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

01-21-2026 17:21 UTC+2

Life Outside Poker: Mounir Tajiou Brings No Filter to Life w/ Scotty Nguyen, Michael Mizrachi & Juha Helppi

Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 35th episode, Connor talks with No Filter Poker Series founder Mounir Tajiou about growing up in Sweden, working as a high court judge, playing professional soccer, making a deep run in the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, and the new No Filter Poker Series, which values fun at the table over poker strategy.

We also hear from 1998 Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen, reigning WSOP champ Michael Mizrachi and Finnish poker legend Juha Helppi about their involvement with the No Filter Poker tour.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

01-21-2026 17:18 UTC+2

Feizi Loses a Small Pot to Anar

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Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Huma Feizi made it 3,000 to go from early position with Seref Anar calling on the button, and Jean-Baptiste Pano defending his big blind.

The action checked to Anar on the Q♠J♠10♦ flop and he fired out a bet of 10,000. Pano folded and Feizi called.

A 4♣ on the turn checked through as did the J♦ river. Anar turned over 10♥9♥ for a pair of tens, and it was good to win the pot as Feizi mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jean-Baptiste Pano	110,000 5,000	5,000
Seref Anar	91,000 9,000	9,000
Huma Feizi	85,000 25,000	25,000

Tags: Jean-Baptiste Pano Seref Anar

01-21-2026 17:14 UTC+2

New Entries & Reentries

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Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikhail Zavoloka	100,000 100,000	100,000
Chady Ojeil	100,000 100,000	100,000
Erdal Gulseven	100,000 100,000	100,000
Nemanja Tatar	100,000 100,000	100,000
Seref Anar	100,000
Genrik Alekian	100,000 100,000	100,000
Artem Kulyk	100,000 100,000	100,000

01-21-2026 16:59 UTC+2

Sahranavard Heads to the Rail

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Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Shahab Sahranavard got all of his 40,000 chips into the middle preflop with Dani Rashed, who was sitting on his direct left, making the call to try and eliminate him.

Shahab Sahranavard: J♦10♦ All in
Dani Rashed: J♠J♣

Sahranavard was in rough shape against the pocket jacks of Rashed, and he needed some diamonds to keep his seat in the Main Event.

Sahranavard flopped a gutshot on the A♠A♥Q♠ flop, but it amounted to nothing as the remainder of the board ran out 9♥3♦, and he was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dani Rashed	165,000 165,000	165,000
Shahab Sahranavard	Busted

Tags: Dani Rashed Shahab Sahranavard

Level: 6

Blinds: 800/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-21-2026 16:43 UTC+2

Pano Picks Off Sekulic's Bluff

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Tim Baker

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

Jean-Baptiste Pano opened to 2,500 under the gun and only Slobodan Sekulic called on the button.

Pano fired a continuation-bet of 3,000 on the Q♣A♠9♦ flop and Sekulic quickly called.

Two checks followed a 2♠ turn to see the J♥ on the river. Pano checked again, but Sekulic bet 6,200. Pano shrugged and then flicked in the call.

Sekulic showed 3♠3♥ for a pair of treys and lost the pot to Pano's K♣K♥.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jean-Baptiste Pano	105,000 105,000	105,000
Slobodan Sekulic	65,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Jean-Baptiste Pano Slobodan Sekulic

01-21-2026 16:28 UTC+2

Ercan is Ended by Hammi

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Tim Baker

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

With only around 15,000 in his stack, Mustafa Ercan raised to 3,000 from the cutoff. After Mohamed Ameur Hammi looked at his cards in the big blind, he slid a tower of blue T-5,000 chips across the line, putting Ercan all in. Ercan reluctantly called.

Mustafa Ercan: A♠7♣ All in
Mohamed Ameur Hammi: J♥J♠

Ercan needed to find an ace to beat the pocket jacks of Hammi and double up.

Hammi found a clean runout of Q♦3♥4♠8♥6♥ for his pocket pair, and all of Ercan's remaining chips were absorbed into his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mohamed Ameur Hammi	165,000
Mustafa Ercan	Busted

Tags: Mohamed Ameur Hammii Mustafa Ercan

01-21-2026 16:17 UTC+2

Kain Loses to Sakarya's Ace-High

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Tim Baker

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

Yaser Sakarya opened the button and Ori Kain was the only caller from the small blind.

Check, check came after the 4♣2♠2♣ flop, and the 7♠ arrived on the turn. Kain bet 3,700, which Sakarya called.

Another round of checks came after the 10♠ river and Kain revealed K♦J♦. However, Sakarya had him beat with A♥3♥ for ace-high and Sakarya was sent the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ori Kain	240,000 30,000	30,000
Yaser Sakarya	55,000 55,000	55,000

Tags: Ori Kain Yaser Sakarya

Level: 5

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 1,200

01-21-2026 16:01 UTC+2

Kulyk Shoves Into the Nuts

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Tim Baker

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

Artem Kulyk min-raised to 2,000 under the gun before Predrag Premovic three-bet to 6,500 from the next seat. When it folded back to Kulyk, he four-bet jammed for 65,000, and Premovic snap-called.

Artem Kulyk: A♥Q♣ All in
Predrag Premovic: A♠A♦

Kulyk shoved right into the preflop nuts of Premovic and needed a miracle to remain seated in the Main Event.

Kulyk picked up a flush draw on the 7♥6♥3♥ flop, but was unable to hit it through the 3♣ turn or 7♠ river.

Kuly headed for the rail and Premovic was up to 235,000.