€1,650 Main Event Day 2 | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-22-2026 13:01 UTC+2

Play to Begin Shortly

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Kai Cocklin

The players are currently taking their seats and play for Day 2 will begin shortly.

A reminder that registration is open for five more levels, and will close at the end of Level 14.

01-22-2026 10:21 UTC+2

Fausto Tantillo Starts at the Top on Main Event Day 2

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Tim Baker

Day 2 of the €1,650 Main Event at the Merit Poker Montenegro Championship gets underway at noon today inside the Merit Royal Splendid Casino in Budva, with the field from the four starting flights combining for the first time.

Following the conclusion of Day 1d, which attracted 17 entries and saw 10 players advance, the tournament has climbed to 344 total entries. With 150 players returning for Day 2, that number includes two players who successfully qualified twice and will take their best stack forward.

Sitting alone with almost 100 big blinds more than his closest rival is Fausto Tantillo, who finished the opening flights as the overall chip leader with 825,000. Russia's Nikolai Isaev is in second with 613,500, while Amir Hassan rounds out the top three after bagging 579,000.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Fausto Tantillo	Italy	825,000	330
2	Nikolai Isaev	Russia	613,500	245
3	Amir Hassan	Tunisia	579,000	232
4	Atilla Saracoglu	Turkey	569,500	228
5	Igor Abelmasov	Russia	545,000	218
6	Andrei Daniliuk	Russia	540,000	216
7	Bobby James	United Kingdom	520,000	208
8	Vladimir Lappo	Belarus	519,000	208
9	Oleksii Shchukin	Ukraine	487,000	195
10	Ufuk Erkmen	Turkey	453,500	181

Turkey’s Atilla Saracoglu (569,500) remains just outside the podium positions after topping the Day 1c counts, while several others also carry stacks north of half a million into Day 2. Among them are Igor Abelmasov (545,000), Andrei Daniliuk (540,000), along with Bobby James (520,000) and Belarus’ Vladimir Lappo (519,000), all firmly in the mix near the top of the standings.

Several familiar faces are also lurking just outside the top five, including multiple bracelet winner Timur Margolin (449,500), Uri Reichenstein (438,500), Merit Poker Gatsby Series Main Event runner-up Bogdan Jontulovic (419,500), Day 1d chip leader Nikolay Ponomarev (307,000), Jon Kyte (274,000), Shai Zurr (205,000), Gabi Livshitz (144,000), and Nikolay Fal (96,500).

Play will resume today to blinds of 1,000/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante, and levels will be an hour in length. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 14, at which point the official prize pool and payouts will be confirmed. Further details on the schedule for the day will be announced shortly after cards get in the air.

Remaining Main Event Schedule

Date	Day	Time	Blind Levels
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

PokerNews will be on hand throughout the day to bring you all the eliminations, chip changes, and updates as the €1,650 Main Event continues.

Tags: Amir Hassan Andrei Daniliuk Atilla Saracoglu Bobby James Bogdan Jontulovic Fausto Tantillo Gabi Livshitz Igor Abelmasov Jon Kyte Nikolai Isaev Nikolay Fal Nikolay Ponomarev Oleksii Shchukin Shai Zurr Timur Margolin Ufuk Erkmen Uri Reichenstein Vladimir Lappo

01-22-2026 10:21 UTC+2

Day 2 Seat Draw

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Tim Baker

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	1	Evgeny Ivanov	Russia	121,000	48
1	2	Predrag Premovic	Serbia	284,500	114
1	3	Grigoli Liklikadze	Georgia	255,000	102
1	4	Amir Hassan	Tunisia	579,000	232
1	5	Bobby James	United Kingdom	520,000	208
1	6	Sebastian Szychulski	Poland	145,000	58
1	7	Kianoosh Matin	Iran	271,500	109

2	1	Bljerim Imeri	North Macedonia	201,000	80
2	2	Ivan Bozhenko	Ukraine	181,500	73
2	3	Fausto Tantillo	Italy	825,000	330
2	4	Pasquale Di Ceglie	Croatia	135,000	54
2	5	Artem Pugach	Russia	247,000	99
2	6	Mehmet Dalkilic	Turkey	130,000	52
2	7	Amirhossein Davoodi	Iran	264,500	106

3	1	Matija Perovic	Serbia	122,500	49
3	2	Uri Reichenstein	Israel	438,500	175
3	3	Anton Markachev	Russia	236,500	95
3	4	Bogdan Jontulovic	Serbia	419,500	168
3	5	Andrey Litvinov	Russia	53,000	21
3	6	Boris Kazbekov	Russia	352,500	141
3	7	Genrik Alekian	Ukraine	101,000	40

4	1	Ohad Gelerenter	United Kingdom	159,500	64
4	2	Chady Ojeil	Lebanon	96,500	39
4	3	Huma Feizi	Sweden	157,500	63
4	4	Nver Maryanyan	Russia	166,000	66
4	5	Zhengpeng Liu	China	307,500	123
4	6	Safi Haidar	Lebanon	421,000	168
4	7	Yaser Sakarya	Turkey	145,000	58

5	1	Elena Iakovleva	Russia	135,500	54
5	2	Gazmend Zela	Albania	449,500	180
5	3	Mikhail Ketlerov	Russia	62,000	25
5	4	Snjezana Milisa	Croatia	198,500	79
5	5	Mazalahedwa Bako	United Kingdom	329,000	132
5	6	Predrag Vukomanovic	Serbia	207,000	83
5	7	Nikolai Isaev	Russia	613,500	245

6	1	Paul Grummitt	United Kingdom	217,500	87
6	2	Seref Dursun Anar	Turkey	117,500	47
6	3	Danila Solovyev	Russia	144,500	58
6	4	Nazar Buhaiov	Ukraine	110,500	44
6	5	Maksym Bosyk	Ukraine	113,000	45
6	6	Hakan Kuscu	Turkey	178,500	71
6	7	Fabrizio Lo Carbo	Italy	296,000	118

7	1	Oleksii Hura	Ukraine	209,500	84
7	2	Zhicheng Miao	United Kingdom	38,000	15
7	3	Sergey Kudryavtsev	Russia	404,000	162
7	4	Sadik Alibeyoglu	Turkey	104,500	42
7	5	Atilla Saracoglu	Turkey	569,500	228
7	6	Dzmitry Baitsou	Belarus	58,000	23
7	7	Christoforos Chrysochoidis	Greece	357,500	143

8	1	Vedat Yilmaz	Turkey	238,500	95
8	2	Nataliya Iakovleva	Russia	133,500	53
8	3	Arash Khosravi	Macao	290,000	116
8	4	Ruslan Kulibaba	Russia	184,500	74
8	5	Alain Hajj	Lebanon	247,500	99
8	6	Pavel Nikiforov	Russia	127,000	51
8	7	Stefan Vidojkovic	Serbia	158,500	63

9	1	Slobodan Sekulic	Montenegro	61,000	24
9	2	Jamie Nixon	United Kingdom	179,000	72
9	3	Dalibor Bua	Canada	262,000	105
9	4	Andrei Daniliuk	Russia	540,000	216
9	5	Nikolay Fal	Russia	96,500	39
9	6	Besiana Antoni	Italy	127,000	51
9	7	Clement Thumy	France	109,000	44

10	1	Oleksii Shchukin	Ukraine	487,000	195
10	2	Grigoriy Grigorash	Russia	190,000	76
10	3	Petr Rudnev	Russia	142,000	57
10	4	Saljo Curovic	Montenegro	321,500	129
10	5	Arsen Grigoryan	Russia	120,000	48
10	6	Sebastien Russo	France	203,000	81
10	7	Vladimir Lappo	Belarus	519,000	208

11	1	Artem Kulyk	Ukraine	192,500	77
11	2	Giulio Gallo	Italy	224,000	90
11	3	Tim Gerwig	Netherlands	71,500	29
11	4	Ali Moein	Iran	122,000	49
11	5	Jon Kyte	Norway	274,000	110
11	6	Arie Kliper	Israel	113,500	45
11	7	Vladislav Chekhlov	Russia	264,500	106

12	1	Milos Miskovic	Serbia	382,500	153
12	2	Srdan Milicevic	Serbia	370,500	148
12	3	Cihan Abdurrezzak	Turkey	82,000	33
12	4	Salim Usmanov	Russia	237,500	95
12	5	Yevhen Korynetskyi	Ukraine	367,500	147
12	6	Elias Moukawem	Lebanon	193,000	77
12	7	Dmytro Gorbal	France	164,500	66

13	1	Senadin Cosic	Bosnia and Herzegovina	292,000	117
13	2	Nemanja Tatar	Montenegro	253,500	101
13	3	Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Georgia	305,500	122
13	4	Alisa Sibgatova	Russia	120,000	48
13	5	Oleg Voskoboynik	Russia	281,000	112
13	6	Stefan Cupic	Montenegro	90,000	36
13	7	Alexander Lakhov	Russia	282,000	113

14	1	Tommy Mokhtari	Sweden	317,500	127
14	2	Mustafa Hadzibegovic	Germany	156,000	62
14	3	Mohamed Ameur Hammi	Tunisia	240,000	96
14	4	Jakov Balic	Croatia	68,500	27
14	5	Chakib M'hiri	Tunisia	177,000	71
14	6	Ufuk Erkmen	Turkey	453,500	181
14	7	Lennart Beumelburg	Germany	278,000	111

15	1	Alexander Sokolovsky	Serbia	77,500	31
15	2	Ori Kain	Israel	222,000	89
15	3	Dmytro Tulin	Ukraine	53,500	21
15	4	Dusko Mitrovic	Montenegro	90,000	36
15	5	Milos Todorovic	Montenegro	83,500	33
15	6	Darko Svesko	Serbia	71,000	28
15	7	Danilo Razic	Montenegro	388,500	155

16	1	Emil Saipi	Albania	65,000	26
16	2	Ognjen Vukcevic	Croatia	131,500	53
16	3	Rio Nimni Ben	Israel	438,000	175
16	4	Basem Abudavas	Russia	109,000	44
16	5	Pablo Redrado	Spain	324,000	130
16	6	Ozgur Arda	Turkey	319,000	128
16	7	Aleksandar Tot	Montenegro	250,000	100

17	1	Shkelzen Varaku	Albania	89,000	36
17	2	Paul Esau	Germany	421,000	168
17	3	Javier Elorza	Spain	100,500	40
17	4	Milos Lalovic	Montenegro	83,500	33
17	5	Mihael Barun	Croatia	173,500	69
17	6	Davor Mudric	Montenegro	229,000	92
17	7	Vladas Burneikis	Lithuania	36,000	14

18	1	Shai Zurr	Israel	205,000	82
18	2	Aleksandr Brazhnikov	Russia	26,500	11
18	3	Mikhail Zavoloka	Russia	117,000	47
18	4	Caner Gunes	Turkey	50,000	20
18	5	Adam Graeser	Hungary	324,000	130
18	6	Hakan Varol	Turkey	281,000	112
18	7	Valentin Ghioca	Romania	302,500	121

19	1	Oleg Bystrenin	Russia	211,000	84
19	2	Aleksandar Tomovic	Serbia	270,000	108
19	3	Antoine Hasbani	Lebanon	129,500	52
19	4	Ramez Haddad	Lebanon	127,500	51
19	5	Igor Abelmasov	Russia	545,000	218
19	6	Gabi Livshitz	Israel	144,000	58
19	7	Vitali Velesiuk	Russia	267,000	107

20	1	Dani Rashed	Lebanon	190,000	76
20	2	Mikhail Ostapenko	Russia	340,500	136
20	3	Edmond Jahjaga	Kosovo	335,000	134
20	4	Elias Abou Saleh	Lebanon	106,000	42
20	5	Dorjan Ushe	Albania	113,500	45
20	6	Maor Zaharagi	Israel	173,500	69

21	1	Raed Mouawad	Lebanon	106,000	42
21	2	Nikola Radevic	Slovakia	100,000	40
21	3	Maksim Romanov	Russia	104,500	42
21	4	Viktoria Shalneva	Russia	388,000	155
21	5	Dmytro Husevych	Ukraine	141,500	57
21	6	Jean-Baptiste Pano	France	163,500	65

22	1	Yaniv Peretz	Latvia	72,500	29
22	2	Nikolay Ponomarev	United Kingdom	307,000	123
22	3	Velibor Jakovljevic	Montenegro	85,000	34
22	4	Timur Margolin	Israel	449,500	180
22	5	Armin Alijagic	Bosnia and Herzegovina	181,500	73
22	6	Martin Brinkmann	United Kingdom	387,500	155

€1,650 Main Event

Day 2 Started