€1,650 Main Event Day 3 | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-23-2026 20:58 UTC+2

Erkmen Rides His Cowboys to a Double

Tim Baker

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Ufuk Erkmen raised to 300,000 on the button with just 55,000 behind. Andrei Daniliuk jammed from the small blind with a big stack, and once the big blind folded, Erkmen called the remainder of his stack.

Ufuk Erkmen: K♠K♦ All in
Andrei Daniliuk: A♦Q♣

Erkmen was in the perfect spot to double up if he could dodge an ace on the runout.

Daniliuk paired his queen on the Q♥4♦7♣ flop to give him a few extra outs. The 9♦ turn was safe for Erkmen's cowboys and so was the 9♣ river, meaning he doubled up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ufuk Erkmen	790,000 390,000	390,000
Andrei Daniliuk	720,000 100,000	100,000
Pasquale Di Ceglie	615,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Andrei Daniliuk Ufuk Erkmen

01-23-2026 20:48 UTC+2

Ushe's Big Slick Good; Bako Gone

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Kai Cocklin

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Dorjan Ushe opened the cutoff and Milos Miskovic defended his big blind.

They went to a flop of 7♣A♠6♦, where Miskovic check-called a bet of 55,000 from Ushe to the J♠ turn. Miskovic checked again, and Ushe showed no signs of slowing down with a bet of 130,000. Miskovic called again.

On the 3♥ river, Miskovic checked for a third time and Ushe decided to check it back.

Miskovic then tabled a pair of sevens with 8♠7♠, but that was no good as Ushe had a pair of aces with A♣K♦.

On another table, Mazalahedwa Bako just hit the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon Kyte	4,200,000 250,000	250,000

Dorjan Ushe	2,100,000 200,000	200,000
Oleksii Shchukin	1,300,000 250,000	250,000
Milos Miskovic	1,000,000 200,000	200,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	700,000 200,000	200,000
Mazalahedwa Bako	Busted

Tags: Dorjan Ushe Mazalahedwa Bako Milos Miskovic

01-23-2026 20:44 UTC+2

Ponomarev Picks Up Some Chips

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Tim Baker

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Nikolay Ponomarev raised under the gun to 60,000 and Zhicheng Miao defended his big blind.

Miao led out for 50,000 on the 3♣4♠5♦ flop and was met by a raise to 155,000 from Ponomarev. Miao elected to call.

A J♥ arrived on the turn and after Miao checked, Ponomarev jammed for 455,000. Miao thought about it for a while but decided a fold was best, and the pot was sent to Ponomarev.

Arsen Grigoryan was standing up and leaving a nearby table after losing all his stack to Pablo Redrado.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhicheng Miao	1,500,000
Predrag Premovic	1,350,000 300,000	300,000
Bljerim Imeri	1,250,000 50,000	50,000
Nikolay Ponomarev	970,000 5,000	5,000

Serhat Cetiner	700,000 125,000	125,000
Pablo Redrado	700,000 385,000	385,000
Aleksandar Tot	520,000 20,000	20,000
Arsen Grigoryan	Busted

Tags: Nikolay Ponomarev Zhicheng Miao

01-23-2026 20:34 UTC+2

Hammi's Kicker Helps Him Double Through Tomovic

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Kai Cocklin

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Aleksandar Tomovic opened to 60,000 from under the gun and Mohamed Ameur Hammi called from the next seat.

On the 4♠7♣8♣ flop, Tomovic bet 55,000 and Hammi called to see the Q♥ fall on the turn. Another bet came in from Tomovic for 190,000, and again Hammi called.

When the 6♦ fell on the river, Tomovic shoved, which left Hammi with a decision for his remaining 325,000. After around thirty seconds, Hammi called.

Tomovic then showed top pair with Q♣9♣, but he was out-kicked as Hammi flipped K♠Q♠ to win the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandar Tomovic	1,400,000 800,000	800,000
Mohamed Ameur Hammi	1,100,000 350,000	350,000

Tags: Aleksandar Tomovic Mohamed Ameur Hammi

01-23-2026 20:24 UTC+2

Jontulovic's Double Barrel Gets Grigoryan to Fold; Litvinov Busts

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Tim Baker

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Bogdan Jontulovic raised to 60,000 from middle position and Arsen Grigoryan defended his big blind.

Grigoryan started out with a check on the A♥9♦2♥ flop, and Jontulovic fired a continuation-bet of 40,000. Grigoryan stuck around with a call.

A 10♣ came on the turn and Grigoryan checked again. Jontulovic placed out a second barrel and Grigoryan quickly tossed his cards away.

At the same time, Andrey Litvinov was seem putting is jacket back on and leaving the tournament area as he had been eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Sands	2,500,000 280,000	280,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	1,150,000 250,000	250,000
Nver Maryanyan	870,000 90,000	90,000
Ufuk Erkmen	400,000 105,000	105,000
Arsen Grigoryan	400,000 85,000	85,000
Pablo Redrado	315,000 95,000	95,000
Andrey Litvinov	Busted

Tags: Arsen Grigoryan Bogdan Jontulovic

01-23-2026 20:16 UTC+2

Cetiner Rivers the Winner to Survive

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Tim Baker

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Serhat Cetiner jammed from early position for 245,000 and Bljerim Imeri made the call from the next seat to try and win and his chips.

Serhat Cetiner: A♠9♠ All in
Bljerim Imeri: 5♦5♠

Cetiner's ace-nine remained unimproved until the river on the 10♣3♥Q♣K♣A♦ runout, as he spiked an ace to stay alive and beat the pocket fives of Imeri.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bljerim Imeri	1,300,000 100,000	100,000
Serhat Cetiner	575,000 325,000	325,000

Tags: Serhat Cetiner Bljerim Imeri

01-23-2026 20:12 UTC+2

Miao Doubles With Kings

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Kai Cocklin

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Zhicheng Miao was under the gun and ended up getting in his stack of just under 700,000 against Serhat Cetiner, who was in middle position.

Zhicheng Miao: K♠K♥ All in
Serhat Cetiner: A♦Q♠

Miao had the goods, but still needed to fade an ace on the runout to stay alive. The 9♣6♥3♥2♥7♣ board was without any aces, which meant Miao took the pot as Cetiner dropped to around 250,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhicheng Miao	1,500,000 850,000	850,000
Serhat Cetiner	250,000 670,000	670,000

Tags: Serhat Cetiner Zhicheng Miao

01-23-2026 20:07 UTC+2

Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 24 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon Kyte	3,950,000 50,000	50,000

Paul Esau	3,600,000 1,100,000	1,100,000

Timur Margolin	3,100,000 500,000	500,000

Anton Markachev	2,350,000 500,000	500,000
Eric Sands	2,220,000 870,000	870,000
Aleksandar Tomovic	2,200,000 200,000	200,000
Nikolay Fal	2,100,000 100,000	100,000

Dorjan Ushe	1,900,000 200,000	200,000
Predrag Premovic	1,650,000 150,000	150,000
Yaser Sakarya	1,600,000 100,000	100,000
Bljerim Imeri	1,200,000 300,000	300,000
Milos Miskovic	1,200,000 100,000	100,000
Oleksii Shchukin	1,050,000 200,000	200,000
Milos Todorovic	1,000,000 700,000	700,000
Nikolay Ponomarev	975,000 225,000	225,000

Nver Maryanyan	960,000 280,000	280,000
Serhat Cetiner	920,000 500,000	500,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	900,000 50,000	50,000
Bogdan Jontulovic	900,000
Andrei Daniliuk	820,000 220,000	220,000
Mohamed Ameur Hammi	750,000 150,000	150,000
Zhicheng Miao	650,000 150,000	150,000
Pasquale Di Ceglie	625,000 75,000	75,000
Shai Zurr	530,000 115,000	115,000

Ufuk Erkmen	505,000 320,000	320,000