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

01-14-2026 14:47 UTC+2

Brutal River for Aristotelos

Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Katherina Aristotelos opened the button to 1,400 and got a quick call out of the small blind. The big blind three-bet to 6,000, which only Aristotelos called.

Despite the preflop action, it was checked to the river on the 2♦A♠7♦K♥J♥ board, before the aggressiveness sprung back into life.

The big blind bet 3,000 before Aristotelos made it 8,000 to go. A few moments later, the big blind shoved for around 20,000, and Aristotelos flicked in the call after deliberating for a while.

Aristotelos showed her rivered set of jacks with J♠J♣, but that was no good as her opponent showed A♥A♣ for a bigger set to win the pot.

After that hand, Aristotelos was left with around 3,000 in her stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Katherina Aristotelos	3,000 22,000	22,000

Tags: Katherina Aristotelos

01-14-2026 14:36 UTC+2

A Few Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 3 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Rashad Iskandarov	80,000 50,000	50,000
Miroslav Forman	50,000 20,000	20,000
Stefan Cupic	35,000 5,000	5,000

Fausto Tantillo	32,000 2,000	2,000

Jamie Nixon	27,000 3,000	3,000

Katherina Aristotelos	25,000 9,000	9,000
Yaniv Peretz	16,000 14,000	14,000

Level: 3

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 400

01-14-2026 14:31 UTC+2

Bako Loses a Big Flip Against Ketlerov

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Kai Cocklin

Level 2 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

A huge flip just went against Mazalahedwa Bako, and in the favor of Mikhail Ketlerov

The action was explained where there was a raise and a call before Bako three-bet the cutoff to 2,500. Ketlerov then four-bet the button to 4,500, and when the action got back to Bako, he five-bet to 21,000. Ketlerov shoved around 31,000 total, and Bako called, leaving around 10,000 behind.

Mikhail Ketlerov: Q♦Q♥ All in
Mazalahedwa Bako: A♥K♥

It was poker's most classic coinflip, and one that went the way of Ketlerov as his pocket queens held up through the 7♣2♣6♦3♥J♠ runout, earning him the double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikhail Ketlerov	64,000 64,000	64,000
Mazalahedwa Bako	10,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Mazalahedwa Bako Mikhail Ketlerov

01-14-2026 14:17 UTC+2

Chekhlov Doesn't Reveal at Showdown

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Kai Cocklin

Level 2 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

A pot of around 10,000 got to the river on a board of 5♣5♥8♠3♦8♦ when a player in middle position checked and Vladislav Chekhlov bet 2,500 from the cutoff.

Ilia Morozov was on the button and took some time before he called, which got the other player in the hand to muck.

Usually at showdown, the player who who made the last aggressive action shows their cards first, but Chekhlov didn't want to reveal his holding as he immediately mucked his cards. That left Morozov with the pot without the need to show his cards.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ilia Morozov	45,000
Vladislav Chekhlov	16,000 12,000	12,000

Tags: Ilia Morozov Vladislav Chekhlov

01-14-2026 14:06 UTC+2

Milicevic Gets Sticky With Sixes

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Kai Cocklin

Level 2 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

Srdan Milicevic opened to 600 from the hijack and Daniil Pokinsokha three-bet the button to 2,300. When it got back to Milicevic, he called.

They saw a flop of 3♥2♦8♠, where Milicevic checked and Pokinsohka bet 1,000. Milicevic called to the 7♦ turn, where again he check-called when Pokinsokha bet 5,000.

Both slowed down and checked when the 3♠ hit the river, and Milicevic took it down with a pair of sixes holding 6♦6♣.

Player	Chips	Progress
Srdan Milicevic	40,000 40,000	40,000
Daniil Pokinsokha	30,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Daniil Pokinsokha Srdan Milicevic

01-14-2026 13:57 UTC+2

Add PokerNews to Your Mobile Home Screen

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Kai Cocklin

Level 2 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

The PokerNews desktop and mobile browser websites are as feature-rich as ever, so our tech gurus have decided to call time on the PokerNews mobile app.

Don't fret if you spend your time reading PokerNews articles and live tournament updates from your mobile device because adding PokerNews to your Android or iOS-powered device is simple. Doing so enables you to continue enjoying PokerNews in its glory, including seeing badges, using emojis, browsing famously easy-to-navigate pages, and getting closer to the action with MyStack.

Find More Information Here

Level: 2

Blinds: 100/300

Ante: 300

01-14-2026 13:42 UTC+2

Bobby James Table Cam

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Kai Cocklin

Level 1 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Over on Bobby James’ table, the pots are already starting to swell. Keeping an eye on the action from his seat, James has been feeding the updates to PokerNews whenever the chips start moving. Here’s the latest from one of the bigger clashes.

Daria Lazarchuk opened the button to 600 and Hamed Asadi called from the small blind. James was in the big blind and bumped it up to 2,500, which both of his opponents called.

The flop of 9x7♥5♥ brought two hearts, and when it checked to Lazarchuk, she bet 5,000. Asadi got out of the way before James bumped it up to 13,000. Lazarchuk called.

On the 3♥ turn, which brought in the front door flush draw, James shoved the rest of his stack in, and Lazarchuk let her hand go. No hand reveal just yet, you'll have to ask the man himself what he had.