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

01-22-2026 16:08 UTC+2

Russo Hits the Rail

Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Sebastien Russo's stack had been decimated since the start of the day and he was down to around 30,000. He elected to jam from middle position, and Oleksii Shchukin decided to give him a spin from the button.

Sebastien Russo: K♣10♦ All in
Oleksii Shchukin: 5♦5♥

Russo was out of his seat upon seeing he was in a 50/50 for his tournament life, perhaps sensing what was to come.

He was correct in his prediction as he remained unimproved on the 3♠J♦2♣2♦6♠ runout, and Shchukin's pair of fives held up, eliminating Russo.

Player	Chips	Progress
Oleksii Shchukin	390,000 20,000	20,000
Sebastien Russo	Busted

Tags: Oleksii Shchukin Sebastien Russo

01-22-2026 15:58 UTC+2

Visit the PokerNews Strategy Hub

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

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01-22-2026 15:57 UTC+2

Margolin's Big Slick Wins at Showdown

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Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Timur Margolin bumped it up to 6,500 from middle position before Martin Brinkmann three-bet to 210,000 out of the hijack. Margolin called.

Margolin check-called a bet of 15,000 from Brinkmann on the 5♠7♠J♥ flop.

Both players were happy to check down the 4♠ turn and 4♥ river. Margolin revealed big slick with A♦K♦, and this was enough to take down the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Timur Margolin	590,000 30,000	30,000

Martin Brinkmann	320,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Martin Brinkmann Timur Margolin

01-22-2026 15:49 UTC+2

Premovic Building a Stack

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Predrag Premovic is moving up the counts as Day 2 progresses, and has around 475,000 right now.

In the latest hand Premovic played, Kianoosh Matin opened middle position to 6,000 and Premovic three-bet the cutoff to 17,000. Matin called.

The flop came J♠9♠K♠ and Matin check-called a bet of 10,000 from Premovic to the K♥ turn, where both checked.

On the A♣ river, Matin checked and then folded when Premovic bet 30,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Predrag Premovic	475,000 190,500	190,500
Bobby James	400,000 20,000	20,000
Kianoosh Matin	160,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Kianoosh Matin Predrag Premovic

01-22-2026 15:44 UTC+2

Gulseven Fires Every Street Multi-Way

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Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Erdal Gulseven min-raised to 6,000 on the button and Oleksii Shchukin called from the small blind. Grigoriy Grigorash squeezed to 26,000 from the big blind, which Fulseven and Shchukin called.

Three ways to the K♠J♣5♦ flop where the action checked to Gulseven, who bet 15,000. Shchukin and Grigorash called.

A 9♠ on the turn got a further two checks from the blinds, and Gulseven bet 26,000. Again, Shchukin and Grigorash called.

Te 3♣ completed the board and again, the action checked to Gulseven. Gulseven bet 65,000 and got two tank-folds from Shchukin and Grigorash.

Player	Chips	Progress
Oleksii Shchukin	370,000 140,000	140,000
Erdal Gulseven	225,000 225,000	225,000
Grigoriy Grigorash	200,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Erdal Gulseven Grigoriy Grigorash Oleksii Shchukin

01-22-2026 15:35 UTC+2

Kyte Causes Kliper Some Pain

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Tim Baker

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Jon Kyte made it 7,000 under the gun with Arie Kliper calling from the next seat, and Mustafa Ercan defending his big blind.

Ercan checked on the Q♥5♥6♠ flop, prompting Kyte to bet 14,000. Kliper called and Ercan folded.

Kyte continued to barrel when he saw the 5♦ drop on the turn, this time for 42,000. Again, Kliper called.

The 5♣ completed the board, and Kyte decided to check. Kliper tossed out a bet of 37,000 and the action was back on Kyte. After thinking briefly, Kyte slid out a check-raise, which was enough to put Kliper all in for his remaining 120,000 or so.

Kliper, while getting a strong neck-and-shoulder massage, went deep into the tank. In the end, he returned his cards to the dealer and allowed Kyte to drag in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon Kyte	400,000 126,000	126,000

Arie Kliper	130,000 16,500	16,500
Mustafa Ercan	91,000 91,000	91,000

Tags: Arie Kliper Jon Kyte Mustafa Ercan

01-22-2026 15:32 UTC+2

Maryanyan's Two Pair Send Ojeil Out

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Chady Ojeil was put in a tough spot, and didn't find the right answer.

There were around 50,000 in the pot on a 7♠2♣A♦9♥ board when Nver Maryanyan bet 32,500 from the big blind. Ojeil was on the button and called.

When the 5♠ hit the river, Maryanyan shoved, putting Ojeil to the test for his remaining stack of around 100,000. Around ninety seconds went by before Ojeil finally dropped in the chips.

Maryanyan then showed two pair with A♣2♥, and that was good as Ojeil's A♠J♦ went into the bin,

Player	Chips	Progress
Safi Haidar	400,000 21,000	21,000
Nver Maryanyan	340,000 174,000	174,000
Chady Ojeil	Busted

Tags: Chady Ojeil Nver Maryanyan

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Ante: 3,000

01-22-2026 15:16 UTC+2

Gulseven Will Have Nightmares of Erkmen

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Tim Baker

Level 11 : Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Erdal Gulseven has just had his entire stack taken by Ufuk Erkmen in two consecutive hands.

In the first, Chakib M'hiri made it 5,500 under the gun and Erkmen three-bet to 16,000 from the next seat. Gulseven four-bet it up to 34,000 from the hijack and only Erkmen called.

Erkmen started with a check on the 4♥8♠6♣ flop and Gulseven made a continuation-bet of 14,000. Erkmen check-raised to 50,000, which Gulseven called.

The 3♦ arrived on the turn, and Erkmen quickly jammed for Gulseven's remaining 107,000. Gulseven gave it some thought before eventually folding QxQx.

On the next shuffle, Gulseven's stack of 107,000 got into the middle preflop with Erkmen trying to finish him off.

Erdal Gulseven: J♥J♠ All in
Ufuk Erkmen: A♠A♥

Erkmen's pocket aces had Gulseven crushed heading to the 3♥7♣4♠ flop. Gulseven couldn't improve on the 8♥ turn or 8♣ river and Erkmen took the rest of his chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ufuk Erkmen	515,000 45,000	45,000
Chakib M'hiri	135,000 42,000	42,000
Erdal Gulseven	Busted

Tags: Chakib M'hiri Erdal Gulseven Ufuk Erkmen

01-22-2026 15:15 UTC+2

A Few Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikolai Isaev	900,000 250,000	250,000

Mazalahedwa Bako	500,000 171,000	171,000
Darko Svesko	210,000 139,000	139,000
Chady Ojeil	160,000 63,500	63,500
Andrey Litvinov	150,000 97,000	97,000
Mehmet Dalkilic	140,000 10,000	10,000
Sebastian Szychulski	110,000 35,000	35,000
Nazar Buhaiov	110,000 20,000	20,000