2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship
Ali Moein shoved 665,000 from the cutoff and Bojan Berberovic called in the small blind.
Ali Moein: K♥Q♠
Bojan Berberovic: A♦K♣
Moein was calling for a queen, but he couldn't find the lady he needed as the 9♦7♥2♣3♦9♠ runout left him on the sidelines in seventh,
Vladimir Lappo made it 400,000 to go from the hijack and Rashad Iskandarov moved all in for around that amount from the cutoff. When it got back to Lappo, he made sure by putting his entire stack into the pot.
Rashad Iskandarov: J♠J♦
Vladimir Lappo: K♦Q♦
Iskandarov was in the lead with his pair of jacks, but shrugged his shoulders when the 3♣Q♠3♠ flop gave Lappo top pair. No jacks were to be seen on the 4♥2♠ runout, and Iskandarov headed to the exit in eighth.
Level: 24
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 50,000
Bojan Berberovic opened to 80,000 in middle position and Fausto Tantillo three-bet the hijack to 230,000. When it got to Mikhail Zavoloka in the small blind, he four-bet to 530,000, which got Berberovic to fold. Tantillo called.
Zavoloka continued for 185,000 on the 8♦9♠9♣ flop, which Tantillo called to the K♣ turn. Both checked to the 3♦ river, and when it got to Tantillo, he bet 895,000. Zavoloka instantly folded.
Fausto Tantillo opened middle position to 80,000 and then called the shove of Ali Moein, who moved all in from the small blind for 355,000.
Ali Moein: A♥A♣
Fausto Tantillo: 10♠10♦
Both players had big pairs, but Moein's aces had no problem holding on the 8♦K♣4♥3♣Q♦ runout, which earned him a much-needed double-up.
Bojan Berberovic is starting to rebuild his stack after losing chips prior to the break,
First, Rashad Iskandarov opened the button to 80,000 and Berberovic three-bet the small blind to 250,000. Iskandarov called.
On the 8♣2♠A♣ flop, a bet of 140,000 did the trick for Berberovic as Iskandarov folded.
In the very next hand, Berberovic raised the button to 80,000 and Genrik Alekian called out of the big blind.
They went to a flop of 4♣3♣8♥, where Alekian check-called a bet of 80,000 from Berberovic to the 5♣ turn. Alekian check-called again for 120,000, then both checked the A♦ river.
Alekian showed 7♥5♥ for a pair of fives, but Berberovic had queens again with Q♦Q♣ to win the pot.
Bojan Berberovic raised under the gun to 80,000 and Fausto Tantillo called from the next seat.
On the 9♠5♣10♥ flop, Berberovic check-called a bet of 90,000 from Tantillo to see the 7♣ turn, where they both checked.
Berberovic then bet 125,000 when the 10♣ paired the board on the river, and Tantillo quickly called.
Berberovic then revealed a pair of queens holding Q♠Q♥, and Tantillo mucked.
Genrik Alekian opened to 80,000 from under the gun and Oleksii Shchukin shoved middle position for around 350,000. When it got back to Alekian, he confirmed the count and after around 30 seconds, he called.
Oleksii Shchukin: J♠J♥
Genrik Alekian: A♦K♦
It was instant service for Alekian, who found a king on the 5♥9♦K♥ flop to take the lead. A Q♦ turn gave both players draws as Alekian picked up a flush draw and Shchukin a straight draw.
However, the 7♠ river was a brick, and Shchukin was out in ninth,