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$3,500 Merit Poker Cup
Day 1a Completed
2026 NOIR Poker Series
$3,500 Merit Poker Cup
Day: 1a
Players Left 138 / 280
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Day 1a of the $3,500 Merit Poker Cup attracted 159 entries at the inaugural 2026 Merit Poker Noir Series inside the beautiful Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Northern Cyprus. After ten 40-minute levels, 86 players secured their place in Day 2, putting the tournament well on its way to surpassing its $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Topping the counts once the bags were collected was Gilles Simon, who turned his 100,000 starting stack into 557,000, good for more than 200 big blinds on Day 2. Turkey's Atilla Saracoglu sits second with 519,000, while Andras Matrai on 466,500 rounds out the podium positions.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilles Simon | Netherlands | 557,000 | 223 |
| 2 | Atilla Saracoglu | Turkey | 519,000 | 208 |
| 3 | Andras Matrai | Hungary | 466,500 | 187 |
| 4 | Sukhrat Massimov | Kazakhstan | 448,000 | 179 |
| 5 | Nikola Radevic | Slovakia | 444,000 | 178 |
| 6 | Mehmet Dalkilic | Turkey | 435,000 | 174 |
| 7 | Mihai Niste | Romania | 414,500 | 166 |
| 8 | Elie Farah | Lebanon | 387,500 | 155 |
| 9 | Ryan Mandara | United Kingdom | 360,000 | 144 |
| 10 | Zoja Fleischer | Germany | 345,500 | 138 |
Saracoglu found a huge boost to his stack on the penultimate hand of the night after getting all the chips in preflop against Hassan Nashar. With neither player holding a premium hand, Saracoglu's king-nine was ahead of Nashar's jack-deuce and improved to trip nines by the turn to drag a pot worth more than half a million chips. Nashar was eliminated on the following hand, while Saracoglu ended the night among the biggest stacks.
Also advancing to Day 2 was Elie Farah (387,500), the 2024 Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event champion. Xiaosheng Zheng (232,000), who won the Merit Poker Cup during last year's Dolce Vita Series, also bagged a healthy stack, while Simone Andrian (182,000) wsa the only bracelet winner left in the field after almost doubling the initial starting stack.
Others to advance from Day 1a included Ryan Mandara (360,000), Felipe Ketzer (322,000), Vedat Yilmaz (316,000), and Bogdan Jontulovic (307,500). Konstantin Voronin (290,000), who made a full house to record the tournament's first elimination, also found a bag, while Patrick Brooks (255,000), Raoul Kanme (218,000), Alisa Sibgatova (167,000), and Paul Esau (147,000) all safely navigated the opening flight.
The Merit Poker Cup continues on Wednesday, July 29, with Day 1b, which follows the same structure as the opening flight, kicking off at 12 p.m., before the turbo Day 1c gets underway at 9 p.m. with 25-minute levels. Both flights are the final opportunities to build a big stack for Day 2, and late registration remains open until the start of Level 16. All survivors will return to Level 11 with blinds of 1,000/2,500 and a 2,500 big blind ante.
Remaining Merit Poker Cup Schedule
| Date | Day | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 29 | Day 1b | 12 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| July 29 | Day 1c | 9 p.m. | 25 minutes |
| July 30 | Day 2 | 12 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| July 31 | Final Day | 12 p.m. | 40 minutes |
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates and chip counts on Day 1b, as the field continues to grow in the $3,500 Merit Poker Cup.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The 87 surviving players have bagged up their chips and will return for Day 2 on Thursday, July 30.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
On the second-to-last hand of the night, Hassan Nashar raised under the gun to 5,500 and Atilla Saracoglu moved all in from the button without looking at his cards for around 257,000. Nashar peeled one card to reveal the 2♣ before making the call with only a few big blinds more than Saracoglu.
Atilla Saracoglu: K♦9♦ 
Hassan Nashar: J♠2♣
In a pot worth more than 250 big blinds, neither player held even ace-high, and Saracoglu simply needed Nashar to miss in order to end the night among the chip leaders.
The 9♥3♦8♥ flop pushed Saracoglu further in front with top pair. Nashar was drawing dead by the 9♠ turn as Saracoglu improved to trip nines, and the Q♥ completed the runout to send Saracoglu's stack soaring to more than 500,000.
On the very next hand, Nashar called off his last 7,000 from the big blind but finished second best against his opponent's flush, making him the final elimination of Day 1a.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament floor has announced that just three more hands will be played before Day 1a of the Merit Poker Cup comes to a close.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Alexander Sokolovsky had been left with just 19,000 and, when it folded to him in the hijack, committed the last of his chips. The player in the cutoff made the call.
Alexander Sokolovsky: A♣8♣
Cutoff: 6♣6♦
Sokolovsky needed to connect with the board to get his Day 1a comeback underway.
It wasn't to be, however, as his opponent's pocket sixes held through the 5♠9♣10♦7♦Q♥ runout, sending Sokolovsky to the rail.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Leonid Orman completed from the small blind, and Konstantin Voronin checked in the big blind.
Orman led for the minimum of 2,000 on the Q♣4♠7♠ flop and Voronin called.
The 2♦ turn saw Orman fire agan, this time for 6,000. Voronin raised to 20,500, and Orman continued with a call.
Orman checked the A♦ river before quickly folding when Voronin bet 55,000.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Hassan Nashar limped under the gun and the cutoff also came along before Ryan Mandara bumped it up to 12,000 on the button. Only Nashar called.
Nashar checked to Mandara on the 6♣6♠A♥ flop, and Mandara put out a continuation-bet of 4,000. Nashar check-raised to 15,000, and Mandara continued via a call.
The 10♣ landed on the turn, and Nashar checked again. Mandara announced a bet of 12,000, which Nashar quickly called.
Nashar checked for a third time on the 5♠ river. After taking a few moments, Mandara bet the majority of his remaining stack for around 50,000, and Nashar snap-folded.
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
