Ryan Mandara opened to 1,500 in early position, and only Haydar Issa called in the big blind.
Issa check-called a bet of 1,200 on a 2♠J♠5♣ flop, but surrendered the pot on the 8♦ when Mandara fired a second barrel of 6,000.
Arsenii Karmatckii raised to 1,200 in the cutoff and faced a three-bet to 4,200 from Viktor Kobzev in the small blind, which he called.
Kobzev continued with a bet of 3,500 on a 6♥8♠4♠ flop, and Karmatckii responded with a raise to 9,500. Kobzev then three-bet to 27,000, which forced Karmatckii out.
As he was receiving the pot, Kobzev flipped over his Q♠Q♦.
Boris Smuskevicius limped in from the small blind before calling when Manig Loeser raised to 2,000 in the big blind.
Smuskevicius check-called a bet of 1,000 on a 3♣7♥7♦ flop, and then check-called again on the J♠ turn, this time for 2,800.
When Smuskevicius checked a third time, Loeser hit the brakes and checked behind.
Smuskevicius tabled J♦9♣, and Loeser mucked his cards.
The players have taken their seats, and the cards are in the air with 70 players in from the start.
Level: 1
Blinds: 200/500
Ante: 500
There is a slight delay to the start time, but play is expected to begin shortly.
With the sun shining over the crystal-clear waters of the Northern Cyprus coast, attention inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa turns to the $7,500 High Roller.
The largest buy-in event of the 2026 NOIR Poker Series comes with a substantial $1,000,000 guarantee, setting the stage for a high-stakes battle among some of the biggest names in attendance.
For an idea of what awaits the eventual champion, players need only look back 12 months to Cedric Schwaederle's victory in the $5,300 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series High Roller, an event that followed the same structure and format. Schwaederle outlasted a 318-strong field to claim the trophy and a $310,000 payday.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cedric Schwaederle | France | $310,000 |
| 2 | Mohamed El-Wely | Mauritania | $216,500 |
| 3 | Aren Bezhanyan | Armenia | $155,000 |
| 4 | Xuming Qi | China | $111,000 |
| 5 | Adrian State | Romania | $81,000 |
| 6 | Salah Assi | France | $60,500 |
| 7 | Mehmet Demirkol | Turkey | $45,700 |
| 8 | Sakis Adrianopoulos | Greece | $35,000 |
| 9 | Roman Pshyk | Ukraine | $27,500 |
The high roller event follows a three-day structure, with players starting with a 100,000 stack and playing 40-minute levels throughout. The opening flight will play through eight levels before players bag up for the night. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 12 on Day 2, with unlimited reentries available throughout the late-registration period.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| 2 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 3 | 300 | 700 | 700 |
| 4 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 5 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 6 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 7 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| 8 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
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Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the major moments live from the tournament floor until a NOIR Poker Series High Roller champion is crowned.
$7,500 High Roller
Day 1 Started
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