$5,300 High Roller Day 2 | 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series

08-02-2025 00:39 UTC+3

Farhat More Than Doubles; Hajj Busts

Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Alain Hajj, Antoine Farhat, and Xuming Qi just got all in preflop with Hajj having the chance to triple his stack of 50,000. Farhat was all-in for around 200,000 and Qi had the opportunity to send two players home.

Alain Hajj: K♥Q♦ All in
Antoine Farhat: J♥10♥ All in
Xuming Qi: K♣Q♣

The flop came down J♦4♥A♣ to put Farhat in the lead with second pair. The A♦ turn and 7♥ river didn't help Hajj or Qi, and Farhat won the pot. Hajj hit the rail, while Farhat more than doubled his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Xuming Qi	500,000 419,000	419,000
Antoine Farhat	470,000 250,000	250,000
Alain Hajj	Busted

Tags: Alain Hajj Antoine Farhat Xuming Qi

08-02-2025 00:19 UTC+3

Yang Doubles Through Voronin

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Kirill Burtin raised from the hijack with Konstantin Voronin calling from the cutoff, Tommy G calling out of the small blind, and Tao Yang defending his big blind.

The action checked to Voronin on the 8♠5♣10♠ flop, and he fired out 24,000. G folded, but Yang check-raised to 100,000. Burtin got out the way before Voronin jammed to put Yang all in. Yang had around 150,000 remaining in his stack, and thought for around two minutes before making the call.

Tao Yang: Q♠9♠ All in
Konstantin Voronin: K♦8♦

Voronin just had a pair of eights and needed to fade a lot of outs on the turn and river to send Yang home. The 9♦ turn put Yang into the lead with a pair of nines. He improved to two pair on the Q♥ river, and doubled up at the expense of Voronin.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tommy G	700,000 100,000	100,000
Tao Yang	500,000 196,000	196,000
Kirill Burtin	150,000 57,000	57,000
Konstantin Voronin	100,000 470,000	470,000

Tags: Kirill Burtin Konstantin Voronin Tao Yang Tommy G

08-02-2025 00:14 UTC+3

Flashback: Boris Kolev Dominates 2025 Merit Millions Final Table

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Tim Baker

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 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

Level: 17

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 10,000

08-02-2025 00:01 UTC+3

Brutal Two-Outer Sees M'Hiri Lose the Biggest Pot of the Tournament So Far

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Chakib M'Hiri raised to 23,000 from early position before Jakub Michalak three-bet the button to 70,000. After the blinds folded, M'Hiri four-bet to 205,000. Michalak jammed for M'Hiri's remaining 450,000, and M'Hiri snap-called.

Chakib M'Hiri: A♥A♠ All in
Jakub Michalak: K♠K♥

It was poker's classic cooler in what was the biggest pot of the tournament so far.

The dealer slowly revealed the flop of K♣Q♠2♠ to propel Michalak into the lead with a set of kings. The 3♠ turn gave M'Hiri a flush draw, but the 4♦ hit the river. Michalak moved up to around 1,500,000, while M'Hiri just had a bad beat story to tell for his efforts.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jakub Michalak	1,500,000 720,000	720,000

Chakib M'Hiri	Busted

Tags: Chakib M'Hiri Jakub Michalak

08-01-2025 23:42 UTC+3

Prize Pool & Payouts

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

With 318 entries recorded in the record-breaking $5,300 High Roller here at the 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series, the prize pool totaled $1,462,800.

There will be 41 players paid, with a min-cash being worth $9,500, while the eventual champion will walk away with $310,000.

Place	Prize	Place	Prize
1	$310,000	10–12	$22,500
2	$216,500	13-15	$18,700
3	$155,000	16-19	$15,500
4	$111,000	20-23	$13,000
5	$81,000	24-31	$11,000
6	$60,500	32-41	$9,500
7	$45,700
8	$35,000
9	$27,500

08-01-2025 23:33 UTC+3

Big Stacks After Break

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Jose Roman	1,150,000 660,000	660,000
Mohamed El-Wely	970,000 775,000	775,000
Adrian State	900,000 530,000	530,000
Tommy G	800,000 310,000	310,000
Jakub Michalak	780,000 80,000	80,000

Antoine Hasbani	730,000 40,000	40,000
Grzegorz Kozieja	643,000 208,000	208,000
Roman Stoika	630,000 210,000	210,000
Nejat Erman	630,000 30,000	30,000
Peng Chen	615,000 615,000	615,000
Hassan Nashar	600,000 240,000	240,000

Andreas Mavromoustakis	550,000 25,000	25,000
Aren Bezhanyan	550,000

Level: 16

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000

08-01-2025 23:17 UTC+3

Break Time

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Players are now on a 15-minute break.

08-01-2025 23:09 UTC+3

Zhivkovikj Doubles With the Bigger Pair

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Ghassan Bitar raised to 12,000 under the gun and Boban Zhivkovikj jammed fo 123,000 from middle position. When it got back to Bitar, he briefly tanked before gathering up the chips and making the call.

Ghassan Bitar: 10♦10♣ All in
Nejat Erman: 7♦7♠

Zhivkovikj had the higher pair and just needed to avoid a seven on the runout to double up. Zhivkovikj won the pot with his tens as the board came Q♣J♥J♠9♦9♠, and he stayed alive in the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ghassan Bitar	600,000 600,000	600,000
Boban Zhivkovikj	270,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Boban Zhivkovikj Ghassan Bitar