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

01-22-2026 19:17 UTC+2

Hassan Up; James Down; Ostapenko Out

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Kai Cocklin

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

A lot of action seems to be going down on Table 1.

Bobby James said that he lost a flip with AxKx against the pocket queens of Evgeny Ivanov for a chunk of change.

Mikhail Ostapenko just hit the rail as he missed a flush draw with A♣5♣ against the A♥10♥ of Amir Hassan.

Hassan is up to around 800,000 at the moment, while James' stack sits at about 150,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Amir Hassan	800,000 200,000	200,000
Predrag Premovic	450,000 25,000	25,000
Evgeny Ivanov	350,000 30,000	30,000
Bobby James	150,000 250,000	250,000
Mikhail Ostapenko	Busted

Tags: Amir Hassan Bobby James Evgeny Ivanov Mikhail Ostapenko

01-22-2026 19:15 UTC+2

Yilmaz Takes From Liklikadze

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Tim Baker

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

Vedat Yilmaz raised to 8,000 from the hijack and only Grigoli Liklikadze called out of the big blind.

Liklikadze checked on the 5♣5♠2♥ flop and Yilmax bet 8,000. Liklikadze check-raised to 18,000, which Yilmaz called.

A 9♥ arrived on the turn, and Liklikadze fired out for 35,000. Again, Yilmaz called.

The 2♦ completed the runout and Liklikadze checked. Yilmez bet around 35,000, which was enough to get Liklikadze to fold.

Player	Chips	Progress
Grigoli Liklikadze	700,000 445,000	445,000
Vedat Yilmaz	250,000 250,000	250,000

Tags: Vedat Yilmaz Grigoli Liklikadze

01-22-2026 19:09 UTC+2

Szychulski and Sokolovsky Have the Same Hand

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Kai Cocklin

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

Sebastian Szychulski opened to 8,000 from early position and Alexander Sokolovsky three-bet the next seat to 20,000. When the action got back to Szychulski, he called.

On the A♥4♣10♠ flop, Szychulski check-called a bet of 12,000 from Sokolovsky to the 8♥ turn, where again he tapped the table. Sokolovsky then bet 40,000, and after a long time in the tank, Szychulski shoved for 82,000.

Sokolovsky sighed and went into the tank himself while he tried to figure out how to proceed. Eventually, after around a minute, he called.

Sebastian Szychulski: A♣Q♥ All in
Alexander Sokolovsky: A♠Q♣

Both players had the same hand and there was no card on the river that could change the outcome, meaning they chopped up the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexander Sokolovsky	200,000 10,000	10,000
Sebastian Szychulski	110,000 100,000	100,000

Tags: Alexander Sokolovsky Sebastian Szychulski

01-22-2026 19:08 UTC+2

Burneikis Flops a Set to Bust Rudnev

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Tim Baker

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

Fabrizio Lo Carbo raised the button to 8,000 and Vladas Burneikis called from the small blind. Petr Rudnev squeezed all in from the big blind for around 60,000 and only Burneikis called.

Petr Rudnev: K♥K♠ All in
Vladas Burneikis: 5♠5♥

Rudnev had the bigger pair and looked poised for a much-needed double-up just after the closing of late registration.

However, the poker gods had other ideas as on the 5♣A♣J♥9♦Q♦ runout, Burneikis flopped a set of fives, and Rudnev was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vladas Burneikis	550,000 514,000	514,000
Fabrizio Lo Carbo	250,000 46,000	46,000
Petr Rudnev	Busted

Tags: Fabrizio Lo Carbo Petr Rudnev Vladas Burneikis

01-22-2026 18:54 UTC+2

Big Stacks Around the Room

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Tim Baker

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

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Esau	1,150,000

Ruslan Kulibaba	1,130,000 580,000	580,000
Timur Margolin	950,000 200,000	200,000

Nikolai Isaev	900,000 80,000	80,000

Atilla Saracoglu	730,000 120,000	120,000

Ufuk Erkmen	720,000 220,000	220,000
Fausto Tantillo	700,000 180,000	180,000

Mazalahedwa Bako	650,000 50,000	50,000
Milos Miskovic	600,000 217,500	217,500
Amir Hassan	600,000
Vladimir Lappo	560,000 15,000	15,000
Igor Abelmasov	550,000 80,000	80,000
Aleksandar Tomovic	550,000 280,000	280,000
Andrei Daniliuk	550,000 125,000	125,000
Zhengpeng Liu	530,000
Dani Rashed	510,000 160,000	160,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	500,000 25,000	25,000
Pasquale Di Ceglie	500,000 100,000	100,000
Milos Todorovic	450,000 366,500	366,500
Nikolay Ponomarev	450,000

Arie Kliper	450,000 320,000	320,000
Zhicheng Miao	450,000 50,000	50,000
Jean-Baptiste Pano	360,000 10,000	10,000
Danilo Razic	340,000 48,500	48,500

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 4,000

01-22-2026 18:35 UTC+2

Welcome to Club PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

Welcome to the Club! Club PokerNews is the one-stop hub where you can access an array of added value from many of our partners. From exclusive poker freeroll passwords and special poker offers to private PokerNews events, take advantage of all the benefits at Club PokerNews!

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There are many ways for you to get involved in the action, but one of the simplest is to sign up for the newsletter, above. You will receive the latest freeroll passwords and bonuses directly to your inbox so you can start taking advantage. If you prefer to be more involved in the PokerNews Community, then you can access the PokerNews Discord Channel and be first to all the latest offers, giveaways and passwords, while engaging in the growing community we have on the platform.

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01-22-2026 18:34 UTC+2

Break Time

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

Players are heading on a 20-minute break.

Late registration will close at the end of the break.

01-22-2026 18:25 UTC+2

The River Saves Cetiner

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Tim Baker

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

Chakib M'hiri raised to 7,000 from early position and Serhat Cetiner jammed for around 44,000 from middle position. After getting an exact count from the dealer, M'hiri stuck in the call to try to send Cetiner to the reentry desk.

Serhat Cetiner: K♦10♣ All in
Chakib M'hiri: 6♥6♣

M'hiri's pocket sixes stayed in the lead of Cetiner's two overcards through the 2♦5♣3♠ flop and 8♦ turn. However, as Cetiner was getting ready to stand up, the dealer dropped the K♥ on the river to give a pair and keep him in the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chakib M'hiri	230,000 70,000	70,000
Serhat Cetiner	100,000

Tags: Serhat Cetiner Chakib M'hiri

01-22-2026 18:19 UTC+2

Lappo In the Mix

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/3,500, 3,500 ante

The winner of the Merit Poker Cup, Vladimir Lappo, is once again in the mix with a stack.

In the latest hand Lappo played, the board read 9♣7♦9♠3♠ with around 20,000 in the pot. Erdal Gulseven checked the small blind, Oleksii Shchukin checked the big blind, and Lappo bet 12,000. Only Gulseven called.

On the J♥ river, Gulseven checked and then folded when Lappo bet 37,000.

After that hand, Lappo's stack grew to around 575,000.