€2,750 High Roller | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-19-2026 16:58 UTC+1

Golubev Takes Down a Multi-Way Pot

Tim Baker

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Nazar Buhaiov min-raised to 160,000 on the button with Andrey Golubev and Davor Pistalo calling from the blinds.

Three checks came after the K♦4♣8♣ flop to see the Q♥ fall on the turn. Golubev led out for 375,000 and only Buhaiov called.

The A♦ completed the board, and Golubev led out again, this time for 550,000. Buhaiov returned his cards to the dealer and Golubev dragged in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nazar Buhaiov	4,500,000 200,000	200,000
Andrey Golubev	4,300,000 200,000	200,000
Davor Pistalo	2,100,000 100,000	100,000

Seref Anar	1,950,000 750,000	750,000

Tags: Andrey Golubev Davor Pistalo Nazar Buhaiov

01-19-2026 16:44 UTC+1

Nemanja Tatar Eliminated in 5th Place (€21,000)

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Tim Baker

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

When it folded to Nemanja Tatar in the small blind, he jammed for around 900,000 and Nazar Buhaiov squeezed his cards, then made the call to put Tatar at risk.

Nemanja Tatar: A♥4♣ All in
Nazar Buhaiov: 9♣9♥

Tatar needed to find an ace to beat Buhaiov's nines.

A flop of K♥2♦J♥ gave no help to Tatar, but the 8♥ on the turn gave him some extra outs with a flush draw. The 8♦ completed the board, keeping Buhaiov's pocket nines ahead and Tatar was sent to the payout desk to collect his fifth-place payout.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nazar Buhaiov	4,300,000 980,000	980,000
Nemanja Tatar	Busted

Tags: Nazar Buhaiov Nemanja Tatar

01-19-2026 16:39 UTC+1

Pistalo Sends Anar Into the Blender

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Tim Baker

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Seref Anar raised to 200,000 under the gun and only Davor Pistalo called from the big blind.

Pistalo checked the 8♥Q♠J♣ flop and Anar quickly bet 250,000. Pistalo called to see a turn.

Once the 2♠ came on the turn, Pistalo jammed for 1,055,000. Anar tanked for a while before eventually folding and surrendering the pot to Pistalo.

As the pot was being sent over to Pistalo, he bellowed from the stage to the full poker room, "Casino, Royale!"

Player	Chips	Progress
Seref Anar	2,700,000 500,000	500,000
Davor Pistalo	2,000,000 400,000	400,000

Tags: Davor Pistalo Seref Anar

01-19-2026 16:32 UTC+1

A Round of Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Golubev	4,100,000 700,000	700,000
Nazar Buhaiov	3,320,000 820,000	820,000
Seref Anar	3,200,000 100,000	100,000
Davor Pistalo	1,600,000 600,000	600,000

Nemanja Tatar	1,100,000 280,000	280,000

Level: 26

Blinds: 40,000/80,000

Ante: 80,000

01-19-2026 16:20 UTC+1

Buhaiov Hits Trips to Build His Stack

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Tim Baker

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

On the turn of a board showing 10♠2♦J♥9♦, Seref Anar led out for 240,000 from the small blind and Nazar Buhaiov called from under the gun.

A J♣ on the river prompted Anar to check. Buhaiov put together a bet totalling 325,000, causing Anar to go into the tank. After a minute of pondering, Anar called, but then was forced to muck upon seeing Buhaiov's Q♠J♠ for trips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Seref Anar	3,100,000 1,000,000	1,000,000
Nazar Buhaiov	2,500,000 900,000	900,000

Tags: Nazar Buhaiov Seref Anar

01-19-2026 16:13 UTC+1

Buhaiov Gets Backdoored by Pistalo

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Tim Baker

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Davor Pistalo raised to 140,000 out of the cutoff and Nazar Buhaiov defended his big blind.

Buhaiov knuckled the action over to Pistalo on the 10♥2♦6♥ flop, and Pistalo placed out a continuation-bet of 110,000. Buhaiov stuck around with a call.

The 7♦ arrived on the turn, causing both players to check.

An A♦ completed the board and Buhaiov bet the minimum of 60,000. Pistalo slid out a raise to 400,000, which Buhaiov quickly called.

Pistalo turned over the second nuts with Q♦5♦ for a backdoor flush, and the seven-figure pot headed over to him.

Player	Chips	Progress
Davor Pistalo	2,200,000 500,000	500,000

Nazar Buhaiov	1,600,000 300,000	300,000

Tags: Davor Pistalo Nazar Buhaiov

01-19-2026 16:03 UTC+1

Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Golubev	4,800,000 600,000	600,000
Seref Anar	4,100,000 100,000	100,000
Nazar Buhaiov	1,900,000 500,000	500,000
Davor Pistalo	1,700,000 100,000	100,000

Nemanja Tatar	820,000 300,000	300,000

01-19-2026 15:57 UTC+1

Giorgiy Skhulukhiya Eliminated in 6th Place (€16,300)

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Tim Baker

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

When it folded to Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in the small blind, he jammed for 225,000 and Seref Anar looked him up out of the big blind.

Giorgiy Skhulukhiya: K♠6♣ All in
Seref Anar: Q♦J♥

Skhulukhiya was in desperate need of a double up, and was a slight favorite to do so with king-high versus Anar's queen-high.

However, Anar outflopped Skhulukhiya on the Q♠J♦7♠ flop by hitting top two pair. Skhulukhiya picked up a flush draw on the 2♠ turn, but it amounted to nothing when the 6♦ came on the river.

Skhulukhiya was out in sixth place, and Anar was up to four million.