Nikolai Isaev Ends Day 1b on Top in Montenegro

Day 1b of the €1,650 Main Event at the Merit Poker Montenegro Championship wrapped up inside the Merit Royal Splendid Casino in Budva, adding another 87 entries to the field. By the end of nine 60-minute levels, 33 players remained, taking the overall field to 236 entries heading into the remaining flights.

Russia’s Nikolai Isaev finished the day with the biggest stack, bagging 613,500 after a strong late surge. Isaev pulled clear during the final levels and ended the night ahead of Amir Hassan (579,000), while Zael Zela (449,500), Paul Esau (421,000), and Safi Haidar (421,000) also secured healthy stacks for Day 2.

Day 1b Top Ten Chip counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Nikolai Isaev	Russia	613,500	245
2	Amir Hassan	Tunisia	579,000	232
3	Zael Zela	Albania	449,500	180
4	Paul Esau	Germany	421,000	168
5	Safi Haidar	Lebanon	421,000	168
6	Sergey Kudryavtsev	Russia	404,000	162
7	Martin Brinkmann	United Kingdom	387,500	155
8	Christoforos Chrysochoidis	Greece	357,500	143
9	Boris Kazbekov	Russia	352,500	141
10	Mikhail Ostapenko	Russia	340,500	136

Isaev’s run to the top was capped by one of the key hands of the flight. Late in the day, he called down a sizeable river bet from Chakib M’hiri, only to reveal a rivered set after M’hiri bluffed into it with a missed draw. The pot pushed Isaev into the chip lead and set the tone for a dominant finish to the session.

There was plenty of action elsewhere in the closing stages. Christoforos Chrysochoidis was involved in multiple big pots, first making a sharp river call against Jean-Baptiste Pano, then winning a three-way all-in to send Pano to the rail and leave Yaniv Peretz clinging to a short stack. Peretz would eventually exit late in the day after losing a flip to Ohad Gelerenter, whose pocket nines held to score the knockout.

Zela also featured prominently after flopping top set and calling off a shove from Shahab Sahranavard, fading a flush draw to double up. Martin Brinkmann found value with pocket aces against Peretz earlier in the day, while Pablo Redrado scooped one of the biggest pots of the afternoon by turning a straight in a three-way confrontation that eliminated both Benjamin Nicault and Haidar in a single hand.

Among the other players to find bags were Sergey Kudryavtsev (404,000), Brinkmann (387,500), Boris Kazbekov (352,500), Mikhail Ostapenko (340,500), and Zhengpeng Liu (307,500), with several shorter stacks also advancing after navigating the final levels.

Remaining Main Event Schedule

Date	Day	Time	Blind Levels
Jan 21	Day 1c	12 p.m.	40 minutes
Jan 21	Day 1d	7 p.m.	25 minutes
Jan 22	Day 2	12 p.m.	60 minutes
Jan 23	Day 3	12 p.m.	60 minutes
Jan 24	Day 4	12 p.m.	60 minutes
Jan 25	Day 5	1 p.m.	60 minutes