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€2,750 High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship
€2,750 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info
2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
€2,750
Prize Pool
€294,400
Total Entries
128
Level
27
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
75
Players Left
17
Players Left 1 / 128
Filter
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Day 2 of the €2,750 High Roller concluded inside the Merit Royal Splendid Casino in Budva as the field grew to 128 total entries by the time late registration closed. A total of 42 new entries were added on Day 2, pushing the prize pool to €294,400. By the end of play, just 17 players remained, all of whom return for the final day in the money.
Leading the way at the close of Day 2 is Davor Pistalo, who carries 1,800,000 into the final day. Sitting close behind is Giorgiy Skhulukhiya with 1,675,000, while Nazar Buhaiov rounds out the top three on 1,595,000. Only Timur Margolin (1,450,000) and Andrey Golubev (1,285,000) are the other players to be in the seven-figure club of chips.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davor Pistalo | Croatia | 1,800,000 | 72 |
| 2 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 1,675,000 | 67 |
| 3 | Nazar Buhaiov | Ukraine | 1,595,000 | 64 |
| 4 | Timur Margolin | Israel | 1,450,000 | 58 |
| 5 | Andrey Golubev | Kazakhstan | 1,285,000 | 51 |
| 6 | Bojan Berberovic | Serbia | 765,000 | 31 |
| 7 | Fabrizio Lo Carbo | Italy | 650,000 | 26 |
| 8 | Illia Petrytsia | Ukraine | 605,000 | 24 |
| 9 | Nikolai Ivanov | Russia | 585,000 | 23 |
| 10 | Seref Anar | Turkey | 575,000 | 23 |
Day 2 Action
Once late registration had closed and the official prize pool was announced, it didn't take too long for the eliminations to start coming in. Mikhail Zavoloka was fresh off his fifth-place finish in the Merit Poker Cup and probably oozing with confidence. However, a limp-jam with sevens into Jon Kyte's cowboys didn't go his way and he was just as quickly out of the tournament as he was in.
Third-placed Golubev won a pivotal flip against Mikhail Ketlerov to help him gain some momentum. Kyte was on track for cash number two of the series, but that dream came to an abrupt end thanks to Srdan Milicevic. First, Milicevic got lucky to beat the queens of Kyte with ace-jack, then not long after, he finished Kyte off by spiking a set of eights to trump Kyte's jacks.
When the play got down to the final three tables of 21, the play slowed considerably, due to the fact only a few spots separated the remaining players and the money. Erdal Gulseven had been on the wrong end of a cooler before he jammed the flop with a king-high flush draw only to be in horrible shape against Caner Gunes' nut flush draw. No improvement for Gulseven meant he was out of the tournament.
Toni Ravnak attempted to bust Charbel Salloum on the soft bubble by jamming jack-five off blind-on-blind, but Salloum made the correct call for his tournament life, holding king-ten. A ten on the flop sealed it and Ravnak was left with just a few big blinds. Ravnak couldn't pull off a spin-up as he ended up busting to Buhaiov's straight a few hands later, sending the tournament onto the direct bubble.
Pistalo had a rough day at the tables yesterday, but came in ready to play today and quietly built up his chip stack early in the day, and after the dinner break and closing of registration, Pistalo had already nestled himself around the top of the counts. The surviving short stacks have Pistalo to thank, as he was the player to burst the bubble in the last hand of the night.
Russia's Sergey Kudryavtsev was the clear short-stack and he knew he was the odds-on most likely one to be the last player to leave empty-handed. So, first he shoved the button and picked up the blinds, increasing his stack by 25%, then the next hand, he jammed the cutoff with king-eight suited, but Pistalo was lying in wait with cowboys. Kudryavtsev picked up a lot of outs on the turn, but a brick on the river sealed his fate as the bubble boy of the tournament.
Some other notable players making it through to the final day include Bojan Berberovic (765,000), who just finished fourth in the Merit Poker Cup. Also surviving today's grind is Fabrizio Lo Carbo (650,000) thanks to doubling up with aces on the bubble, two-time bracelet winner Blaz Zerjav (480,000), Day 1 chip leader Nemanja Tatar (385,000), and Merit Poker Regular Chady Ojeil (245,000), who despite sitting at the bottom of the pack, has the experience to know how to work a short-stack.
All those coming back for the final day have locked up at least a min-cash of €4,000 and will return on January 19 at 1 p.m. local time to play down to a winner. Action resumes with four minutes left at Level 21, where blinds are 10,000/25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante, as attention turns to the final table and beyond, where €75,000 awaits the eventual High Roller champion.
Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | €75,000 |
| 2 | €52,000 |
| 3 | €37,000 |
| 4 | €27,600 |
| 5 | €21,000 |
| 6 | €16,300 |
| 7 | €12,400 |
| 8 | €9,400 |
| 9 | €7,100 |
| 10-11 | €5,500 |
| 12-13 | €4,500 |
| 14-17 | €4,000 |
Stay locked in with PokerNews for Day 3, as the tournament plays down to a winner and the newest Merit Poker High Roller champion is crowned.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,800,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
||
|
1,675,000
525,000
|
525,000 |
|
1,595,000
245,000
|
245,000 |
|
1,450,000
820,000
|
820,000 |
|
||
|
1,285,000
285,000
|
285,000 |
|
765,000
395,000
|
395,000 |
|
650,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
605,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
585,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
575,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
480,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
||
|
385,000
215,000
|
215,000 |
|
||
|
370,000
330,000
|
330,000 |
|
345,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
305,000
245,000
|
245,000 |
|
285,000
155,000
|
155,000 |
|
245,000
155,000
|
155,000 |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Play has ended for Day 2 and the players have bagged up their chips.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a full recap of the day's action.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Sergey Kudryavtsev jammed for 162,000 from the cutoff and Davor Pistalo made the call out of the small blind.
Sergey Kudryavtsev: K♣8♣ 
Davor Pistalo: K♠K♥
Kudryavtsev had the shortest stack in the tournament and needed a lot of luck to crack Pistalo's cowboys.
The A♣J♣Q♠ flop offered up some chip opportunities for Kudryavtsev, and he gained outs to win in the form of a flush draw on the Q♣ turn. It wasn't to be as the 6♠ completed the board.
Kudryavtsev was the bubble boy of the tournament, and the remaining players were now in the money.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,600,000
650,000
|
650,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
There was a raise from late position to 50,000 before Nikolai Ivanov three-bet to 225,000 out of the small blind. Fabrizio Lo Carbo four-bet ripped it for 318,000 from the big blind, and after the initial raiser folded, Ivanov reluctantly called.
Fabrizio Lo Carbo: A♥A♠
Nikolai Ivanov: Q♥Q♦
It was a cooler that Ivanov was on the wrong end of. Lo Carbo found a clean runout of J♠3♠7♣4♣2♣ for his pocket aces, and he doubled up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000
270,000
|
270,000 |
|
|
600,000
850,000
|
850,000 |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Andrey Golubev raised from the cutoff to 50,000 and Chady Ojeil three-bet to 125,000 on the button. Golubev called when the action got back to him.
Golubev check-called a bet of 50,000 from Ojeil on the 9♣3♦7♥ flop.
The two players checked the 3♣ turn to see the 4♦ hit the river. Golubev bet 150,000 and Ojeil returned his cards to the dealer.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,000,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
400,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Toni Ravnak got the last of chips into the middle and ended up second best on the 8♦5♣10♣9♠6♥ runout versus Nazar Buhaiov, who held Ax7x for a straight.
Ravnak was out in 19th place, and the tournament was officially on the stone bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,350,000
450,000
|
450,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
With 19 players remaining and 17 spots available in the money. The floor staff have decided that hand-for-hand play with start from now, due to a lot of tanking.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
From the cutoff, Maor Zaharagi jammed for around 200,000, and IIlia Petrytsia instantly called from the big blind.
Maor Zaharagi: Q♦9♦
IIlia Petrytsia: A♠J♠
Zaharagi was drawing dead by the turn on the A♣3♠7♣8♠K♠ runout, as Petrytsia ended up with a flush.
Petrytsia's stack increased to around 700,000, and Zaharagi was out.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
Busted |
