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

01-22-2026 20:25 UTC+2

Gallo Gone as Kyte Adds Chips

Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Giulio Gallo opened to 10,000 from under the gun and Jon Kyte three-bet the hijack to 30,000. When the action was back on Gallo, he shoved around 100,000, and Kyte snap-called.

Giulio Gallo: A♦Q♦ All in
Jon Kyte: A♥K♦

Gallo was in trouble against the big slick of Kyte. and the 7♦8♣4♥ flop didn't offer much in the way of help. However, there was a way out on the 3♦ turn as Gallo picked up a flush draw.

A queen or a diamond was what Gallo needed, but neither came on the 9♥ river, which meant he hit the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon Kyte	550,000 150,000	150,000

Oleg Bystrenin	80,000 30,000	30,000
Giulio Gallo	Busted

Tags: Jon Kyte Giulio Gallo

01-22-2026 20:17 UTC+2

Player	Chips	Progress
Caner Gunes	Busted
Alexander Lakhov	Busted

Dalibor Bua	Busted
Uri Reichenstein	Busted
Stefan Vidojkovic	Busted

Lappo Takes the Safe Option

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Srdan Milicevic opened the cutoff and picked up three callers in Vladimir Lappo on the button, Erdal Gulseven in the small blind, and Oleksii Shchukin in the big blind.

All four checked the 7♦K♣K♥ flop to the Q♣ turn, where it checked to Lappo. He then bet 16,000, which only Shchukin called.

A 9♣ on the river brought in all kinds of draws and after Shchukin checked, Lappo took some time before he knuckled back.

Shchukin revealed a pair of queens with Q♥7♥, but that was no good as Lappo had K♦J♠ for trips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Erdal Gulseven	650,000 50,000	50,000
Vladimir Lappo	600,000 40,000	40,000
Oleksii Shchukin	400,000
Nikolay Fal	300,000 25,000	25,000

Srdan Milicevic	200,000 275,000	275,000

Tags: Erdal Gulseven Oleksii Shchukin Vladimir Lappo Srdan Milicevic

01-22-2026 20:04 UTC+2

Miskovic Wins One From Margolin

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Tim Baker

Level 16 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

From the cutoff, Timur Margolin had a four-bet of 90,000 placed out in front of him after Milos Miskovic three-bet the button to 28,000. After some thought, Miskovic called.

Margolin continued for 45,000 on the Q♠2♣A♦ flop and Miskovic called.

Both players checked the 4♣ turn to see the 7♣ fall on the river. Margolin checked again and then quickly folded after Miskovic bet 225,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Milos Miskovic	720,000 120,000	120,000
Timur Margolin	700,000 200,000	200,000

Nemanja Tatar	160,000 93,500	93,500

Tags: Milos Miskovic Timur Margolin

Level: 16

Blinds: 2,000/5,000

Ante: 5,000

01-22-2026 19:53 UTC+2

Kliper & Peretz Both Love the River

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Kai Cocklin

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Yaniv Peretz opened to 8,000 from middle position and Arie Kliper three-bet to 23,000 on the button. When it got back to Peretz, he called.

On the 7♠8♠4♦ flop, Peretz check-called a bet of 19,000 from Kliper to the K♦ turn, where again he check-called after Kliper fired 52,000.

When the 6♥ dropped on the river, Peretz led for 200,000, and Kliper immediately called.

Peretz then flipped a straight with 5♥5♣, and Kliper tabled the same hand with K♠5♠.

"Everyone loves a chop pot," joked Kliper after the hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Arie Kliper	450,000
Yaniv Peretz	300,000 227,500	227,500

Tags: Arie Kliper Yaniv Peretz

01-22-2026 19:48 UTC+2

Shalneva Chooses Not to Try & Bluff Esau

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Paul Esau raised to 10,000 from the cutoff and Viktoria Shalneva defended her big blind.

Shalneva check-called a bet of 8,000 from Esau on the A♣4♣7♥ flop.

After Shalneva checked the 9♠ turn, Esau placed out a second barrel of 28,000. A few moments later, Shalneva check-raised to 75,000. Esau continued with a call.

Both players checked the 2♦ river and Shalneva showed a busted combo-draw with J♣8♣. Esau flipped up A♠10♠ for a pair of aces, and another pot was pushed over to him.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Esau	1,200,000 50,000	50,000

Viktoria Shalneva	290,000 90,000	90,000

Tags: Paul Esau Viktoria Shalneva

01-22-2026 19:37 UTC+2

Player	Chips	Progress
Timur Margolin	900,000 50,000	50,000

Salim Usmanov	500,000 262,500	262,500
Mikhail Zavoloka	400,000 140,000	140,000
Jon Kyte	400,000 50,000	50,000

Nikolay Fal	325,000 228,500	228,500

Alisa Sibgatova	190,000 190,000	190,000
Hakan Varol	180,000 101,000	101,000
Paul Grummitt	150,000 40,000	40,000
Giulio Gallo	140,000 210,000	210,000
Darko Svesko	50,000 160,000	160,000
Oleg Bystrenin	50,000 300,000	300,000

Davoodi Takes it Down on the River

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Tim Baker

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Amirhossein Davoodi raised to 10,000 from the hijack and Fausto Tantillo three-bet to 33,000 out of the big blind. Davoodi came along with a call.

Tantillo put out a continuation-bet of 17,000 on the 7♣6♥A♥ flop, and Davoodi called.

Check, check came after the 8♠turn to see the 9♠ roll out on the river. Tantillo checked again and then folded after Davoodi bet 29,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fausto Tantillo	620,000 80,000	80,000

Amirhossein Davoodi	270,000 5,500	5,500

Tags: Fausto Tantillo Amirhossein Davoodi

01-22-2026 19:26 UTC+2

Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack by PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

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