Event #6: $25,000 NLH Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2026 Onyx High Roller Series
Event #6: $25,000 NLH Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
2026 Onyx High Roller Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$4,968,000
Total Entries
207
Level
26
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
65
Players Left
10
Players Left 1 / 207
Filter
Level 16
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Day 1a of the $25,000 Main Event at the 2026 Onyx High Roller Series wrapped up inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa with 65 entries recorded on the opening flight. By the time play was halted, just 10 players remained, each bagging a stack and securing a spot in the money and a return for Day 2.
When play was stopped with 19 minutes remaining in Level 16, Alexey Borovkov led the field after bagging 5,335,000, the equivalent of over 21 starting stacks. He is followed by Ottomar Ladva with 3,690,000, while Mikalai Vaskaboinikau sits third on 1,490,000. Spain’s Elias Gutierrez finished fourth with 1,440,000, just one big blind shy of Vaskaboinikau, leaving the top four as the only players to end the day with seven-figure stacks.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexey Borovkov | Russian Federation | 5,335,000 | 133 |
| 2 | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | 3,690,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Belarus | 1,490,000 | 37 |
| 4 | Elias Gutierrez | Spain | 1,440,000 | 36 |
| 5 | Ramin Hajiyev | Azerbaijan | 930,000 | 23 |
| 6 | Parahat Nurmuhammedov | Turkmenistan | 890,000 | 22 |
| 7 | Kirill Shcherbakov | Russian Federation | 810,000 | 20 |
| 8 | Alexandre Reard | France | 635,000 | 16 |
| 9 | Istvan Birizdo | Hungary | 615,000 | 15 |
| 10 | Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | 430,000 | 11 |
Borovkov entered just before the second break and got off to a flying start. He first won back-to-back pots to eliminate Christopher Puetz, with Puetz calling off his tournament life with trips, only to see Borovkov's rivered flush. Shortly after, Borovkov was on the right side of a cooler to send Adrian Mateos to the rail, helping his stack climb into seven figures for the first time.
Borovkov continued to run over anyone in his path, with Kenar being the next in the firing line. Kenar committed his stack on the turn with an overpair and saw he was up against Borovkov’s flopped set. From there, Borovkov barely slowed down, consistently accumulating chips as the field edged closer to the bubble.
When it came down to the direct bubble, Borovkov made the call of the tournament. Gutierrez limp-called a raise from the small blind before check-calling Borovkov’s flop bet. The turn checked through, and with four spades on the board, Gutierrez fired a big bet on the river. Borovkov made the call with just one pair and was shown a complete bluff, a pot that helped cement his position at the top of the leaderboard when play concluded.
As play went hand for hand on the soft bubble, Ladva really got things moving, putting together his best level of the day and climbing into second place by the end. He started by winning a big flip, with pocket jacks against Eelis Parssinen’s ace-king to send the Finnish pro out in 12th. Ladva then tangled with Adrian State, first making the right call over two streets with top pair, before ending State’s run as the bubble boy when his ace-jack held up against ace-nine.
Also bagging up their chips at the end of the night was Ramin Hajiyev (930,000), who was helped along by a classic cooler earlier in the day when his aces ran into kings. Parahat Nurmuhammedov (890,000), Kirill Shcherbakov (810,000), Alexandre Reard (635,000), and Istvan Birizdo (615,000) also made it through to the money.
Meanwhile, Artur Martirosian (430,000) scraped through with just over ten big blinds, finding himself all in and at risk on the bubble before flopping trip aces to survive and bag a stack.
The focus now shifts to Wednesday, February 4, with Day 1b getting underway at 12 p.m. and following the same structure as the opening flight. Later that evening, the Day 1c Turbo will offer 20-minute blind levels, before all surviving players from the three starting flights reconvene for Day 2 of the $5,000,000 guaranteed Main Event.
Remaining $25,000 Main Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1b | February 4 | 12 p.m. | 40 minutes |
| Day 1c Turbo | February 4 | 8 p.m. | 20 minutes |
| Day 2 | February 5 | 1 p.m. | 60 minutes |
| Day 3 Final Table | February 6 | 1 p.m. | Hands-per-level |
Stay locked in to PokerNews for continued coverage of the $25,000 Main Event, as well as the final table of the $50,000 NLH Grand Slam that is being streamed on the OnyxLiveTV YouTube channel.
Level 16
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,335,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
||
|
3,690,000 | |
|
1,490,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
1,440,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
930,000
220,000
|
220,000 |
|
890,000
410,000
|
410,000 |
|
810,000
290,000
|
290,000 |
|
635,000
515,000
|
515,000 |
|
||
|
615,000
335,000
|
335,000 |
|
430,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
||
Level 16
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The remaining ten players have bagged up thier chips and will return on Thursday, February 5, for Day 2.
Stay tuned for chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 16
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Ottomar Ladva raised to 80,000 on the button and Adrian State three-bet to around 250,000 with just 40,000 behind from the small blind. After the big blind folded, Ladva four-bet all in, and State called to put himself at risk.
Adrian State: A♦9♠ 
Ottomar Ladva: A♠J♦
State was in bad shape with the inferior ace, and needed some help from the dealer to keep the tournament on the bubble.
The Q♥3♠J♣ flop was a disaster for State as Ladva hit a pair of jacks.
State picked up some outs to win or chop the pot on the 10♥ turn. However, the 6♥ river was a blank, and State was the bubble boy for Day 1a of the Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,690,000
890,000
|
890,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 16
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Adrian State made it 90,000 under the gun and only Ottomar Ladva called from the big blind.
Ladva knuckled the action over to State on the 6♠A♣5♥ flop and State fired out for 90,000. Ladva continued with a call.
Once Ladva checked for a second time on the 2♣ turn, State carved out a second barrel of 220,000. Ladva made the call.
Check, check came after the Q♥ river and Ladva won the pot with A♦8♣ for a pair of aces.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,800,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
|
1,000,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
Level 16
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Elias Gutierrez completed from the small blind and Alexey Borovkov raised to 130,000 out of the big blind. Gutierrez opted to call.
Gutierrez check-called a bet of 150,000 by Borovkov on the 8♠10♠6♦ flop.
The 4♠ turn checked through for the K♠ to complete the board. Gutierrez bet 400,000 and Borovkov tank-called.
Gutierrez showed a bluff with AxJx and lost the pot to Borovkov's K♦Q♦ for just a pair of kings.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,100,000
950,000
|
950,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,300,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Level: 16
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 40,000
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
With the board showing K♠K♣J♣Q♣5♠, Parahat Nurmuhammedov fired out for 50,000 from the big blind with 135,000 left in his stack.
Adrian State jammed from the cutoff, covering Nurmuhammedov, and Nurmuhammedov went into the tank. After giving it some thought, Nurmuhammedov slammed the call in.
State turned over trip kings with K♥7♠, and lost the pot to Nurmuhammedov's A♠10♦ for a Broadway straight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,400,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
480,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
Level 15
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Eelis Parssinen got his stack of around 400,000 into the middle preflop with Ottomar Ladva being the player trying to bust him.
Eelis Parssinen: A♦K♠
Ottomar Ladva: J♠J♦
Parssinen was one of the shortest stacks remaining and needed to win this flip to keep his hopes of making Day 2 and the money alive.
The dealer spread out a low board of 9♥5♠7♣9♣2♣, and Ladva's pocket jacks won the pot, sending Parssinen to the rail.
There were now eleven players left and Day 1a of the Main Event was on the stone bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,200,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
