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

01-23-2026 19:51 UTC+2

Ushe's Kings Too Good For Golan's Tens

Kai Cocklin

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Giorgiy Skhulukhiya opened to 50,000 on the cutoff and Dorjan Ushe three-bet the button to 160,000. Navot Golan then four-bet to around 830,000 from the big blind, leaving 100,000 behind.

Skhulukhiya quickly folded, and Ushe shoved. Golan tanked a bit for the pay jump, but the clock was called and he eventually stuck his last chips.

Navot Golan: 10♠10♥ All in
Dorjan Ushe: K♠K♦

Golan was way behind with his pocket tens, and the A♥4♦5♦J♥2♦ runout meant he was eliminated just before the final break.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon Kyte	4,000,000 1,200,000	1,200,000

Dorjan Ushe	2,100,000 1,900,000	1,900,000
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	950,000 850,000	850,000
Navot Golan	Busted

Tags: Dorjan Ushe Giorgiy Skhulukhiya Navot Golan

01-23-2026 19:47 UTC+2

Sakarya Flops Mokhtari Virtually Dead

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Paul Esau raised to 50,000 from middle position and Milos Todorovic called from the hijack. Yaser Sakarya squeezed to 210,000 on the button before Tommy Mokhtari cold four-bet jammed for about 450,000 from the small blind. Esau and Todorovic folded, but Sakarya called.

Tommy Mokhtari: A♣Q♠ All in
Yaser Sakarya: Q♦J♦

Mokhtari looked to be poised to double up as he had Sakarya crushed, and just needed to dodge a jack or some diamonds.

Unfortunately for Mokhtari, the monotone flop of 4♦5♦2♦ gave Sakarya a flush and left him drawing to a chop with runner-runner straight flush cards.

It wasn't to be as the 5♠ rolled off on the turn and Mokhtari was out. The 6♦ completed the board, and Mokhtari was eliminated from the Main Event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Esau	2,500,000 300,000	300,000

Milos Todorovic	1,700,000 100,000	100,000
Yaser Sakarya	1,500,000 500,000	500,000
Tommy Mokhtari	Busted

Tags: Milos Todorovic Paul Esau Tommy Mokhtari Yaser Sakarya

01-23-2026 19:35 UTC+2

Kulyk Heads to the Cashier's Desk

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Milos Miskovic made it 50,000 to go from early position and Artem Kulyk jammed for 145,000 from the small blind. Miskovic made the call and the players went to a showdown.

Artem Kulyk: A♦6♥ All in
Milos Miskovic: A♣8♣

Miskovic had Kulyk dominated with the superior ace, and managed to stay ahead after the 7♣9♦10♠K♣10♣ runout by improving to a flush. Miskovic was back up to over a million and Kulyk was out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Milos Miskovic	1,300,000 250,000	250,000
Artem Kulyk	Busted

Tags: Artem Kulyk Milos Miskovic

01-23-2026 19:34 UTC+2

Shchukin Collects the Last of Hasbani's Chips

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Kai Cocklin

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Oleksii Shchukin raised the button and Antoine Hasbani stuck in his last 60,000 from the big blind. Shchukin called.

Antoine Hasbani: 8♠5♥ All in
Oleksii Shchukin: A♣10♠

Hasbani was live, but the chances of him staying alive were slim after the Q♣7♦A♥ flop gave Shchukin top pair. The 3♠ turn sealed it, and the meaningless 9♥ on the river confirmed Hasbani's elimination,

Player	Chips	Progress
Oleksii Shchukin	850,000 80,000	80,000
Antoine Hasbani	Busted

Tags: Antoine Hasbani Oleksii Shchukin

01-23-2026 19:32 UTC+2

Lappo Runs Into Tomovic's Aces

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

On a flop of J♥J♦2♥, Vladimir Lappo got the last of his short-stack into the middle from the big blind and Aleksandar Tomovic made the call to try and send him home from middle position.

Vladimir Lappo: 10♠2♠ All in
Aleksandar Tomovic: A♦A♥

Lappo was in terrible shape with his pair of deuces against the aces of Tomovic.

Lappo couldn't find a two-outer to survive as the rest of the board ranout 8♥K♦, and all of Lappo's stack was sent over to Tomovic.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandar Tomovic	2,400,000 500,000	500,000
Yaser Sakarya	1,000,000 680,000	680,000
Vladimir Lappo	Busted

Tags: Aleksandar Tomovic Vladimir Lappo

01-23-2026 19:21 UTC+2

Recent Bustouts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Dani Rashed	Busted
Nazar Buhaiov	Busted
Grigoli Liklikadze	Busted

01-23-2026 19:14 UTC+2

Margolin Wins Seven-Figure Pot With Big Blind Special

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

On a completed board of A♠3♣8♥2♦8♣, Aleksandar Tot bet 160,000 from the small blind, and Timur Margolin had raised to 480,000 from the big blind.

Tot went deep into the tank, thinking over the hand for quite some time. After about two minutes, Tot opted to make the call.

Margolin flipped over a rivered trips with 8♠4♥, and Tot was forced to muck his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Timur Margolin	2,600,000 950,000	950,000

Aleksandar Tot	500,000 450,000	450,000

Tags: Aleksandar Tot Timur Margolin

01-23-2026 19:13 UTC+2

Abelmasov Flipped Out By Esau

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Kai Cocklin

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Paul Esau raised from the hijack and then called the shove of Igor Abelmasov, who moved all in from the big blind for around 250,000.

Igor Abelmasov: 3♥3♣ All in
Paul Esau: A♥Q♣

Abelmasov just lost a huge pot to leave him short-stacked, and now needed to win a flip to stay in contention. A flop of 7♦9♦5♥ got him over half way there, but the Q♠ turn paired Esau.

Only a three on the river could save Abelmasov, but the K♦ wasn't what he was looking for, which left him on the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Esau	2,800,000 700,000	700,000

Igor Abelmasov	Busted

Tags: Igor Abelmasov Paul Esau

01-23-2026 19:07 UTC+2

Mudric Loses a Flip to Exit

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Tim Baker

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

With 110,000 in his stack, Davor Mudric jammed from the cutoff and Predrag Premovic made the call out of the small blind.

Davor Mudric: K♠J♦ All in
Predrag Premovic: 5♠5♦

Premovic's pair of fives won the flip against Mudric's two overcards through the 2♣6♦7♣7♠3♠ runout, and Mudric was the next player to venture to the payout desk.

Ruslan Kulibaba, who started Day 3 second in chips, has also been eliminated at another table.

Player	Chips	Progress
Predrag Premovic	1,800,000 800,000	800,000
Davor Mudric	Busted
Ruslan Kulibaba	Busted

Tags: Davor Mudric Predrag Premovic

01-23-2026 19:02 UTC+2

Isaev Left With Crumbs

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Kai Cocklin

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Nikolai Isaev and Andrei Daniliuk just had their stacks in the middle preflop with the two best starting hands in hold'em!

Andrei Daniliuk: A♦A♣
Nikolai Isaev: K♥K♦

Isaev had a bigger stack by just 15,000, but by far had the worst hand. The 5♣3♠5♦10♣2♣ runout didn't change anything, which left Isaev with crumbs.

Player	Chips	Progress
Timur Margolin	1,650,000 550,000	550,000

Andrei Daniliuk	600,000 380,000	380,000
Nikolai Isaev	15,000 215,000	215,000

Tags: Andrei Daniliuk Nikolai Isaev