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

01-16-2026 00:43 UTC+2

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikhail Zavoloka	425,000 25,000	25,000
Christoforos Chrysochoidis	300,000 20,000	20,000
Alexander Sokolovsky	290,000 60,000	60,000
Pavel Nikiforov	180,000 40,000	40,000
Mikhail Ostapenko	120,000 10,000	10,000
Ivan Bozhenko	120,000 28,000	28,000
Maor Zaharagi	100,000 110,000	110,000
Nikolai Isaev	90,000 10,000	10,000
Sergey Kudryavtsev	70,000 30,000	30,000

Bubble Time!

Kai Cocklin

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Suddenly, the bubble is almost here!

A few quick eliminations saw Tommy Mokhtari, Dmitriy Reznichenko, Tommy Mokhtari, and Sebastian Szychulski all hit the rail. The latter two were knocked out in one hand by Ughur Giyasi, whose big slick held against ace-three and king-queen.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ughur Giyasi	250,000 150,000	150,000
Dmitriy Reznichenko	Busted
Tommy Mokhtari	Busted
Toni Ravnak	Busted
Sebastian Szychulski	Busted

Tags: Dmitriy Reznichenko Sebastian Szychulski Tommy Mokhtari

01-16-2026 00:26 UTC+2

Isaev Doubles Through Mokhtari

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Kai Cocklin

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

With over 30,000 in the middle on a 6♦Q♥5♠ flop, Nikolai Isaev checked the big blind and Tommy Mokhtari bet 12,000 from the cutoff. Isaev then shoved 32,000, and Mokhtari reluctantly called.

Nikolai Isaev: Q♣2♦ All in
Tommy Mokhtari: A♣J♥

Isaev was ahead with his queen, but needed to dodge a few more outs as the J♠ hit the turn. Luckily for him, the 2♣ river improved him to two pair, earning him the double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nikolai Isaev	100,000 30,000	30,000
Tommy Mokhtari	30,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Nikolai Isaev Tommy Mokhtari

01-16-2026 00:16 UTC+2

Table 2 Update

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Kai Cocklin

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Tarik Ugural was just eliminated, and Mikhail Zavoloka is up to around 400,000!

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikhail Zavoloka	400,000 180,000	180,000
Alexander Sokolovsky	230,000 10,000	10,000
Ali Moein	120,000 90,000	90,000
Sergey Kudryavtsev	100,000 80,000	80,000
Dmitriy Reznichenko	75,000 5,000	5,000
Tarik Ugural	Busted

01-16-2026 00:04 UTC+2

Reichenstein Out; Sokolovsky Climbing

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Kai Cocklin

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Alexander Sokolovsky opened to 10,000 from middle position and Ali Moein three-bet to 30,000 from the cutoff. When the action got back to Sokolovsky, he called.

The flop came 6♦5♣2♦ and Sokolovsky decided to lead out for 15,000, which drew a quick fold from Moein.

On another table, Uri Reichenstein just hit the rail, bringing the field down to the final 21 players.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexander Sokolovsky	220,000 60,000	60,000
Ali Moein	30,000 70,000	70,000
Uri Reichenstein	Busted

Tags: Alexander Sokolovsky Ali Moein Uri Reichenstein

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/5,000

Ante: 5,000

01-15-2026 23:51 UTC+2

Zavoloka's Kings Dispatch Shalneva

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Mikhail Zavoloka's stack was riding high a few levels ago, but recently his stack has been heading on a downward trajectory. However, that just changed as he eliminated Viktoria Shalneva.

The chips piled in preflop, with Shalneva at risk for her stack of around 100,000.

Viktoria Shalneva: A♦Q♥ All in
Mikhail Zavoloka: K♦K♣

It was looking good for Zavoloka, and he took full advantage of the situation as the 8♥8♦10♠J♥6♠ runout contained no aces, which meant Shalneva hit the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikhail Zavoloka	220,000
Viktoria Shalneva	Busted

Tags: Mikhail Zavoloka Viktoria Shalneva

01-15-2026 23:42 UTC+2

A Few Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Maor Zaharagi	210,000 30,000	30,000
Alexander Sokolovsky	160,000 10,000	10,000
Mikhail Zavoloka	120,000 5,000	5,000
Ivan Bozhenko	110,000 70,000	70,000
Viktoria Shalneva	100,000 10,000	10,000
Ughur Giyasi	100,000 40,000	40,000
Uri Reichenstein	90,000 45,000	45,000

01-15-2026 23:37 UTC+2

Chrysochoidis Turns Peretz Away

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Christoforos Chrysochoidis opened to 8,000 from the cutoff and Yaniv Peretz defended his big blind.

They went to a flop of 5♣8♥5♥, where Peretz checked and Chrysochoidis bet 6,000. Peretz then check-raised to 21,000, which Chrysochoidis called.

A 7♣ on the turn saw Peretz shove around 40,000, and Chrysochoidis snap-called.

Yaniv Peretz: A♠8♦ All in
Christoforos Chrysochoidis: 7♠7♦

Chrysochoidis had turned a boat, which left Peretz drawing to just two outs. Unfortunately for Peretz, the A♥ river wasn't enough to save him from the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Christoforos Chrysochoidis	280,000 110,000	110,000
Yaniv Peretz	Busted

Tags: Christoforos Chrysochoidis Yaniv Peretz

01-15-2026 23:29 UTC+2

Gelerenter Flipped Out by Sibgatova

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Kai Cocklin

Level 14 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Ohad Gelerenter had his stack of around 52,000 in the middle from the button and was put at risk by Alisa Sibgatova in the big blind.

Ohad Gelerenter: A♣J♠ All in
Alisa Sibgatova: 8♠8♥

Gelerenter had to win a flip to stay alive, but that seemed to be too much of an ask as the 10♣4♦5♦2♣2♦ runout meant he was eliminated to the pocket eights of Sibgatova.