€2,750 High Roller Day 1 | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-17-2026 21:59 UTC+2

Ojeil's Two Pair is Good at Showdown

Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 300/700, 700 ante

Heads-up to the turn on a board of Q♠2♣A♠4♦ in a pot between Nemanja Tatar in the big blind, and Chady Ojeil under the gun.

Tatar checked and faced a bet of 2,000 from Ojeil. Tatar went for the most aggressive option, check-raising to 9,000. Ojeil stuck around with a call.

The 5♣ completed the board and Tatar bet 9,500. Ojeil didn't take long to make the call and ended up taking down the pot with A♥4♥ for a turned two pair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chady Ojeil	135,000 35,000	35,000
Nemanja Tatar	75,000 75,000	75,000

Tags: Chady Ojeil Nemanja Tatar

01-17-2026 21:50 UTC+2

Vazic Rivers a Miracle to Crack Aces

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 300/700, 700 ante

Shai Arbel raised to 1,600 from the hijack and Andrey Golubev called on the button. Stojan Vazic squeezed it up to 10,000 from the big blind, and then Arbel four-bet to 27,000. Golubev folded before Vazic five-bet jammed for 99,800. Arbel immediately called with the covering stack.

Stojan Vazic: Q♥Q♠ All in
Shai Arbel: A♠A♦

Vazic was in bad shape with pocket queens against the preflop nuts of Arbel.

Arbel stayed ahead through the 4♥6♣7♣ flop and J♦ turn. Only a two-outer on the river would save Vazic from the rail. The dealer burned a card then delivered the miracle Q♣ to complete the board, giving Vazic a set to win the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Stojan Vazic	200,000 100,000	100,000
Andrey Golubev	105,000 8,000	8,000
Shai Arbel	20,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Andrey Golubev Shai Arbel Stojan Vazic

01-17-2026 21:36 UTC+2

Good or Bad? Our Poker Predictions for 2026 | PokerNews Podcast #933

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Tim Baker

Level 3 : Blinds 300/700, 700 ante

In the 933rd episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow kick off Season 17 with some poker predictions for 2026. Will the Big Beautiful Bill's gambling tax situation be resolved or lead to big ramifications in the industry? Will Phil Hellmuth win his 18th gold bracelet? Would the World Series of Poker (WSOP) ever raise the buy-in for the Main Event?

The triumvirate also covers recent stories, including poker players Galen Hall and Jason Somerville winning big in the Circa Survivor content, arbitration ending between Maurice Hawkins and Denise Pratt, and Lex Veldhuis returning to the streaming streets, albeit not as a PokerStars Ambassador. Similarly, Caitlin Comeskey's ambassadorship with PokerStars US came to an end, and got the crew asking, "Is there still value in poker ambassadors?"

You'll also see a short interview of Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel chatting with Rep. Dina Titus about the aforementioned tax bill, hear about Jeremy Becker and Matthew Wantman winning titles at the Venetian, and another book giveaway for a copy of Jonathan Little's The Complete Poker Workout.

Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

A new PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

Level: 3

Blinds: 300/700

Ante: 700

01-17-2026 21:31 UTC+2

Zaharagi Takes From Zerjav

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Maor Zaharagi raised to 1,500 from the hijack and only Blaz Zerjav called on the button.

Zaharagi led out for 1,500 on the 3♦Q♣8♦ flop, and Zerjav made the call.

A 7♥ rolled off on the turn, and Zaharagi opted to check-call a bet of 6,000 from Zerjav.

Both players checked the 3♥ river and Zaharagi's 9♠7♠ for just a pair of sevens took down the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maor Zaharagi	90,000 90,000	90,000
Blaz Zerjav	85,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Blaz Zerjav Maor Zaharagi

01-17-2026 21:13 UTC+2

Pano Shoves Into Hajj's Boat

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

With the board showing J♥4♥9♠9♦, Alain Hajj had a bet of 6,000 placed out in front of him and had been raised to 21,000 by Jean-Baptiste Pano. Hajj called to see the river.

After seeing the 3♣ complete the board, Pano jammed, and Hajj beat him into the pot with a call for his remaining 84,900.

Pano showed trip nines with A♣9♣, but this was second best to the boat of Hajj with J♣9♥.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alain Hajj	225,000 125,000	125,000
Jean-Baptiste Pano	25,000

Tags: Alain Hajj Jean-Baptiste Pano

01-17-2026 21:07 UTC+2

Hasbani Raises Cupic's River Bet

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Tim Baker

Level 2 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Stefan Cupic raised to 1,200 from early position with Antoine Hasbani calling on the button and Sebastian Szychulski defending his big blind.

Szychulski checked the 3♠A♥7♠ flop and Cupic continued with a bet of 1,200. Hasbani called and Szychulski folded.

Check, check came after the 8♣ turn and the 5♠ landed on the river. Cupic bet the minimum of 600, and was met by a raise to 11,600 from Hasbani. Cupic pondered for a while before he folded and surrendered the pot to Hasbani.

Player	Chips	Progress
Stefan Cupic	110,000 10,000	10,000
Sebastian Szychulski	95,000 95,000	95,000
Antoine Hasbani	90,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Antoine Hasbani Sebastian Szychulski Stefan Cupic

Level: 2

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 600

01-17-2026 20:47 UTC+2

Redrado Puts Skhulukhiya in the Blender

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Tim Baker

Level 1 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

A pot of roughly 61,000 had already amassed preflop between Giorgiy Skhulukhiya out of the big blind and Pablo Redrado in the hijack. On the flop of 9♣Q♥6♦ Skhulukhiya tossed out a bet of 10,500, which Redrado called.

A 9♥ on the turn caused both players to check for the 7♥ to complete the board. Skhulukhiya checked again, only to see Redrado put out a bet of 58,000. Skhulukhiya would be left with just one big blind if he called and lost, so after some thought, he returned his cards to the dealer.