€880 Merit Poker Cup Day 2 | 2026 Merit Poker Montenegro Championship

01-17-2026 15:09 UTC+2

Tantillo Leads the River

Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Elie Farah opened up with a raise to 18,000 from under the gun and was called by Fausto Tantillo in the small blind.

On the A♣9♣3♥ flop, Tantillo check-called a bet of 15,000 from Farah to the 10♠ turn, where again he check-called for 21,000.

A J♣ on the river prompted Tantillo to switch up his strategy as he led for 58,000. Farah seemed a bit confused, but ultimately let it pass, leaving him with a stack of around 260,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fausto Tantillo	500,000 276,000	276,000

Elie Farah	260,000 14,000	14,000

Tags: Elie Farah Fausto Tantillo

01-17-2026 15:00 UTC+2

Player	Chips	Progress
Boris Kazbekov	Busted
Mazalahedwa Bako	Busted
Jon Kyte	Busted
Pavel Nikiforov	Busted
Oleksiy Hura	Busted

Selected Chip Counts at First Break

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Kai Cocklin

Level 17 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Stefan Cupic	1,150,000 250,000	250,000

Genrik Alekian	1,000,000 657,000	657,000
Bobby James	910,000 140,000	140,000
Mikhail Zavoloka	690,000 190,000	190,000
Antoine Farhat	450,000 150,000	150,000
Pablo Redrado	440,000 60,000	60,000
Benjamin Nicault	425,000 35,000	35,000

Srdan Milicevic	240,000 151,000	151,000
Saljo Curovic	230,000 10,000	10,000
Alisa Sibgatova	175,000 60,000	60,000
Xiaozhe Liu	140,000 22,000	22,000
Giulio Gallo	120,000 69,000	69,000

Level: 17

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000

01-17-2026 14:44 UTC+2

Break Time

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Players are heading on their first 15-minute break of the day.

01-17-2026 14:39 UTC+2

Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack by PokerNews

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

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01-17-2026 14:35 UTC+2

Nikiforov Falls to Daou

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

After losing a chunk of his stack earlier on, Charbel Daou is back on track after sending Pavel Nikiforov out.

Nikiforov had his stack of around 140,000 in from the small blind and Daou put him at risk from the hijack.

Pavel Nikiforov: A♦10♠ All in
Charbel Daou: 7♥7♣

It was a flip, and one that Daou was a huge favorite to win after the 6♥4♠7♠ flop gave him top set. That set improved to an unbeatable full house on the 6♣ turn, and the inconsequential 8♦ river confirmed Nikiforov's exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Charbel Daou	650,000 350,000	350,000

Pavel Nikiforov	Busted

Tags: Charbel Daou Pavel Nikiforov

01-17-2026 14:25 UTC+2

More Bustouts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Ughur Giyasi	Busted
Dominick French	Busted
Nikolai Isaev	Busted
Mikhail Ostapenko	Busted
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Busted
Dalibor Bua	Busted
Timur Margolin	Busted

Ivan Bozhenko	Busted
Jamie Nixon	Busted

Predrag Vukomanovic	Busted
Jean-Baptiste Pano	Busted
Sergey Kudryavtsev	Busted

01-17-2026 14:21 UTC+2

Cupic Way Out in Front After Stacking Nixon

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Stefan Cupic has an enormous stack after just sending Jamie Nixon to the rail.

The hand was recalled by Cupic where he said Nixon opened under the gun and Cupic called on the button. The big blind also called.

On the 6x7x3x flop, with one spade, Cupic called a bet of 18,000 from Nixon to the 4♠ turn, where Nixon check-called a bet of 42,000 from Cupic.

A 2♠ on the river put three spades on board and after Nixon checked, Cupic over-bet shoved for Nixon's remaining stack of around 300,000. Eventually, Nixon did make the call with KxKx, but Cupic held 10♠8♠ for a flush to win the pot.

After that pot, Cupic has a stack of around 1,400,000 with only 12,450,000 in play!

Player	Chips	Progress
Stefan Cupic	1,400,000 630,000	630,000

Jamie Nixon	Busted

Tags: Jamie Nixon Stefan Cupic

01-17-2026 14:09 UTC+2

Berberovic Scoops a Monster Pot from Daou

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Kai Cocklin

Level 16 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

A humongous pot just took place between Charbel Daou and Bojan Berberovic.

There was already a flop of 2♦8♣K♦ out there with around 70,000 in the middle when Daou checked the small blind and Berberovic bet 15,000 from the big blind. Daou then check-raised to 40,000, and Berberovic called.

A check came from Daou on the Q♠ turn and Berberovic fired 56,000. Daou then shoved, and Berberovic snap-called for his stack of around 350,000 total.

Bojan Berberovic: K♥Q♣ All in
Charbel Daou: K♣10♠

Berberovic had the pot locked up with his top two pair, while Daou was already counting out the chips to send across. A meaningless 8♥ fell on the river, and Berberovic jumped into the chip lead.