€880 Merit Poker Cup Day 1a | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-14-2026 22:09 UTC+2

James Counterfeits Banicevic For a Double

Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Vidak Banicevic opened to 5,000 from under the gun and Jean-Baptiste Pano called in the cutoff. Bobby James was in the small blind and ripped in 58,500, which only Banicevic called.

Bobby James: A♣Q♠ All in
Vidak Banicevic: 5♠5♦

Banicevic was ahead with his pair of fives, but had to dodge five cards to score the knockout.

The flop of 9♣J♣3♠ was good for Banicevic as his fives remained in the lead, but there were a few more outs for him to fade when the J♠ turn brought around some counterfeit outs.

James was preparing to leave, but the 9♥ river double-paired the board and meant his ace-high was good for the pot, much to the dismay of Banicevic, who launched his cards across the table to the muck.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jean-Baptiste Pano	175,000 25,000	25,000
Bobby James	130,000 65,000	65,000
Vidak Banicevic	90,000 95,000	95,000

Tags: Bobby James Jean-Baptiste Pano Vidak Banicevic

01-14-2026 21:58 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Mehmet Dalkilic	320,000 80,000	80,000
Oleg Bystrenin	280,000 20,000	20,000
Mazalahedwa Bako	190,000 45,000	45,000
Stefan Cupic	180,000 20,000	20,000

Ravil Rafikov	125,000 15,000	15,000
Oleksii Shchukin	90,000 5,000	5,000
Genrik Alekian	80,000 10,000	10,000
Aleksandar Knezevic	70,000 15,000	15,000
Bobby James	65,000 65,000	65,000
Paul Esau	40,000 13,000	13,000
Fabrizio Lo Carbo	32,000 13,000	13,000
Viktoria Shalneva	25,000 11,000	11,000

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

01-14-2026 21:42 UTC+2

Graeser Has Kicker Problems

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Srdan Milicevic opened to 3,000 from under the gun and Paul Grummitt called from the cutoff. Adam Graeser was in the big blind and also came along.

The three players saw a flop of 3♦7♣4♠ and checked to the K♥ turn, where again it checked through.

When the 3♣ landed on the river, Graeser led out for 12,000, which Milicevic quickly called. Grummitt folded.

Graeser confidently tabled K♠8♦ for a pair of kings, but he was out-kicked as Milicevic showed K♦J♥ for a pair of kings with a jack kicker.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Grummitt	130,000 10,000	10,000
Srdan Milicevic	85,000 50,000	50,000
Adam Graeser	70,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Adam Graeser Paul Grummitt Srdan Milicevic

01-14-2026 21:32 UTC+2

17 Spots in Day 2

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

With a total of 115 entries in Day 1a of the €880 Merit Poker Cup, it means that 17 spots are on offer in the money and on Day 2.

Currently, 36 remain, which means the field needs to be trimmed in roughly half before players can bag up for the night.

01-14-2026 21:25 UTC+2

Pano Ends Varol's Night

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Hakan Varol had his last 20,000 in the middle from the hijack and was put at risk by Jean-Baptiste Pano in the small blind.

Hakan Varol: Q♠J♣ All in
Jean-Baptiste Pano: Q♥Q♦

Varol needed a lot of help, and did see a way to safety after the 3♦8♦9♠ flop gave him a gutshot.

"A little bit of a sweat," said Pano.

However, the A♣7♥ runout ended any hope Varol had of survival as he hit the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jean-Baptiste Pano	150,000 50,000	50,000
Hakan Varol	Busted

Tags: Hakan Varol Jean-Baptiste Pano

01-14-2026 21:16 UTC+2

Play Resumes; Registration is Closed

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

After a quick bite to eat, the players are back in their seats and registration is officially closed.

The number of players making it into Day 2 will be finalized shortly.

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

01-14-2026 20:50 UTC+2

Updated Counts at Dinner (full)

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Kai Cocklin

Level 10 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Oleg Bystrenin	300,000 90,000	90,000
Mehmet Dalkilic	240,000 100,000	100,000
Stefan Cupic	200,000 50,000	50,000

Vidak Banicevic	185,000 30,000	30,000
Rashad Iskandarov	180,000 95,000	95,000
Mazalahedwa Bako	145,000 35,000	35,000
Paul Grummitt	140,000 140,000	140,000
Ravil Rafikov	140,000 140,000	140,000
Hamed Asadi	110,000 15,000	15,000
Petr Rudnev	105,000 25,000	25,000
Jean-Baptiste Pano	100,000 25,000	25,000
Oleksii Shchukin	95,000 15,000	15,000
Xiaozhe Liu	95,000 10,000	10,000
Seyedali Hosseinirami	90,000 10,000	10,000
Adam Graeser	85,000 85,000	85,000
Aleksandar Knezevic	85,000 65,000	65,000
Pablo Redrado	80,000 80,000	80,000
Milos Jovanovic	75,000 75,000	75,000
Fausto Tantillo	75,000 43,000	43,000

Tommy Mokhtari	70,000 70,000	70,000
Katherina Aristotelos	70,000 40,000	40,000
Genrik Alekian	70,000
Giulio Gallo	70,000 10,000	10,000
Martin Brinkmann	50,000 10,000	10,000
Fabrizio Lo Carbo	45,000 45,000	45,000