize pool, from which the eventual winner will walk away with a hefty $310,000.
After twelve 40-minute levels inside the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, just 43 players remain in contention heading into Day 3, the final day. Poland's Jakub Michalak leads the field after bagging 2,170,000 chips. Mohamed El-Wely sits just one big blind shy of the lead in second, as he accumulated 2,150,000 during the day.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jakub Michalak | Poland | 2,170,000 | 87 |
| 2 | Mohamed El-Wely | Mauritania | 2,150,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Ohad Geiger | Israel | 1,625,000 | 65 |
| 4 | Alper Kerim | Turkey | 1,310,000 | 52 |
| 5 | Ghassan Bitar | Lebanon | 1,305,000 | 52 |
| 6 | Osman Ihlamur | Turkey | 1,290,000 | 52 |
| 7 | Samir Nacer | France | 1,235,000 | 49 |
| 8 | Michael Iakovlev | Russia | 1,210,000 | 48 |
| 9 | Antoine Farhat | Lebanon | 1,100,000 | 44 |
| 10 | Danielle Noja | Australia | 1,040,000 | 42 |
Most of Michalak's chips came from two pivotal hands. First, he flopped a set of jacks in a three-way pot and got paid by Anton Danilov’s pocket queens. Later, he played what might have been the biggest pot of the tournament when he got it in preflop with kings against Chakib M'hiri’s aces. A brutal king on the flop sealed it, sending M’hiri to the rail and catapulting Michalak into the chip lead, a spot he held onto through the end of play.
Other notables still in the mix tomorrow include Michael Iakovlev (1,210,000), Aren Bezhanyan (1,000,000), and Adrian State (935,000), who picked up aces against Big Slick midway through the day to help him reach Day 3. Also returning are Day 1 chip leader Hassan Nashar (920,000), Grzegorz Kozieja (530,000), Kirill Burtin (290,000), and Quan Zhou (230,000), who flopped quads against Hady El-Asmar’s full house.
Day 3 gets underway at 1:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, August 2, with blinds at 10,000/25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante. The first goal for the remaining 43 players will be to outlast just two more eliminations and secure a $9,500 min-cash. From there, all eyes will be on reaching the final table and then putting themselves within touching distance of the cash, trophy, and bragging rights of being a Merit Poker champion.
Payouts
Stay locked in with PokerNews tomorrow, as Day 3 plays down to a winner and the newest Merit Poker High Roller champion is crowned. Live updates, chip counts, and all the key hands will be coming your way throughout the day.