€1,650 Main Event Day 1b | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-20-2026 18:33 UTC+2

Iakovleva Gets One Through on Kudryavtsev

Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

On a board of 3♣7♥4♦A♦ with around 15,000 in the pot, Sergey Kudryavtsev fired 6,400 from under the gun.

Nataliya Iakovleva was the only other player in the pot and on the button, she took some time before she made it 21,500 to go. Kudryavtsev responded with an immediate fold, allowing Iakovleva to scoop the pot.

Christoforos Chrysochoidis is also on the same table and has around 160,000 to work with.

Player	Chips	Progress
Christoforos Chrysochoidis	160,000 120,000	120,000
Nataliya Iakovleva	110,000 110,000	110,000
Sergey Kudryavtsev	80,000 80,000	80,000

Tags: Christoforos Chrysochoidis Nataliya Iakovleva Sergey Kudryavtsev

01-20-2026 18:21 UTC+2

Haidar Drills a Flush to Double Through Velesiuk

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Safi Haidar has fired a few bullets in the Main Event, but perhaps this one is the lucky one.

On a board of 7♥10♦K♦, there were around 15,000 in the pot when Vitali Velesiuk checked the small blind and Haidar bet 11,500 out of the big blind. Velesiuk responded with a raise to 33,500, and Haidar shoved 81,200. Velesiuk called.

Safi Haidar: A♦4♦ All in
Vitali Velesiuk: K♥10♠

Haidar needed a diamond to survive, and his wishes came true as the 3♦ turn improved him to the nut flush. Velesiuk still had a way out as any king or ten would give him a full house, but the 6♥ river bricked out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Safi Haidar	180,000 180,000	180,000
Vitali Velesiuk	130,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Safi Haidar Vitali Velesiuk

01-20-2026 18:07 UTC+2

Brinkmann Gets Value With Aces

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Yaniv Peretz didn't seem too impressed after he just lost a chunk of chips to Martin Brinkmann.

The full board of J♥9♠6♦4♠10♥ was already out and with around 50,000 in the middle, Peretz checked from middle position. Brinkmann was in the hijack and had bet 50,000, which sent Peretz into the tank.

Eventually, Peretz did call, and didn't like what he saw when Brinkmann flipped over the bullets with A♦A♣.

After the hand, Brinkmann was up to around 220,000, while Peretz's stack took a hit down to about 140,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Brinkmann	220,000 90,000	90,000
Yaniv Peretz	140,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Yaniv Peretz Martin Brinkmann

01-20-2026 17:53 UTC+2

Liu Sitting With a Healthy Stack

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Zhengpeng Liu has been steadily going about his day, and has a stack of around 180,000 at the moment.

In a hand Liu just played, he raised under the gun to 2,500 and the button player called.

On the A♦7♠4♠ flop, Liu continued for 3,000, which the button called. The J♦ hit the turn and Liu slowed down with a check, then folded when the button bet 8,400.

Despite that small setback, Liu is still sitting comfortably at the midway point of Day 1b.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhengpeng Liu	180,000 80,000	80,000

Tags: Zhengpeng Liu

01-20-2026 17:43 UTC+2

Welcome to Club PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

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01-20-2026 17:38 UTC+2

Selected Top Stacks

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Kai Cocklin

Level 5 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Pablo Redrado	330,000 30,000	30,000
Dmytro Gorbal	320,000 85,000	85,000
Dmitriy Reznichenko	280,000 280,000	280,000
Chakib M'hiri	225,000 5,000	5,000
Yaniv Peretz	210,000 80,000	80,000
Vitali Velesiuk	200,000 200,000	200,000
Paul Esau	160,000 20,000	20,000

Artem Pugach	150,000 30,000	30,000
Oleg Bystrenin	140,000 10,000	10,000
Mustafa Ercan	140,000 20,000	20,000
Mikhail Ostapenko	130,000 130,000	130,000

Level: 5

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 1,200

01-20-2026 17:22 UTC+2

Break Time

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Kai Cocklin

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Players are on a 15-minute break.

01-20-2026 17:22 UTC+2

Sahranavard Flops Top Set Againt Russo

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Kai Cocklin

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

With around 20,000 in the pot on a Q♠5♠9♥ flop, Sebastien Russo bet 5,500 from the hijack and Shahab Sahranavard raised to 13,000. Russo then took some time before he shoved, and Sahranavard snap-called for his stack of 106,5000.

Shahab Sahranavard: Q♦Q♣ All in
Sebastien Russo: A♦Q♥

Sahranavard had the nuts and Russo needed to find a miracle to earn any piece of the pot. No miracle occurred as the 8♣K♠ runout changed nothing, which left Sahranavard with a double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Shahab Sahranavard	230,000
Sebastien Russo	130,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Sebastien Russo Shahab Sahranavard

01-20-2026 17:09 UTC+2

Aces for Grummitt

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Kai Cocklin

Level 4 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Chakib M'hiri opened the button to 2,000 and Paul Grummitt called in the small blind. Mustafa Ercan also called from the big blind.

On the 7♣5♦J♦ flop, Grummitt led out for 2,500 and picked up a caller in M'hiri. On the 6♦ turn, Grummitt continued to bet and made it 3,500, which again M'hiri called.

A 6♥ paired the board on the river and Grummitt fired a third bet of 4,500. M'hiri laughed to himself then tossed a chip high in the air that landed in the pot, indicating a call.

Grummitt then showed the rockets with A♦A♣, and M'hiri mucked.