Event #6: $25,000 NLH Main Event Day 1bc | 2026 Onyx High Roller Series

02-04-2026 18:45 UTC+3

Chaoui Steals it On the River; Puetz Gives Kulev an Offer

Tim Baker

Level 8 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Mehdi Chaoui raised the cutoff to 12,000 and Yoash Trokman three-bet from the small blind to 33,000. Chaoui called.

As the dealer dealt out the 2♦6♦3♥ flop, Christopher Puetz asked Alex Kulev, "How much to just eat the food here for a year?" Kulev replied with, "Hmmmm, a milly?"

Trokman bet around 28,000 on the flop and Chaoui called to see the 6♠ roll off on the turn where both players checked.

Upon hearing Kulev's response to Puetz's question, Fahredin Mustafov piped up with, "The food is nice here, I'd give you a freerole, and do it for 13 months!"

Kulev blurted out, "I love this table", and then continued to enjoy his rice and meat combo.

Trokman checked for the last time on the 4♠ river, and Chaoui fired out for 112,000. Trokman gave it some thought and then folded, allowing Chaoui to pull in the pot.

Mustafov then said to Puetz, "Show me the money."

Player	Chips	Progress
Mehdi Chaoui	300,000 300,000	300,000
Yoash Trokman	230,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Alex Kulev Christopher Puetz Fahredin Mustafov Mehdi Chaoui Yoash Trokman

Level: 8

Blinds: 3,000/6,000

Ante: 6,000

02-04-2026 18:33 UTC+3

Defiant Player Set Up in $2,400,000 Hand of Poker But Can He Get Lucky? | PokerNews Podcast #936

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Tim Baker

Level 7 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante

In the 936th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are all in Las Vegas at Level 9 Studio to talk about the viral $2.4 million poker hand played between Antonio Esfandiari and Alan Keating. The hand, part of Super High Roller Cash Game on PokerGO, blew up fast and had the whole poker world talking.

From there, the crew talks about the Daniel “Jungleman” Cates vs. sports bettor "Elf" boxing match, looks at a controversial hand from High Stakes Poker involving Sam "Señor Tilt" Kiki, and a winner interview with Andrew "Lucky Chewy" Lichtenberger after he notched a win at the PGT Kickoff Series.

Other stories bantered about are Jeff Platt now being exclusive with the WSOP, how Arden Cho will probably be at the Oscars, the new PokerNews PowerStack Leaderboard for the 2026 RGPS Passport Season, and sharing which poker room on the Las Vegas Strip is unfortunately closing at the end of the month.

Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

A new PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

02-04-2026 18:26 UTC+3

Bogdanov Backdoors into the Nuts

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Tim Baker

Level 7 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante

Yulian Bogdanov and Samuel Ju were staring at a completed board of 5♥Q♦9♣K♣2♣. Bogdanov had fired a bet of 116,000 into the middle with just one T-1,000 chip behind.

Ju was deep in the tank and had placed all of his time bank cards into the middle. Ju used up a fair few of them before tossing in one chip to call.

Bogdanov turned over the nuts with A♣3♣ to earn virtually a double-up, as Ju revealed Kx10x for a pair of kings.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yulian Bogdanov	300,000 50,000	50,000
Samuel Ju	100,000 180,500	180,500

Tags: Samuel Ju Yulian Bogdanov

02-04-2026 18:14 UTC+3

Steinbrenner Picks Up Kings Twice

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Tim Baker

Level 7 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante

A few hands ago, Justin Steinbrenner was seen dragging in a huge pot after he got it all-in with kings versus aces, and spiked a king on the flop.

Then, Steinbrenner and Hassan Nashar got all of their chips into the middle with Nashar being the player at risk.

Justin Steinbrenner: K♥K♦ All in
Hassan Nashar: A♥9♥

Steinbrenner was ahead with kings and looked poised to boost his stack up to almost a million, if he could fade an ace or some hearts.

Nashar found no improvement on the Q♠J♠7♣J♦9♦ runout, and he was out of the Main Event. Nashar immediately reentered and is now sitting with a fresh starting stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Justin Steinbrenner	950,000 700,000	700,000
Hassan Nashar	250,000 137,000	137,000

Tags: Hassan Nashar Justin Steinbrenner

02-04-2026 17:58 UTC+3

Updated Chip Counts

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Tim Baker

Level 7 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Aren Bezhanyan	1,040,000 140,000	140,000
Aleksandr Chernikov	593,500 283,500	283,500
Adrian State	567,500 223,500	223,500
Thomas Muehloecker	515,000 165,000	165,000
Belarmino De Souza	505,000 505,000	505,000
Fahredin Mustafov	461,000 201,000	201,000

Emilien Pitavy	453,000 153,000	153,000
Kenar	450,000 275,000	275,000
Quan Zhou	450,000 220,000	220,000
Alex Kulev	437,500 175,500	175,500

Roman Stoika	420,000 170,000	170,000
Adrian Mateos	405,000 25,000	25,000

Hassan Nashar	387,000 117,000	117,000
Thomas Alfred Mayer	386,000 261,000	261,000
Natan Chauskin	340,000 60,000	60,000

Level: 7

Blinds: 2,500/5,000

Ante: 5,000

02-04-2026 17:39 UTC+3

Second Break

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Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Players are going on the second break of the day.

02-04-2026 17:36 UTC+3

Bezhanyan Wins a Big One From Ladev

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Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Quan Zhou raised to 8,000 from the cutoff before Aren Bezhanyan three-bet to 31,000 from the small blind. Markkos Ladev cold four-bet to 75,000 from the big blind. which only Bezhanyan called.

Both players checked through the Q♦2♥9♣ flop to see the K♠ hit the turn. Bezhanyan checked again, and Ladev made a bet of 75,000. Bezhanyan called.

Bezhanyan checked for the last time on the 7♠ river, causing Ladev to gather together a bet of 125,000. Bezhanyan pretty quickly jammed for Ladev's remaining 80,000, prompting a snap-fold from Ladev.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aren Bezhanyan	900,000 250,000	250,000
Quan Zhou	230,000 20,000	20,000
Markkos Ladev	80,000 40,000	40,000

Tags: Aren Bezhanyan Markkos Ladev Quan Zhou

02-04-2026 17:17 UTC+3

Mayer Flops a Straight to Double

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Tim Baker

Level 6 : Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Hassan Nashar raised to 10,000 under the gun with Stanislau Charvinski calling from the cutoff and Thomas Alfred Mayer calling out of the small blind.

The action checked to Charvinski on the K♠Q♥J♣ flop, and he fired out for 25,000. Mayer check-jammed for 44,500, which got Nashar to fold. Charvinski called to try and bust Mayer.

Thomas Alfred Mayer: 10♠9♠ All in
Stanislau Charvinski: K♣9♣

Mayer was far ahead with a flopped straight against the top pair and gutshot of Charvinski.

The rest of the board ran out clean for Mayer as it fell 4♠J♥, and he earned the much-needed double-up.