Three ways to the 2♠K♦10♣ flop, where Jamil Wakil checked from the big blind, and Nick Schulman bet 40,000 out of the cutoff. Samuel Mullur called from the button, but Wakil folded.
The 3♦ dropped on the turn, and Schulman continued with a bet of 150,000. Once again, Mullur just called.
When the 9♥ appeared on the river, Schulman slid out a bet of 457,000, leaving just one blue T-5,000 chip behind. Mullur swiftly released his cards and relinquished the pot to Schulman.
On a board of 6♦4♠J♦10♣, Danny Tang had 165,000 placed out in front of him from the button, and Markkos Ladev had jammed out of the big blind. Tang had 700,000 left, and after thinking it over for a while, Tang made the call for the rest of his stack.
Danny Tang: J♠Q♣
Markkos Ladev: J♥10♥
Ladev had taken the lead on the turn by improving to two pair, and just needed to avoid a queen on the river to bust Tang. The K♣ river wasn't the paint card Tang needed, and all of his chips headed over to Ladev.
As Tang was leaving, he confirmed that he would be back tomorrow to reenter with a fresh starting stack.
Adrian Strobel raised under the gun to 60,000 with Maher Nouira calling from the cutoff, Rahul Byrraju calling on the button, Paul Phua calling out of the small blind, and Orhan Ates defending his big blind.
After four checks on the 6♦3♥3♦ flop, Byrraju tossed out a bet of 100,000, which only Phua called.
Heads-up to the 2♣ turn that checked through for the 8♠ to appear on the river. Phua checked, and Byrraju bet 500,000. Phua went into to the tank for a while, telling Byrraju that he was thinking of calling with ace-high. In the end, Phua made the call.
Byrraju turned over 9♣8♦ for a rivered pair of eights to take the pot, and leave Phua with just 350,000.
The $102,000 Onyx SHRS NLH Invitational at the 2025 Onyx Super High Roller Series presented by Onyx Club played through its opening day at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, with 50 players taking their seats at the start. With no new participants permitted, and after the eight levels of play, the number of entries stood at 76.
Of the 36 who managed to make it to Day 2, Estonia’s Markkos Ladev ended as the chip leader with 5,535,000. Ladev surged to the top during the final level of the night after his two pair bested Danny Tang's top pair, sending the Hong Kong player to the rail.
Second overall is India’s Rahul Byrraju, who ended with 5,280,000 to top the invitee tables. He built his stack by winning a huge pot with a straight early in the day and later added more when Paul Phua incorrectly hero-called him with ace-high. Lebanon’s Albert Daher closed the day in third place with 4,775,000.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Markkos Ladev
Estonia
5,535,000
185
2
Rahul Byrraju
India
5,280,000
176
3
Albert Daher
Lebanon
4,745,000
158
4
Maher Nouira
Tunisia
4,150,000
138
5
Kayhan Mokri
Norway
3,110,000
104
6
Sinan Unlu
Turkey
3,095,000
103
7
Adrian Strobel
Germany
2,915,000
97
8
Jessica Teusl
Austria
2,900,000
97
9
Tamas Adamszki
Hungary
2,775,000
93
10
Matt Moss
United Kingdom
2,610,000
87
Action of the Day
The action kicked off with 25 pairings of invitees and pros, and within half an hour, Rehman Kassam was the first player eliminated. Phil Ivey had a slow start to the tournament, losing nearly three-quarters of his stack early on. However, with just one pair on the river, he correctly picked off a bluff from Dejan Kaladjurdjevic to get moving in the right direction. By the end of play, Ivey bagged 1,745,000 for just under average.
Phil Ivey
Despite having a good year on the felt, Jesse Lonis had a rough one today, bowing out twice in flips. The first came early when his pocket tens lost to Artur Martirosian’s ace-queen after a flush fell for the Russian player on the river. Later, his second try ended against Kayhan Mokri, who turned Broadway to leave Lonis drawing dead. He still has the option to reenter before the start of Day 2 and give himself another shot at running up a stack.
Byrraju got things going early by winning a sizable pot against Sirzat Hissou with a turned straight. From there, his stack continued to grow as he eliminated Rob Yong with a flush, before later getting value from Phua in the aforementioned hand. Those pots kept Byrraju hovering near the top of the counts for most of the day.
Rahul Byrraju
Also finding a bag were Maher Nouira (4,150,000) and Jessica Teusl (2,900,000), who picked up a big boost when a turn card gave her a boat against an opponent’s flush. A few others to advance included Yong (2,460,000), Daniel Dvoress (2,045,000), Samuel Mullur (1,945,000), Eric Wasserson (1,175,000), "YoH ViraL" (1,325,000), Bryn Kenney (1,070,000), Phua (580,000), and Mikita Badziakouski (450,000).
Maxim Bevers, Kirk Steele, David Nicholson, Kassam, and Handz were among those eliminated after too much time had passed since their exits to allow a reentry, bringing their Invitational tournaments to an end.
"Handz"
Some players, including Nick Schulman, Tang, Lonis, Mate Hanusi, Manuel Fritz, Martirosian, Christopher Puetz, and Biao Ding can rejoin the action on Day 2 since they were knocked out during the final level and have until cards are in the air to register again.
Day 2 will resume at 2 p.m. local time with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante. Players will play another eight 60-minute levels, with a full redraw scheduled at the end of Level 12 to finally merge the invited players and pros into mixed tables for the first time. Late registration will remain open for one more level when play resumes on Day 2.
Remaining Schedule
Date
Day
Time
Blind Levels
August 17
Day 2
2 p.m.
60 minutes (Play eight levels)
August 18
Final Day
12 p.m.
60 minutes
Stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage of Day 2 of the $102,000 Onyx SHRS NLH Invitational, including chip counts, reentries, and all the key hands as the action continues.
